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And people think I'm strange for wanting a pet rat... (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by shadow8449

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[–]amoliski 6 points7 points ago

I had three pet rats, they were fantastic pets. I was surprised at how clean they were.

It was incredibly easy to potty train them - we had to move their droppings to a pan of kittly litter ONE time, and from that point on, they never went to the bathroom anywhere else unless they were protesting a messy cage.

They fought once, and we sprayed one with a spray bottle and they immediately stopped fighting and started working together to groom the wet patch. It was adorable.

If we had a hoodie on, they would climb up our pants leg and snuggle into the pocket or the hood.

They ate the insides of peas somehow, leaving the outer 'shell' behind. They loved beer.

The only bad thing is they have a very short life span.

[–]Relvnt_to_Yr_Intrsts 4 points5 points ago

as much as I love rats, I've got to take some issue with this. You should never try to train your rats not to fight. It's a healthy and natural behavior for them. They aren't trying to hurt eachother, rats even have a special part of their skin made for being bitten with no nerves in it. It helps them build social bonds and rats that don't fight are usually a lot more stressed and unhappy than those that do. It's tough for people to understand, I think because to the untrained eye a rat fight looks really alarming (they will squeal and crash around and raise a ruckus) but for them it's play. Now rats will also fight for territorial rights, but only 3 (plus or minus 2) times. After that, the loser will always respect the winner's dominance and they will get along great.

Rats HATE getting wet. They hate it to the point that if their cage is wet for too long, they can become so unhappy they will kill themselves. Spraying them with water is used in the lab as an extreme environmental stressor in order to study depression and anxiety disorders.

Also rats totally do love beer, and its safe to give to them (in moderation).

[–]amoliski 3 points4 points ago

That's a good point. I didn't realize how much they hated getting wet, I guess the good point is we only did it once.

Basically, it happened the first time, we kinda got freaked out and gave one a little spray, they stopped, we said awwwww. I actually looked up the behavior online and realized it was normal, so we knew not to stop them again if they started fighting. They probably did when we weren't around, but we never saw it again.

We just let them lick the droplets left on the caps on the rare occasion that we had beers open.

Thanks for the info though. Good to know.

[–]Relvnt_to_Yr_Intrsts 3 points4 points ago

I freaked out the first time it happened to me too, but luckily someone more experienced was on hand to tell me about rat behavior. There have actually been studies that suggest that rats actually laugh and giggle while they're playing with eachother, but the sound is too high frequency for humans to hear. But it's cute to think about :)

[–]hypergolic 2 points3 points ago

What is their life expectancy? That would be the toughest thing for me.

[–]amoliski 4 points5 points ago

2-3 years. Just long enough to fall completely in love with them :C

[–]zt666 2 points3 points ago

This ;_; "Rats are the worst pets. They make you fall in love with them, and then they die."

[–]Chelseaalana 4 points5 points ago

My stepson just decided we needed a pet rat now. He immediately picked out a stuffed animal out of his room for it.

[–]shadow8449[S] 2 points3 points ago

I think we can start a revolution with this photo

[–]SpazFactorial 3 points4 points ago

I always wanted a pet rat. They're actually very smart, and pretty loyal. The only thing that stops me from getting one is that they're only live about 2 years.

[–]Fvckswag_8732 4 points5 points ago

Now I want one :'(

[–]Applepica 2 points3 points ago

Had pet-rats when i was a teenager, adored them! Very clean and potty-trained. I used to take a small cage with me when we would go on outings, when they had to go, or wanted a drink or snack they would lick my earlobe to let me know they wanted back in the little cage. In my room they ran free exept for a shoebox where they slept and a litterbox to go potty on :-). They loved the Jungle-gym i made for them, love to play "tag" with eachother. My rats loved to swim and play with water (???) but only on warm days and not at night...and they would stand up after swimming and hold their paws out to me like they're saying: done now mummy, please dry me! I miss them, will talk to husband... maybe he'll agree to it if I show him these pic's! Thanks!

[–]DerpinNinjaa 1 point2 points ago

NOT ONLY DID I AWW BUT I WENT UP A FEW OCTIVES AND YELLED IT

[–]FireInsideHer 1 point2 points ago

I have two little boys named Roscoe and Winston. They're incredible little pets. They're so friendly and unique. I had wanted rats since I was really little and I just got them two months ago. Some of the best pets ever.

[–]feronordie 1 point2 points ago

The first pic looks like a cuddly Igor :D

[–]polarregression 1 point2 points ago

as a rat owner, it is not at all strange! they're the sweetest little things ever. They're super clean, too. and really social. If ya get one, then i suggest getting another as well, because they like company. I have sister rats, and they're best friends.

[–]highfructoscornsyrup 0 points1 point ago

I had a rat once. One day my parakeet got out and while flying around like a mindless fuck it landed on his cage. The rat pulled the bird through the bars of the cage and proceeded to viciously murder and eat its brains.

I love rats but they're not to be fucked with.

[–]necromundus -3 points-2 points ago

Think of all the karma you could get for rescuing them out of dumpsters.

[–]Mustelover -1 points0 points ago

Wild rats can actually be tamed(I think two of the most common types of wild rat is the brown Norway rat and the roof rat, but I may be mistaken) they make great pets wild or domestic, and I think they are cute regardless.

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