Brandi Saxton has a thing for pocket pets — specifically, rats. She owns six at the moment: Finn, Thaddeus, Gilmore, Piper, Phoebe and Paige. Piper mothered all but Finn.
Saxton, 33, started acquiring rats in high school. Her love for them has blossomed into a magazine. Each month, the Tucson resident publishes It's a Rat's World . . . We're Just Living in It.
Like many rat owners, Saxton felt alone and misunderstood for having them. It helped when she found like-minded people in online rat groups.
"That is why I decided to start the magazine in the first place — I wanted to provide rat owners with something that glorified their special pets," said Saxton, who owns Borealis Arts on East Tanque Verde Road with her husband, Nathan.
Her first issue came out in June 2007, and she boasts 170 subscribers, including some in Australia, the United Kingdom, Alaska and Hawaii. A "heavy concentration" of subscribers lives in New York City.
People are also reading…
It's a Rat's World's Web site is at www.itsaratsworld.com. Readers who subscribe to the online version pay $14.95 a year. For hard copies of the 12- to 16-page magazine, the annual cost is $39.95.
Besides Saxton and her husband, three others help with the magazine.
"Our magazine offers rat owners a venue where they can brag out about their babies by sharing stories, pictures, good news and rat-related events.
"Too many people get them on a whim," Saxton said. "It's a commitment."
One section, Paparatzi, features photos and drawings from readers. The March issue included photos of rats with shamrocks and wearing Irish hats and Mardi Gras beads.
Nathan, 35, attests to her devotion.
"When she loves or enjoys something, she fully dives in," he said.
There aren't any no-kill rat organizations in Tucson, but people can check out petfinder.com or Phoenix-area groups such as the non-profit Any Rat Rescue, which was formed in April 2004.
Jenna Lillibridge has been its director since November. She enjoys reading It's a Rat's World.
"It's fun, it's informative, she's got good photos," she said. "It's the only publication of its kind that I know of.
"Many people don't realize what wonderful pets rats are," Lillibridge said. "They're like a wonderful cross between a cat and a dog."
She fosters rats like Techno, a white rat with two black splotches over her eyes who has a "wild head bob."
Another rat, named Rose, started out as uneaten snake food but now is more famous. Lillibridge said she appeared in the film "Making a Hit" at this year's Phoenix Film Festival.
A group of rats is called a mischief, and, so far, Lillibridge has owned a mischief or two herself. Sometimes Lillibridge gets calls from people wanting to give up their rats to the Rescue, offering excuses such as "my snake didn't eat it." She said there is no difference between feeder rats and pet rats.
"A lot of people don't realize that pre-killed food is what professionals feed," said Lillibridge, who has five rats of her own. "Plus, rats can injure snakes."
Lillibridge tries to match the rat with its new parent. The organization doesn't charge an adoption fee but does ask for a donation.
Sheena Stewart, community-relations manager for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, said rats occasionally are available for adoption. Pocket pets cost $5 to adopt, and the Humane Society will sell extra cages if it has any. Interestingly, pocket pets and birds are housed across from the cat area.
Fun facts about rats
• Gestation period is three weeks.
• Females can get pregnant within 24 hours after having a mischief, which often is nine to 12 babies at a time.
• Babies are the size of a thumb, with no fur and closed eyes. In two weeks, they start resembling mice. Babies don't look ratlike until about 4 to 6 weeks of age.
• Rats can procreate between the bars of cages.
• Most rats live two to three years and die from tumors or respiratory conditions. Spaying or neutering cuts down on tumors.
• Rats brux, or grind their teeth together to make a chattering sound, when they are happy. This is often accompanied by eye boggling, when their eyes vibrate in their heads.
• Brandi Saxton said she's never been bitten "on purpose" by rats, although their poor eyesight sometimes results in her fingers being misinterpreted as food. When that has happened, she said, the biter immediately has given her "kisses" to apologize.
• Like dog and cat shows, there are rat shows worldwide.
