Sandra Beasley and the Spaz Rats

More Rats from
Shades of Blue Rattery

Varieties, colors, and markings, of the following rats were determined with the help of RatsPacNW Rat Fanciers Club
Unless otherwise stated the rats have Dark/Black eyes

March 13,2005: This was going to be a long, but wonderful, day for us.

I had reserved two boys from Shades of Blue Rattery. They were delivered to me on this day by Deb of DreamQuest Rodent Ranch.

There's the Chocolate boy, but the Dumbo PEW boy was not there. Instead, there was a top-eared PEW. Assuming that I was just confused as to who I had reserved, I took him. I found out later that the Dumbo boy had escaped his cage and was lost somewhere in the SBR home.

These boys stayed home as we continued on our way North, to Saskatoon, to attend a Sask_Exotics meeting at Krista's.

It was a wonderful meeting and I got to meet Krista's odd assortment of critters. As we sat and talked the SBR boys were passed around and everyone oooed and awed over their beauty and their temperament. A little blue boy fell asleep in my sweater, on my lap. He was so trusting, he snoozed on his back. I fell in love with him, named him "Dark Ice", and now he was mine.

	SBR Full a' Beans aka Beani, Beans Born: December 19,2004 Silvered Chocolate, Mis-marked Self, Satin, Standard-coated, Top-eared, Buck He has one small spot of white on the left side of his chest. I call this his "soybean spot" Personality: Beani is a loner. He doesn't like other males, but he is a sweetheart with me. Up until the day that he passed away he lived with Tuppins after she was spayed, and she loved him dearly. It was heartbreaking, but I'm glad he didn't die alone. RIP Beani September 09,2006 Chronic Myco
	SBR Coton le PEW aka Coton Born: January 28,2005 Pink Eyed White (PEW), Velveteen, Top-eared, Buck Personality: Quiet, Laid-back, Unimpressionable little guy. Basically a rat's rat. RIP Coton April 10,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Dark Ice aka Dice Born: January 28,2005 Slate Blue Satin, Mis-marked Irish, Standard, Top-eared, Buck He has an oval of white on his chest and an attached white line straight down the center of his belly Personality: Skittish, quick on his feet, hard to catch, hates to be handled. Every time he is free ranging he plays, "catch me if you can, whoo hoo, I'm a free rat!". Gets me laughing so hard it's even more difficult to catch him, and then he races to the cage on his own........sigh, I do love him. RIP Dice May 9,2007 Chronic Myco

A series of unfortunate events led me to obtain the last of the Shades of Blue Rattery rats. The Rattery is closing it's doors.

It started with two accidental litters resulting from a young son putting the girls back into the wrong cage. Myco went through the Rattery and the babies suffered a flair up at a young age. There never being Myco in the Rattery before naturally upset the breeder. Some babies lived, others died. Pending adoption of a baby, a loss of all rattery records due to a computer crash, and a move to a new residence resulting in some babies escaping their cage and never returning, all led to closing.

I had seen the babies in person at an earlier date to determine for myself how serious the myco was. Being an ethical breeder it had been decided to put the litters to sleep, but I wanted to give the survivors a change for the longest life possible. There were a few glitches in picking them up during my second visit, but with the help of a friend, and a determined breeder, we did it.

On August 03,2005 a friend drove me to Regina to pick up the SBR rats. For her help I would give her two rats of her choice. She had earlier decided that she wanted two boys to keep her lone older male rat, Buddy, company. But, as we drove off it was mentioned that our original plan was no longer going to work. Just the day before I am told that Buddy had died by the paws of their new dog, a 1 year old Border Collie/Great Pyrnese Cross rescued from the Humane Society. Now what was I suppose to do? I still had to keep my promise for her help.

Now that my friend is ratless she would like to start over again with two little girls. She took one of Jacki's and one of Anise's girls. We brought all of the rats into my house, and, as she picked out the girls, my heart was breaking. For the first time in my life I have broken my pet promise that goes, " If you come into my home, or you are born in my home, you have my home for life".

Update: Buffy (Anise's daughter), has died, by the paws of the same dog that killed Buddy. Willow (Jacki's daughter) had 3 litters, of 3 pups, in a row, before being given up to Paws 4 Purrfection, along with her son Xander.

Father of these litters is Papa, a 2 year old Platinum Bareback Velveteen Dumbo Buck.

One of the boys, a mink veriberk, continued to fight his illness for an additional two weeks, and he survived. Because of his fighting spirit I wanted to give him a good, strong Celtic name. I called him Aidan, which means "fire", and I continued the Celtic theme for the rest of the boys.

