# What inspired you to get your first rat?



## MangoTango (Jul 15, 2014)

I thought I'd start a fun little topic, where we could share stories of what turned us into rat lovers!
For me, it was a totally impromptu decision. I've had every type of pet you could think of (bunnies, cats, dogs, fish, hamsters, mice, birds, toads, hermit crabs, the list goes on...) but never rats, though I always thought they were cute. Then one day, I was picking my boyfriend up from work and was early so I decided to pop into the pet store next door. I walked by the small animal area and there was Mango, her two little front paws up on the glass just looking at me. She's the one in the top right of my display picture. I knelt down to eye level with her and started talking to her and she just stared at me with those big beautiful eyes. I couldn't help myself, I asked to pick her up and she was SO friendly. I just fell in love! It was funny because I had texted my boyfriend to come into the pet shop when he was done his shift, and he saw me there holding Mango and just smiled and shook his head because he knew she'd be going home with us. But, I knew she needed a friend, so I looked at her sisters and decided on Tango (bottom left in display pic). We picked out a "rat starter kit" and took the babies home. 
That was back in June, and here we are in February and somehow my mischief has grown to four and my cage has been upgraded to a DCN with all the toys and hammocks a rat could dream of. And that look Mango gave me in the pet store? That look still gets her extra cheerios, all the time.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

My boyfriend and I were in the pet store and it was kind of an on the spot type of thing. I was not really thinking about getting one because of all the bad rep rats get. I ended up picking out Molly, my dumbo hairless girl, and taking her home with me. It was only after I got her that I actually did research on rats. =P


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## Kuildeous (Dec 26, 2014)

Ever since I met my friend's rat back in college, I was cool with the idea of rats. They're smart, and they're cute. I didn't realize just how clean they are or that they are so nonaggressive until recently. 

My wife and I live in a condo with 720 square feet. I haven't been interested in keeping pets. My motto was that if it eats or poops, I don't want it. We knew we couldn't have a cat. There was no place we wanted to put a litter box. Also, cats like to walk on kitchen counters, which grosses us out. We have expensive blinds too. Too much hassle for a cat. A dog was also out. We'd have to walk the dog daily, and that sucks living in the Midwest where you have 10 days of it not being too hot or too cold or too rainy. Besides, the thought of putting on one of those gloves to pick up dog poop really grosses me out. So we lived in our place for over 9 years with no pets.

A few months ago, my wife asked about getting a small pet. She likes fish, but she knew that I would have nothing to do with them. If I can't cuddle it, I don't consider it a worthwhile pet. But she was thinking about hamsters. I wasn't opposed to the idea, so we did some research. Okay, hamsters are jerks, it turns out. Well, gerbils are interesting; that would have been our second choice, I think. We had to rule out rabbits and guinea pigs because they prefer horizontal space, which we don't have a lot of. 

That brought us to rats. They don't need a lot of horizontal space if you can make it up with vertical space. And hey, there are various cages out there to help with that. I did some research.

In the middle of that research, we decided to look at rats. The first store we went had an impressive reptile section but no rat section. Oh, the rats are in the pantry. Well, they're all cute, but they're skittish since they're just breeder rats. The second store had Latte. My wife fell in love with her right away. Dumbo rat with a charming personality. We were still in review mode, so we left for the third pet store. They didn't have any rats, so that was easy. But at the third store, my wife made the decision to get Latte. We went back, and the store didn't even bother to put Latte back on display; they could tell by my wife's reaction that we'd be back. We bought Latte a companion, who unfortunately died of URI 3 days later. The store has a 7-day guarantee, so we replace Chloe with Penumbra. We also bought a starter cage. 

It wasn't too much longer before we bought the DCN and a third rat to help keep those two company. Unfortunately, she's 4 weeks younger than Latte, so she tends to get shoved out of the fun, but sometimes they cuddle with her and chase her. 

We got Latte Dec 26, so only a month and a half, but it feels like we've known her for longer.


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## relken0608 (Jul 11, 2013)

I never gave small animals or rodents any real thought as pets until I started dating my fiance. He squeals at adorable fluffy things and you know, when you spend a lot of time with someone you like, you start to take on their traits. So soon we were both sticking our faces into the hamster cages making girly noises and after a few years of that, he announced that for my birthday he was going to buy me a gerbil. Gerbils were my favorite, at that point, because the hamsters bit and were super skittish but the gerbils were more inquisitive and didn't bite as much. Then he off-handedly mentioned, "Or a rat or a hamster or whatever you'd like" so I went to google for advice.

Turns out, rats were right up my alley. I was really excited for the idea that I could put one on my shoulder and he'd just chill (theoretically. of course, not 100% true but that's google for you). I wanted a cuddly, snuggly, relaxed rat so per the advice of the online forums I'd visited I decided to get a pair of boys. I'm so glad the store happened to have dumbos, and ended up getting Clark because he was the one trying to interact with me through the glass and Marley was the only one there that wasn't a black hooded. I liked his colors so I got him too. Ends up Marley was the snugglebug and Clark was the troublemaker and, in hindsight, I should have seen it coming.

So if not for my fiance, I'd be rat-less and know nothing about their awesomeness.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I have really bad anxiety and spent a few years friendless. Then some things happened in my family, I was working long weird hours so my boyfriend and I started to grow apart. So, I was fairly lonely. I started looking up small, caged pets that could give me affection. 

Ferrets slept a lot so it seemed likely we would hardly be able to interact. Hamsters I had a bad experience with and weren't really social. This video freaked me out from gerbils http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdfvisPMNB1r2452ko2_250.gif (I realize now it isnt a gerbil and am interested in getting them next). Mice were nice but I didn't want a watch-pet, which mice can become. They also live only a year. Rough. I wanted a hedgehog but it isn't quite affectionate. Chinchillas and sugar gliders were way too finicky. That left rats. 

I started staring at them in pet stores, watching hundreds of youtube videos, and searching for rescues/breeders nearby.


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## Rhonwen (Dec 29, 2014)

My very first rat wasn't actually /mine/ persey. I was allowed to buy him for my 7th grade science classroom. Everyday in homeroom he'd come out of his cage and hang out with me (the girls all thought he was gross as he'd poop and pee on the table), and he'd snuggle in my lap until the bell rang. I was usually late to first period. Then, when Science class rolled around, my teacher would let me pull him back out, providing we weren't doing any labs. He was a black self standard top eared boy, who was named Tar. For vacations he would alternate between coming home with me and another girl in my class. He was an awesome, friendly boy. 

