Had two new lads come in on friday.
Typical 'got for the kid, kid is bored and never bothers with them anymore' situation.
Nice people, though.

I was told the 'white one' was difficult to handle, and squealed when he was touched. I've seen this before in rats that haven't been handled enough, I wasn't concerned.
I planned to rehome these lads, but it soon became apparent that they wouldn't be good rehoming candidates.
They were both crackly, possibly stress or the cruddy litter the owner was using, and both nervous.
The black and white boy, whom I named Rorschach, was the usual kind of nervous that I see: not keen on being picked up, tended to freeze, clearly not comfortable, but tolerant of it.

But the white lad absolutely screamed at me when I attempted to pick him up. He went so nuts that I had to let him go on top of the cage because I was worried he'd bite me.
Still figured he was just not used to being held, and had probably been dropped or squeezed by the kid in the past so just didn't trust handling any more.

Last night, we let both the boys out onto the bed, their first proper run out since they've been here.
It became clear that something was very wrong with the white lad.
I first noticed that he didn't walk quite right. He sort of 'goose-steps' with his front legs, like he isn't sure where the ground is.
He has his head up in the air constantly, just sniffing every tiny scent.

He would trot around, then blunder into my arm. Then he walked right up to my face, and had no idea I was there until he touched me.

Jon and I suspected he may be blind.
Blindness isn't actually a big deal for rats; they have awful eye-sight at the best of times, and their eyes aren't their main sense so they tend to do ok.

But the more we watched him, the more we realised he is actually deaf, too.

He does not respond to any sounds, you can clap your hands right beside his face and he doesn't flinch. Rorschach, on the other hand, was going mad dashing and hiding from these loud noises, and flinching each time we clapped, but white boy was totally oblivious.
I squealed right near him, something that would send a nervous rat running off.
Not a flinch.
He was asleep this morning, and I called him repeatedly, tapped the bars, clapped, not a single response.
But Rorschach behaved much as a rat should to these noises.

This explains why he is so unhappy being touched: he doesn't know its coming, and it takes him by surprise.
We realised that once you have your hands on him, if you KEEP your hands on him, he settles down and actually enjoys a cuddle. But the second you break contact with him, then touch him again, he screams.
It must be horrible to have no way of knowing that you're about to be touched.
In light of him being deaf and blind, I've named him Tommy.
Rorschach is wonderful with him. It was very clear last night that he is Tommy's protector. He is never more than a few inches from him, he returns to his side every few minutes to groom him and reassure him that he's there. He even took my finger when I was scritching Tommy and nudged it aside, like he was saying 'don't touch my friend'.
He's constantly grooming Tommy, and leads him around like a guide dog.

Its really touching and very eye-opening to how wonderful rats are.

Here they are:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....p;l=52d6e6ea7a

More to follow.
These two will NOT go into the big group; Tommy wouldn't manage.
They will remain indoor rats, in our bedroom, from now on.