Anyone have a pet rat?
 

Okay, I know I'm nuts, so let me explain:

I'm taking this horrid required course called "Laboratory Animal Science." And I hate it. But that's not the point...the point is that this woman (the prof) brings in groups of rodents for 3 - 4 weeks at a time so we can learn about them, practice restraint, physical exams, and husbandry, etc. Now, when the unit it over (ie: mouse unit, etc.) these poor little buggers have to be adopted or else they're gassed and sent to The Big Hamster Wheel in the Sky. The whole thing is utterly appalling -- and considering the fact that everyone in my program (and thus, in the class) is there because they LOVE animals, you can imagine the state of our collective morale at this point....

ANYWAY. The rats are next in line to be gassed. There are TWENTY of them, including five babies. And considering the fact that there are only 18 people in the stupid class, these rats ain't all gonna be adopted and rat mass-murder looms on the horizon.

SO, Kate is feeling the need to rescue 2 of these little guys. Has anyone out there ever had a pet rat (or rats)? My prof keeps saying "Ooooh, they're such WONDERFUL pets!!" but this is the same woman who really seems to enjoy squishing them (as they scream) into these barbaric-looking "rat retraint devices" all the while telling us "OH it doesn't hurt a bit!" so I don't believe a word she says.

So my question for you is: do rats make good pets?

Also, I told her I had 3 cats and asked her, "Wouldn't that kinda freak out the rats?" To which she responded, "Ohhh, no! The rats won't even know the cats are there -- and it's good entertainment for the cats. Mine sit on top of the rat cage for hours." Any thoughts on THAT?

Thanks :)

By the way, this is the type of rat I'd be bringing home. Grass skirt and lei not included, of course ;) .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/image004.jpg

:fr: Like...no...I don't/haven't/won't have any rats for pets.

BUT...

I have been told that they are excellent pets and that the 'dumpster/alley variety' gives the nice variety a bad rap. I have a cousin that is married to our town's 'snake lady'...meaning that she has dozens of snakes and does shows with them and displays them, etc. Anyhow...guess what the snake food is. RATS. They have sheds of rats they breed soley for the purpose of feeding the evil snakes. It's horrendous. I've been there ONCE. I didn't even go inside. BUT, my cousin also said that they make great pets...but, similar to your professor, my cousin also takes these live rats and drops them in a snake cage to their sealed doom. As I said, I've been so this cousin's house once and will never go back again...it's like the little shop of horrors.

Anyhow...my cousin isn't the only person I"ve heard say that rats make great pets. I mean...as rodents go, that is. Actually, they aren't much different than squirrels other than their tails aren't fluffy. Right? But, then again, squirrels aren't known to be good pets.

Well, good luck to you...

There used to be a poster here named Noodles that has many pet rats. She loves them, and talks about them all the time.
As for the cat bit: well, I dunno. A friend of my mother's has gerbils and hamsters with cats. She has those little hamster balls for them, and every night the gerbils/hamsters get in the balls and go on the floor. The cats stare at them and occasionally bat the ball back and forth. The rodents can run (roll) away from the cats and aren't harmed by the experience.
My own cat freaked out when I tried to bring home a gerbil. The ESOL science teacher in the room next to me raised them, and the kids could take them home if the parents sent in written permission. She had a lot at the end of the year due to some janitorial staff not understanding that MALE gerbils and FEMALE gerbils were in separate cages! She released a lot of them into the fields behind the school because she couldn't find homes. I'm sure they are still there: the school had several fast food restaraunts nearby to provide food.
:mouse:

I don'thave any pets now, but I've had rats in the past, and they make FANTASTIC pets. I was a psych major in college, and learned to love the little guys. Their personalities are sort of a cross between a cat and a dog. They groom themselves a lot, like a cat, and they're usually very quiet, but they learn their names, and can even be taught tricks (You can get books, they have to be trained a little different than a dog). Males tend to be a little less active (real couch potatoes) so are more likely to be lap rats. Females are more curious.

Both of mine were females, though my first rat Gussy was a couch potato and loved sitting in my sweatshirt sleeve or pocket while I watched tv and pet her. My second rat, Pinky was a little more of a wiggle worm, and she would cuddle and sit to be petted and held for ten or fifteen minutes, and then wanted to explore. Though she would sit on my shoulder, sniffing my ears.