I'm almost thirty, and until recently I've had cats, dogs and snakes. Within the last 5 or so years I've only had cats, and while I love them, they can be aloof (or clingy, depending on which cat we're talking about - and not an affection clingy. An annoying, loud, meowing clingy). I'm a part of a hobby forum and one of my friends over there has rats. some really CUTE rats. I started watching her posts in a "rat thread" and started doing research about 2 months ago. I joined RF, and shortly after I found my current boy, Alfie.


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

In the late 90's I had two friends, siblings, who had a pet rat. Her name was Rosie and she was a beautiful berkshire agouti. She was extremely intelligent too, her humans constantly played with her. She was also like a therapy animal to Tony, the younger sibling who was about 6 and has sever autism. From the fist moment I met Rosie I fell in love. Unfortunately my mum and I had fallen on hard times back then and my want for one was pushed to the far corners of my mind.
Fast forward to March 2013. I have mixed bi-polar disorder, along with an encyclopedia of other wonderful issues, and at the time my husband and I were in a fish based pet store and I was manic. This place only has feeders and before that day I usually had no interest in the feeder rat section, I usually just prowled around the fish tanks or reptile section. But that day I happened to wander over to the feeders and a single thought hit me hard enough to knock me out. "I want a rat." That was the thought that started it all. Because I was manic at the time and stayed in that state for a few weeks, the thought "I want a rat" gradually turned into "I need a rat" and by the end of the week it was "I'm getting a rat.". While in this wonderful manic mode I managed to do days upon days of research; and then "I'm getting a rat" turned into "I'm getting a pair." I bought a nice three level cage off ebay, started to fill it with all kinds of rat goodies and then went to pick up my first rat. Since then I've owned nine amazing rats. I've lost too many but I gave them the best life I could; and the ones left behind are my whole world. I'm glad I had that spur of the moment thought way back when; I can't imagine not having rats now.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Back in college I had a friend who had adopted her psych lab rat. They were actually pretty screwed up animals in general. But she talked about hers like it was a real pet, like a dog... That conversation kind of stayed with me for a few decades.

Flash forward 25 years and my wife is rampaging on about our 5 year old daughter needing a real pet.... She had been ranting on for several weeks by that point and was beyond reasoning with... You know how women can get... She said that she would feed it and walk it and clean after it... none of which was ever going to happen... ever! But as I was headed for the pet shop with my daughter and she insisted we not come home without a furry pet. She shouted NO RAT!!!!!!!!!!!! after us as we walked out the door.

So we got to the pet shop and we went by the bug and herp section... Nothing furry there I'd want my daughter to cuddle with... Then the bird section, there wasn't much there our wild parrot wouldn't kill or a 5 year old wouldn't snap like a twig. Then we came upon the dogs and my little girl immediately fell in love with an $1800.00 Lopso Opso dog... I had a girlfriend with one years ago, the critter was always matted and walked right out into traffic and needed constant vet care... and there wasn't anyone in my house that was even going to feed it, or walk it, much less bring it to the vet. And, although I had dogs as a kid and young man, I really never walked them and they almost never went to a vet, I just let the out into the woods to do whatever they had to do. Honestly I never got into the leash thing, my dogs came on command when recalled and pretty much fended for themselves. And living where I do now, that wasn't likely to be an option. Dog food, leashes and pooper scoopers and vets seemed way more likely and unavoidable... And my daughter wasn't the kind of kid that takes care of animals, either was my wife and I wasn't up for it either.

So we went past the dogs to the small animal section. I lived on a farm and tended rabbits, they seemed a bit wrong for a little girl, and more work than I was into... the gunea pigs looked pretty frightened and old, I had a hamster before that came with daily escapes and bites and really nothing seemed right for a little girl. Moreover the poor animal was headed for a home where no one was going to take proper care of it and a little girl that was going to get tired of it in about a week... I suddenly became rather sad about the poor animal that we were going to take from the nice safe pet shop into our inhospitable home to die of neglect... I knew the furry animal concept was a horrible idea and I kept pushing my daughter past the cute furry critters until we reached the back of the store where the feeder bins were. A most pleasant sales girl opened a bin full of 3 week old rat pups, I always felt sorry for feeder animals, pretty much on death row, but especially for these little ones, so innocent and so doomed. The sales girl suggested girl rats for little girls because there would be less explaining to do and and my daughter picked one out and started to cuddle it, and it was actually quite tame. The sales girl told us it had been brought in by a customer who had handled it and cared for it and it was used to people... my daughter was getting seriously attached. It was a very sharp looking rat; active, healthy and bright eyed... and best of all friendly. 

Suddenly I began to do the guy thing... rationally weighing the pros and cons...

Pro.... this little animal was doomed anyway, no matter what happened in our home, nothing was worse than where it was already headed... No guilt!

Pro... My daughter was already attached to it. And it didn't bite.

Pro... A friend had told me that rats made for great pets. Despite the nasty lab rats I had worked with.

Pro... the sales girl told us this little rat was hand raised and it did look pretty comfortable around my daughter.

Pro... I had an old lab bin and water bottle in the basement large enough for a rat pup. And I just happened to have about half of a 40 lb bag of pine shaving and a bag of rodent chow on hand. 

Con... My wife specified NO RAT!

Pro... This whole stupid furry pet idea for a 5 year old was my wife's in the first place. And if it weren't for her I wouldn't be deciding some poor animals imminent fate. And as best as I could figure that rat was only going to last about 5 days and the pet shop would likely take it back if I could keep it alive that long...

I looked down at my little girl clutching desperately on to the only forbidden animal in the store, now tearing up and shaking head to toe. Then I asked the sales girl how much the rat pups cost... She replied "2.49", I cast a last glance at the Lopso Opso dog for $1800.00; my sinister plan now fully formed...

My daughter really wanted the rat pup, my wife would hate it, my daughter would get tired of the rat in under a week and I could try and find it a better home or return it, my wife would get over the animal fever and life would go back to normal... for only $2.49! The sales girl even told me rats don't live too long, usually less than two years, so worst case nature would solve my problems in relatively short order... So I set my duplicitous plan into motion... and I looked into my daughters tearful trusting eyes and said... Yes, sweetheart, you can have your rat pup...

When I got home, it turned out that my wife was actually totally rat phobic so you can imagine how that went... my daughter chasing the wife around the house trying to show her her new pet and the wife on the table... It was louder and better than I ever expected... Then everything went terribly wrong. My daughter didn't get tired of her rat pup, she dressed it and towed it around in a Barbie Doll convertible and I fed it and cleaned it's cage and it didn't die, in fact it started getting bigger and followed my daughter around the house all day and they fell asleep together in the easy chair every night and I'd put the rat to bed while the wife put the kid to bed, and the dang thing started following me around and hanging out on my desk while I was working and my daughter was out... And I had to make a bigger home for the rat that outgrew the lab container... And despite screaming and jumping on the furniture whenever they crossed paths my wife conceded that the rat was really good for our little girl. I tried to keep my distance, but I was getting sucked in too. I was actually growing quite fond of the strange little critter that had invaded our house and was by this point roaming about turning up and evaporating at will. The peculiar rodent didn't only survive in our house, it actually thrived. Little did we realize when we got her that she was a part wild rat and surviving in people's houses is what wild rats do best.

