My Rats *pic heavy*

[ChiKat]

Just thought I'd share some pictures of my past pet rats.
I don't currently have any rats- my last girl passed away several years ago. They were great pets though!

Fiona and Aggie (both rescues)

Fiona

Aggie fishing for peas

Daisy and Fiona

Daisy

The twins looking old...right after Aggie passed away from a stroke

Robin

One of my favorite pics

Scarlett sitting on top of Robin to "protect her" Scarlett was always pretty timid.

My dog Carl with Robin (I promise they would not have been put in this situation if I wasn't comfortable with it!)

 

[Becki]

Aww, those are such cute pictures! Sounds like you miss having them as pets.

 

[moswen]

oh i just love rats. my sister in law has them and i don't think she knows about their ability to fish for peas... i'm going to have to tell her she would love to watch them do that. they're precious! thanks for sharing the pics!

wow i can't believe how well you can tell that scarlet and robin are looking so old! like you can really tell that they are older rats!

 

[Cameron]

to each his own....(gross!)

 

[ChiKat]

wow i can't believe how well you can tell that scarlet and robin are looking so old! like you can really tell that they are older rats!

I know! And the sad part is they were only a year old when I took that picture I rescued them and they had terrible genes- chronic respiratory problems. They were on antibiotics for much of their short lives. They only lived to be ~18 months and I heard from the rescue that their siblings all died around the same age too. So sad!

---

to each his own....(gross!)

How can you look at these pictures and say "gross" ?

(not my rats)

 

[Jessicap]

awe, reminds me of my Ben. I loved him. Such a great guy. Yours were very cute too.

 

[Laura]

love the pics.. not for everyone of course.. but they are great little pets.. too bad they dont live very long..
Its amazing what they can be taught.. very smart..

 

[TKCARDANDCOIN]

I must say,I am not a rat person but They are pretty cool!

 

[N2TORTS]

Nice looking critters...... although I have to tease ya Chi"kat"...
with that name shoudnt it be pics of little "furball" kittys ...instead of wire hair varments..?

JD~

 

[Candy]

Now this is how I love to see rats, as peoples loving pets. I just love that one with the blanket. They are adorable and thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures.

 

[pdrobber]

had one a few years back, for about a week. petsmart bought, think they were bred to be food...where do ppl get theirs? the one I had was not nice, I couldn't even handle it.

interested to know, even though getting one here in the city might get some negative attention from apartment neighbors, rats not really looked at in a positive light, even though there's a difference between pets and the subway crawling ones, most people (neighbors and building management) don't know that.

 

[Cameron]

How can you look at these pictures and say "gross" ?

(not my rats)

because they are smelly hairy rats! i used to raise rats (for my snakes) and had to stop. i couldn't do it. they smelled too bad and were a HUGE pain to deal with. not to mention that they are constantly urinating and pooping all over the place....

but i'm glad you like them! somebody has to!

 

[ChiKat]

Oh yes, rats can be very smelly if they are kept in dirty, crowded conditions! (Same with pretty much every animal!)
My rats were all litterbox trained

---

Nice looking critters...... although I have to tease ya Chi"kat"...
with that name shoudnt it be pics of little "furball" kittys ...instead of wire hair varments..?

"Chi" is for Chicago or Chihuahuas. "Kat" is for my full name, Katherine
I'm more of a dog person anyways

had one a few years back, for about a week. petsmart bought, think they were bred to be food...where do ppl get theirs? the one I had was not nice, I couldn't even handle it.

interested to know, even though getting one here in the city might get some negative attention from apartment neighbors, rats not really looked at in a positive light, even though there's a difference between pets and the subway crawling ones, most people (neighbors and building management) don't know that.

I got three of mine through a rescue, and two I got from the pet store (against my own beliefs) because I couldn't bear to see them go as snake food
If you're interested I'm sure I could find a rescue in your area, or maybe even a breeder- then you would definitely get a well-socialized, friendly rat!
My pet store rats were definitely more skittish because they weren't used to being handled.
eta: And they should be kept in pairs- they're very social

 

[terryo]

I never had a rat, but my son's girlfriend did. They never smelled, because her Mom is a clean freak, and would never have them if they did. I guess she kept them very clean. I also live in NY, and sad to say most rats here are sold for food.
I came across this picture on stumbleupon.com..love that site...I thought it was the cutest picture, and made it my desk top background.