My husband and I fed treats from different sides of the cage, so Gussy learned to run to the "right" spot when we walked in the room.

It is really best to keep at least two (same-sex) rats, especially if someone will not be home all day to play with him/her alot. Females will often get along with non-littermates, but males that weren't raised together often fight. You don't have to worry about them not bonding to you, if you feed them by hand, handle them, and play with them, they will start to see you as another rat. Having two, they can amuse themselves when you're not around.

They're so much fun! Do a google search, and you will find bunches of sites on rat care and how great they are (yes, they're a little biased, and so am I).

Rats are great for people who wish they could have a cat or dog, but live in an apartment or don't have time to care for bigger pets.

A few months ago, I talked a woman and her son out of buying a gerbil at a petstore. Gerbils, hamsters, and mice are cute, but you can't really play with them much. Guinea pigs are a bit sturdier, but they usually are biters, where very few rats will bite, even when very scared (they're more likely to "wet" or leave a little pellet if they're frightened).

As for rats and cats, unless your cat has mousing experience (was a farm kitty, for example), you probably won't have any trouble at all. I would bring my rat to my mother's house when she had a dog and two cats (all around the 8 - 10 lb range), and they were a little curious about the rat and it's cage, and would sniff him nose to nose, and the cats would occasionally bat lightly at the cage. The rat having no experience with predators, wasn't afraid of the bigger animals, either. I could even have the rat in my lap and the dog or cat would come up and sniff the rat all over, like it was a puppy or kitten.

On the rat websites, you will even see photos of dogs or cats with a rat or two crawling on them, and seeiming to like the rat just fine. I think that can be a little dangerous because even if they get along in your presense, the rat's natural behavior might trigger predator responses.

I have never yet met a person who had a pet rat, that regretted it. Even my husband's grandfather brags about the rats he raised as pets when he was a kid.

Poor babies! :( Why don't they at least try to adopt them out? I've heard too that they make great pets. I'm a little freaked by rodent teeth but with some of the dog rescue stuff I've done I've come across tons of people with pets of all varieties that live well together. Good luck, whatever you decide. If you get them, post pictures. ;)

i used to have pet rats. They were awesome. My cats did ok with them. I couldn't leave the cats in the room alone with the rats, or they would bug them all day, but the rats really didn't seem to mind. My 3 year old son even held the one rat, and played with him. The other one wasn't as calm so I didn't let him hold that one.

Another cool rat fact, they come in all sorts of varieties. There are hairless (eww, I know), curly fur, long silky fur, low "dumbo" ears, tailess, and all sorts of colors, even siamese and himalayan (with markings just like the cats). They have husky and dalmation coat patterns (just like the dogs). My two rats were fancy rats. One was a soft pale "sky blue" gray, and another was champagne (sort of a peachy beige).

The females grow to be about 3/4 to 1 pound, but the males (especially if you feed them too much) can get to be 2 lbs or even more! My husband's pet rat he had when he was younger, looked like a "wild" rat. Technically the house rats (Norway species, I believe) are the same species, and can breed with the domestic rats. I saw one lady's website where she said that her dog had found a litter of baby rats in her barn, and had killed the mother. She raised the babies and bred them with her fancy purebred rats.

Wild rats can also be tamed, but I wouldn't recommend either because of the diseases wild rats can carry. When prisons were more barbaric, prisoners often made pets of the rats by sharing bits of their meals.

My daughter currently has a rat (same as you pictured) and I have had them before, THEY MAKE WONDERFUL PETS!!!!

The one she has actually opens its cage (who knows how) and is usually caught wondering around the house!! ( Once I nearly walked on it in high heal shoes!) Sometimes they can be smelly (not as smelly as mice). My daughter LOVES it.

They only live about 3 years (thus my choice for her pet to be one that doesn't live forever!)

Most people cringe at having "RODENTS" as pets, but they do make nice pets, and can be quite affectionate, you can even kitty litter train them! just put a chinese plastic tray in their cage (where they are pooing) put some litter and some of their poo in it, and soon they will only go in the tray, which makes them smell much better, and easier to keep clean!

