new rat baby

[mzdolittle]

Actually, he's not a baby rat, but he is my baby. I just adopted a hairless male named Rufus. He is 6 months old and as sweet as he can be. He likes to come out and snuggle with me each evening. He is the 7th rat that lives with me, now. He has his own cage, because I don't like it when the hairless rats get scratched from normal playing and boxing with the other rats. Since he does have his own "room" he gets a lot of attention. The only thing is, I like to read a lot and he keeps "tasting" my books. The solution? I give him his own (already read) old paper backs to shred while I am reading, then I just put his shredded one in the cage for him to use as a bed. He's happy and I'm happy.

[Amanda]

Hello and welcome mzdolittle! I'm so glad to have a rat-lover on this board. My son originally saw a Senegal parrot at the petstore (a few months ago) and we considered getting it for him, but then decided that we have enough birds. This month, however, my son has been asking for a pet rat for Christmas. He says that his friend at school has one and that they are "so neat". We went to the petstore this past weekend to look at the rats and they all seem nice, but my husband and I are not sure what they are like as pets. Can you tell me more about your rats and what they are like as pets? I'm still not sure if I want my son to have a pet rat as I've never known anyone with rats as pets ... so maybe you can explain what they're like. Thanks in advance.

[remspark]

hello mzdolittle I noticed that you too live in North Carolina, It may just be me but I think a lot of people in nc have rats b/c a lot of my friends have them, I wanted one, but my parents said no so I got a hamster instead and it was pregnant and had babies so I ended up with 7 for the price of 1 hehe....rats are really sweet and are actually a lot cleaner than most people say they are. What I'm wondering about is hedgehogs, I've always wanted one and have begged and begged my parents my entire life for one, but no luck. Post a reply! please.

-Jamie:)

[Love Bird B]

Welcome Mzdolittle from a fellow rat-lover.

[Jenny]

Hi MzDolittle! Your little "rattie" sounds just adorable! When I was in 5th grade we had 3 class pet rats, and all throughout the day we'd take turns letting them hang out on our shoudlers while we worked. They were great- they'd just sit there quietly and watch everything going on. Then a few years later my brother got a female rat, and she was such a sweetheart. We had her about 3 years until she developed tumors, which at the time we didn't know of vets who would remove them. Amanda- rats are extremely intelligent, clean, cute, sweet, fun, and they make great pets! I think your entire family would love one once you got to know it. IMHO, they are better pets than hamsters. Remspark- there's a good Barron's "Hedgehog" book that you may be intersted in.

[remspark]

wow I will look into that book, yeah on monday I went looking for an animal for my animal science project, in which i have to keep an animal (mammal) for the semester and take detailed notes on it's growth and development, and at the end of the semester I have to do a report on it and take my animal home. Well, because it must grow, I had to find a baby something. So I went to a new pet store down the road and stumbled across a baby rat. So I got it, and it is a REALLY good pet. It has albino eyes and is mostly white with some very light grey splotches, My friend named it "Rasputin" and it stuck. Surprisingly it is very affectionate. I am so very very happy I found him. So far, I do believe the rat is actually a lot CLEANER than my hamsters. Anyway, I was wondering mzdolittle did you name the rat after rufus on that show "Kim Possible"? just wondering. If there is any way possible, please put some pics of him up I would love to see them as well as your other rats. Well that's about it.

-Jamie:)

[KellysMommie]

I just wanted to say HI. I am a rat lover as well although I nolonger own one and may never again. Its not because there not great pets but because of there life span rats tend to live a shorter life then expected because they have a very high cancer rate and develop toomers often. The last rat I owned My little Piggers lived almost 3 years which is there normal lifespan but at the end she did get a toomer that got so big it eventually killed her. The toomers can be removed but it is very expensive and most vets wont do it. That's why I have a bird now he should live for 30 years or so but, I do so miss those little warm hands crawling around my neck there really like little dogs and great first pets for children but keep in mind AMANDA if you haven't gotten your son a rat already the best place to get one is a breeder not a pet store chain breeders can usually breed the cancer gene out of the rat where pet store tend to inbreed there rats which is a whole new set of problems.
JC

[mzdolittle]

Actually, Remspark, Rufus came with his name attached. I hate to admit it, but I don't know how to put pics on here. I have a digital camera, but I barely know how to use it. Isn't that terrible? I'll have to talk to my son and see if I can get him to post some pictures.

[Barracuda 42]

Hi mzdolittl, your rat sounds adorable, we have tons of rats but my favs are the rex, i just love there wavy kinky hair..

[Love Bird B]

Cuda, I wasn't even aware of rex rats. I've seen rex cats though. Wouldn't those two together make interesting photos? I knew a cat that had been raised with rodents from a kitten, and he loved to snuggle with them. So cute!!

[Amanda]

We got rats! LOL

Yes, my son finally convinced us to get him a pet rat for Christmas but instead of getting one, we ended up with two! I was really not so sure about them as pets but as I've been interacting with them I have found them to be just as cute and cuddly as any other pets we have. One of the rats developed a biting problem but he seems to be over it now and is back to his friendly self. I'll post pictures of them both soon.

[Barracuda 42]

Yup theres all diffrent types of rats out there these days Love Bird B, i will have to get ya some pics of them so you can see how they look, i like the rats called dumbos as there ears are super huge, then theres a rat on the market thats called a dog rat or monster rat, they can be good pets but most are biters.. they get as big as a 5 pound rabbit..:cool:
Amanda sounds like you havin some fun with your furry babies..:D

[Amanda]

Hi Cuda, yep I never thought I would ever say this ... but yes, I'm having fun with the rats. They are not at all what I expected. Ok, I'll be honest ... when my son asked for a rat, all I kept thinking about were "sewer rats" (I'm ashamed to have thought that way but I just couldn't help it). Anyway, we did some research on the internet about "pet rats" and a lot of PM's from Mzdolittle and now I have a totally different outlook on them.

We saw some "hairless dumbo" rats at the store and they were so cute! We almost got that kind but found out they were all female. My son was adamant that he wanted only "male" rats and we also found out that male rats seem more sedate and cuddly than females.