# How did you come across rats?



## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Hello everyone, there's a question I've wanted to ask

I'm curious as to know how you came across rats as a pet, and why you decided to keep them. I understand that rats aren't the most common pet, and not many people like them, so I'd like to know your story . Rats are very rare pets here.

I didn't really like rats before, but I didn't have anything against them. I wanted companionship, and I read that rats could be kept as pets, so I decided to have a go with them. Mine were supposed to be "you-know-what", so I guess you could say I "rescued" them. I love them, they're like my little family, lol. So my story isn't very interesting, I just decided to get some pet rats one day.

How about you? How did you come to keep rats when most people have such a bad opinion of them?


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## Esme (Apr 26, 2012)

I am in a rat rescue club. i have rats since i am 12 years old. At first my mother was not amused about it. because the most people have a bad meaning about rats. But i love my little friends more than all others. they are funny and have a very intresting behaviour.


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

That's great 

My rats make me so happy.


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## lilmiss_paradox (Apr 9, 2012)

A friend of mine had a pet rat named Wednesday when I was in middle school. I absolutely fell in love with her. Every time I was at his place I would take her out and play with her. I knew that my mom and sister were terrified of rats, but after a little research I finally managed to convince my mom to let me get a rat of my own. Her only rules at the time were that the rat could not be black or have red eyes and I could only get one. When I brought home my first rat Yumi I asked my mom if she wanted to see it. She said no at first, but when she had a quick look in the box she yelled "that's not a rat!" and immediately picked her up for a cuddle. Then she brought the rat into my sister's room and she did the exact same thing! When I got some friends for Yumi I ended up getting Yami (all black) and Hana (albino) and my mom didn't care at all. I fell in love and have had rats almost constantly ever since... Except for the last year or so. 

I have been struggling with an auto-immune disease that has kept me stuck in my room quite often. When my last two rescue rats Peanut and Jelly passed away I decided not to get any more, afraid to have to ask for help cleaning the cage when I was having bad days. But my mom actually suggested that I get two more buddies to keep me company on my bad days. My dad has a neighbour with an accidental litter, and I should get to meet my boys this week ^_^ Rats are lovely company.


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## British (Apr 2, 2012)

For me, it was one of those things where the universe decided to send me something... I was talking to someone about bunnies one day, and from bunnies, we moved onto rats. I've always liked rats, and have thought about keeping them over the years.

I googled a few articles to research a little about them, and that afternoon I went to Petco to get food for my dog. I stopped to look at the baby ratlets, just for fun, and I noticed a sticker on the glass that said "we have one female rat up for adoption". I asked about her at the register (how old, why she was there, etc.) and then I asked if I could see her. I fell in love with her instantly and took her home with me. And she is just the most amazing little animal I've ever met. She's right up there with my dog in terms of intelligence and affection and the connection I have to the 2 of them is unlike any connection I've had with other animals.

My new baby girls were posted on craigslist, and I spent days stalking classifieds and petfinder listings until I found them. They hadn't been handled much, so I'm working with them on that and they're getting much better.

I <3 rats, and there's a good chance that I will always have a pair (or more...  ) of them in my life.


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

@*lilmiss_paradox: *That's nice. It really warmed my heart to hear how your mother and sister reacted to seeing Yumi 

Good luck on the new rats!

By the way, are you Japanese, or is it a second language?

I really hope you get better soon!

P.S. I'm not sure if you'll be interested, but I've come across a documentary on how the mind can be used to heal the body : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6t...-body-1-3_tech


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

@British: Haha, I definitely think the universe had my two girls in store for me as well 
I don't know why, but when I was young, I wanted pet rats.

How long have you had your rat, and what is her name?


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## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

My college had rats in the lab. They weren't tested on or anything, they were just pets. But they weren't really social or potty trained. They were still so shy of people that they would pee on them. I thought that was normal. So I saw no difference with them and mice and hamsters. But I knew what dumbos were and I knew a bit about markings. I saw baby Korra in the feeder bin one day and didn't want her to get eaten. I also thought she was "rare" but I now know better haha!
So I bought her with the intention of finding a new home for her because "rats were too big for me". But she stayed longer and longer only for me to realize how smart and sweet and fun they actually are!!! Now I think about my heart rat all the time and love to have her with me!