My best laid plan foiled by a rodent, I conceded defeat, rats were here to stay. And now, I'm rather glad of it. I have to wonder how many rats started out with inauspicious births, doomed to be feeders or disposable pets, only to enchant their humans and make amazing lives for themselves. Once you really get to know a rat, they change you. You really can't help falling in love with such a special animal. I really never wanted a pet rat, but now I don't think I would want to be without one or more furry friends.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

I literally just typed into google "Do rats make good pets" And turns out they do. My first mental image of owning a rat was (don't hate me for this lol) a single black hooded rat in a mouse cage with a cute lil wheel and some shavings at the bottem. I'd occasionally take it out to hold and it would tolerate me but never truly bond with me. And it would also poop everywhere. and smell. That was pretty much what I thought owning a rat would be like. But fortunately for my future rats I did plenty of research and ended up getting two females with a proper rat cage and no shavings, yay me. I was also pretty impressed at how they didn't uncontrollably poop everywhere and used a litterbox. However I still thought they'd be spending most of their time in the cage. Fast foward nine months and now they pretty much own my room. And my bed. (I don't sleep in my room, carpet gives me allergies and my bed is uncomfortable) its quite funny too look back and see how clueless I was, for example when trying to rat proof my room before getting the rats I though an old sketch book woukd be high enough to block the rats from cables. I thought puting stuff i didn't want chewed on the top shelf and thinking it would be out of reach. Hah, all that stuff is now in the hallway out side my room or in my wardrobe and the cables run under my mattress. But honestly, I couldn't Imagine not having rats, They're great.


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## Mball77 (Jul 3, 2013)

I've always been a dog person. I grew up with an amazing dog and when my mom and I moved in with my aunt we got more dogs. Dogs dogs dogs. Dogs are loyal and they love you, like, so much. After dogs, I didn't get animals that don't interact with you on that level. When I moved out into an apt with my boyfriend who worked 11pm to 7:30am and I was working part 5 to 10 (plus free lancing) I was getting lonely at night and really missed having a fuzzy friend. I really missed my dogs. Apt was too small and dogs weren't allowed anyway, or snakes (my landlord had a horrible story about a previous tenets escaped snake and sent me a very very long email about how I'm not allowed to have snakes. I didn't want a snake but there it was.) or birds or anything that made noise. I love ferrets but all the ones I met were stinky. I've heard you can have it so they don't stink but I really wanted to be sure. Chinchillas can live up to 20yrs! I wasn't sure if I was ready for that kind of commitment for my very first pet that I was totally responsible for. 

Also I needed something that was more then cute, something that would interact with me. Something kind of dog like. After some research (ok lots, I was a library assistant) it looked like rats were perfect! Something that would more then tolerate your existence but would actually enjoy your company! Also the litter training was a big seller. I actually had to get over some sort of deep seeded primal instinct at first. I thought rats were cute-ish but not really. (Now I think they are the cutest things in the world) Their movements triggered survival mode in the deepest darkest primordial parts of my brain. (it took months to get over, not holding them but having them dart out from somewhere right in the corner of your eye) I went to some pet stores and held some squirmy rats to see if I could. My boyfriend and I talked about it, we got a big cage and all the supplies. Found a vet a head of time just in case. That vet did exotics but not rat exotics apparently we later found out. I didn't want to grab the first rat I met just because I could. The one Petco rats where not very interested in people, fear pooped all over the place. In a Petsmart I met Nimbus and Loki and Nimbus was special. He was very friendly and curious, tried to climb up to my face. Loki didn't really want anything to do with us at the pet shop but that was Nimbus' cage mate so off with us he came. I had to get that trust back when friendly human equated being put in a dark box and arrive somewhere totally different. 

I learned that rats are not like dogs, the are like rats. There really is nothing like a rat. I don't think I will never have rats after my first two rats. One day when I get a stable and large living space I would also like to get dogs but I will always have rats.

Also you can research forever and nothing will prepare you other then having a rat. Those basic "Why rats are good pets" really need to let people know then existence of porphyrin. I thought my rat was sneezing and crying blood. Seriously they should have a warning label so their humans don't have a heart attack.


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

For years now I've been searching for the right pet to meet my emotional needs. What exactly are my emotional needs? I have absolutely no freaking idea. Regardless though, I knew that's why I was looking for the pets I was looking for. About three years ago I got Ivory, my creamino Peach-faced lovebird. I swear she's possessed by a demon. I love her and she loves me, but she just... Didn't fulfill that need. 

Skip forward two years. My hamster and my green anole had sadly perished and I was ready to commit myself to another animal. I had decided against hamsters, since I know feel that they really don't do anything emotionally for me, but I wanted something small... Somehow, I found rats. I was hooked almost instantly. I researched for two months before finally settling down with my pair of females. Yes, their petstore rats. Yes, I've made mistakes. Yes, Neera's still skittish. But they are, without a shred of doubt, the most amazing pets I have ever owned.


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## MomToRats (Dec 25, 2014)

my son has always had rats and I started getting attached to his 2 little female rats so I decided it was time to be a rat owner and I found 2 little sweet girls , Snowball and Mickey and now I will always love rats


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

I had always wanted them ever since my friends had some in college. I didn't get any though, until I had to rehome my guinea pigs due to an allergy to their hay that I developed. At that point, we had a cat and snakes / geckos, and I still wanted something small and cuddly, but without the need for hay. Them being social was also a big motivator and them using more of their cage space than other rodents so I could decorate their home with fun toys / hammocks.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

I was about 17, living at home with my mom. I wanted a small pet for myself. I approached my mom and asked if I could get a hamster. She said "How about a rat?"... and the rest is history. I learned a lot over the next few years, had my heart filled with love and broken a few times, and although I haven't had rats for quite a while now, they certainly left their paw print marks on my life


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## Jessiferatu (Apr 30, 2014)

I was 18 and had just moved into my first apartment. It was all well and good until I realized I was lonely, lol. My landlord specified no dogs, and I am allergic to cats, so I went in search of a small animal that would be relatively easy to care for. I had had hamsters before and liked them well enough, but then I saw the rats. And I couldn't look away. It hadn't even occurred to me until that point that people kept rats as pets. There were two of them in the enclosure, a PEW and really pretty blue-gray one. The girl took them both out and let me say hello. PEW was not at all interested in me, he sniffed me briefly and then curled up and went back to sleep. Little blue-gray was very interested and climbed into my hand. So I took him home and named him Donnie. I didn't know at the time that rats need cage mates, or I would have taken them both. That was over 10 years ago and I STILL feel guilty that Donnie had no friends. However, I had him for 3 years and he was awesome. He moved with me twice; was around when I met my boyfriend and we moved in together. He was there when my boyfriend became my fiance, and when we adopted our dog Rusty, they became friends. When Donnie passed, I had a little ceremony for him and buried him in a shoe box in my back yard. I wish I had a picture of him, there might be one packed away in the attic somewhere. Maybe one day I'll dig around for it.

