I was absolutely thrilled when I found these guys at the SPCA. I recommend adopting from a shelter whenever possible. I'd wanted pet rats forever, though I never sought out local rat breeders (certain family members were not on board with the whole idea of pet rats). Only one pet store here has pet rats, but I wouldn't adopt from them on general principles. I came across these three completely by chance on the SPCA's web site, but quickly got the whole family on board, and headed out to the SPCA. These little shelter guys were very tame and friendly. Apparently I was not the only one seeking little rats: the SPCA had put the Mom, Dad and 18 (!) 2 month old babies up for adoption on Wednesday, and by Friday all but these 3 little boys were gone. Of course, I adopted the last 3 on the spot!
My kids helped me name them. Ventura was the first to get a name, due to the inverted "v" marking on his face. Ace was the logical next name choice, according to my kids. I was browsing through my list of names for pet rats, and Loki (the Norse God of Mischief) jumped out at me. We assigned names; by 24 hours later we had decided we had to switch names because the name "Loki" was much more suited to the one we had initially named Ace. The rat now named Loki is definitely a mischief maker. On the other hand, Ace is quiet and timid. Ventura has a personality somewhere in the middle of Loki and Ace - he's not quite as "active" as Loki, but when it comes to exploring he is a bit more adventurous than Ace.