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mininik

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So, today I went to the new pet store in town and came home with a friendly, young pair of female rats, their twenty gallon tank and hideout. The pet store owner had decided that she no longer wanted to carry small critters and knew I could give these two a good home, so she gave them to me with their setup free of charge. I just wanted to see who else here had or has had pet rats. I would enjoy hearing about your experiences. I'll get pictures of my two if there's enough interest. One is a black berkshire ("Nibs") and the other is an agouti hooded ("Whiskas"). I'm looking forward to experimenting with them to see if I can teach them any tricks using clicker training.
 
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OH man this brings back memories
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When I was younger my mom let my sister and I get two pet rats. My sister had the boy and I had the girl. I named her Rosie. She was the sweetest, spunkiest little thing and believe it or not we were GREAT friends
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I used to build two story houses out of cardboard with windows and doors for her. We would play on my bed for hours. She loved running in and out of the windows and doors. She would run at me, do a hop, skip and a filp and head back inside
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She was also very lovey, dovey too. We put Rosie in with Peanut and she became pregnant. I don't remember how long it took but it wasn't long before we had little babies. As soon as she started showing that she was pregnant I would tear up pieces of newspaper and give them to her, one by one through her cage. By doing this I got to watch her build one heck of a newspaper shack. It was round, solid and had a small hole for her to go in and out. It was pretty darn impressive!!!!!!!!!
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Every morning when I woke up I would lay still for a few minutes and listen for the sound of little squeeks. She always had her babies at night. Once she had them it would be a week or two before I would ever see them. But once they started coming out of their shack it was so fun to watch them and play with them. I think she had 3-4 litters in all. I learned the hard way never to leave the male in with the babies. He ate them
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:shocked

Peanut developed cancer and we had him put down by our vet. Rosie lived for another few years. She started looking pretty skinny and not as energetic. At that time I was staying with my dad every other weekend but would leave her at my mom's house. She was fine when I left her on Friday but when I came home on Sunday she looked horrible. She was grabbing frantically at her cage door so I quickly got her out and held her little body in my hands. Once in my hands she laid quietly and her breathing became more and more labored. I laid her on my bed and ran to get my mom. By the time we came back into the room she started having little seizures here and there and it was hard for me to watch so my mom sat with her. When I walked back in the room I saw Rosie take her last breathe and as she did I swear on anything that she waved her little hand at us lol
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It was pretty amazing. To this day I still believe that she waited for me to get home to die.

Some people think I am silly but I believe even little rodents have personalities and can become attached to you
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I have often thought about getting another little rat but I doubt the experience would be the same again since I wouldn't have nearly as much time to spend playing house with the little one
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Sorry to write a book but I haven't really ever told that story and this post just made all these memories come flooding back in
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You are going to have so much fun with your new guys
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I would LOVE to see pictures!!!! I don't think I have any pics of Rosie. She was black and white.
 
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Cute story! Thanks for sharing. I think you should go for it with another couple ratties if you want to. If you get two females they can keep eachother company yet still be sociable towards you when you have time to play. In addition to the rats I also have three hamsters; a long haired ("teddybear") Syrian named Shmoo, a dwarf named Mink and a Robo named Butters. I've had mice previously. All the little critters definitely have personalities and they are fun to be around.

I'll try to get pictures taken and up on here tomorrow.
 
One of my good friends has had pet rats. UGH! I never could understand why. I see them scurrying around on the barn cam sometimes and just shudder! I don't understand why anyone would want a snake or a tarantula for a pet either
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But to each his/her own!
 
When I was a child a friend had one, they insisted it was nice and to pet it, I did and it bit me hard on the hand, drew blood. I had to go to the hospital and get a tetnus shot
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. If I see one now my insides get all funny, I find them to be horrible creatures, filthy and nasty. Have fun with yours.
 
I kept pet rats for several years......I always liked the boys personalities more than the girls, but that was just me. I did train mine to do tricks.....KC would ride a Barbie bicyle and Jerry would go down a slide. Everyone thougth I was mental. MAybe I was......LOL. I worked at a pet/feed store at the time, and we sold fish and rodents. One time, I has 11 ratties for a while. Great personalities......

BUT, I will say...I am WAR with wild rats, they are carniverous and evil. Yes, Evil. I will do whatever it takes to keep them out of my barn.....I didn't start out that way, I am a live and let live sort of person but when rats start killing chickens and eating them, when thre is PLENTY of food to go around, it just creeps me out. Hmm......sorry, I seemed to go off a little there.
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So anyway, have fun with your little babies.....I bet they are cute.
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Yeah!! Another ratty lover!! LOL! I have 2 but work with alot at work! I sell them often for people looking for a fun, interactive, smart pet! Rainsong (on this board) gave me lots of tips and advice! I hope see shes this too! I'd love to see pics of your new girls!!!

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Leya
 
About two years ago I had four male pet rats. They were so neat to have as pets! They each had their own personality, likes and dslikes. They were super friendly and spoiled.

They were my 'music crew', named - Ax'l Rose, Billy Idol, Malcolm Young and Conway Twitty.
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I had them in a three level wire / metal cage that I purchased from a pet store. They loved it - it was complete with ramps tubes.

They got a good quality rat food along with lab blocks. Dried fruits. Etc...

Have fun!
 
"I find them to be horrible creatures, filthy and nasty."

It's unfortunate that you were bit, but the rat probably bit you because it was frightened, or your hands may have smelled of food. Even if it was a "mean" rat, that's only a critter who doesn't know better. My two were socialized by their breeder from a young age, are very clean, come right up to you to be picked up and will gently mouth your skin to show affection. Over the years I've worked with mean mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, ferrets and other small critters. I have been bit many times, but I know the animals were just trying to get some space because they didn't understand what was going on, so I just can't imagine letting one incident ruin my perspective of a species entirely.
 
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I've never had one as a pet but I don't think there's anything wrong with it for those who do. I have had guinea pigs and hamsters...

BUT, what is at the front of my mind now is that my "local" news comes out of DC and right now, DC is running these "Rat Free DC" commercials... telling people how to reduce the rat population in and out of their homes. OMG... THAT really is disgusting to me!!!
 
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At first I thought you were talking politics again, Jill! "Rat Free DC." LOL Ewk... I definitely don't want wild ratties living in my home, though I'm sure they have their purpose in the wilderness. We used to have to deal with the pack rats in AZ. They were huge, and very destructive!
 
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Hi!

Well..... I did have a pet rat in my teenage years and enjoyed it. But eventually it got cancer. My kids are getting 2 free baby rats from a student aid at school. She raises them for her snake..... I told the kids they could only have them if it was 2 females.... I guess one is almost black and then the other one is brown with black.... So will be getting them in the next week.

Except I'm afraid I will be the one taking care of them..... loL! But they are kinda cool pets to have! I will take pictures when we get them.
 

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