The Rat Room

In March of 2006, I picked up two brothers from Small Victories Rodent Rescue based in Montreal. These two were already 12 months old and had been living together all their lives. They were born at the rescue.
They were quite adorable the pair but they were causing quite a ruckus in the cage. Each time, I would run to the cage, I always caught Pascal on top of Vincent. Poor Vincent was screaming bloody murder and seemed quite petrified to me. I would then take Pascal out and give him a good talking to. This went on for a couple of days. I was at my wits end and about to neuter the both of them and do the unthinkable…separate the brothers.
Instead of going through with these drastic measures, I decided to hide behind the couch and observe the two.
It was 1am. I’m squatting behind the arm of the couch, it’s dark except for a dim night light but I could see perfectly into the cage. I observe Vincent walking up the ramp onto the top shelf. He positions himself just so, waits a moment and jumps down right onto his brother Pascal. Pascal gets up and proceeds to flip Vincent and hold him there in a dominant position all the while Vincent is squeaking like a tortured soul.
Finally Pascal lets him go… Vincent moves off and slowly climbs up the ramp again. What does he do next? Yep, he positions himself just so, and jumps on Pascal again. Pascal somewhat annoyed knows the routine and flips his brother who is now again squealing with delight. This went on and on. I knew then and there that rats don’t always scream when in pain or in protest. They do it for fun too. I never separated the deeply bonded brothers. They went on to live together until Vincent passed away at 39 months old. Pascal stayed with me another 4 months after that.
Simply wonderful rats.