Rat-itattat (Pics)

Well, I got some new rats yesterday to start my Rattery. Four in total. Two males and two females.

The females are still pretty young, I haven't handled them too much because they seemed kind of stressed yesterday. I've been letting them get settled in. Here they are. The hairless is Juneau and the Dumbo is Bambi.





The males are a bit older than the girls and a lot more comfortable with the world right now. Obviously the hairless boy has become my favorite. He loves to snuggle, which is because he has no hair and it keeps him warm, but I'm a mostly bald creature, too so I completely agree with snuggling. The other male is, Bobby, also a Dumbo. He's pretty sweet too, much more inquisitive than the hairless.

I chose the name Junkie for the hairless because he really seems to like sweet things, such as graham crackers. The first time I offered him a piece of graham cracker he snatched it right out of my hands and started eating it. So he's a Junk-food Junkie...













Thanks for looking!

Great pics Em! They are so cute!

I'm glad you think so! You can have one of their babies! :grin01:

I love this thread, they are sooo cute!!
They are such wonderful pets and are so much more than just "food"...
I have 4 as pets too, and won't own anything that eats rats...just mice.

I completely agree, Beth. I think rats make extremely good pets. Which is why any babies these guys produce will NOT be sold as snake chow, but as pets.

I've got the four of them separated. Males in one cage and females in the other to prevent any unexpected litters and from having too many. But this way they all have a buddy.

I have 4 right now...I had 2 males and lost one, so I got the survivor a pair of babies to introduce him to so he wouldn't be alone. They were feeders and skittish so I had to get them used to me before I could do that. Well he passed away before they were properly introed. Then I discovered that one of them was a female...so of course I had to get her a buddy, and the male a buddy, and now they live in seperate cages. I prefer males as pets, but wouldn't trade my crazy crew for anything. They are just plain kids, 2 pews, one black hooded and one black berkshire.
And I have 2 cages to clean....and 2 playtimes everynight in front of the tv...

The only bad thing about rats... is that they sometimes pass away unexpectedly. It's very hard when you're attached to them. But I think even a short time with such great critters is better than none!

I love playtime! My dogs make it hard for me to take the rats out and actually let them have an area on the floor to run around. But I do take them out and hold them and let them climb around on me, safe from prying dog noses.

Em Wright said:

The only bad thing about rats... is that they sometimes pass away unexpectedly. It's very hard when you're attached to them. But I think even a short time with such great critters is better than none!

I love playtime! My dogs make it hard for me to take the rats out and actually let them have an area on the floor to run around. But I do take them out and hold them and let them climb around on me, safe from prying dog noses.

Click to expand...

I don't have dogs or cats.... but I do have a loveseat with a waterproof plastic tablecloth over it, and 5 or 6 sheets, and every night my rats have playtime on the sofa with me and we watch tv together. First the girls come out, and then the boys after the girls go back. My husband has his own loveseat and the rats will visit him by running down my legs and hopping onto his foot and running up into his lap, and he gives them treats, which they take back onto my loveseat to eat.
They make us laugh and make everynight a circus in this house

A life without dogs or cats... must be VERY quiet! I'd miss mine, but I can certainly see how it could be nice not to have any, too.

Your rats sound very cute and charming. If you ever get any pics of them, please feel free to share them! (I'd love to see them)

Em Wright said:

A life without dogs or cats... must be VERY quiet! I'd miss mine, but I can certainly see how it could be nice not to have any, too.

Your rats sound very cute and charming. If you ever get any pics of them, please feel free to share them! (I'd love to see them)

Click to expand...

I LOVE dogs and cats....but work alot of hours and have over 40 snakes (that the hubby has nothing to do with, so a dog or cat at this point might be a bit tough), so the ratties are the creatures I have that give me love back, and they do!!

Me too, I love my dogs and cats, wouldn't trade them for the world. But they can be pretty high maintenance. Not that I'm complaining, really, but unlike snakes or rats you can't really put them away for the night and sleep easy. At least not with mine. My little Rat Terrier, Lady, takes up half of my pillows.

Crazy thing is, if she isn't there (or snuggling me at all) I don't sleep as well. I'm so used to her being there, when she's not it doesn't feel right.

I actually thought it might be due to allergies or something like that. I completely understand your reasons though and I think it's really awesome of you to put the animals first.

Very nice. :3

My buck is very curious and quite fearless. My berkshire girl was always jumpy, and after being loose in my room for 2 weeks or so, she's quite the wild rat. She's chubby so I'm giving her another week or so to see if she drops a litter, then it's to the CO2 chamber to be fed off. My hooded girl is a little jumpy when it comes to noises, but she's okay. She's not crazy about anything regarding me unless it's food, but she's okay to be petted lightly, and if you're slow, gentle, and use both hands she's typically okay with being picked up and held for a little, but she's not too crazy.

I'm getting two of the hooded girl's female pups (well, the only female pups that survived!) used to me, and they seem to enjoy snuggling up in my hair on my shoulder. They're mouse size now, so that's getting a little difficult.

But nice choice getting into rats. They're rewarding if you allow yourself to get attached to only the right ones. Make sure you get the babies socialized a bit with you, too, if you grow them up past the time from about 3 days before their eyes open. You don't want something to bite you when you touch it, and a calmer rat probably won't realize that a snake is gonna eat it if something requires live.

The rats in this thread are PETS only.....I won't even keep an animal that eats them.
I have kept rats as pets for over 7 years. I have gotten them from rodent rescues, and from breeders that breed for pets only, and from feeder breeders.
I have gotten them anywhere from 4 to 9 weeks old. If they are not socialized when I get them, I socialize them. It does not take long to transform a terrified baby into a sweet calm pet. They know they are safe with me, and always will be.

Yes, these rats and any babies I produce from them are PETS ONLY. I am not breeding feeder rats. Rats make great pets, I've only had them for two years, but I wouldn't feed them off. Mice I can do, but not so easily with rats. To me it'd be like feeding a snake a cat or dog.

I don't condemn you for feeding rats or anything, just wouldn't want to do it for myself.

Em Wright said:

Yes, these rats and any babies I produce from them are PETS ONLY. I am not breeding feeder rats. Rats make great pets, I've only had them for two years, but I wouldn't feed them off. Mice I can do, but not so easily with rats. To me it'd be like feeding a snake a cat or dog.

I don't condemn you for feeding rats or anything, just wouldn't want to do it for myself.

Click to expand...

I feel the exact same way, to me it is just like feeding a snake any other intellegent clean affectionate creature, like a cat or dog. I know most reptile keepers see rats as "just food", and it is something I can't change, so I must accept. But in my house they are friends, not food.