Bean was a great little furbaby. Even when he went through some painful procedures to clear up his wounds, he never bit or held a grudge. As soon as the difficult stuff was done, all he wanted to do was play and sneak treats out of the yogurt drop box. : )
Do you have any idea what happened to him to put him in that condition?
No way of telling for sure, but I suspect the worst wounds were inflicted by his mother and worsened by his siblings. That sort of destructive behavior can manifest itself in conditions of overcrowding with meager food and water, or if the mother is bred at too young of an age (which is sickeningly typical).
I always took very good care of my dudes, but none of them ever made it past 2.5 years. You're very lucky to have had one around for that long.
Thanks very much. And 2.5 years isn't bad at all, by the way. Y'see, pet rats are direct descendents of laboratory rats, all of which were specifically bred to be susceptible to lung disease (like mycoplasma), kidney failure, and all sorts of cancers. That sort of genetic makeup always makes for a short lifespan. : (
I didn't know that. Most of my rats grew large tumors shortly before they died, I had no idea this was due to any sort of breeding patterns.