 

[Torty Mom]

Katie, they are super cute! Great pictures!!! It does sound like you miss them alot!!! We use to have 2 many years ago, Karen and Slick. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Floof]

Your rats were absolutely gorgeous, Katie. I'm sorry they passed away, especially the twins so young. Thank you for sharing.

Call me crazy, but I'm a snake person who loves rats... and not just as food. (And you'd be surprised how many of us there are. There's a good number of people on my favorite snake forum that won't keep any snakes large enough to need rats, and very many more that who keep pet rats of their own despite having snakes large enough to eat them...)

I adopted a friend's 3 rat girls around a year ago. They were great fun, and I really enjoyed them. In the end, though, I couldn't handle the upkeep, or the smell, and I found I didn't have enough time to spend with them, so I ended up having to find them a new home.

Papaya was the oldest girl, a b&w hooded. She was a total sweetie, and loved to hang out on my shoulders.

The only good picture I have of the REW girls, Mango and Kiwi. They were younger, and much more skittish than Papaya, but even they were friendly and social.

In the end, it was a good experience, and I'm glad to have had the chance to take care of them. I hope to give rats a try again in the future, when I have more time to spend cleaning and playing... But next time, I'm starting with healthy, young ratties from a good breeder. As great as my three were, they were all pet store rats and not especially healthy.

One thing I was never able to do when it came to rats was join a rat forum. I found a great one, lurked for awhile, considered joining... But, in the end, had to decide against it and avoid the forum from then on out. Take your guys' negative feelings for snakes, and the fact that they eat rodents, then multiply it by a few thousand rat-loving forum members, who have concluded to hate snakes just because of their natural diet. On that forum, I saw, I think, a total of 3 threads with pictures of snakes, and while two posts might say "pretty" or "neat," the other dozen or more would criticize the fact that this person owned an animal that ate rodents. As a snake lover first, it's painful and hurtful enough to read your guys' criticisms and comments on the rare occasion snakes and/or snake food comes up on a forum based for tortoises. I couldn't stand the thought of joining a forum where I may get criticized at every turn for keeping an animal I love.

Curiously, it would seem snake people are the most accepting of us all. It can be hard to judge another person's pet choice when you keep one of the most socially "taboo" pet variety. Seems like even crocodilians and monkeys are more accepted than snakes, and I'm sure anyone here can guess either of those makes a worse pet than a snake.

 

[terryo]

Seems like even crocodilians and monkeys are more accepted than snakes, and I'm sure anyone here can guess either of those makes a worse pet than a snake
Not really!

My son dressed as Aladdin, and then he wanted to take a picture for Christmas, so I made it my christmas card.

 

[Isa]

Awww they are adorable Katie I love rats pics! Do not hesitate to keep them comming

 

[Bowser-the-Redfoot]

I love rats I just wish my parents would let me have one lol

 

[Candy]

How can you look at these pictures and say "gross" ?

(not my rats)

because they are smelly hairy rats! i used to raise rats (for my snakes) and had to stop. i couldn't do it. they smelled too bad and were a HUGE pain to deal with. not to mention that they are constantly urinating and pooping all over the place....

but i'm glad you like them! somebody has to!

I am so glad that you stopped breeding them for food, disgusting practice anyway. I disagree with the smelly part if they are kept like they're suppose to be kept they make great pets and clean ones at that.

---

I never had a rat, but my son's girlfriend did. They never smelled, because her Mom is a clean freak, and would never have them if they did. I guess she kept them very clean. I also live in NY, and sad to say most rats here are sold for food.
I came across this picture on stumbleupon.com..love that site...I thought it was the cutest picture, and made it my desk top background.

Terry this lighten my day and made me laugh so hard this morning when I saw it. That is a absolutely priceless picture. I loved it! Thanks for posting it for us to see. Innocent little creatures they are.