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

That's nice, I love lab rats 

And I think it's great that you could accept rats, I guess you knew better than most other people


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## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

Well I've always been an animal lover. I'm not scared of any of them and don't put silly prejudices on them.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

I wanted a small pet as a teenager and my mom said to me "how about a rat?" and the rest is history... haha.


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

When I was a kid my mom bought me rats shortly after my hamsters killed each other. I loved Cupcake dearly and I taught her a few tricks. Well, one day the two got into a fight, and, well, they also died tragically.

When I got into college there was a pet store on my route home. It was small and the people were nice. They had rats for sale in a large aquarium. It was really huge, like 2feet by 2feet. It was tall enough so the rats couldn't climb out but people could still reach in, while the back corner was still far enough away that if a rat wanted to it could sleep without being disturbed. I knew my family didn't want anymore small pets so I would just go there and play with the rats for an hour or so and chat with the staff. After a while one of the girls that worked there came up to me and asked, "You like rats, right?" I told her I loved them, she asked if I had any, I told her I didn't, she asked if I wanted some. Now here I was confused.

She explained that she was moving out of state and could not take her rats with her, but she loved her babies and wanted to make sure they went to someone that would handle them every day. 

I told her I would see if any of my friends wanted rats.

I searched around for three weeks, I told her to keep looking for other people too because my parents would flip if I kept rats. When it came within a week of leaving day I agreed to house them them until I could find someone to take them in. I fell in love with them the second I saw them. They were so friendly and snuggleable! She gave me their home and food bowls and even took me shopping to show me all the stuff she gets them and bought them a months supply of food to be sure they'd have it. We got them to my house and I decided I would hide them for three months, then that would prove to my family I was responsible enough to have rats. Things didn't work out. I was in a car accident so my mom came to check on me and found the rats. She hated them, but she told me I should put their aquarium on the shelf. I got into another car accident and my dad came to check on me and saw the rats. He said I had to find another home for them or he would. (And by that he meant he would kill them. He blamed them for my recent bad luck.)

I spent a month playing house slave/ 'the ideal daughter' to win mom on my side and she convinced dad to let me keep them. He still doesn't like them. For some reason they keep pooping on my brother.


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

when I was a kid I really wanted a guinea pig for some reason. I'm not sure why because i didn't know much about them, but I still dreamed of having one. Then one of my friends got pet rats and I fell absolutely in love with rats, way more than guinea pigs. At first my mom was completely against the idea of getting rats (she couldn't stand their tails), but finally I convinced her. I got Olly and Ezzi from someone who bred for snakes (I didn't know this was a bad place to get them, I was only 12 and didn't have the internet, and it was the same place my friend has got hers). My whole family soon came to love them, especially my mom...she even likes rat tails now haha.


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## DoubleDimey (Apr 6, 2012)

I've had pet hamsters and mice but never rats. My step dad had rats as a kid so I decided to try it out.
I don't like ot pick favorites but my rats are defiantley my favorite pet I have.


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Korra said:


> Well I've always been an animal lover. I'm not scared of any of them and don't put silly prejudices on them.


That's good , I hope more people can think like that. I think most people just look at the stereotypical image of things and don't want to learn.




Jaguar said:


> I wanted a small pet as a teenager and my mom said to me "how about a rat?" and the rest is history... haha.


Haha, your mother is cool ;D

@Maiden: Sorry to hear about that, I hope everything turns out good! But it was nice of your mom to buy you rats ;D

@JessyGene: That's good to hear, I wish some of the people I know are more like your family . It's not like they're completely against rats, they just have a lot of comments about them that make me sad.

@DoubleDimey: Well, I've come to think that rats are great pets too. Don't know why, they've got me under their charm I guess


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## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

I stereotype people XD But not animals haha!