Then I didn't have rats for a long time. Now I do.


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## ENDman (Feb 6, 2015)

the first rat I had was Mittens.My girlfriend at the time was keeping her in a glass tank in her DORM ROOM and couldn't take her for the summer. So I took her...and got her a buddy who I named Tonks. They were both great rats and I lost both of them last year.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

aww I love reading everyone's stories. 

I first just saw rats in the petstore and just fell in love with how cute they were. So I went home and spent the day reading all I could about pet rats & falling more in love the more I read. Then I had to talk my husband into letting me. The next day I went and picked up Sookie & Willow. A few years later after they were gone I was in the same petstore and was manic (bipolar too lol) and just out of the spur of the moment got a rat. She ended up being preggers and I kept 3 of her babies. So I have 4 now.


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## FiMarie (Jan 19, 2013)

Ignorance, really. I had pet mice as a kid and always adored them. I was convinced rats were just a larger version as far as behavior. My mother would never let me have a rat, so a few weeks before I was leaving college, I was looking at rats at a pet store and once of them picked me. He ran right up to the glass and put his paws on it and stared at me. I shouldn't have taken him home, but I did. I very quickly learned that they were nothing like mice and fell in love with the species. I did a lot of research and reading, got him a buddy and I've had rats ever since. At this point, there's very little I don't know about housing pet rats except for how to teach them tricks. I've never tried that. I love them dearly and I'm currently going through an emotional crisis where I'm not sure if I can keep pet rats anymore. They live such short lives and it's so heart-wrenching when they pass... I think I need an emotional break. Milosh is slowly dying now... 
http://www.ratforum.com/showthread....-can-do-rats.....-I-need-some-kind-words...-(


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## Cassmw996 (Feb 9, 2015)

This is a weird story but anyway my boyfriend works for a compost plant and part of his job is killing the rats he finds. He does this probably almost day if not atleast every week. They are so mean to the rats there, for example (i wont go into details) one guy skinned one of the dead ones after killing it. 
He came home one night and was all excited to tell me about how cute the new baby rats at work are and telling me how big they were and he was just so happy to have seen them and he said he wanted pet rats. We werent planning on doing it but then about 3 weeks later it was my birthday and id always wanted an animal. So when he asked what i wanted for my birthday i told him i wanted pet rats because i knew that they were something that we would both enjoy.
He does kill rats at his work but that is his job and it doesnt effect at all how he treats our rats.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

After I moved to a place that no longer allowed cats, I longed for something small and furry to fill the gap. I had always thought rats were the most interesting of the small furries at the pet store but all they ever had were albinos and old hooded rats that looked like they wouldn't survive the drive home. One day when I walked by, something caught my eye; it was a beautiful champagne dumbo (though I didn't know those terms at the time) and he looked much younger and healthier than all the others. Turns out someone had abandoned him there and I immediately decided I had to have him. I took him home and named him Chester and slowly learned how to take care of him. My roommates at the time were not thrilled with my choice of pet, so I was never able to get Chester a friend. After about a year, I noticed that Chester just really didn't seem happy; he was getting absurdly fat, wouldn't play anymore and just didn't seem interested in anything. A trip to the vet told me that nothing was wrong with him except that he needed more companionship than I could give him with my full time job and night classes. I made the heartbreaking decision to find Chester a new home and told myself that, one day, when I finally had the time they deserved, I would have rats again. It took a few years, but I eventually got to the point where I knew I could give them everything they needed


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## heckhund (Feb 16, 2015)

When I was little my moms friends went on vacation and left their three rats with us. They were a group of rescued lab rats. There was an adorable and shy agouti Irish with a little white star on her forehead, a huge and super friendly pew girl, and an extremely mischievous pew. I really fell in love.Years later when I was 13 I did crazy amounts of research. I literally spent hours every day for at least a month online reading about fancy rat care. Eventually I managed to convince my mom, and got a large bird cage an modified it to be rat friendly, then got two wonderful pearl merle girls from petsmart. I have kept rats ever since!


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

I had always heard that rats make good pets. When I was in my early 20's I found myself petless and searching. One day I was at the flea market and a man had a box of little fuzzy creatures. I asked him if they were mice, he said "No, they're rats." Baby feeders, probably just 5 or 6 weeks old. I put my hand in the box and one little fuzzy kept coming up and giving me kisses. I paid $2.95 and took her home, and she became my companion for the next 3 years. She went everywhere with me. She free-ranged around the house and always came when I called her. I even took her to college with me. After she passed away, I didn't have rats for a long time (too busy for pets) but I always missed her, and always wanted another rat. Now I have rats again and it's hard to imagine living without them!


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## madihicks4 (Jul 2, 2014)

I went to the petstore to buy a hampster and it bit me so I looked at the rats and they were super cute and climbing up my arms to snuggle in my hair and I was sold. Also, my mom had a rat as a kid and my older sister had a rat


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## Dan203 (Jul 10, 2014)

My wife wanted a dog for a long time, but I didn't because I knew she wouldn't take care of it and I would end up being the one who had to clean up after it. (she's fickle like a kid that way) I put her off for a long time but she kept bugging me about getting some sort of pet. A friend of her's had Guinea Pigs and she decided she wanted a couple of those instead. Again I was hesitant because they live 8-10 years and I was the one who was going to end up taking care of them. I did some research and found a lot of people saying that rats were better pets and they only live about 2 years. I figured that was a better option since if she didn't like them I'd only have to take care of them for 2 years. It took a lot of convincing, and even then she almost bailed at the last minute, because she had a typical view that rats were "gross". I persisted and we ended up with two boys from the local PetCo. She ended up liking them OK but the funny thing is that in all my effort to try and make them more friendly so she would like them I fell in love. As predicted I ended up having to take care of them, but I don't mind because I love the little guys so much. Only problem is that the sort lifespan which was a selling point for me in the beginning now breaks my heart every time I think about it.