And I have had a cat and rats, and the rats used to chase the cat most of the time! Just be careful when you start introducing them, and watch, if the cats just wants to get the rat, just keep them apart.

I too have rodents, but they are guinea pigs. I've had gerbils, mice, hamsters, pretty much everything but rats. All these little critters make great pets. They are really sweet and hardly every decide to nibble. I'm sure your cats will enjoy them too. I can just picture them sitting in a row with their tail tips twitching! My dog LOVES the guinea pigs and just hangs our with them all the time. Their cage top is open and on the floor (about a foot high) since they can't climb and the dog actually sticks his head in and them licks them! Anyway, I would highly recommend getting a couple. As someone else said rodents are social creatures so you would be best off getting a couple females or a male and a female if you get them/one fixed.

nope but Michael Jackson wrote a song for one "Ben" next question can cats and rats become pals like dogs and cats can well at least sometimes

I don't but to answer the cat vs rat question...There's a guy (vagrant?) who hangs out on the streets of Gatlinburg, TN - a huge tourist area - and has a fairly large dog that walks around with a cat riding on its back. The cat, in turn, has a rat that rides around on its back. They all do tricks with each other. It's all in the socialization.

Update :-)
 

Thanks for all your replies :)

I'm sold! I bought a "Rat High-Rise" yesterday, so I guess I really am committed. I'm excited because they're babies so I can really try to socialize them well :) . I'll be bringing them home in early December.

Thanks again everyone :) !

Ooh Kate,

I'm so excited for you. You will have so much fun with your ratties. The cage I had might be similar, it was three stories tall (the bottom being an aquarium).

If you search the rat owner websites you will find a lot of great toy ideas.

I bought a rope perch for parrots (the kind that can be attached to the wire side of the cage). You can cut off an old sleeve (from a fleece sweatshirt is perfect) and thread it through the rope. This creates a cute little hammock. If the rats don't figure out it's purpose, you can hide a few treats (like raisins or cat treats) in the sleeve, and they will figure it out. My Pinky loved sleeping in the hammock, especially when the room was a little cool. In the summer, you can use a cotton workshort sleeve.

I handwashed the sleeve every week.

I also bought a pair of little cat toy balls (with the bells inside). I threw one in her cage and used the other to ring before I gave her a treat. She completely ignored the toy at first, but after I'd been using the other as a dinner bell for a while, she started to play with the one in her cage - mostly in the middle of the night, or when I would first come into the room. I wondered if it was her way of trying to get a treat from me, or whether she just learned to like the sound of the bell, but because of when she seemed to play with it, I think she was trying to train me!

Are you picking girls or boys, do you know? Do you have names picked out yet? OMG, I am going through furbaby withdrawal (we can't have pets, and we won't be moving for a couple years - Darn it!).

Colleen

Hi Colleen :)

I was just reading a bunch of rat owner webpages, and it was cool to come back and read your post! A lot of the sites say that hanging bird toys, ladders, and perches are great rat toys. I'm getting a crash course in good bedding, litter, etc., too! Thanks for the tip on how to make a hammock! I've seen a bunch (mostly for ferrets) for sale online, but it would be great to make one myself. Question....wouldn't the rats chew at the material? Or doesn't that matter? I suppose they chew just about EVERYTHING, right? Is there any specific material (cloth, plastic, rope, etc.) I shouldn't put in their cage? I know cedar and pine are bad for rodents, but other than that I haven't a clue.

And what about feeding? My lab animal professor said regular commercial rat chow was fine, but when I looked online for rat food there were all these fancy food mixes, etc. Any opinions on that?

The cage I bought has 3 levels -- it's very cute, with ramps, etc.

I'll be getting two little boys -- I'm not sure of their ages, but they're pretty young. All my pets are named after TV/movie/or historical figures (yeah, I'm a dork). So I'm thinking of calling these little guys Hector & Paris from "The Iliad." I taught ancient history for 8 years, so it's somewhat appropriate. Plus, they're brothers...Then again, I was also thinking Hector & Achilles...or maybe Hector & Troy. I dunno. :dizzy:

Thanks for all the tips, Colleen! I really appreciate it! Please give me all the advice you can think of! I've had dogs all my life, but I'm a total newbiw when it comes to rats!