This period of illness for Aiden was the same period of time when babies are molting their their baby coat as their adult coat grows in. While his brother Teague was silvering into a shade of blue, Aidan seemed to be slow in his developement. As soon as Aidan got over his illness he quickly caught up to his brother and as adults they are both beautiful silvered minks.

	SBR One-eyed Jacki (so named because she was born with the birth defect of having only one eye) aka Jacki, Jac Born: November 17,2004 (best guess) Pearl, Self, Velveteen, Dumbo, Red-eyed, Doe Personality: Despite the handicap Jacki is a relaxed, easy-going girl. Despite her red eye she does not head weave to get a better view of things Mother to Tuppins, Vaughn, Regan, Fergus, and Cullen RIP Jacki May 24,2006 Vaginal Hemorrhage
	SBR Anise (named after the color of the spice) aka Anni Born: November 29,2004(best guess) Mink, Mis-marked Berkshire, Velveteen, Top-eared, Doe Personality: Anise is a real go-getter, not much time to stop and smell the peanut butter. Mother to Aidan, Teague, and Kermit RIP Anise April 24,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Tuppins (name comes from the English coin, a Tuppence) aka Tuppi Born: July 01,2005 Pearl, Self, Double Velveteen, Dumbo, Red-eyed, Doe Personality: Tuppins is a gentle, sweet little rat. I just want to kiss her and hug her and comfort her, especially now since an emergency spay due to pyometra caused her to age quickly and develope a head tilt. She's just a grand little old lady. Tuppins appears to like her name and responds readily to it. Tuppins was so small that on the way home from the city she was able to squeeze out through the spaces in the cat carrier that was their mode of transportation. I found her running around on the passenger side floor. Tuppins was so ugly she was cute with her patch-work of hair on her scrawny little body, and blazing red eyes. As an adult with a full coat Tuppins is the spittin' image of mother with two eyes Tuppins loves her name and readily responds to it when I call to her even though she is a cage with others RIP Tuppins October 09,2006 The stress of her pregnancy and emergency spay must have been too much for her as Tuppins developed other signs of Myco shortly after. She developed a severe head tilt and later respiratory distress
	SBR Aidan (means "Fire" in Celtic) aka Mutt Born: June 20,2005 Silvered Mink, Veriberk, Standard-coated, Dumbo Buck Personality: Aidan is a tough little dude, with a zest for life, he just bounces around the rat room during free range time. RIP Aidan November 24,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Teague (means "Poet" in Celtic) aka Jeff Born: June 20,2005 Silvered Mink, Veriberk, Standard-coated, Dumbo, Buck Personality: Very much like his brother, only bigger. RIP Teague March 03,2008 Chronic Myco
	SBR Vaughn (means "Small" in Celtic) aka Hey, Voo Born: July 01,2005 Light Pearl Merle, Self, Standard-coated, Dumbo, Red-eyed, Buck Personality: Vaughn has to check everything out.......with his teeth Vaughn was appropriately named. He has remained the smallest boy in the group. Because of his cuteness he is forgiven for nipping fingers and toes. RIP Vaughn March 2,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Kermit (means "Free Man" in Celtic) aka Kerm Born: June 20,2005 Dark Pearl Merle, Berkshire, Standard-coated, Top-eared, Buck Personality: As a youngster Kermit was an escape artist. He's grown into a handsome, dignified, man-rat. RIP Kermit December 03,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Regan (means "Royality" in Celtic) aka Shibear, Regus Born: July 01,2005 Pearl, Self, Velveteen, Dumbo, Red-eyed, Buck Personality: As his name implies, Regan carries himself with an air of dignity. Of all the boys, he is the calmest. RIP Regan January 8,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Fergus (means "Of Manly Strength" in Celtic) aka Gayheart, Fergy Born: July 01,2005 Pearl, Self, Velveteen, Dumbo, Buck Personality: Calm like his brother. Fergus is the nest builder, pushing bedding around to make only the very best. RIP Fergus July 28,2007 Chronic Myco
	SBR Cullen (means "Handsome Young Animal" in Celtic) aka Brillo Born: July 01,2005 Pearl, Self, Double Velveteen, Dumbo, Buck Personality: Cullen is rather skittish and doesn't like to be handled. He's his own Man-rat. Like his sister Tuppins, Cullen was a scrawny, almost hairless young rat. His hair grew back in, and then most of it fell out again, never to return. The coat that he has left is very short and very curly. RIP Cullen December 22,2006 Chronic Myco

RIP ratties can be seen here

Their bodies held in storage in the freezer, awaiting this day,
these Shades of Blue rats were cremated, their ashes mingled,
and returned to me, January 22,2009

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