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## mightywhiskers42 (Mar 14, 2015)

It was a long journy for me to finally land on rats, mostly since I was young and it was convincing my parents. When I was around 5th grade I somehow convinced my parents to let me get a hamster, but just my luck it got wet-tail and we tried everything but still couldn't save her (rip honey) then we went back to the store (since it's a 7 day guarantee or something which is actually quite sad that policy exists) and I picked another hamster and that time my brothers wanted one too and we ended up bringing all 4 in the cage home. The little girl I had chosen for my own again passed away even though we tried everything (rip rascal) but the other 3 lived to become ripe old grandmas and we learned a lot about hamsters those 2-3 years.

During that time with the 3 hamsters even though I was pretty much the only one taking care of them I still felt like they were my brothers and mom's so I was kind of bummed out by that. I started always going to watch the mice at the pet stores (i was maybe 11 at the time and had always loved mice) and one day I saw the most adorable one, I showed my mom and she let me bring Midnight home (she was a tiny agouti mouse) she was the best pet I have ever had and I think the major reason my parents let me get rats. She was essentially a shoulder rat except a mouse. I took her everywhere and she road on my shoulder, greeted people, got treats at the store, she even told me when she had to go pee and never once peed on me. She lived for more than 3 years and my mom was absolutely smitten with her and we were both crushed when she died.

The rats came about because I thought they were just as cute as mice just bigger, and one day we were at a pet store and there was a little girl who was all black with a white diamond on her tummy and white paws. I thought she looked like she jazz player and had her named before I even asked if I could get her. I showed my mom and 10 minutes later we got her out of the tank and she was the sweetest thing I have ever met, we ended up going home with her and another of her casemates. Thus Jazz and Piper my first baby fuzzbutts. It's been a few years now since they passed away and I wish I knew as much with them as I do now. But my baby boys i'm picking up in a few weeks will be the most spoiled little babies, I'm already collecting toys and making hammocks for them. Until you don't have them for a while you don't realize how much you miss the little bundles of joy, and boy have I missed them.


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## Augustine (Nov 14, 2011)

My cousin had a very pampered life, and like most spoiled children, she went through a number of pet phases; dogs, cats, ferrets, fish, turtles.. and eventually rats.

We visited there fairly often so I got to spend some time interacting with her rat, and I eventually developed an interest in 'em myself. I wasn't actually able to adopt one until like a year or so later, but I've been in love with them ever since.


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## SaraLovesRats (Jan 11, 2015)

I was sitting with my mom venting to her about how lonely I am and I started to list out pet ideas just for fun even though I knew my dad always says no more living creatures but I began listing to my mom like every pet possible including tarantulas until I said rat and I don't know why but as soon as I said the word rat I knew I was going to get one I had never seen a rat before but I knew I wanted one I started doing TONS of research online and after presenting the research to my dad I think he realized that I really did need a pet so I did lots and lots of research on everything from trapping them if they escape to dealing with aggression next thing you know I have my two boys and couldn't be happier


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## Sowa (Jan 24, 2015)

I worked at a pet store. Unfortunately the store sold rats as feeders as well as pets. So I kept finding rats and getting attached to them (I couldn't have any where I lived). I found one rat I loved, I asked everyone to make sure he was sold to a home not a feeder but this girl came in and without asking picked the rat claiming it was the only rat her snake would eat. I begged her not to take it but she did anyway. I was so upset. After that I started hording the ones I fell in love with out back  Anyone looking for a pet I would show them these and how sweet they were. Eventually I found two I couldn't part with so my friend cared for them until I could. Now I have 5 ratties


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## Wieju (Jan 25, 2015)

So many great stories 

My husband had rats before he and I started dating and he told me a lot about his little boy "Perle" (that's German for Pearl.) and how he always went everywhere with the husband. He loved that rat very much. He did have rats after that but he and his Ex got two cats and after the relationship ended the cats stayed and I walked into the picture. I never was a cat person. I grew up with dogs and wasn't too sure about my husbands cats at the beginning but they grew on me and I ended up loving them so much. Our boy passed away early at 10 years from a tumor but the girl (they were mother and son) stayed with us for 5 more years and she became "mine". She slept in my bed and hardly ever left my side when I was home and we had a special bond.
Sadly we had to let her go this year after a 1/2-year long battle against Pancreatitis that she just was not able to win.
That day was one of the worst days of my life... 
Our daughter (5yo) was heartbroken too and she seemed to struggle most with the fact that we did not have a single pet left.

The husband and I had been talking about rats a few years back but decided that given the layout of our flat we did not feel comfortable with housing both rats and cats so we decided against getting some. 
I always thought that rats seemedcool but I never really researced them because my mother would have never ever let me have rats. My brother and I barely got her to agree to Gerbils and since she is one of those "but the tailllll!!"-people I did not even bother to look up rats because that was never going to happen. 

But then when we found ourselfs in search of a new pet we discussed rats and I did a fair amount of research and we decided to get our girls


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## Rattienewby (Aug 31, 2014)

A few months after me and my boyfriend moved in, he started night classes 4 nights a week and I wanted a little pet to hang out with. We live in an apartment though and I knew I didn't want to train a dog and have to rush home to let it out, etc. Boyfriend isn't a fan of cats. 

So I started looking for a small animal but I knew I had terrible luck when I was young with gerbils and hamsters. They were mean, didn't like humans much, etc. I started doing some research and found this was more often than not just how they were except for a small %. 

And then there were rats!!!! Thru my research I actually found this site and spent hours for a week straight looking at information. Finally had the nerve to tell my boyfriend what I was thinking about, and while surprised he didn't act grossed out like I was expecting! I ordered my Critter Nation that night and started looking for a pair of girls right away. 

A week after we got them one girl (Piper) decided to tell us she was actually a boy which was so sad! We simply did not have the means at the time to keep an opposite sex pair so we exchanged him for another girl. We named the sisters Penelope and Phoebe. 

That was 6 months ago and I don't know what we ever did without them! Within days my boyfriend was obsessed, talking to them all the time and playing. Our sweet Phoebe had an eye removed a couple weeks ago and isn't liking the big cage anymore so Penelope has been solo. We picked up 2 new baby girls to begin the process of getting Penelope some friends!!!

Life changed forever haha!


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## Fanciestrats (Mar 10, 2015)

my (now) fiance and I were at a petstore talking to a sales associate about different animals. We had just gotten our apartment at the time and were looking for a pet to come home to. We'd tried a hamster and had disliked the experience, and the sales associate recommended rats. She told us that it would be a totally new experience, that they were active and playful, and enjoyed being touched. We hadn't had any reservations at the time. We are open minded people...the only thing that kept us from getting rats in the first place was the cage size. When we finally did get our two boys we were willing to sacrifice the space for the possibility that we would bond with them. It was an eye opening, incredible learning experience loving them for those 2 and 3 years, and now that we have our three girls, we have an even BIGGER cage for them.  Now i pitch rats to people who live in apartments, they are the best company and I hate the idea of someone missing out on all of that happiness just because they forget to consider them!


