the 3rd wheel?

Question
one of my daughters fancy rat suddenly passed away peacefully this past week; worried that her 3 yr. old rat zoe would be sad and lonely, we purchased 2 babies.. cindy, and misty. cindy is much smaller than misty and zoe has very much taken to her, grooming her, and protecting her. cindy does not seem to mind this at all, however i am concerned over misty, she sits on her shelf all alone will she be ok?

Answer
Dear Maureen,
thank you for your question.
As long as the other rats are not fighting with her, I think that Misty will be okay. Make sure that the other two don't chase her away when she tries to play with them ect. If they do, you may need to take Misty out of the group and get her another friend to keep her company.
It's usually better to keep an even number of rats, but I wouldn't introduce new rats just now, it's always stressful and especially for an old rat like Zoe.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer