Man, I love rats.

Not just fancy/pet rats, though that's the only kind I would have in my house lol.

Rats are smart, beautiful (and I will fight on that hill, or at least explain it before launching mortar attacks), and infinitely adorable even the wild ones.

I bred rats for a while as a teenager. We had hamsters for a bit, but when they died (of old age!), I wanted something a little more cuddly. The lady at the pet store recommended I try either rats or Guinea pigs. Their guineas were skittish and not up my alley. Their rats, and they were feeder rats, were curious and brave about some random human touching them.

So I got two boys. Yeah, I know.

Turns out, one wasn't a boy, so I had an accidental litter.

That first male, and one of the females from that litter became my constant companions. Enough so that one or both of them would sometimes go to school with me.

I ended up breeding pets for people, carefully and on a limited scale. But mostly because I just wanted more rats in my life.

But by the time I had graduated high school, my first boy had cancer. Then that first baby girl died. It kinda broke me, so I stopped breeding at all, and as the ones I had aged and died, I didn't replace them.

I just couldn't handle the short life spans, even with having about a dozen at any given time that were full on my pets.

I did get two more rats much later on because I missed having them. But when they died eventually, I knew I couldn't handle it again.

But dang, I love the little things. Just seeing them online makes me happy :)

Where is its top hat?

A very fancy rat, indeed!