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## Rat PBaller (May 26, 2015)

Well my story actually begins on Facebook, I saw the video link showing how rats have empathy by saving the friend from drowning then getting the food, I thought no way so I took a look. I was shocked to see one caring more to save the other than putting food in it's stomach. After that I started my research on them, every time I read a new article about how affectionate and social they were I knew this was gonna be what I wanted. I got my two girls 5 days ago and already they have me wrapped around their tiny little paws.


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## AdequateRat (Mar 12, 2015)

I saw a picture on the internet of that rat sleeping with a tiny teddy bear.
Did a week or twos worth of research and bam!

I'm now 8, soon to be 9 rats in.

:3


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Adequaterat, you know I have a friend who claims she had over 30 large cages of rats and mice (probably more than twice that) and was breeding them two at a time, before the "health department incident" Although she also claims she never actually had enough rats to be considered a rattery... There was a time she only had 8 rats going on 9...

I LOVE your enthusiasm and I know you are taking great care of your rats and I'm not overly concerned... yet; but as a friend.... if you ever see yourself closing in on the Emerald City you might be on the yellow brick road.

Just a passing thought...


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## AdequateRat (Mar 12, 2015)

Just a passing thought:

[Yes, here is where I get incredibly offended by your uncalled for and BIASED remark]

Excuse me, sir? Weren't you the one who was just moaning about how you've been banned off multiple Forums for "shoulder" ratting, as people were closed minded and biased by the way you cared for your rats?

You have not one single CLUE as to how I care for/maintain my rats.
Maybe if you bothered to browse forums instead of repeating the same story over and over again about a "true" shoulder rat, you would look at the many pictures/videos I've posted of their living area.

Anyway, butt out. We are not friends.
You come off as a know-it-all just because you got lucky, once.


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## Amph (Apr 14, 2015)

I have to say that was uncalled for ratdaddy even if you had the right intentions or it was just a joke it came across quite badly. I don't think that's something you should say publicly jokingly or not. I know AdequateRat pretty well and she is dedicated to her boys and makes sure every single one of them is ok. It may seem that she has more than most, cage / mischief wise but actually that's more from circumstance and having a good heart than a desire for more more more. She often talks to me about what shes planning, so I know how hard she considers things before doing them and I respect her for being such a dedicated owner.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I apologize... I didn't mean to imply that you have too many rats nor that you don't take care of them. I absolutely didn't mean to offend you! Honestly, I don't even have a preconception of what too many rats is. Some folks can and do have way more rats than you have and everyone is more than happy. Folks with 100 rats are just as fine with me as folks with only one... if that's what they want and what they can handle.

And most of all you don't need to defend your decisions to me or anyone else.

Again I'm sorry if I offended you... my bad, I won't mention it again.


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## AdequateRat (Mar 12, 2015)

Rat Daddy said:


> I apologize... I didn't mean to imply that you have too many rats nor that you don't take care of them. I absolutely didn't mean to offend you! Honestly, I don't even have a preconception of what too many rats is. Some folks can and do have way more rats than you have and everyone is more than happy. Folks with 100 rats are just as fine with me as folks with only one... if that's what they want and what they can handle.
> 
> And most of all you don't need to defend your decisions to me or anyone else.
> 
> Again I'm sorry if I offended you... my bad, I won't mention it again.


To be honest, Rat Daddy. I do not accept your apology. 

If you didn't mean to imply that I have too many rats and that I didn't take care of them, then what DID you mean?
I know when someone is having a dig and you certainly were.

I wouldn't need to defend my decisions if it weren't for people like you. Did you ever think about that?

So, please. PLEASE tell me what you actually meant then? I am so interested in as to what you have to say, for once.

Graciously/anxiously await your reply.

Cheers.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I was watching a program on Animal Planet about rats. At this time I was 55 and had spent a lifetime thinking rats were "EEEWWWW!". The program showed Siamese and naked rats. This peaked my curiosity, "just what colors do pet rats come in?" Well through trying to answer that question I found out so much more than I had ever imagined there was to find out about rats. I also discovered that there was a rat forum in my home town and there was a rat rescue there, too. So I posted in the forum to ask if anyone would be willing to introduce me to their rats, and two nice people said, "Come on over." I took my husband and sister with me and soon had rats of my own. Being so closely associated with a rat rescue, I did wind up adopting several rats in need of homes and got to 13 rats without really realizing it, which was too many for me. It can be so easy to do, I can see how some people can get into an untenable situation without realizing it's happening, but I won't do that again. Now, I wish I could find a breeder nearby so I could get a youngster to be Petey's companion. I may wind up getting a Petco/Petsmart rat for him/us, but I have a trip to Washington I have to get through first.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

AdequateRat,

To tell a personal story...not related to yours. I once got into breeding tropical fish... I wound up with dozens of aquariums covering all three floors of my house... (hundreds of fish in total... way too many to count... more than some small pet shops) Now I did it for fun and profit... and up to a point I had a really good plan. I surrounded myself with folks that had way bigger setups than my own, one friend who actually dropped from a heart attack in front of his 300 aquariums in a commercial building he bought just to house his "hobby/business" to make myself feel 'normal'. I installed a pond in the yard to raise daphnia as fish food and built racks to raise my own worms. But by the time I was investing over 100 hours a week on my little break even enterprise, I might have appreciated someone suggesting I review my plans when I only had 8 going on 9 aquariums and things were still fun and profitable. Let's just say my daughter was born and I wound up in the hospital myself for a few weeks and things went down hill rather fast.

Or, in retrospect if someone had questioned my plans, I might have been offended too... I don't know, I meant to be helpful, I generally do consider the folks here friends and I am really sorry for upsetting you. I see things through the lens of my own personal experiences and sometimes I can be very wrong. If you are heading for two dozen rats and they make you happy and you can take care of them... then you most certainly aren't on the yellow brick road and you aren't going to ever have a problem and *although my opinion really doesn't matter one way or another*, I'd actually encourage you to adopt another 16 rats.

Because of my own personal experience, I have a hard limit of two rats (and that coming from someone with 4 cars, down from 6 due to an "_unfortunate incident_" with the town zoning department). I know how easy it is for me to get in over my head and I can also see where my comments didn't apply to your situation. 

I think when people talk face to face this kinds of miscommunication doesn't happen as often, but things can look a lot more ominous than they are intended when set in print.

I just thought someone, *in retrospect, not you*, might have benefited from a kindly heads up while things were still going good... *but as I was wrong, I sincerely apologize for the slight*.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I forgot to add that anyone who knows me, knows I never apologize for offending people when I do it on purpose.