Hey Kate,

Great names!

Some rats are real chewers, some aren't. Pinky and Gussy chewed alot more when they were younger than when they grew older. I was really surprised they never chewed the hammock much at all. I didn't think about it first, because I had read the suggestion on a rat website, so I assumed it was safe.

The plastic items I was a little more concerned with (for choking more than safety, since I figured if it weren't toxic to cats or birds, which also sometimes eat their toys, it would probably be ok for the rat), so when I first put toys in, I'd watch them carefully and check over the toys every day to see if there were any problems, but they never really chewed plastic at all (maybe it tastes yucky).

I also put in dog biscuits and "greenies" for them to chew on. Lab blocks are the most balanced diet, and they're nice and hard so it wears on their teeth, though I've also fed them petstore rodent food (that listed rats on the label).

I have to admit that I am horrible when it comes to treats, although neither of my rats were overweight. I fed them the basic diet and a little bit of fresh veggies, but supplemented with pet treats and tiny bits of table food. One of their absolute favorites was little soft cat treats (liver, tuna, salmon, or chicken flavor). These are really rich, though so you don't want to give them more than a couple a week.

Rats can get "spoiled" when it comes to treats. Sometimes Pinky would take a little treat from me, and drop it on the floor and stick her paws through the cage bars for a "better" choice (I bought a box of hard cat biscuits they were only about the size of a small grape. The flavors were supposed to be cheese, liver, chicken, and vegetable. Pinky liked the cheese and the liver, but would drop the chicken and veggie until I gave her the preferred flavor, then she would run to the bottom of her cage and eat her treat. Raisins and pistachios were never dropped either, nor pieces of fresh fruit, like a little piece of apple or a strawberry. When I wasn't around, she'd eat the dropped bits, but she definitely would sucker me into giving her the treat she wanted.

Pinky was more a sucker for people food than Gussy. Once, I gave her a little cracker corner with a little cheese spread on it. She just about went nuts. She ate it, and then licked her little paws clean, and then some. She got up on the cage bars (front and back paws off the ground) and just shook - begging for more. Even the next evening, she threw the same little fit when I walked in the room, and dropped all three treats I tried to give her (I never gave her more than three little treats, including the dropped ones, so she rarely dropped the third treat even if it wasn't a "good" one).

They're so funny! They will train you if you let them.

One other thing. Not many rats are amused for long with the running wheels." And the rat size ones are often fairly expensive. Babies can use the hamster wheels, and since you can find them so much cheaper, it's worth "trying" the hamster wheel while they still fit in it. Then if they like it, you can buy a rat wheel when they grow out of it. If they ignore it, you're not out as much money.

Neither of my rats went for the wheel at all (though I hear that males are more likely to use the wheel than females), but both liked the plastic rat-sized "hamster balls," although they just sat it in the first few times. It took them a while to realize that they could explore in it. You really have to get the rat size ones, and with males you may actually eventually have to get the ferret sized balls - if they're a solid ball with air holes instead of air slits. You don't want a ball with slits large enough for their tail can get caught in.

If you're a dog person, you wil LOVE rats, because as you handle them more and more they will just eat up the attention, and act like little doggies.

One warning that many women rat owners should know. They seem to catch on real quick that a bra (while the wearer is still in it) makes the BEST hammock. You will either learn to accept it (and the sight and feel of a rat peeking out of your cleavage) or teach them early that this isn't a place you want them to be, especially since your little guys will grow up to be at least a pound a piece. (Hey but what an interesting way to fill out a DD bra, if you only need a AA or B).


Colleen

I use to have one as a kid, it was call Roland after a kids TV show about a Rat called Roland! I am sure some UK people would rememember that! :)

Hmmm,
 

I had a pet rat once.

I married the summ*****.

I don't have a pet rat anymore.

PDX

Ahhhh ...

I have enjoyed the company of 3 pet rats over the years ~ Hubert, Scooter and JellyBean (1 boy, 2 girls).

They are awesome pets and quite smart. They can be quite entertaining as well.

