This is one of my first plague lord babies, Obama. I often referred to him as the “ambassador of fancy rats” as he was incredibly calm, loving, easy going and inquisitive. Never once did he show even a hint of aggression.

My favourite activity with him was to cook extra steamed veggies and unseasoned bbq chicken with my dinner and let him sniff them out; he’d navigate out of his cage, across the floor and up my leg, where he’d grab a mouthful as big as his own self and run back to the food bowl in his cage and bury his stash in with the existing rat food.

His cagemate, Trump, would then take the fresh food and put it into their igloo. Obama hated that and would immediately take it back to the food bowl. They’d repeat this for hours, much to my delight. I’ll post a video of this shortly.

I can’t keep rats right now but my goal is to buy a place where I can have a dedicated “rat room” complete with tunnels, foraging areas and places for them to perch and hide, and adopt fancy rats that were surrendered to rescue organisations (which are surprisingly common) and give them all a great chance at life as they’re incredibly beautiful and loving. I never thought rats could be such affectionate beings until I cared for them, and I’ve never looked back since <3 I’m definitely gonna be the ‘crazy rat man’ 🤣