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## AdequateRat (Mar 12, 2015)

Rat Daddy;

Once again, I'm not having it.
Face to face or over text, what you said was in fact a slight. 
There was no other way to interpret that other than you questioning my pet ownership abilities and pretty much implying that I was careless.


Here's my word of advice for you, since you seem to be giving out *SO* much where it is not warranted:
Kudos to you, you wrote a popular thread on a forum on the internet. 

It does not make you omnipotent. It does not give you permission to look down on other people's lifestyles. 
In other words, please. *Please get off of your pedestal and come back down to earth with the rest of society. *

Did I ask for advice? *No.*
I was sharing my story of how I got into rats, as what this thread was originally intended for. 

Did I mention about being overwhelmed with the amount of rats I have?* No.*
Did I once utter those words? *No. No, I did not.*

I used to take your words kindly and into great consideration.
Now every post, it's you repeating the same thing over or adding onto comments that you don't really need to.
You come off as if you're trying to one up everyone and honestly I've had enough.

Now that I've stood up for myself, you're backtracking?

"I just thought someone, *in retrospect, not you*, might have benefited from a kindly heads up while things were still going good... *but as I was wrong, I sincerely apologize for the slight*."

Yeah right, get over yourself.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

OK, I said I was wrong... and I apologized, you get to choose to accept it or not, so the last word stands as yours.


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## AdequateRat (Mar 12, 2015)

Just wanted to bump this.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Rats really are insidious little animals, they camouflage themselves as inexpensive pocket pets and then win over our hearts with their enormous personalities. Oddly, I think some folks wouldn't adopt rats if they knew up front what a hugely intelligent and interactive animal a rat is. But they soon find out that rats are a whole lot more than furry turtles or another brand of hamster. And I believe that once someone falls in love with their rat or rats there's no turning back.

On the other hand, I'm from the instant gratification generation that practically coined the term 'disposable pets'. We tend to walk into stores and buy stuff and then figure out if it fits or what to do with it later. If there was a pet of the week club, I'll bet it would have had lots of members from my school when I was a kid. In fact there was always a poster in my school by a kid who would take in any small furry animal anyone wanted to get rid of. In high school I went over to his house and there was a pile of tiny empty cages next to his huge (now rare and endangered) eastern indigo snake which had been raised to some extent on pets other people disposed of. He told me he never lied to anyone, but if people didn't ask and he didn't tell. (It still made me uneasy to think that people didn't even ask where their pets were going.)

Maybe it's the internet and the abundance of easily available information or maybe society is changing, but it's nice to read the comments that people have made here that they did a lot of research *before* they adopted their first rat(s). In my day pet shops stocked dozens, if not hundreds of tiny fish that would get over 3 feet long and sold them all day to people with 10 gallon aquariums. And to some degree that hasn't changed... the term pocket pet is still a euphemism for disposable pet in the pet industry. But it's so nice to read stories about people that think and research before they make the commitment to adopt an animal for a lifetime commitment.

I know us older folks will usually say that things were better way back when, but maybe things are getting just a little bit better when it comes to small animals.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I was 7 when I got my first "pocket pet", a hamster. My aunt bought it for me at the dime store (remember them?), because "Kids need pets". All I knew about hamsters was it came with a cage and food. I popped it into my pocket and went to the park to play baseball. At some point during the game she peeked out of my pocket and a timeout was called to meet her. Everyone met her and she curled back up in my pocket and the game went on. A few days later my brother sat up late watching tv and playing with her then went to bed forgetting to put her back in her cage and we never saw her again. I never had another pocket pet til I got them for my son and it was never like my first. Without the internet, I may never have come to consider rats as pets at all. Things are definitely better for pets and their owners these days. I think that the only thing that was really better back then is that I was a kid and I miss being a kid.


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## Rattenstein (Nov 14, 2014)

I hadn't had a pet for years, not after I was forced to get rid of my cat by my father... 

I went to work at my aunts house after my uncle was injured, she lives on a farm with horses, dogs, chickens, rabbits and pigs... It made me remember how much I love having animal buddies... And how lonely I normally am... 

So I started looking into different pets. I knew I couldn't get a cat, dog, or ferret. At first I looked at rabbits, I did A LOT of research on them, but decided I did not have the space for one. I'd had guinea pigs before, and while I like them I did not want to have them again. 

Next I looked at rats, mice, and hamsters... At first I didn't want rats, because I didn't want more than one animal and everywhere said they needed buddies. So I was thinking I'd get a male mouse... I've had a hamster and he was a jerk so I'm sort of biased toward them lol.
But my aunt kept telling me how great rats are, so I started looking into them more. The more I read about them the more I liked them. I researched them for weeks before deciding I wanted to get some, and my aunt found someone who sold them at a local pet store who had a new litter of dumbo rats available. I actually wanted top eared rats but there was only one and he wriggled out of my hands and ran away. I caught him and put him back in the bin. :I 

And the rest is history, I've had my guys since last November and I've never looked back... I've done more research along the way, maybe made a couple mistakes, but things are going good now. I love my boys  I'm thinking about getting a third rat at some point, not right now though.


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## Smilebud (Jul 31, 2012)

I was fourteen, and the Internet was my friend. My mom worked the nightshift so I never saw her, my step dad was abusive. I decided I needed a friend. Cue hours of research, I didn't get my rats until a few months before my 16th birthday. I begged, I pleaded, I cried. I compiled evidence and wrote an essay. My mother, no lover of small animals ("you just look at them and dump smelly shavings once a week) was not convinced. It took almost two years to get my boys.

And now I'll have them forever. I already have three (maybe four tonight!). Boyfriend says I can have six (one for each kid we plan on having) but I think I can stretch it to eight ;D

Hey, if he loves me forever he's gonna have to put up with my rats. He says he wants to build a race car, I say I want more rats, even Steven


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## KuroKitsune (Jun 2, 2015)

This is a really old topic so sorry if I'm being weird replying to it anyways!

I was actually inspired to get rats because of a song! 
Chip by The Real McKenzie's is about a man who trades his soul for a bucket of nails and is then tormented by rats for the rest of his life. Listening to the song got me thinking about rats, I searched some info online and realized how badly I wanted one as a pet. I researched things out, got everything ready, and about a month later I got my girls <3

Thankfully my rats are friendly unlike Chips from the song


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I started out with rats when I was 5, whilst it wasn't exactly my choice, I have it on good authority that it was linked with the untimely end of one goldfish due to me and my brother wanting to play with it outside the tank. My parents watched that british institution of Blue Peter and that combined with a school rat my mum knew when she was younger led to us getting pets we could actually play with. It was the best Christmas present of my life and is entirely to blame for me now being 1 year off 30 years with rats. I now breed on a very small scale and am a very active part of the UK rat fancy, and stick my oar in on some more international stuff too lol.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

I was very young and had gone to the local science center. They had basketball playing rats there, and after the rats had played I got to pet them. I found them to be very friendly and charming. 

