Couple of my rat breeders... So sweet...

[sfaoldguy]

I have been raising mice and started raising rats a few months ago and love these guys... They are so affectionate and sweet... I had a wheel in there to run on that I payed way too much for at the local pet shop, but they never touched it... Correction, they got on it once and when it started to spin, they got scared and avoided it ever since lol... To give them a little exercise, I cut some rods and made a little junge gym for them to play on...

The big blue one is the male and the black and white is the female... They jump up to the top everytime I come by so I will pick them up and play with them lol... I have left the top off of these guys for hours at a time and come back to see them still in there playing... Once the mother got out right before she was about to give birth and got into my bookbag and turned my papers into a nest lol...

Well, I hope you like the pics...

 

[Brizzle]

Aw, I love rats. Mine have grown so fast. They're only about 2-3 months old. They're brothers and always cuddle and play. They're so adorable. They like it when I hold them on their backs and scratch their bellies. Here are my babies..
Bullwinkle..

And Rocky..

 

[sfaoldguy]

Awww... They look so cute and chubby lol... I noticed in the last little born that the males get much larger much faster than the females... They are not pictured, but are a few months old also and the alpha male is 50% larger than the females...

 

[sfaoldguy]

Oh yea... I sold a couple of rats to neighborhood kids and one of them brought it by to give me an update and it was so funny... His rat rides on his shoulders all over and gets inside his hood when it wants to be alone... It was really cute to see the little girl eating a peanut inside the kids hood...

 

[Brizzle]

Haha..That's cute..I let my boys sit with me on my shoulders..I just always make sure I have on old shirts..They seem to poop and pee a lot..Haha..But I love them anyway..I spoil them..As you can tell from their chub..
I never knew rats were so affectionate till I got my boys. They haven't bitten me or anything. I can mess with their mouths and it doesn't bother them. And they'll lick and nibble me whenever I scratch them in the right places. Haha.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Haha..That's cute..I let my boys sit with me on my shoulders..I just always make sure I have on old shirts..They seem to poop and pee a lot..Haha..But I love them anyway..I spoil them..As you can tell from their chub..
I never knew rats were so affectionate till I got my boys. They haven't bitten me or anything. I can mess with their mouths and it doesn't bother them. And they'll lick and nibble me whenever I scratch them in the right places. Haha.

That just makes me awww some more... And yea, male rats don't have very good control of their bladders... My female and has never urinated on me any, but I do get the occassional poop lol... My male urinates every time...

One of the kids had originally bought a male and the first night it peed on his mother so she made him bring it back and get a girl... :roflmao:

 

[Brizzle]

Hahaha. That's funny. Mine pee on me all the time..I just kinda got used to it even though it sounds gross.
So do you breed them and sell them or are they feeders? Or both?
I bought mine from a local breeder. Someday I want some hairless rats.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Hahaha. That's funny. Mine pee on me all the time..I just kinda got used to it even though it sounds gross.
So do you breed them and sell them or are they feeders? Or both?
I bought mine from a local breeder. Someday I want some hairless rats.

I breed them for pets... I have a boa now that eats rats, but I will probably trade these to the local pet store to be sold as pets and feed the boa their f/t rats... I spend time with these so they will be used to people, but I have culled one out to feed to the boa that had a mental problem of some sort...

If you were from around here, I would say go to the local pet store here because they have tons of hairless right now lol... To be honest, their's are really ugly... LOL...

 

[Brizzle]

Haha. I think hairless are funny looking..but they're kinda neat.
I love dumbos though. The ears make them look like such babies. Rocky is a dumbo and I think he looks too cute. Haha.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Haha. I think hairless are funny looking..but they're kinda neat.
I love dumbos though. The ears make them look like such babies. Rocky is a dumbo and I think he looks too cute. Haha.

The dumbos ARE adorable... There are a couple for sale right now... I may have to pick them up tomorrow...

 

[piscesgirl1984]

I used to have rats as pets and they will amaze you all the time. The rat in the second pic looks like my Penny did. She was potty trained, name trained, leash trained, you name it. She would never pee on anyone but she would scent mark. Basically, they just pee a little. That could be what they are doing. Also, they tend to potty train themselves, so if you add a small dish or something with a different type of litter (I used rabbit food pellets), you'll find cage clean up much easier. I miss my girls and will get more eventually, but with school and work I don't really have the time. People may look at you funny when you say you have them as pets, but I've converted some hamster/gerbil owners to rats. And be careful, they like to leave "raisins" as gifts in purses, backpacks and hoodie pockets. May your ratties live long and happy.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Yea, I have been given a few of those raisins lol... I have not "trained" these guys yet but they love affection and the treats so come running when we enter the room... I baught a book to learn how to train them... I own mice and hamsters also, but the rats are my favorites by far...

 

[tom e]

I had a big black male named Vlad when I was in high school. He was very playful too- kind of played like a cat, he'd swat my hand with his paws and ran away, hide under a book shelf and pounce again later. I don't think I ever really kept him in his cage except when I would be at school.
They really are one of the most under-rated pets I think. They seem to be so much more like dogs/cats than mice.
Good to see 'em represented, even if under the "Feeder" Forum!

:grin01:

 

[Jessicat]

Rats need HUGE wheels to be able to use them adequately. Weanlings like them, but I've never had one large enough for any adults to run on.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Rats need HUGE wheels to be able to use them adequately. Weanlings like them, but I've never had one large enough for any adults to run on.

Yea, I baught that HUGE wheel and it just sits on a shelf now... I left it in there a couple of weeks but it just took up space... Since it was so big, it tended to be wabbly which I think contributed to them not liking it...

 

[Flagg]

I've found that females will use a wheel and males will never touch it. It helps if they are exposed to it from a young age or if one of them uses it a lot the others will learn to run on it.

When I was socializing the keepers from my first litter of rats last year, once they had their eyes open I would always put the pups back in their cage in the wheel so they would get used to it. Those females are still wheel maniacs and run on it almost all night long.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Those females are still wheel maniacs and run on it almost all night long.

Not sure if that is what I am aiming for... LOL... :crazy02:

 

[Flagg]

Well, that's why you need a good quiet wheel.

I figure all the exercise makes them and their occasional litters leaner and healthier.

 

[Plissken]

They are really cute. I'd like to keep a few rodents, but just don't have the space at the moment.

 

[sfaoldguy]

Well, that's why you need a good quiet wheel.

I figure all the exercise makes them and their occasional litters leaner and healthier.

I was making a joke.