Pet Rodents

[MyNameHere]

I used to have a pet rat (as I'm aware many of us do/did). I wish they lived longer.

I have a pet mouse now (lower maintenance, easier to house safely w/the kitties around). For some reason I had little to no problem w/my rat in terms of fear of being bitten. My mouse has never bitten me, but everytime I pet/handle her I get ridiculous nervous.

Does anyone else have this kind of bizarre dichotomy in thinking between rats and mice?

Oh, and quasi-amuzing anecdote: When I used to work at Petco people would ask if the mice would grow up to be rats, or if the hamsters would grow into guinea pigs, or if the hamsters would have tails like the rats when they matured. WTF-ever. Mass ignorance is still ignorance. Anyway....have a rodentious day

 

[Joe]

I've honestly probably been bitten by more rats than mice, but I still like rats WAY better than mice. I have like nine of them right now. Mice are smelly, though. Especially when you have a whole room full of breeders. I just buy frozen now, because I'm lazy.

 

[skinheaddave]

Well, I just have the gerbils. They were supposed to be baby producers but since they've failed miserably in that department, they are becomming just pets. The female chews on my fingers sometimes, but not hard enough to break the skin.

I do find my handling behaviour to be inconsistent otherwise, though. I have some small water snakes that I absolutely can not handle -- even though they are still small enough that I'm not sure when I've been bitten, I have only been able to pick them up by hand a couple times now. Conversely, I have no problems playing around with my monitors or some of my larger snakes that can actually do a bit of damage.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Get a gerbil.

 

[Philth]

I work for a pet shop here on LI, and i gotta say i have ben bitten by all those small animals. Dont get me wrong if I was a mouse , or a rat that was being stuffed in a box only to go home and be fed to a reptile I would bite also.
Although if I had the choice between a pet mouse or a pet rat I would pick the rat. Yes, they get bigger witch means more work and cleaning, but i also think they are smarter and seem to respond more to the person who cares for them.
My least favorite pet rodent is by far hamsters. People seem to think small and cheap equals a good pet. But thats not always the case. I sell alot of hamsters at my store, although I never recomend them. People think im crazy when they see me handling a G. pulchra or a large P. imperator. These are the same people that buy there kids a hamster after my hands are dripping blood from hamster bites, and after I recomended a bearded dragon or leopard gecko for a pet.

 

[druid8783]

I've worked in pet shops too....sheesh. You have to wonder about some people's intelligence.

The only time I ever got bitten by a rat was when I went to clean a mommy rat's cage. She wasn't too happy with me near her little ones.

Mice...ugh. I think they are very unpredictable. I've had a lot of mice as pets and they were moody.

Hamsters...AGH! Hellish creatures.

Gerbils...I love gerbils. I've been bitten once and that was because I woke it up from it's nap.

I've had all these for pets and my fave are the rats and gerbils. My ratties I have now are sweeties. They snuggle and give kisses and my one, Marbles, rides around on my shoulder.

My gerbils are so sweet too.

 

[Schlyne]

I would definately prefer pet rats over mice. Rats at smarter, a bit larger, and can be trained to do a lot of neater things. The bite is a bit worse, but rats don't stink like mice do.

 

[MyNameHere]

Get a gerbil.

Ha! I actually had a gerbil for a while for the sheer irony of it all, but found her a new keeper when I thinned my zoo a while back. Anyway, the urban legend to which you refer has been more than debunked. I'm always amazed that people don't stop to realise that there are plenty of toys out there that would give the same effect, but without the need for caging, feeding, and cage cleaning.

Anyway, yes I definitely prefer the rats to the mice. I think if the situation w/the cats was different I might have rats again. Maustifer was my first rat and, by far, the coolest rodent I've met. She used to ride everywhere w/me in my coat (usually in the armpit or just behind the collar). Once when I was at work I found she'd escaped her carrier and panicked until I found her sleeping in my coat, which was laying nearby. I never had any respiratory prob's w/her, either. Quite a delightful bonus to an already rockin' pet.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Anyway, the urban legend to which you refer has been more than debunked. I'm always amazed that people don't stop to realise that there are plenty of toys out there that would give the same effect, but without the need for caging, feeding, and cage cleaning.

Actually, I wasn't referning to an urban legend. I used to have gerbils as a kid and they were fun to watch and they never bit.

What's on your mind....

 

[MyNameHere]

What's on your mind....

TOYS!

Well, I believe you've referred to that urban legend before, anyway, so that's what made me think of it when you said the "G" word. And I'd still prefer pet rats over mice or gerbils.