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## Keelyrawr (Mar 7, 2012)

I went into a pet store planning on buying a hedgehog, came out with a rat. Not sure how it happened, but I'm sure glad it did


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## Ruma (Mar 20, 2012)

I had rats when I was really little. We stumbled upon two male hoodeds that a couple of boys were giving away for free. We knew nothing about rats and assumed they were just like hamsters which I had before. My sister and I begged my mom, who is afraid of rodents, until she let us get them. We named them Mike and Ike. They were in a tank, we didn't know about the special care they needed. They were sweet boys regardless. I didn't think about rats again for years. Not until I saw them in a movie and fell in


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## Ruma (Mar 20, 2012)

love with them again. Except now I actually know how to take care of them.


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## lilmiss_paradox (Apr 9, 2012)

@Arashi I'm not Japanese, I just have a passion for language and mythology. I have been learning Japanese and Irish Gaelic for a few years now. It made it rather interesting to try to get my family and friends to try to remember my poor ratty's names. 

I do find stuff like that very interesting. I have been looking into tai chi and other things to help with the pain. I will definitely have to watch that, thank you ^_^


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## RatVeldman (Apr 23, 2012)

My girlfriend has had rats for most of her life before we met. She had a hooded rat named "Loki" when I met her and to be honest I didn't really like the rat. He was a good pet but I had that horrible notion that all rats would bite and other stuff. He passed away. And finally last year we got two dumbo rats and I completely fell in love with them more and more each day. We now have two more rats (not dumbo) and they are wonderful. They are really interesting to me and I am glad I am no longer ignorant about rats. I've learned alot about them and as Jack from that nature show said...in terms of small mammals...rats are the closest to dogs. Something like that. It's very true. What can i say? I love rats.


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## CarolineRose (Nov 18, 2011)

I saw the owner of a local pet store in my area putting out freight with a tail sticking out of her hood. It was the first pet rat I'd ever seen other than one's kept in little aquariums. He was so sweet and absolutely adorable ♥

I started doing research about them and after about a year of thinking on it, I decided to go for it. I found two little baby girls at that same pet store who had just been born a few days earlier and reserved them with a dot of food dye on the tip of their tails. I came back every two days to put new food dye on their tails until they were five and a half weeks old. 
I bought the biggest cage I could find that is still to big for them but they maneuver it perfectly well all the same and ordered special Harlan Teklad food that cost more to ship than the food is worth. 
I spent God knows how much on fleece and hammocks that they tore to bits in the blink of an eye. 
They refuse to drink from water bottles so I refill a bowl three times a day.
Turns out I'm allergic to rat urine, so I get hives from their little scratches and dribbles on my shoulder.
I bought a $25 Silent Spinner that still wakes me up at night.
They've cost me over $350 in vet bills in their short 6 months of life and they have utterly taken over my room.

After all the commotion and aggravation they cause me, they are quite possibly the best pets I've ever had and I don't care what anyone says, rats are truly spectacular little creatures.

I love the way...
... that every time I walk into my room they greet me with bright, inquisitive eyes and a perfected head tilt for maximum cuteness.
... they give me little kisses on my chin and fall asleep in my hands.
... they hold the tip of my finger in both their paws like they're shaking my hand.
... they hiccup when they are that perfect stage of happy on a Saturday afternoon.
... they've taught all four of my cats who the real kings of the jungle are.
... Charlotte sits on my head as if my shoulder wasn't good enough.
... Willow steals and hoards food like it's her last supper.
... they scare my sisters half to death with their tails.
... they poke every new toy I give them to make sure it isn't going to eat them.
... they get all puffed up before they tackle each other.
... they prefer to make a hole in the bottom layer of a hammock and use it as a cave instead of just laying on top of it.
... they can poo on my clean pile of laundry yet never even pee inside their savic sputniks.
... they can't sleep without touching one another.
... there are so many more I can't even list them

