A BIT MORE ABOUT JUSTIN

Justin is a gentle soul...anyone who cringes at the mere mention of rats cannot help but find themselves at the very least tolerant of this sweet, adorable creature. I believe Justin could single-handedly bring the whole world around to loving rats.

When Justin was just a wee baby, he came home with me. I thought this had to be the most precious little critter I had ever seen....and I had him out all the time. He was young enough that I immediately became his new mommy, and he spent hours with me. We were obsessed with each other :)

As a baby, he had three favorite activities. Sleeping, which babies of all sorts do very well. After a good playtime, he would crawl under the collar of whatever I was wearing, and stretch out his tiny body, tummy up and vulnerable, totally trusting, and fall fast asleep sprawled this way on my shouler. Eating was of course another favorite, because mom fed him such wonderful treats, and he was a growing boy after all. His other favorite activity was playing his favorite game....spastic wrestling.

Now, let me tell you, the first time he started to "play" I got a little worried. Here was this tiny creature I had brought home, completely adored....and I knew very little of rat behaviour. Justin's "play" looked disturbingly wrong to me. We would be sitting, peacefully watching a vet show on Animal Planet, and suddenly, he would lurch very inelegantly toward my hand, twitch to the left, jerk his head around like he was having some sort of attack......and lunge! Only to immediately spring back and repeat this "game" by twitching his body into a number of strange contortions. He would continue this, delighting in my hand ominously coming for him, until finally, he would grow so tired he would crawl in my shirt against my neck and dream away.

Of course, over time, I grew accustomed to his game, and delighted in playing it with him, but the first time he began to twitch like that....I was a very worried mother! To this day, Justin loves to "spastic wrestle" with me, when he's not busy flopping in my lap getting scratched.

JUSTIN IS SORELY MISSED

Losing sweet Justin was a very hard thing. For a critter that weighed a mere pound, he had an amazing amount of love to share, far more than some much larger beings. Due to his love for Templeton, he wasted away once his best friend had departed, growing ill the very next day, and never recovering. He managed to stay with us for another month with the help of nebulizer treatments and a lot of medication...and a lot of love, of course! Justin spent his last days with us getting all the scratches there were in the world, and every favorite treat. His final hours were spent with us, being loved and giving us tons of kisses.

Justin was my very first rat, and he'll always hold a special place in my heart that no other rat can fill. I could never have hoped for a better, more loving friend.

Would you like to go on to read about Templeton?