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Old 05-20-2016, 03:02 PM   #1
Ceretrea
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Default Rats - my other rodent love

Apologies in advance, this is a long one!

Well, I've a few rodent loves I'll admit and rats weren't the first but there's just something about that really hits the spot for me.

As some of you know already I used to run a rescue for some years alongside some friends of mine and we mostly took in rats. Before that I'd already gotten the crazy rat lady nickname at my local vets because of my own pets. At one point I owned 26, males and females, in a mixed neutered group and they all lived together in a huge Furet XL tower cage. We lost some to old age, some to ill health and as the rescue started we didn't replace our own when they wandered over the bridge.

The rats we have now are largely the ones left in rescue when we closed due to behavioural issues or because I felt they were too old to rehome and it wasn't fair. So they stayed with us. I can only attach five photo's and haven't sorted out my photo sharing thingy yet so apologies not everyone has a piccie.

Mini and Cooper:-

Two big lads who were handed in as their owner was moving and couldn't take them along. We suspected they'd been fighting too and when they started squabbling with us we had them neutered. They were 18 months old when they were neutered and are now over two and a half and just now looking a bit frail. There's a photo of Mini (white), Cooper (roan) and Grant (champagne hooded) attached as they met briefly during one of Grant's failed intros. Grant's story is below.

Carlos:-

Lives with the two boys above. He was already neutered before coming to us. We had a call to go to an area in Bournemouth back in October 2014 to collect what we believed were 30 rats but turned out to be 80. Due to escapes we had several pregnant females and there were 120 rats in total as a result. We collected a mixture of old (18 months) down to 3 week olds that day in the biggest rescue we'd conducted. I have to say the owner was in genuine need and terrified they'd end up being euthanised if the rspca had been called. Once we got them counted and sorted several other rescues took some for us so we didn't have to cope with all of them. Long story short Carlos is the last boy here and one of the original first rats purchased by the owner. He is now a little over 3 years old and feeling it but he's still happy.

Grant:-
Poor Grant was handed in having been purchased as a pet and then going on to develop serious behavioural issues. Depite being neutered, Grant has not been able to live with other rats although we've gotten him to at least be a little happy about being handled by people. He stayed with us and happily lives on his own.

Castor:-
A black berky and pictured below, Castor was one of a multitude of baby rats we had in all at the same time early in 2014 and is now two years old. Accidental litters, he was one that was just a bit too jumpy to be picked and sure enough needed neutering to calm him down. He lived in a larger group with two of his brothers who have sadly moved over the bridge already but is now living with our own boy markiplier.

Markiplier
The pretty spotted roan looking lad in the photo, Marki was an impulse Pets at Home purchase. He and his brother Captain Sparkles, looked a bit too little and a in need of a vet so we bought them and took them home. Sadly, Sparky had some suspected immunity issues and we eventually lost him to multiple infections and pneumonia at just 6 months old. Marky had a hard time socialising so we neutered him but even then couldn't safely live with adults boys. His luck was in when the baby boys came into rescue and he went to live with Castor and his brothers. Marky will be three in September.
Bob and Murray
The Siamese twins! These two are breeder boys from Zappa rattery. Well bred rats have a totally different mindset about them and these boys were no different. We take them to educational displays where they greet the public and sit on the odd shoulder. 100% bomb proof they've been roped into baby sitting a particularly nervous lad featured below. The boys will be two in September.

Sherlock and Watson
During my time as a vet receptionist and auxiliary nurse, I was asked to bring home a stray. A lone baby rat found in a lady's back garden. Unfortunately, if rats are taken from mum too young and kept on their own they never learn the complex social language that (particularly male) rats have. It can make it dangerous to keep them with adult males especially if you aren't careful. To ease him in, we found another lone baby rat from Twilight rattery and introduced them first. Work had suggested Sherlock as a name for the stray so Watson seemed natural. Sherlock is the striped roan in the photo below with the burmese bottom poking out from under his chin. They two went to live with the siamese boys whose patience proved invaluable.
Unfortunately, now a year old, Sherlock's hormones caused gradually more and more issues and he's recently been neutered. We're likely getting a couple of girls soon so if he can't be put back with his buddies then we'll be trying him with the girls.


