The Dumbo Tree Rattery

All pet owners experience the passing on of their beloved friends. Although we grieve for the loss and we will miss them greatly, we must remember to celebrate their wonderful lives for they have enriched our lives more than they could ever know. Rainbow Rats are rats that have passed away and gone over the Rainbow, so to speak.

As a rat breeder, I have inevitably had to deal with death as well as new life. I dedicate this page to some of my Rainbow Rats.

Some of the rats listed belonged to Tess Miller, co-founder and former breeder at DT.

The first pair of boys that I bought were from a local pet store. One day, I   walked in the door of a local pet store with Tess and before we knew it, we had made new furry friends. Little did we know that these rats would become favorite companions, and our interest in rats would become more like an obsession. Murdoc was a squishie agouti dumbo male who was named after the fictional bass guitar player of Gorillaz. Mandark was a big fawn dumbo male who was named after a villian on Dexter's Laboratory. They were a playful pair for years. I will never forget the night I stayed up with Murdoc crying while he was dying. He was the first one to go, and it was the hardest. He was a great big sweetheart and in my list of Top Three Favorite Rats of All Time. [Ashley]

Mikayla was also a pet store rat. She was an agouti berkshire dumbo female. She was the first female that I ever had thanks to Tess. Tess bought Mikayla as a cagemate for Molly and Maybe, but the girls didn't get along. One day I was playing with Mikayla on the floor and Tess said, "Oh good, she likes you! She's your's." Mikayla had a litter with Mandark that produced 12 babies. I kept one of her daughters as a cagemate for her; Louise was like her little mini-me. They were a great duo. [Ashley]

Flynn and Munster were two brothers that I adopted from Tekka Maki Rodentry. They were my first rats from a rattery. Flynn was an American blue rex. Munster was a black English-Irish double rex dumbo. Flynn was always more interested in exploring, while Munster was more of a lap-rat. He was the kind of rat I could carry around in my hoodie the whole day and he'd be perfectly content. Although Munster wasn't as "pretty" as his brother, his wonderful personality more than made up for it and he could charm his way into anyone's heart. He was my favorite rat of all time and I miss him terribly. [Ashley]

RainCloud came to the rattery in 2004 from Jayda's Critter House in Michigan.  She was an American Mink Dumbo.  She gave birth in 2005 to a litter of 13 babies, all of which have found good homes.  She is the mother of two of our beloved boys that have also passed on their genes.  She was a very jumpy girl who never really had the patience to sit around and be cuddly, but she was friendly nonetheless and enjoyed running up to my hands and nibbling me so that I would "chase" her while she bounded away. She will be very missed here, she was my first Dumbo female in years. [Tess]