They are lucky boys to have found someone so caring to take them in. :angel:


Karen

When our son was little he had a pet rat named "Sniffy". He was very tame and would love to be petted. We let him run loose sometimes and he eventually managed to chew through all of our venetian blinds cords! Once, I opened the front door to greet a friend with Sniffy on my shoulder and she really freaked out! I would sometimes forget that not everyone loves rats :lol:. They make great pets because their litter doesn't smell awful like that of mice and hamsters.

We also had a huge pet tarantula "Harry Spider" that we found on our front lawn - we lived in Southern California at the time. I didn't pet Harry but he was quite friendly (for a spider).

What a cool thread! Now I can gush about my two baby boys to people other than on the South Beach Diet thread :D! I just got 2 rats as pets last Sunday. They are two little boys, Percival and Alfred. Percival is a white "lab rat" with the pink eyes and Alfred is white with a black head and shoulders. They are about 3 months old and are a little longer than my palm. They're so sweet and are starting to calm down and not be so skittish. I bought them a cage called The Rat Lounge. It's a decent size for two soon to be adult rats. I put in a hammock which they havent used yet, a bed shaped like a car which they chewed up, and an igloo that they like to nest in. They really have cool little unique personalities. Alfred is more mischievious and Percival is more gentle and calm. They also do this weird teeth grinding thing when they're happy. Sort of like a cat's purr. Today for the first time they climbed out of their cage onto my arms all on their own. I was a proud rat mama, that's for sure. I'm so happy with my new babies. And my dog and cat don't seem to mind them at all. The rats even try to climb all over the dog. It's a little soon for me to trust them doing that but maybe in the future. My dog seems so concerned about them and is always licking and sniffing them. So, if you can't tell already, YES!!!, rats make fabulous pets!!! Have fun with yours!

I'm getting so EXCITED now!! :carrot:

Thanks so much for sharing all your rat experiences! It's not the kind of animal I ever would have thought of getting -- I've had turtles, geckos, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. but never even THOUGHT about rats! And I'm thrilled to have just kind of stumbled into this!

I can't wait to see how my Basset reacts to the rats -- she was (I swear) totally in love with my Mexican mud turtle. They used to hang out together sometimes (supervised, of course). She kept going to the corner of the study where his aquarium had been for weeks after he died -- I really think she was looking for him :( . I bet she'll LOVE the rats.

Colleen, thanks for the tips. I forget if I asked you about rope...there are a lot of hanging bird toys that have rope and bells and things. Are those okay for rats? And I was looking at a sisal bird perch (about 12 inches long) for them to crawl on...is sisal (rope) okay? I'm soooo ignorant about rats!

LOL. I spent the afternoon re-organizing the spare bedroom so the rat cage will be in a nice corner spot :) .

I'll keep everyone posted....I'm hoping I can bring them home before the end of the semester as the rat unit ends on Friday.

Hi Kate,

I think any bird toy will be fine for the rats (birds chew their toys too, and the have much more delicate respiratory and digestive systems than rats), so you'll be fine.
The hammock rope was soft and cottony, but I also had a hanging toy that was brightly colored wood beads on a raffia type rope with dyed seashells and jingley bells, and such (it was a monstrosity for parrots). I thought it would really peak their interest, but they ignored it completely.

toys that have hiding spots are great, like the little igloo "doghouses." Rats will tip food and drink bowls every time, so use a lab bottle for drinking water. My rat cage opened on the top level, so that's were I put the food bowl. I bought a little ceramic bowl and had to "ziptie" it to the cage or it would be dumped out five minutes after I filled it. Even so, Pinky especially would pick out the "best bits" and run all the way down to the bottom (aquarium tank) and hide them in the litter. Gussy would eat bits in front of me, but Pinky always ran to the bottom of the tank in a corner.

A fun rat game (that I found online) is to put a towel in the bottom of the tub (for traction and to contain the rat or rats), and put a pan of water (no deeper than a couple inches) in the tub with some frozen peas or corn, and let them "fish." This is also great to get them used to water, so if you do have to bathe them, they don't panic in the tub or sink.

