My Pet Rats

Mal is the oldest rat, born somewhere between December 2008 and January 2009. Though older than Squeak and Stitch by a few months, they all share the same mother.

"Mal" is short for Malcolm Reynolds from the Firefly TV series. Unfortunately, Mal the rat turned out to be nothing like Mal the captain. He's a bit of a chicken: He once freaked out at the smell of a new denim skirt, and fled in terror from a tassel dangling from the end of a bookmark. Yet in the beginning, Mal was the big cheese. That's because his brothers were the size of corks and couldn't get the better of him.

That all changed once Squeak and Stitch grew up and put on some weight.

Mal has always been a good-natured rat, quite friendly and affectionate. But he became clingy and insecure after Squeak died in March 2010. Mostly he likes to be held and comforted.

Stitch was named after the character from Disney's "Lilo and Stitch." As a youngster, he was bold, inquisitive, and energetic. He didn't like to be held much. There were moments when it almost seemed he could teleport from one side of the cage to the other.

For a while it looked as if he might become the alpha rat, especially since his runty brother Squeak was so little and docile. But as they got older, there was a sudden change: Squeak and Stitch began to fight for dominance. And though Squeak remained the smaller rat, he started to win these matches!

Although Stitch and Squeak remained very close, Stitch was clearly the beat-down rat of the bunch. It wasn't until poor Squeak got sick and passed on that Stitch began to put on weight and assert himself. But by this time there was only squishy little Mal to contend with, and Mal never was a fighter. Stitch's place as dominant rat was assured.

Stitch doesn't seem to mind the company of other rats, but he's basically a loner. He doesn't like being picked up or handled too much. It wasn't until recently that he started to enjoy a good scratch from his owners.

Squeak was the runt of the litter, a wee little thing who looked more like a scrawny mouse with big feet than a rat. For the first week or two after we brought him home, he squeaked almost constantly. Anxious little "pip-pip-pip" noises, almost as if he were talking to himself or crying for his mother. At three weeks old, he and Stitch were a little too young to be separated from their mother. But it couldn't be helped, since she had been killed by a dog.

Being both a runt and a picky eater, Squeak didn't grow nearly as fast as his brother. It wasn't long before Stitch was nearly double his size. When Stitch at last became a sleek young fellow, Squeak still had his kitten-soft fur and babyish looks. When Stitch was busy hopping about and exploring, Squeak was having trouble figuring out how to crawl up the bars of the cage.

Squeak remained noticeably smaller than Stitch for months, and he submitted to being power-groomed by both Stitch and Mal. But Squeak was much more tough and clever than we ever suspected. One day there was a ruckus in the cage--high-pitched squeaks, kicking feet, flailing paws. Litter flew all over the place. Squeak and Stitch were having it out. Squeak pounced him, wedged him into corners, pushed him down. Little Squeak had bested Stitch!

For the rest of his life, Squeak was the boss of the cage. He still liked to be pinned down and groomed by his brothers (and he would squeak loudly about it all the while), but whenever the tussling turned serious, Squeak quickly asserted himself.

Though Squeak had a fighter's spirit, he was sadly not blessed with a long life. I gave all three rats a bath to help deal with an outbreak of lice; they didn't like getting wet one bit. Mal and Stitch got over it, but the stress did something to Squeak. He became sick and would hardly eat anything apart from bell peppers and baby soy formula. Despite being treated with antibiotics, he grew weaker and finally died in March 2010. He was little more than a year old.