Years later I met a male rat at the local pet shop. I would play with him every time we would go there. I tried convincing my mom for us to get him, but it didn't work. I saved up my allowance to get a book about keeping rats and had to read through the entire book, before my parents could be convinced that I would be ready. Not too long after that we got two girl rats! My family loved them. My dad who isn't a pet person claims that rats are his favorite pet, which is quite big for him to say.

So now, many years later I'm preparing to get three rats from a local breeder and I'm super excited. I just bought a SRS Double cage today and can hardly contain my excitement! <3


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## hjs1700 (Nov 27, 2015)

Couple years ago I went to the petstore to grab some frozen rats for my snakes.. they were out of stock and hadn't eaten in a couple weeks. I had to grab some live ones (though it broke my heart) and tried to feed them. Luckily, my snakes were terrified of them and never ate the darn things. I decided to give them away as the place we lived in was far too small to have snakes and rats, and I was scared. I fell in love with the larger one that crawled right up on my lap and fell asleep. The minute I moved into a larger place I went and picked up two rats.


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## RosesAndRats (May 7, 2015)

I think I've always wanted to get either mice or rats. I watched Dexter's Laboratory as a child and wanted a cool lab like that, and I knew about rodents used for science. I _loved _the idea of getting an albino, which I now have. Every time I went to a pet store I would spend the whole time looking at the mice and rats. I wanted rats more when I saw that they were bigger and lived longer. 

When my mom let my sister get guinea pigs, after my dog's death, she let me get two rats. That was April of 2014, and I now have four. Very soon, I'll have five!


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## Alleyxandra (Nov 19, 2015)

I've always wanted more pets. Grew up with cats and a dog. I always wanted a bunny or mice or a rat but was never allowed. 


About 2 months ago I was visiting a friend who has a rat, and I kind of fell in love. She's so cute and lovey and just awesome. I'm 19 now (20 in Feb!) and have the means to pay for their care and care for them myself and can keep them in my room, so mum allowed it. Next thing ya know I've bought the Australian equivalent to a DCN, had hand cramps from hand stitching hammocks and I got two baby girls. I've had them just over 3 weeks, and even though mum was reluctant she's even fell completely in love with them now. I'm getting a couple more in the new year!


They're such cuties, I'm totally smitten.


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## Binky (Nov 15, 2014)

I grew up in the country, always having a wide variety of animals! I watched animal planet practically my entire childhood save for The Lion King, and I grew up wanting to be a vet! Today I am on a different educational path but am still very interested in animal behavior and still see that as part of my college life. 

Actually getting my first rat was from going in the pet store with a friend to get my dog some dog food at around 13. This man had a huge snake around his shoulders and in his hand a small box with a wee little baby rat inside! My heart broke and I asked him if I could have it, he could have a frozen baby instead. Deal! I ended up walking home with a rat, a cage and all the necessities. My parents were kinda mad at first but they warmed up to the idea of rats and now here I am, moved out and in college, with an ever growing new group!


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## Rosewired (Jul 21, 2015)

My entire family is actually allergic to anything with fur, which means that cats and dogs were always out of the picture. However, my family has a serious love for animals, so we did what we could to get around our allergies...specifically the mindset of "maybe if it's small enough our allergies won't be as bad!". Because of this, when my sister asked for one thing and one thing only for her birthday, she ended up getting it: a little baby fancy rat. It took months to name the little guy...nothing seemed right for such a sweet, meek creature. Eventually we settled on Ratman: "well...he's a rat...and a man!".

Honestly, I was scared at first. Not because it was a rat...that fact alone never scared me. Rather, he was such a tiny little life...I couldn't bear the idea of accidentally hurting him (which seemed like it would have been so easy!). As a result, I didn't touch him for the first few months of having him. One day, however, my sister suddenly placed him on me. Feeling his little tickley feet as he played merrily in my hair...I was in love.

Fast forward several more months. My family did actually end up being fairly allergic to him, but I was miraculously the least allergic. As a result, I became his main playmate. He free-ranged in my room every night, sat on my lap during movie time, and was generally just my best buddy. When we eventually got him a really big cage to play in, my sister just kind of...stopped taking care of the less glamorous aspects. My mom eventually started paying me to clean his cage, which I did as best I could -- my little buddy was going to have everything he wanted, including a spotless home!

Time went on and we got closer and closer. His grosser qualities stopped bothering me -- his buck grease was endearing (you're only alpha by default because there's no one else!), I refused to put him up just because he pooped or peed on me (why punish the little guy for bodily functions), and rodentistry became a special form of bonding between us. Some of my favorite memories involve he and I watching TV together in my room, him perched on my thighs and a bowl of noodles on my knees, both of us eating from the same dish as we saw fit.

To me, rats became these amazing, flawless creatures...such tiny bodies with such short lives that somehow contained such unconditional love and purity and acceptance...my whole life was turned upside down when he eventually passed at 2 years and about 6 months. But I absolutely knew one thing...my life would never be complete again without a few little fuzzy friends to give my heart to. Now I'm giving my heart to my third and fourth rats, and can't wait to get to know many, many more.


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## MJ502 (Oct 27, 2015)

Last March my girlfriend and I went to a local pet shop out of boredom. I love animals of all kinds and enjoy visiting with the animals on display. There was a bin of young male rats on display that day, all of which were grey...except one. He was a black eyed white boy. He was adorable and he was just hanging out, looking at me and carelessly eating his lunch. I said to myself that if I was to get one, he would be the one I got. I showed my girlfriend and she thought he was cute too. As I am standing there fawning over him, a sales rep comes up behind me with a customer looking to purchase a rat for his snake. My heart dropped. They opened the bin and the sales rep asked the man if he had a "size preference". The man shrugged and said that he really didn't care and that he would just take "that white one". I thought I was going to get sick. Before I knew it I looked at them both and said... no... the white one is mine! And at that moment I became a rat parent. My girlfriend walked back over to me and I told her what had happened. To my surprise she said that we had to get him a friend now.... so she picked out a grey boy. We picked out a few basic things and went on our way. We both were so nervous... neither of us had ever had rats before. Turns out... they are amazing. Shortly after that we got them a DCN and they were spoiled. We named them Jack Daniels (grey) and Jim Beam (white). Jack has since passed on due to a stroke but Jim is still with us. He is probably about a yea old now and he has turned out to be the sweetest guy. I love him. After Jack died, we got Jim a couple friends and all is well in our mischief. I love these little creatures <3


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