# Is sleeping with ur rat safe?



## babybeef (Jul 3, 2010)

Have u ever done it?


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## eddricksmommy101 (Jul 16, 2010)

They would get bored after ten minutes then explore.

I wanted to try it with ed.



But then i thought "What if i squish him?"


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## babybeef (Jul 3, 2010)

That's what Im thinking too lol but idkk


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## fallenalias (Jul 26, 2010)

thats what i thought too xD or if they start sniffing me and i feel thier wiskers i might think its a bug and slap it  i dont wanna slap my loves haha


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## TamSmith (Mar 1, 2010)

Not at all. Not only will they run off, but you can squish them. Parents have been known to squish and kill babies when they sleep with them, so I can imagine it would be too easy to kill your rat. 

A friend of mine only sleeps with her old sick rats. (By old, I mean like 6 years old) When they get sick, she puts them in a bonding scarf I make her and sleeps with them in there. Her rats are VERY tame and don't leave her to explore because like I said, they are old. She only does it when she knows they are so sick, they are getting ready to pass. She will actually keep them in her scarf for days while she waits for them to pass and hand feeds them and everything. She's the only person I would trust to do this. She is known as the rat whisperer around here and even vets recommend people to her. 

I would never do it. I couldn't forgive myself if I killed or lost my rat.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Agreed, its not safe for your rat. Night time is when they want to be active as well, so you mays well just leave him in the cage to play with his buddies.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Healthy happy normal rats? No way. Sick, old and dying, you can IF you are a VERY light sleeper. A heavy sleeper could kill their rats.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

lilspaz68 said:


> Healthy happy normal rats? No way. Sick, old and dying, you can IF you are a VERY light sleeper. A heavy sleeper could kill their rats.


Totally agree.

I have been sleeping with rats for about a year now and definately don't recommend it. The rats I have in my bed are either sick or have little or no use of their back legs - so they don't go exploring and are just happy to lay down and cuddle with me all night. BUT! I haven't had one night proper good night sleep since. I have trained myself to wake up every time I roll over or move in bed and some nights that is exhausting. My sleep patterns are all over the place - I used to be a heavy sleeper but now I wake up at the smallest noise or touch of the rats. It's not easy to acclimatise to.

The blankets get destroyed, I wake up quite a bit with the water bowl having been tipped over and is dripping all over me. You have to be very careful with heating, as they will easily overheat in your blankets if it's too warm (and they're happy and squishy so won't move to somewhere cooler!). You get crumbs and poop eeeverywhere you can imagine.

Don't get me wrong, it's nice to think about and the bond I have with my overnighters is second to none. But in practice it is a bigger pain in the patoot than you expected. Just being honest and giving you a picture of the not so nice side of sleeping with the little critters


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## miosgoldenchance (Oct 30, 2009)

I always wanted to with my very sick rat, but I was always concerned that I might squish her.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

Trust me, its no fun sleeping with rats. Before I wrapped my girls cage to keep them in I would wake up to Percie or Piper or my face or under the blankets. And they'd start licking me and wake me up. Or Piper would sneak around on the bed trying not to wake me up and I'd wake up and put her off the bed but 5 minutes later they'd be back. And not only that, they would start biting my dogs lips and trying to get her to play with them. I don't think I'd ever do it knowing they are in my bed. I get so nervous with them climbing into it while I sleep. The only reason I wake up is because they're really obnoxious.


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## Squeaks (Feb 20, 2010)

Well, I let my rat, Tully sleep with me almost every Saturday. He is fully toilet trained and I put his cage on my bed or somewhere that he can get to my bed, and he will sleep under my other pillow, and go to the bathroom in his cage. I also trained him not to chew, and also because my bed is off the ground, he can explorer whenever he wants . He always moves out of the way when I roll over. Even my other rat, Snowball will move before he is squished...


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## TamSmith (Mar 1, 2010)

Squeaks said:


> Well, I let my rat, Tully sleep with me almost every Saturday. He is fully toilet trained and I put his cage on my bed or somewhere that he can get to my bed, and he will sleep under my other pillow, and go to the bathroom in his cage. I also trained him not to chew, and also because my bed is off the ground, he can explorer whenever he wants . He always moves out of the way when I roll over. Even my other rat, Snowball will move before he is squished...


Sounds great but I still wouldn't try it or recommend others to do it haha but it must be sweet for you when you do it. 

Anyway, how in the world do you teach your rat not to chew???? I would LOVE to stop my rats from chewing!


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## Changophant (Mar 30, 2008)

I have had two rats that got to roam the house without being in a cage (free range). They loved to jump on my bed while I was sleeping and nibble at my hair, lips, ears, etc. and crawl under the blankets.

I never had a problem squishing them they seemed smart enough to stay out from under me.

But I would never lay down to sleep with them. I have one rat "Cookie" who loves to snuggle and when I lay down to sleep will snuggle with me....when I am close to falling asleep I put her down as to not squish her in my sleep.

And my Oreo I made a little bed next to mine for her to sleep in.

So even though I had them running loose I never dared have them sleep in my bed ....because of the danger of squishing them...


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## Squeaks (Feb 20, 2010)

"Sounds great but I still wouldn't try it or recommend others to do it haha but it must be sweet for you when you do it.

Anyway, how in the world do you teach your rat not to chew?Huh I would LOVE to stop my rats from chewing!"

1: It is.2: I trained Tully not to chew, by watching very quietly, and when he started to chew, I sharply pushed him away. Which worked for him. You could also try the bitter apple spray.


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## TamSmith (Mar 1, 2010)

I've had a few people recommend bitter apple spray and then others say it doesn't work at all. I think I'll give it a shot though. Can't hurt to try.


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## Changophant (Mar 30, 2008)

I personally have scolded my rats when they are doing something naughty and tell them "no" over and over.... and follow up with a timeout in their house (cage).

Then next time they are doing something naughty I just yell "no" and they know right away its a no-no....but that doesnt allways stop them from being sneaky and trying to do it again....

they are much like little children etc....


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## RattieRatz (Sep 7, 2014)

I have one rat that is allowed free roam of the house (she has a cage I leave open for her, so that is were her food, water and sister are at all times). Her favorite spot is my bed, whether I am in it or not. If she doesn't come when called, I will find her cuddled up in my sheets. Sometimes it worries me. I am always very careful when I get into or on my bed. Once I didn't think she was in there, and when I pulled the blanket off she plopped onto the floor (I keep my mattress on the floor, so thank goodness it wasn't to far of a fall). However with all that being said, it is not uncommon for me to scoot her little butt over while I am trying to sleep. She likes to lick my lips, play in my hair, and run across my neck. All of which is unenjoyably as you are attempting to sleep.  All in all, I wouldn't recommend attempting to sleep with you rat. MomMom just happens to be an extraordinary rat, that has her own set of special rules.


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