Robin
![[Pic of Robin]](robin.jpg)
Our little matriarch
(18 Mar 1996 - 11 Dec 1996)
Source of Her Name
She was our first hooded rat, so went for the same tired Robin Hood motif so many other rat owners have gone for.
Bio
Robin was the sole hooded female from Panda's litter of 13, a sister of Amanda and Blaze and mother to her own litter of 13. She had a very pleasant temperament and enjoyed spending time crawling around inside Kris' shirt (which Kris let her do, as Robin was her early favorite). She was very cuddly and lovable. She was also the most sexual of all our rats, which in part led to the decision to breed her. (While Amanda was her Alpha, Robin took over as Alpha every time Amanda went into heat.) Apart from some initial trouble keeping herself fed and hydrated properly after the delivery, Robin was a good mother, putting the needs of her children before her own. Unfortunately, she lived a short life, passing quietly as her children reached puberty. She was fortunate to still be living with all her female children to the end.
![[Pic of Robin nursing]](litter1.jpg)
![[Pic of litter playing]](litter2.jpg)
Robin's ratlings
(b. 20 Oct 1996)Robin gave birth to a litter of 13. We lost one the first night, but the remaining 7 boys and 5 girls were healthy and developed quickly. Kris bottle-fed them for some added nutrition, which helped Robin excel at her mothering duties, far in excess of her own mother, who would often fall asleep over the food bowl in exhaustion. While about half of the kids were black Berkshires, there were two buff Berks and some Himalayans in the mix too. Thanks to mommy's thick rexy genes, about half ended up rex as well.
We kept a buff rex girl (Ruby), a Himalayan girl (Lady Ratterley) and a black rex Berkshire (Dot), and found good homes for the remaining children, including a Himalayan boy named Einstein, who we would later mate with Ratilda. Ruby had the most beautiful dark ruby-colored eyes and just adored tearing around the apartment inside a hamster ball as a youngster. I've heard only one rat in one hundred takes to this method of exercise and her mom was certainly not one of them. Dot, the black rex Berk, is named for a little black dot of fur on the white part of her belly, in exactly the same location as one Robin had on her belly. She started a little smaller than her sisters and, at eight weeks, still had a baby's cuteness. When she was young, Dot preferred lab blocks to milk bones as treats. That has certainly changed with age! She became the new Alpha when her Aunt Amanda passed on. As of April 1999, she has relinquished the Alpha role to Precious and has retired to hospice care while valiantly fighting cancer. Lady Ratterley was the sexiest of our rats, or at least so the other rats thought. While she had a tendency to bully younger rats (Ratalie and Ratigail), she was inseparable from her sisters. Unfortunately, a hard bout with mycoplasma followed by a surprise spleen tumor cut her life short in the summer of 1997. She lived long enough to move into the new Ratscraper for just a few nights before her death.
![[Pic of Rat Daddy]](daddy.jpg)
And just in case you were wondering, this is what the fellow who bred
with Robin and produced all these wonderful children looked like. He
was a three-month old self black rat, with two little brown patches
plus a white inverted V on his belly. He was a loaner from the Saline
Pets 'n' Things store and we can only hope they found him a good home.
If we had the space, we would have gladly kept him. He was very polite
to Robin throughout the entire mating ritual, giving her space whenever
she squeaked out a request and then very carefully approaching her,
asking permission at every step, when she started to indicate readiness
again.