Sorry for the hugely long post! I hope you enjoyed reading everyone's story
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Murray and Bob the Bear.jpg (83.8 KB, 16 views)
File Type: jpg Watson and Sherlock 2.jpg (39.1 KB, 15 views)
File Type: jpg Marky 09-13 a.jpg (53.3 KB, 14 views)
File Type: jpg Castor311 b.jpg (28.7 KB, 15 views)
File Type: jpg Grant, Mini and Cooper 1.jpg (25.4 KB, 16 views)
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Old 05-20-2016, 03:46 PM   #2
hrl20100
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Oh wow, I love hearing their stories!
Glad to know that there is another rattie owner on here! I have 8 girls myself

Absolutely IN LOVE with the siamese ratties! I've always wanted a siamese rat. One of my girls at the moment, I thought would turn out siamese, but she went down the himalayan route instead! Typical

I have a soft spot for roans and that second photo, really looks like one of my previous rats when I first got her. She was fiesty little one, full of attitude!

I have my own rattie thread on this forum if you are interested

I hope you will update this thread regularly so we can all get updated on how they are all doing! Photos included
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Old 05-21-2016, 01:24 AM   #3
Ceretrea
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

I will, and will have a look at yours I'm trying to sort out my photo sharing but need haven't had time. There'll be photo spam at some point
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Old 05-21-2016, 01:40 AM   #4
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Those are fascinating stories I'm still not sure which one is which, except for the siamese on the left? Because they look siamese lol. I know nothing about rats so it's really interesting - especially about the communication aspect.
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Old 05-21-2016, 06:08 AM   #5
Ceretrea
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Ahh yes so the siamese are the cream bodied with dark noses just like a cat. The roan is white with dark markings on the back. Those fade gradually as the rat ages so Marky was very dark in his photo, he's now almost white.
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Old 05-21-2016, 10:37 PM   #6
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Aww such beauties!
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Old 05-27-2016, 06:29 AM   #7
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Do you have photos of their cage setup? I love looking at the designs and layouts of other cages so i can get ideas for my girls cage!
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Old 05-27-2016, 06:45 AM   #8
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

What is the difference between rats & hamsters as pets?
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Old 05-27-2016, 07:23 AM   #9
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear View Post
What is the difference between rats & hamsters as pets?
I'll try and keep this as short as possible, but when i start i will probably go on and on, so i apologise now haha

1) Rats are very sociable animals. They make very strong bonds with their cagemates and its a requirement that when you get rats, you get more than one. Without cage mates rats get very depressed and can suffer with health and behavoural problems. They also form incredibly strong bonds with their owners which is one of the reasons they have been described as the rodent equivalent of dogs. They are incredibly loyal little animals.

2) Rats are incredibly intelligent and need constant mental stimulation in order to keep them happy. Hence why they need so much enrichment and things to keep them busy. They quickly pick up on routine (so will likely be awake when you feed and change water for example) and can be litter trained within a few days. They can also be taught to do tricks such as learning their name and many other fun things! Youtube 'pet rat tricks' and you will find some lovely videos that show just how intelligent they really are!

3) Cost. Rats need large cages with lots of things to do so the basic setup for a pair of rats is so much more than a hamster. They are also prone to URIs (upper respiratory infections) and tumours. Many vets don't have a clue when it comes to rats so an exotic vets is a must. This can be incredibly costly. You will also find yourself addicted after a while, so once you have your first pair, you may find yourself expanding getting more rats and even bigger cages! This can also add up

4) Substrate. Unlike hamsters, rats cannot be housed on woodshavings. Its simply too dusty and too strong smelling for their incredibly sensitive noses and can trigger URIs.

5) They require a lot more time and attention than hamsters. They need free range time for atleast 1 hour per day, though more is always better! They are very playful animals especially females. Boys tend to be a lot more laid back, larger in size and cuddly (perfect for children) but both girls and boys need out of cage time.

I could go on and on about rats honestly, but i won't as its not my thread, whoops!
Overall i prefer rats to hamsters as they are more awake during the day, they are so so loving and are so intelligent. I have a huge bond with my girls and i couldnt imagine life without having atleast a pair of rats.
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Old 05-27-2016, 07:31 AM   #10
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Default Re: Rats - my other rodent love

Thank you for the info on rats, they do seem to make lovely pets, especially looking at Ceratea's rats!

I love the different fur patterns Ceratrea, especially the Siamese, had no idea they have beautiful coloring.

It's great all the work you do with so many animals!
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