Sorry if that got kinda long I just have so many reasons


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

@Ruma: That's nice, and begging is the best strategy with parents ;D

@keelyrawr: I know what you mean, haha 

@lilmiss_paradox: I see . And no problem, I have a strong belief in these mind-over-body things, it's great that you're planning to learn Tai Chi, I've heard Qi Gong is also good for health. All the best 

@Ratveldman: I didn't know much about rats either, but I too am happy that I decided to take the time to understand them 

@CarolineRose: That's no problem, I like learning from people reading their stories


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## Cstaar (Mar 7, 2012)

When I was a kid I went round my friends house and she had this pet rat, Hercules, he was a huge brown male. Anyway I have always like animals and never had any kind of fear so I asked to hold him. He was adorable. Sitting on my lap for cuddles etc. I often went round to just visit her rat! So I begged and begged and finally convinced my mum to let me have one - she too said she didnt like the tails. She allowed me aslong as I didnt get on with red eyes. So I went to the petshop for my 12th birthday and picked out an albino I named Chelsea. She was an amazing rat - so cuddly even for a girl. At the time I didnt know you were meant to keep two rats together, I even had a rat care book that said to keep rats alone if you want them to be more bonded to you!! 

Anyway after she passed away I found out you could keep rats in pairs, and thats what I did! I went on to have Cookie, Friskey, Sherbet and Misty, all girls. All kept in pairs - when one rat passed on I got another. 

Now, fastforward around 10 years and I have 2 more girls. My boyfriend and I wanted a pet and I suggested rats, he's quite open minded too - I took him along to the pet shop here in Norway and he soon fell in love with their cute faces and inquisitive minds. So now we have Luna and Boots and I am loving watching them grow, their different personalities coming through! I think I am going to have rats forever, such wonderful pets - even if they can cost a small fortune in vet bills! I am hoping to get another 2 girls in about 6 months or so - the cage according to the cage calculater is big enough for 9 so plenty of space. Plus I really want to see the dynamics of a mischief of rats!


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

I came across rats by accident. And it's a terrible story LOL

I pretty much impulsively bought a little hooded boy from a filthy feeder tank in some smelly obscure pet store for no real reason when i was 11.

Almost 10 years later, I am still a dedicated rat lover, only now I actually know what to do lol (most of the time, all that time and I STILL learn new stuff almost every day).

I am a foster/rescue only home now, and I love what I do


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

@Cstaar: It's great to know you liked animals and found it easy to accept rats . I'm thinking that I might want more rats in future too, although just in pairs. I agree, rats are such curious and friendly creatures. I wonder why so many people don't like rats' tails? I never thought much about them. I also really like their different personalities. Good luck with your rats, I guess you've got a lot of experience.

@CarolineRose: Aw, I love all those things about rats too ;D!


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Kiko said:


> I am a foster/rescue only home now, and I love what I do


That's really great, all the best ;D

I kind of bought mine impulsively as well. But I would think they're happier here, they eat like kings, and have a cage to themselves.


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## Rat lover (Dec 28, 2011)

Well my teacher had rats in her science class. She always had people ask her about them a while ago. A lot of people were interested and my teacher hated the conditions pet store rats are kept in so she started breeding rats. Only twice a year though. (sorry if this is classified as intentional breeding) I was lucky enough to be in her science class and really loved the rats. So I absolutely fell in love with these two little ones. The runts. I had my father (since he is an engineer) to build me a rat mansion. I immediately took them home and I have loved rats ever since.


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## HelloClarice (Feb 1, 2012)

My family always had pets, dogs, birds, fish, lizards and snakes [no cats though a big no no in the house] then my dad got my younger brother a rat, a big fat rat named Stunk, he was awesome! then we got Rose and they had babies a litter of babies [thats when we found out she was Rose] they lived for years and were awesome and we got rats every once in a while as we grew up [or guinea pigs or gerbils or FINALLY cats] big animal lovers haha I got Clarice as a happy accident and my boyfriend never had rodents as pets so he was sketchy about it but he loved her almost instantly [she sits on his shoulder and cleans his beard XD I can't wait to get her a couple friends but craigslist and the humane society have been especially filled with males lately or tiny baby girls [which I fear are too small for Clare]

yup that's it we always had 'exotic' pets as kids and rats were always around and seemed awesome [I fear hamsters though always afraid they will bite me haha]


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## Siringo (May 7, 2012)

I was originally going to get a hamster, but the first one I held immediately bit me and it was a horrible bloody mess! The little friendly rats seemed like a nice alternative, and it worked out very well.


