Rats

[Ravienne]

Just curious as to whether anyone on this forum keeps rats. I had one a few years ago (I should have gotten him a friend, he was kind of lonely since I couldn't be home all that much; school + theatre = less free time than most jobs) and I enjoyed his company. Sadly, they only live three or four years, so he was gone quick. Rats just seemed like another "alternative" pet that invertebrate collectors might enjoy. Any of y'all keep them?

(Once I get my own place I think I'll get a couple. MUCH less work than a standard dog or cat, and cuter, too! At least, I think so.)

 

[mouse]

i had a few. i bought them , because we aren't allowed to have cats or dogs at the apt. that i live in. i wanted a pet for my daughter and got told to get a rat since hamsters have a habit of biting and rats would be more docile. they were right. ended up buying a few more, and between my daughter's and soon to be ex's "matchmaking skill" i ended up with 6 big multi story cages full of them .
but i had to give most of them away and the rest died.
dianne

 

[mimic58]

Sure i keep lots of rats,..... In the freezer

 

[MysticKigh]

I feed most of my snakes f/t, so aside from the rats in the freezer @<mimic>.... LOL, I also have two pet rats. One (Nicodemus) was a rescue (for lack of a better term) He is blind so no one wanted him as a pet and no one wanted to feed him to their snakes for fear he was unhealthy. And one (Jack) that was meant to be food but the snake wasn't interested and my son was, so he's a pet now as well. We also have a breeding pair of hamsters and a breeding pair of gerbils. I bred rats for years (dumbos) but gave it up for a cross country move so I'm enjoying have them around again. They are really wonderful pets, gentle,inquisitive, easy to care for etc

 

[xanadu1015]

I have three: Lucky, Geddy Lee and Sammi Blaze. I use to have another one before Sammi named Xandu but he passed away from Myco. Lucky is a champagne, Geddy Lee a black hooded and Sammi is a silver blaze. I have found that rats are wonderful pets. They can be trained to use a litter box, walk on a leash and are very clean. My mom used to keep rats so I have grown to adore them.

 

[Ravienne]

They can be trained to use a litter box, walk on a leash and are very clean.

I didn't know they made harnesses that small! I can just see a rat dragging its leash up begging for a walk, though.

 

[KingBollock]

I've had a couple of rats that loved being on the harness and riding on my shoulder while I walked outside. The last Rat I had didn't like being put on the ground though, he'd just freak and try to run up my leg. I haven't tried the harness on my new Rat yet, he's a funny little bugger and I don't think he's going to like it.

 

[becca81]

I had two but am down to one now. I left the cage unlatched outside one day and both rats escaped. Someone found one of them and brought her back a few days later. I haven't seen the other one since.

When they were little... (Venus and Serena)

 

[Herps&Inverts]

My rats!

I have 10. I am good friends with a rat rescue in the state of Oklahoma and I quite frequently make the 100 mile drive to adopt more. Most of our rats are hairless...I find that they're much more personable and intelligent than haired.

Below I have attached 3 photos. The first is one of our females named Blinkin'. The second is of Rex taking a treat from my mother. And the third is of Kanga...being sweet. Enjoy!

Sam

 

[Immortal_sin]

HERE is one of many rattie pet threads in this forum.
I still don't have any new ones, it breaks my heart every time they die.

 

[Joe1968]

I had 9 at one point, 2 of them are hairless and 2 are dumbo, rest are just regular. I got tired of them they dont get to live long.

 

[mimic58]

As it goes hes right , Crazy as it sounds you can actualy train rats atleast in a basic sence, If you call them by a set name every time imediatly prior to giving it a peace of food , after a while when you call the name the rat will come over to you expecting food i had a rat like that when i was a kid, Id call her she would come out of her den walk across the floor to me an hop up id give her like a peace of biscut or something an off she would run back to her cage with it

Btw i do still feel kinda guilty given them to the snake,,,,

 

[druid8783]

I used to have three rats. All of which have passed away.

They were great pets though. They don't live long but they make up for it with their personalities and such. Mine were all leash trained and one would ride around on my shoulder. I loved them so much and I miss them!

 

[Herps&Inverts]

Oh, I hardly believe that one can simply "train" a rat. They're highly intelligent creatures. While training can begin with the encouragement of simple behaviors, rats learn extraordinarily fast. We have rats that have been trained to roll over on their backs, wave, give kisses, jump up, walk up, go hide, etc. Most of these by command. We're not just talking about an animal that can equate reward with a simple act. Through the life of my rats, I've learned that they try new things to see if it is something you'll reward. For example, I had a rat that wouldn't just fetch something...she would fetch the tail of other rats on command. Of course, it usually started a fight because she tried to bring them back by the tail, lol. Either way, these critters are highly intelligent. The more you give them to exercise their intelligence, the more you'll see change in their behavior.

Sam

 

[Joe]

I bought a champagne hooded rex and a black hooded dumbo yesterday, so I now have 12 rats. I agree with whoever said that hairless rats are more personable, as my hairless pair are probably my friendliest and most eager to see me.

 

[Herps&Inverts]

Absolutely. My Noodle (hairless) will get himself out of bed, walk all the way over to me...just to lick my fingers and say hello. The rest need a bit of encouragement (ie. bread, fruitloop, cheerio, etc). For me, hairless rats tend to me more...more...well, screwy. My girls flip themselves upside down and walk across the top of their cages, they stick their heads out of the cages (they're wire) and pull things in from the outside (don't think I encourage this, though...). They're such nuts. Right now, one of my female hairless (Vyolet) has her head stuck out of the cage trying to nibble through the boys cage (that sits above her). They also re-arrange their bedding all the time. They're digging to China, I think

Thought you guys should know, lol.


Sam

P.S. Obscenity, dumbos are my fave...any pix of the black hoodie?

 

[Joe]

P.S. Obscenity, dumbos are my fave...any pix of the black hoodie?

Nope, not yet. I always plan on buying a digital camera, but then I end up spending my money on other stuff instead, like new rats and bigger cages. =D

 

[fiveohatch]

where do you guys find the hairless ones?

i had a bunch of rats when i was a little kid and loved them. sadly, most of them got tumors and died.

i kind of want to get one again. it was just fun letting them climb around on you and stuff.