Genetics to knowledge: aa Dd rbrb (possibly carrying Mink, Siamese, Mock Mink and Ruby Eye)

Most of you know how I felt about our old boy Zabba. He's one of the longest lived rats we've bred - and he was born before we moved to Ireland. He would have been 3 in two months. Some of you have met him, some have had his siblings. He was from Tris and Kirsch's litter in 2008. He really was an impressive boy, right to the last. Only in the last few months did HLD kick in, and then in the last couple of weeks it had gotten worse. He was still happy enough, and loved washes and cuddles, but he'd stopped being ratty in terms of needing to be 'looked after' more intensely, and for me that lost him a fair bit of dignity :*( He would happily spend all day quietly lazing about and eating/drinking, snuggling others, but then this last week he'd lost even the pleasure in that, and we'd decided that today we would take him for his first and last vet trip. We checked in on him now, and he'd passed away in his sleep, having not moved from where he'd crashed after his dinner last night :*( so although I'm gutted to have lost him, at least he went in the best way possible, and the way I wish every rat we had could pass. Comfortable, in bed, old and tired, drifting off to sleep, never to wake up.

Zabba was a perfect gent. He was one of my very special boys, and I was very close to both him and his brother Spark. My brother had two of his brothers too, Arfur and Bernard, who we saw a great deal of. Bernard died just before Christmas, and Arfur quite a long time ago... but Zabba kept on trucking. We always wanted badly to have him sire a litter, but no matter how many different does we tried, he could never manage it so we don't have anyone to remember him by either. He was a total Jaffa, and as such lived with ladies towards the end of his life, until they passed away. Lacey (who was supposed to be his mate when they were younger - and also never gave us a litter) and Tink, who were very very close to him, and I'd never seen him happier. They both passed away pretty recently, and he went then to living with Forz and Switch and Darcy.

He's been such a happy, cheery soul all his life, always ready for a cuddle, and always there for cheering me up, and I don't know what I'll do without him - he was one of my last ratty ties with the UK - and I know it was a tenuous one, but it meant something to me I guess.

I'll just miss him so much :*( I'm guessing some of our keepers from our current litters will have names from the lyrics of 'his' song <3 which also happens to be one of my favourite Beefheart songs <3

Abba Zabba - Captain Beefheart:

Song before song before song blues 
Babbette baboon (repeat) abba zabba zoom 
To shatter the noon Babbette baboon (repeat) 
Comin` over pretty soon Babbette baboon 
Run run catch her soon doctor dawn sunshine on Babbette baboon 
Mother say son she say son you can`t lose with the stuff you use 
Abba Zabba zoom Babbette baboon (repeat both) 
Run run morning soon Indian dream tiger moon 
Yellow bird fly high go battle sky to shatter the moon 
Babbette baboon gonna catch her soon Babbette baboon 
Song before song before song blues 
Babbette baboon abba zabba zoom (repeat both) 
To shatter the noon abba zaba zoom 
Gonna zaba her soon Babbette baboon abba zabba zoom (repeat) 
Gonna catch her soon (repeat etc.)
 

Run free you wonderful, gorgeous old man :*) back with your brother and all the rats you've loved and lost.

Pedigree