# Wild Rat as a Pet?? Half wild babies????



## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

So some idiot dropped three rats off at my shelter (where I spend my weekends volunteering) and two were male and one was female (none altered) and if that wasn't bad enough one male had such severe tumors he had to be euthanized and the other is wild! They said he was hand raised and my brief and careful interaction with him showed him to be skittish but not aggressive (sniffed my hand through the bars and when placed near-ish but was not interested in me). 

I went ahead and took home the female and now I'm just waiting to see if she's pregnant. If she is they could be the wild rat's babies so I need advice on what to do if I have a bunch of half wild rat children. 
I am also considering taking the male because we can't put him out in the wild and the shelter said they'd probably neuter him for me but I want to know what I need to be prepared for if I bring home a wild rat? Will he be able to get along with my domestic ones? He seemed happy with the female but I don't know how long they've known each other. I don't even know how to introduce a wild rat???????? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I don't really know about the wild one, it really depends on how early he was introduced to domesticated rats. And I'm not sure if he would get along with new cagemates even if he was used to living with a pet rat. It is probably worth asking if you are sure he is wild or if he is just agouti? An agouti could possibly be mistaken for a wild rat. Half-wild rats can and have made good pets, though. That will be more dependent on the temperament of the parents. You do want to make sure that you give them a lot of handling.


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

I don't have any pictures of him but his ears were larger and his snout was much thinner than any domestic I've seen. He was also smaller than his female cage mate by a good bit. I mean, I wish he was a domestic agouti because that would make my life 100 times easier.


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

I was gonna try to get pictures of the wild male but they euthanized him so I definitely won't be bringing him home.
The other male rat she was with was black and white so I guess we'll just see if she's pregnant in a couple of weeks and then figure out if I've got wildlings from there :/


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

Kind of an update? The "wild" male was probably a roof rat, if he was indeed wild. He was very slender with large ears and a very pointed nose and was smaller than regular domestics (or regular wild brown rats). I have now found information indicating that


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

It's sad that he ended up needing to be euthanized. I assumed he was a roof rat since they do have the big ears and thin nose you described, I know wild norways have smaller ears than our domestics. Plus it seems that 9 times out of 10, the wild rats that people end up with are roof rats. Since he was a roof rat it's unlikely he would have been able to live with any of the other rats, they don't tend to get along with norways very well.

Luckily that'd mean that if there are any babies, they will be fully domestic! But possibly very tumor-prone due to the father's condition.


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

Coffeebean that is fantastic! So far she doesn't look pregnant (though I did have a stress dream that she had babies and I didn't notice and they all died haha..) but we're going to keep her separated for three weeks (from the date we brought her home) just to be safe (besides she needs to be quarantined before I start intros anyways).


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

Best of luck to you and the potential mom and kittens.


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## crazyratlady1995 (Dec 29, 2017)

I know this reply is way late but I got a pet store feeder rat as a gift (the person who got her for me was sweet but didn’t know what they were doing) anywho, a month after having her she had 15 pups of all different colors. I took some to the local rodent rescue and I found out they are half wild! They are very sweet little ratties, I’ve been handling them since day 3. I kept 3 of Penelope’s pups and even gave a few to friends and they’re all doing so well! They’ll be 5 weeks on Saturday and while I really wanted a domesticated “fancy” rat, I would not trade my halfies for the world! They are a rambunctious and not really up to cuddling but they will hang out in your clothes for quite a while and I am currently trick training them! It all just depends on how you handle them from day one or three!

I attached a picture of 3/15 from a couple days before their eyes opened!


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