Earlier this spring, I was at a county animal shelter where there was a critter not listed on the shelter’s online adoptables: a chubby black-and-white rat (marked like a skunk in reverse, with a black stripe down his back) who came out of his hidey-hole to come and visit with me. I definitely had to inquire about this little guy, but let’s just say they were shocked that he had an adoption inquiry. The shelter manager was so disgusted by the rat that she offered to give him — and his nice, two-story cage — to me for free.
His backstory was that he was kept by a guy at a group home, who left the rat when he left the home. So I thought of good inmate names to give him — I’ve been calling him Red, a la The Shawshank Redemption. He’s 2 years old, so he won’t be around much longer, but he’ll get spoiled in the meantime. He’s obviously aged, as well — his fur is coarse and scrungy, and he prefers a nap to much running action (he makes really clear he prefers his cage to anywhere else).
(Oh, and he has a nose, just moved for the shot)
Prepare to be amazed. Those little snakey tailed critters, especially the fellas, lol, will completely steal your heart.
I honestly think God likes to put some of His greatest treasures, in to the most unexpected places ; )
I’ve always thought rats were beautiful; same with mice. They are very intelligent, more than most people give them credit for.
too, too cute…thanks for the story!
Amazing that they all get along, must be because they have a good-hearted alpha.
“And he promised not to tell about the piece of french fry I let him eat.”
Just don’t let Michelle Obama find out. . .
an 11, 2012 Video shows just how un-sure ‘Mitt Romney’ is about almost everything in the world, See for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQwrB1vu74c&feature=related
Could you at least TRY to stay on topic? It’s not that hard.
He’s just following the campaign strategy.
Um, I thought the topic here was about cute, furry rats, not ugly, wart covered trolls.
BTW, I think rats eat trolls, don’t they?
AEWD to get a word in edgewise. You must be desperate.
Amazing little animals. We have a one-eyed rescue we raised from a baby – affectionate and smart. He loves a sling-type platform that attaches at several points to the top of the cage. Much like a hammock and I would imagine very comfortable. Agree with you on the Carefresh Natural!! Our boy gets a little smelly otherwise!
I trust that you are a fellow fan of Pixar’s Ratatouille? It is near the top of my list of Pixar films.
Congrats on your ratty! Remember…no raw peanuts for rats. No salted either. Only unsalted and roasted. It prevents absorption of key nutrients and can result in health problems including coarse fur. But your rat is old, so that is probably the cause of the coarse fur.
Had two when my children were at home, Reepicheep and Chocolate Chip. They were personable, friendly and intelligent (much more so than hamsters). Somewhere I have a photo of Reepicheep balancing on top of a book I was reading. Neither ever bit or tried to run away and hide.
Hate to be the one to bring another view to all the warm and fuzzy rat love, I did grow up in a neighborhood inundated with roof rats. They were freakin’ nasty! I have lived in a couple other places with rat inundations. You can have ‘em!
This is about PET rats, not wild rats. They’re thoroughly domesticated; they’ve been selectively bred for a century and a half to be docile, gentle, and affectionate.
When someone starts talking about getting a dog, do you tell them they’re nuts for wanting to let a wolf into their house?
I used wear one of of those Dutch Hooded rats on my neck and paraded it around the neigbourhood. Quite a few other children liked them so my family bred a few and sold them for 50 cents each. Anyway, we use to let them loose under the bed covers and around the lounge and they’d always find some place that makes retrieval very difficult like inside the base of the couch or behind the water tank. Nice pets. Very ticklish when they stick their nose in your ear or nibble on the toenails.
Buy a rat wheel.
I had a Russian Blue rat in college named J.R. (stood for “Just Rat”), he was super cool and extremely cute. Supposedly Russian Blues can be trained to do all sorts of things, but I never had the time or patience to try. He did, however, used to sit on my knee and watch tv with me. Get Red one of those plastic rat balls so he can run around the house without getting hurt/lost/stepped on.
Over a year ago, in the dead of winter, I noticed some critter dropppings in a kitchen drawer. Having experienced this before, I knew there was a mouse somewhere. Couldn’t get rid of the last one. Upended the toaster one morning in the yard just to put him back outside. By nightfall, he was back in the house. When I found him again, he was older and grayer and felled by old age. So I had another one to deal with. And I have. Differently this time. Every night I put out a teensy bowl and fill it with cereal bits, nuts, craker pieces, and I even gave him a french fry last night. He is a nightly visitor, shows up around 8:30 each night, running along the counters, hopping around the cannisters, grabbing a piece of food and disappearing for a while. He is fascinating to watch. Since he has a steady food supply, even the warmer weather hasn’t compelled him to give up the gravy train and once in a while I see him sunning himself outside by the front door. I know he is a rodent. They carry diseases. But..Can’t help it. He’s so small, defenseless, and very entertaining. The Shawshank Redemption wasn’t the inspiration for his name. For me it was the Green Mile: Mr. Jangles. Or Mr. J for short. As much as I enjoy him though, I hope his fate is more realistic than his namesake. I thoroughly enjoyed your column. And I get it!
Rats are endearing, IMO. I recall getting attached to our group’s rat in bio class at LaGrange College. I was actually sad when we had to snuff him (experiment was how castration shrinks the seminal vesicles).
