For the first couple months of their lives, click here.

Born December 6, 1998 to Brook and Felix, Hercule, Dusty and Kato have become three super friendly, healthy and rambunctious boys. Like human brothers, these three are close to each other, spending most nights snuggling together in a hammock. Occasionally, you'll find one, two or all three sleeping with their dad or one of their uncles and on a rare occasion, all six sleeping in one big pile of fur.

At this writing, the three boys are closing in the size of their father. Even though their not quite his size yet, it's still hard to tell Kato and Hercule from their father at first glance. Even when Hercule and dad Felix are chowing down together, I can't tell them apart until I get real close. Kato can be differentiated by the white spot on his forehead. I fear when Kato and Hercule are the same size as their dad, it will really be hard to tell them apart. Dusty is the easy one to tell because he looks just like his mom, not his dad.

As the three reach the two and a half month old landmark, their personalities really start to stick out. Like their uncles Luke, Claude and Monty have their own distinctive personalities, these three are making their own name within the clan.

Hercule, named after Inspector Clouseau's assistant in A Shot in the Dark, is the spitting image of his dad. Of the three brothers, he likes to be pet the least. He's also the leanest of the three. His fur is the shiniest and for some reason, it seems to be slightly shorter than the others. It feels like the back of your head after just getting a haircut.

Hercule is always one of the first to jump on the new plate of veggies I put out for the rats just after I let them out of their cage each day. He's also always the last to jump on me when the rest of his brothers and uncles are. Once everyone else is getting pet, he'll kind of sneak in and get a little too. When it comes to treats though, Hercule will wrestle anyone to be first. Often I'll come up with a slice of cheese to divide between the guys. Hercule will jump right in their to get the first piece. When someone else gets it, Hercule will jump on that piece and try to pry it from the other rat.

I never see Hercule chewing on my door frames or ripping up carpet, although he may do it, just when I'm not around. Of the three brothers, though, he's the sharpest looking. He totally looks like his dad and reminds me so much of when his dad (and uncle Oscar) were little and growing up.

Now Kato, he's another story. Named after Inspector Clouseau's housekeeper, Kato has been caught chewing on doors, door frames, carpet and everything else. Although he never seems to do it for more than a few seconds, he's taking after his father in that respect. Kato is also the spitting image of his dad, except for his white spot on his forehead, which not only makes it much easier to tell him apart, but also is a "birthmark" everyone seems to get a kick out of when they see him. It made it easy to tell him apart from his brothers and sister when they were little gobs of pink flesh too. That little white dot really stuck out. He was the second of the babies I knew I was going to keep.

Of the three boys, Kato is the most lovable. When I first open their cage door and all the rats pour out like milk out of a wrecked carton, Kato is usually one of the first rats to actually come to me, rather than try to find the treats or food. He loves to be pet. I'll pick him up and hold him in my arms, scratching him behind the ears real hard and he's in heaven. He likes to be pet all over. He also has learned his name pretty well. I don't know if it's because it's really different than anyone else's in the group, but he'll come when I call him. I've been keeping the boys mainly in the back part of the house (divided by a huge piece of plywood at the entrance to the hallway) but sometimes lately I've been letting Kato run around the front (the living room, kitchen and my desk area) where I have his Dad, Uncles Luke and Claude run around.

Kato seems to have a bit more gut than Hercule. If I hold them from behind (in other words, I can't see Kato's white dot), I can tell Kato from Hercule because of their weight. Kato will wrestle anyone: his brothers, his dad, his uncles. He won't always win, but he'll give it a shot.

Dusty is the king of the brothers. He was the first one I knew I was going to keep when the babies started getting bigger. He is the spitting image of his mom Brook. When Dusty, named after Giant's manager Dusty Baker, got to the size his mom was (and this is just after Brook went to her new home with the Tanakas), I accidentally called Dusty, Brook, many times. I'm just now not doing that any more. He didn't just acquire his mom's looks. He got her smarts big time.

Brook was a super inquisitive girl and Dusty is the same. He wants to investigate everything. He wants to see everything in the house. He wants to know where everything leads to. He is the first of the boys to jump on my shoulders, knowing it will take him out and around. He also will jump on my foot as I walk by, and hang on for the ride. His brothers have just started doing this now too, but Dusty invented it. His mom used to jump on my foot or leg when I was walking over the divider between the hallway to the front part of the house, knowing it would take her there. Dusty has recently started attempting this too. Dusty will always climb up my leg if I'm standing still long enough.

His mom used to climb up my leg, when I was shaving, then climb into my shirt and up it. She would stick her head out the top of my shirt and just watch me shave. Then she'd climb back down my shirt out to a sleeve, then back up to the top. I'll be damned if Dusty hasn't started doing this! No other rat has ever done this before.

The other night I had strained my leg working out and took a bath to sooth the pain. I keep the bathroom door open in case any of the guys want to come in and hang out. They'll usually come in for a moment and then leave as they hate water (from their baths which they loath).

But here comes Dusty. Not only does he come in and hang the whole time, he jumps up to the tub and wanders around the rim. He puts his foot in the water and I swear at least four or five times, I thought he was going to jump in. It was amazing. He would grab some suds with his hand and they'd dissolve quickly. I'm sure he was baffled. I think the only thing that really stopped him from jumping in was the temperature. I might try it again later with a little cooler water. The boys have never had baths yet, so they haven't really had the "pleasure" of getting doused with water (that'll be coming up soon).

A couple times I've come into my room when the rats were running around and couldn't find Dusty. He was in my drawers. The upper drawers. The only one who's figured out how to do that is Luke. Dusty has also learned his name, long before the others. If I call Dusty, he comes a runnin'.

He didn't just get his mom's smarts, though. He got his dad's too. Before Felix got fixed, he'd wrestle with anyone and win.

Dusty initiates wrestling matches with everyone. Although Luke and Claude and still beat him up, Dusty will come back five minutes later and start again.

The difference between the three boys and my other rats is that I've had these since the day they were born. So I know everything they've eaten, everyone who's touched them, everything they've done their whole life. They've never been outside my place. As far as they know, that's the whole world. So I know these guys are super healthy and have had the best possible life from day one. My other guys have great lives too, but how they were treated at the pet stores I bought them from or what they ate is a mystery to me (which really doesn't matter too much now since they're all great guys). These boys have had the advantage of never having seen a petstore, having strangers gawk at them repeatedly a thousand times a day. They've never had to live in pine bedding and eat the same bland food every day and have high school kids who know nothing about rodents mistreat them.

That day they were born (to my surprise) I was somewhat mad, mostly because I would now have to find homes for them. But in retrospect, I cherish that whole occurrence in that I was able to learn more about rats and that I was able to bring Hercule, Kato and Dusty into my clan, which I wouldn't trade for anything.

I never intended to have so many rats (I have seven at the moment) but I would never let any of them go for anything. And I'm glad of all the rats, it was Felix who was the father. With Felix's brother Oscar dying only six days after they were born, I'm happy that his bloodline will live on (especially since Felix has since been fixed). Felix, who has become the most gentle, human friendly rat ever, is a great pop.

I invite any rodent lovers, when in the Los Angeles area, to come on by my place and see my little guys. If you don't have rats, you'll want some. If you have some, you'll love these little guys.

Felix is one proud pop.