They usually will clean themselves very well, but if they get something yucky on their fur you don't want them to eat, or if they've gotten super stinky, you can wash them with a little kitten/puppy shampoo. If there's just one icky spot, spot clean with a damp cloth. If they need a full bath, you may be able to give them a bath under softly running warm water without too much trouble, just avoid getting shampoo/water in their eyes and nose. I always washed them only up to just behind the ears. Gussy never did get used to it, but Pinky actually seemed to enjoy the warm water, unless ANY water got on her face. Then again, I had to wash Pinky more often because she didn't seem to mind being stinky and would lay in the same spot she wet. Gussy had much better hygeine, and if you picked her up and sniffed her fur, she almost always smelled nice and clean.

Funny little critters. Each does very much have it's own personality.

Colleen

There are some great books on rat care, and most are fairly cheap. I can't remember the title of the one I had, but it had a rat sitting on a rubik's cube and was something about owning and training pet rats. You'll have to learn to look for signs of their teeth being overgrown, so you know when to have their teeth trimmed if necessary. You can do it at home, but if you're afraid to, a vet will do it fairly cheaply (often under $10.00). Gussy's teeth grew faster than normal because her teeth didn't line up properly, and even so I only had to have it done every four to six months. For Pinky only once or twice a year, and some rats chew enough to do fine on their own (the "concrete" type chewing block can help). If you do it yourself, use a cat's nail trimmer (the kind that the claw is supposed to stick through a little hole and a little guiottine cuts off the claw). You might want to watch the vet do it at least once, because you don't want to trim them too short.

Happened to see this thread and thought I'd pipe in also. I was never a rat person but our youngest dd has had about every pet ever thought about, including a really cool female rat named Kitty. I was scared to death of Kitty at first as I am not fond of rats, mice, gerbils, etc. She won over my heart, though. Kitty lived 4 years and was one of the best pets we've ever had. DH is a Special Ed. teacher and Kitty lived in his classroom during the school year for a couple of years, so dd could play with her after school and at our home during school breaks. The kids love her and Kitty was their reward if they got their work done on time. She never bit anyone so she was a safe pet for the classroom.

DD had a gerbil and a mouse prior to Kitty and neither of them were as hardy or nice as Kitty (the mouse liked to bite and was an escape artist). Kitty never got out of her cage on her own. We had a cat in the house always and never had any problems. The cat and Kitty would watch each other but we never left Kitty outside her cage alone.

DD rescued a rat named Splinter during her first year of college. Poor thing had lived in a cage in a basement it's whole life. When its owner graduated, dd's roommate had said she would take it but never did go get it. It lived for a month without anyone caring for it. Splinter was a bit more reclusive than Kitty had been (I think he'd been neglected and maybe even abused). But, he was still sweet and had a good last year of life. Just this weekend, she came home from college with a hairless rat for a friend as they couldn't find one locally. I'd never seen one before but it seemed pretty sweet also.

I would definitely recommend a pet rat as they are so much calmer and easy to take care of than many other pets. And, 10 years ago, I'd probably have said you were crazy if anyone had said I'd ever utter words of praise for a rat. :dizzy:

Currently I have 8 of the little ladies :D They do make wonderful pets :) They're like a dog and a cat combined in a cute little rattie body!! :) Not to mention if you do something wrong in their eyes, they yell at you! The picture of the hooded black and white you showed is so adorable! Looks kind of like my Gus! :)

Boy rats get quite big and I've noticed are love peeing on the whites of their hair while it seems females are quite cleaner and take pride in their coats ;)

However, they are tons of fun and make wonderful pets :)

This thread has made me so ratsick that I had to make a trip to the petstore. My husband was a little reluctant as we can't have pets in our apartment, and he thought I would fall in love with one I couldn't take home.

Well, he was right. But I still had so much fun watching all the little critters.

(FYI: hooded rats are white rats with a solid colored head (hood) and matching stripe down their back. If they have no stripe, they are called capped rats).

There was a lovely hooded female that I would have loved to take home. She was all white, with a champagne blonde hood and instead of a solid spine stripe, there was a neat column of matching spots down her back. She was just so CUTE!!!

For a petstore, I was amazed at all the different coat colors/patterns.

I SO cannot wait until we can have pets again!

Colleen