11/03 - 9/8/05
Every once in a while you get a rat who is the nicest animal ever. Never has any fights with other animals. Always wants attention or to be pet. Takes every treat. Has no faults. That is Chester. He and Spike were from Elaines pet store in Santa Monica. Someone had informed me that there was a big white rat who was taking care of some babies as if he was their mom and his reward was Elaine was going to give him to a snake. I rushed over there and bought the rat and the babies (Spike was the white rat, Chester and his two siblings were the babies).
I found homes for two of the babies right away and ended up keeping Spike and Chester. Chester would follow Spike around like crazy so I named them after those two Warner Bros. cartoon dogs, Spike and Chester.
Chester with Willie (who is six months older and still kicking)
Chester enjoying his grub.
Chester has always been a happy, excitable boy who is just happy with a good scratch and some hand wrestling. He was popcorning still well into his second year. Unfortunately, he started getting respiratory problems as of late. It was an extremely painful decision to make but he was in so much discomfort, I had to have him put to sleep. It was killing me seeing him gasping for air the last couple of weeks.
Chester loved the camera. Whenever I pulled it out, he'd always jump
in front or come to see what was going on.
He would sit in your lap forever. He loved every kind of treat imaginable.
And there wasn't a rat that came through that he didn't get along with.
Of my four boys, Chester was the youngest too, sadly the first to go of the bunch. This leaves Spike (of unknown age) and Albert and Willie who are Menlo Park rescue boys and are two-and-a-half years old. If there is an animal heaven, Chester has a real nice spot and is having some good treats right now, and enjoying the company of all those around him.
Chester; a great pet and perfect example of why
rats are such great pets.