Giant rats; some the size of kitty cats.
Unlike cats, rats are social creatures. If you have just one rat as a pet, he’s going to feel lonely and unhappy.
It’s advised that if you’re going to have a pet rat, get a pair: one male and one female, to keep each other company. (Yes, you’ll probably end up with more rats. But you can give those away.)
The point about rats being social creatures who need company is absolutely right. But the rest of that is bad advice.
A companion rat does NOT have to be the opposite sex to provide companionship. I have a decade of experience with pet rats, and I’ve seen numerous pairs and groups that were all the same sex and who got along tremendously.
Breeding rats at home and assuming you can easily give them away is irresponsible. I foster pet rats for an animal rescue group, and I can tell you from experience that competent, responsible adopters for rats are not easy to find. You cannot just hand them over to the first person who thinks they are cute and might be fun to have around. Adopters have to know how to properly care for rats, what to feed them, how much cage space they need and how to furnish it (for example, having them walk on metal mesh all the time will give them a disorder called bumblefoot), and so forth. Adopters also need to commit to paying for veterinary care if it becomes necessary, and have a veterinarian who knows how to treat rats (not all do).
I can also tell you that rescues and animal shelters already have more rats than they can place because of amateur breeders, incompetent pet stores (who don’t know, or can’t be bothered, to figure out which sex their rats are and keep the segregated), and clueless pet owners who put a male and female together, get a litter of fourteen pups, and then think they can just give them all away.
Pro tip: Most rescues spay and neuter their animals before making them available for adoption. Mine does; in fact, I dropped of my three foster female rats this morning to be spayed. So if you want to put males and females together WITHOUT becoming an amateur breeder, you can adopt spayed or neutered ones from a rescue.
Bridget, if you want to find a companion or two for Red, I recommend petfinder.com. It’s a site where rescues list their adoptable animals, and would-be adopters can search for available critters in their area. Set “Animal” to “Small & Furry”, type “rat” in the Breed field, type your zip code in the Location box, and click the Search button. Your PJM profile says you live in Washington, DC, so I typed that in Location and found that there are over fifty adoptable rats within 100 miles of you. Most have already been neutered or spayed.
The coarseness of Red’s fur probably doesn’t have anything to do with age; some rats just have coats like that. And his preference for naps over running around is typical for males. Female rats tend to be much more active; the males are more laid-back and easygoing, and some are downright lazy.
Two years is an advanced age, but it’s not unusual for pet rats to live to their third birthday or beyond. Make sure you have him checked out by a rat-savvy veterinarian to make sure he doesn’t have any preexisting conditions. The two most important things to watch for are respiratory infections (listen for any wheezing or other abnormal breath sounds) and tumors (any unusual growth or swelling under the skin).
There’s a lot of information about rat care online, but to get started, you may want to drop by a pet store and pick up a book on rat care. There are several of those, and I think they all provide a decent grounding in the basics of taking care of a pet rat.
You mentioned that Red’s cage came with wood shavings in the bottom. The Carefresh you replaced it with is great for rats, but if you ever go back to using wood shavings, be sure to avoid cedar. It gives off aromatic hydrocarbons and acids that are toxic to rats and can damage their lungs. Aspen chips are fine, although I personally prefer to give them softer bedding like the Carefresh.
Make sure the staple of his diet is a kibble or lab block that’s formulated for rats and is nutritionally complete. I’ve tried several kinds and have had best results with Regal Rat from Oxbow, but your mileage may vary.
P.S. Based on your picture, I think Red is adorable. The first pair of rats my family adopted, back in 2002, were hooded rats like Red, and we were struck immediately by how beautiful their coats were. But it was their sweet and unique personalities that really won us over. We have been rat lovers ever since. They are wonderful pets.
Rats are fairly prominent players in the book “Animals and the Afterlife.” The author, Kim Sheridan, is a long-time rat owner and fan. That might actually be source of information, as Kim has taken in rats over the years and seen their lives from birth through death repeatedly as rats have short lifespans. Anyway, Kim Sheridan might be worth looking up as I think they (she and hubby) have products for rats, also.
More on these engaging little creatures here:
http://www.docmercury.com/ratville
When I was young I had pet gerbils, hamsters and rats at various times. Rats were by far my favorite of the three. The hamsters and gerbils never really learned to trust me. I would have to fish them out of their cages. If they got loose, it was always an ordeal getting them back. The rats soon learned to come to me when I reached for them. I would often walk around with them perched on my shoulder, where they would occasionally stick their nose in my ear and sniff around (an interesting sensation). Nowadays I occasionally give my young daughters “rat kisses”, putting my nose right up against their ear and sniffing really quickly for a few seconds.
As far as care goes, rats really don’t need much specialized attention. There’s a reason they’re so prolific in the wild, and it’s not because they are finicky creatures. If you get more than one, learn how to distinguish the males from the females. I ended up with over 70 rats before learning to effectively separate them.
I had a pet rat as a child. Her name was Sydney. I loved that little critter. My brother was all into Egyptian things when Sydney died, so we buried her with things to take into her “afterlife.” Food, toys, etc.
Rats make incredibly good pets.