So this past weekend I visited home and mom mentioned how petsmart had some hamsters on sale and that they were day-time creatures instead of being nocturnal. My response was 'oh cool! let's go check them out!' So dad and I did and it was fun but then I saw that Dumbo Rats were also active during the day. So I held a few hamsters and then I held a few rats and I went home to think about if I really wanted to get some, because if I did this weekend then I would need to be home more often to actually help raise them.
But I did my research, and decided to go ahead with it. I went to the store and bought two rats and then all the other stuff that went with them. I got Skwisgaar and Toki (named after the two guitarists from Metalocalpyse :3) Skwisgaar took to the new change VERY well. She was super excited and ran all over and was very curious. She and Filo are really interested in each other too. They'll sit nose to nose just sniffing each other.
Toki. Well... she checked out the cage some and then ran to hide in a corner and didn't come out the rest of the night if people were around. When everyone went to bed she came out a little but didn't really DO anything. Just kind of wandered the cage and would sit in a spot for a while. I thought she was just more chill since she was older than Skiwsgaar. Then the next day dad and I decided the cage was just way too small for them, so I bought another and we jerry rigged the two together. Skwisgaar again took to it very well and was super curious and excited. Toki curled up in the corner again and refused to move much.
So I at one point my hand was in the cage and I was petting Toki and she nipped my finger really hard. See... it was different from Skwisgaar. Skwisgaar would do like...love nibbles where she just works at the finger and chews at the nails and that's all. Sometimes she chews a little hard but nothing serious. Toki nipped REALLY hard. So I gave her some space and a few hours, figuring she was probably upset with the change. I came back later and petted her again and she seemed fine, turned and sniffed my fingers and then just BIT REALLY HARD. Broke the skin. =/
So... dad, mom and I talked about it and we decided maybe she's just not comfortable in this environment with the dogs and whatnot. While yeah, maybe she needs more time to warm up, we only have two weeks to figure out if we like it or not, and either way I wasn't comfortable handling Toki anymore anyway for fear of her biting me again. That shit hurts more than I thought it would x.x
So this morning before I left to go back to college dad and I returned her to the store and the salesclerk explained to me that sometimes the love connection just WASN'T there. That's why they had return policies in the first place. I checked out a few others and found one MUCH more playful and brought her home and she took to the new setting and cage with the same gusto as Skiwsgaar.
So, hopefully it all works out =) Dad told me they're still doing fine and the two are getting along well with each other. I'm going to try and go home again this weekend, if I can afford it. But the two of them are cute and I'm excited about this.