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## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Siringo said:


> I was originally going to get a hamster, but the first one I held immediately bit me and it was a horrible bloody mess! The little friendly rats seemed like a nice alternative, and it worked out very well.


Yep, hamsters are bitey


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## RatzRUs (Feb 5, 2012)

My fiancée and I were stocking Craigslist ad someone posted an ad do a free rat. I fell in love with picture of him and contacted the person the rest is history I now have two males and two females


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## AlfredosMommie (May 1, 2012)

Well I had hamsters for years and my last one passed away. Well some lady around the corner from my house had posted on Craigslist that she had an accidental litter and was giving them away. I had heard what great pets rats were, so I went and checked them out. The lady had a little girl, and was holding one that just sat in her hand, I said I want that one! So I brought her home, tried to tell my boyfriend it was a mouse... Figured once she was big enough, it would be too late for him to complain hahaha well "Milly" ended up having mega colon  it was so awful bc I was so in love w her so fast, I ended up having to humanly put her down  I was so bummed, long story short I recently went to my local humane society and adopted the biggest sweetest oldest guy there lol ~ALFRED~


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## paulakim (May 17, 2012)

well i got my first male rat in the 80s i've always loved animals and when ever i passed a pet shop i,d go in just for a look  anyway this day i spotted a huge male white rat in a tank on its own and basically it was love at first sight, i hadn't even considered getting a rat before this, anyway i brought him home and he was so lovely i got so attached to him unfortunately i never realised at the time that they have a fairly short life span and as he was already an adult when i got him i only had him for a few months before he passed away, i was heart broken...but there started my love affair with ratties i've had quite a few over the years some brought some rescued and even with breaks in between and owning other types of pets, i've always gone back to my rattie friends they can,t be beaten


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## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

when i was about ten years old, my uncle and aunt lost their home and had to give up their two pet rats and since my parents knew what big animal lover kids they had they offered to adopt the two rat boys. they were named Chester and Charlie. Chester was a PEW and Charlie was agouti. they would go everywhere with us, watched tv on the couch, played outside, helped with laundry and would make us laugh with the fought over corn on the cob and watermellon! my dad would even make special rat pancakes for the boys when we had them. three years later Chester started growing lumps and became ill, after he passed Charlie stopped eating and drinking and would just lay where Chester used to, then he passed on too. i never knew rats could love so deeply like that and i always remember how amazing they were. years later in my honors zoology class in highschool, we had to purchuse a baby rat and weigh/measure everyday while taking notes about the rats. thats when i met my crazy girl rat Ziggy! that was such a fun class and all the kids fell in love with their rats, even the ones who were scared at first! on of the nights that i kept Ziggy at school over night, she escaped and somehow released all the other rats!! well the next day in our class room it had looked like one wild rat party and i found miss Zig cuddled up the biggest male rat in the classroom, of course, named Evil Kanevil. Zig had 18 pups!! all just as crazy as her and having them was like owning a mini circus. my dad still recalls the hours of fun just watching those crazy ratlings getting into mischief! after Ziggy i didnt want more pets for awhile because i was moving out and had a dog. then this last Feb i was feeling kind of down and i wanted a fun friend who could travel with me or on me and thats when i stopped by a locl pet store and fell in love with Roxy. as soon as i sat down to look at the female rats, she came sliding out of her pile of rats, stretched out, yawned and proceded to lick the glass between us and gave me a bugged eyed stare lol and now i run a small rat rescue and help find homes or get rats to the vet who need it! i love rat, they are amazingly sweet and caring animals that i hope i can own for the rest of my life!  my story is long haha


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