Pet rats

I have heard about pet rats. One will get lonely, so have two. Make sure they have enough space to run around. I had pet chicks when I was 7 (in Sri Lanka).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jennjay @ Oct 4 2006, 02:28 PM) [snapback]328013[/snapback]</div>

The rats themselves would prefer two but you'll soon find you have many more than that - perhaps 100s within a year.
If they are properly bred pet rats they should be fairly tame but under stress (careless handling by a child?) they can inflict a very nasty bite so I would not think them suitable for a child as young as 7.

Some people will warn you that rats carry certain nasty infectioos diseases but ths is mainly rats in the wild. Presumably you know that the behaviour of a wild rat is very differnt to a rat bred for captivity. You wouldn't want to handle a wild rat or let a child try to handle it!

 

our lab rats have a powerful smell to them- make sure these rats either smell tolerable or you have a good ventilation system.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 4 2006, 03:05 PM) [snapback]328030[/snapback]</div>

Vivisection (Animal testing)

Vivisection is the blackest of all the black crimes that a man is at present committing against God and his fair creation. It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practise elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.
--Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)

Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are like us." Ask the experimenters why it is morally OK to experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are not like us." Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.
--Professor Charles R.Magel (1920- )

Results from animal tests are not transferable between species, and therefore cannot guarantee product safety for humans...In reality these tests do not provide protection for consumers from unsafe products, but rather they are used to protect corporations from legal liability.
--Herbert Gundersheimer, M.D., member, PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), Baltimore, Maryland, 1988

Doctors who speak out in favour of vivisection do not deserve any recognition in society, all the more so since their brutality is apparent not only during such experiments, but also in their practical medical lives. They are mostly men who stop at nothing in order to satisfy their ruthless and unfeeling lust for honours and gain.
--Dr. med. Hugo Knecht, Ear, Nose, Throat and Chest Specialist, Linz, October 5, 1909

Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research.
--George Bernard Shaw (playwright, Nobel 1925)

I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.
--Mahatma Gandhi (statesman and philosopher)

During my medical education at the University of Basel I found vivisection horrible, barbarous, and above all unnecessary.
--Carl G. Jung (psychologist)

If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons.
--C. S. Lewis (novelist and essayist)

"I had bought two male chimps from a primate colony in Holland. They lived next to each other in separate cages for several months before I used one as a [heart] donor. When we put him to sleep in his cage in preparation for the operation, he chattered and cried incessantly. We attached no significance to this, but it must have made a great impression on his companion, for when we removed the body to the operating room, the other chimp wept bitterly and was inconsolable for days. The incident made a deep impression on me. I vowed never again to experiment with such sensitive creatures."
--Christian Barnard.

"Vivisection is barbaric, useless, and a hindrance to scientific progress."
--Dr. Werner Hartinger, Chief Surgeon, West Germany, 1988.

"...many vivisectors still claim that what they do helps save human lives. They are Iying. The truth is that animal experiments kill people, and animal researchers are responsible for the deaths of thousands of men, women and children every year."
--Dr. Vernon Coleman, Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK.

"What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit to their cruelty."
--Leo Tolstoy, author

"What is the importance of human lives? Is it their continuing alive for so many years like animals in a menagerie? The value of a man cannot be judged by the number of diseases from which he escapes. The value of a man is in his human qualities: in his character, in his conscience, in the nobility and magnanimity, of his soul. Torturing animals to prolong human life has separated science from the most important thing that life has produced - the human conscience."
--John Cowper Powys

"The cruel experimenter cannot be allowed to have it both ways. He cannot, in the same breath, defend the scientific validity of vivisection on the grounds of the physical similarities between man and the other animals, and then defend the morality of vivisection on the grounds that men and animals are physically different. The only logical alternatives for him are to admit he is either pre-Darwinian or immoral."
--Richard Ryder

"There will come a time when the world will look back to modern vivisection in the name of Science, as they do now to burning at the stake in the name of religion."
--Henry J. Bigelow

"I believe I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't. To know that the results are profitable to the race would not remove my hostility to it. THE PAIN WHICH IT INFLICTS UPON UNCONSENTING ANIMALS is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further."
--Mark Twain

"I despise and abhor the pleas on behalf of that infamous practice, vivisection... I would rather submit to the worst of deaths, so far as pain goes, than have a single dog or cat tortured to death on the pretense of sparing me a twinge or two."
--Robert Browning (poet)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jennjay @ Oct 4 2006, 11:28 AM) [snapback]328013[/snapback]</div>

Rats are inquisitive, funny...I always thought they were kind of like a dog in a rat suit. If you spend enough time with them they become very attached. I would definately recommend this animal for a young girl. I have owned rats (even hairless) since 1991, so just ask if you have any questions.

Pick up my 06 Prius #6 tomorrow....

 

I have nothing to say on this topic. Rats!

 

Both my daughters have had pet rats. I was so against them at first because well... they're rats and they're RATS! To my surprise I fell in love with the first rat that I let my youngest daughter have at my house. Her name was Cheddar and she was such a sweetheart. We had to put her to sleep when she developed a mammary tumor that is very common in rats. When she was ready, my daughter got another rat. Coco Channel is just as much of a sweetie. She too though is now developing a tumor. I looked into surgery for Coco, but it was going to be over $400 and she's already over 2 years old. Rats generally don't live too long. 3 to 5 years, I think is tops.

We made sure when picking out the baby rat, that they were not nippy. Both times we picked one that was not too squirmy and seemed to like being petted. We only have ever had one at a time also. My daughter does pay a lot of attention to the rat. Coco rides around on her shoulder a lot.

 

For stinkiness, male mice are the champs.

Rats do seem to have the most personality of the pet rodents. Two is better. Get females; for the obvious, two males might fight, males generally are the smellier, and the guys have a tendency to dribble has they move about. Sexing isn't that difficult.

Get small, young rats, and handle them frequently and gently. This should lead to a tamer animal. My wife used to have some which were allowed to roam free. I'd stay from naked ones. Their skin scratches easily.

I haven't looked at the rat one in awhile, but I reccomend nearly all Barrons pet books.

Edit: You guys are much quicker than I. So I removed the reply to the post I thought I was following.

 

For another on topic reply...

I had many friends who had pet rats, but at an older age (teenagers). They were IMO a better pet that most of the smaller rodents people keep. They were smart, seemed to enjoy interacting with humans, and actually were pretty affectionate (all things considered). The females didn't smell bad either. I can't remember anyone ever getting bit, whereas I can recall many guinea pigs with surly dispositions.

I do, however, think that those kids may still be a bit young for this type of pet.

 

YUCKKK!!!! Forget the rats. Get kittens instead. They're clean, they purr, they smell nice, and they know the Meaning of Life ™. The only thing worse than a rat is one of those rat-sized yappy dogs.

 

I thought there was a post some time ago about rats/mice getting into your Prius and doing damage to the wiring!?! NO RATS FOR MY PLACE!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 4 2006, 02:29 PM) [snapback]328107[/snapback]</div>

Hey... we have the rat and two cats and they all get along just fiiiiiiiiine!

 

I had a female hooded rat as a pet. Her name was Madame Curious. She would sit on my shoulder and watch TV with me and give me little rat kisses. She was completely tame and had been hand raised and held since from birth. It's important you either get one very young and get it used to being held or you make sure the breeder does it every day.

Mice downright stink. Rats are very clean compared to mice. Change the bedding (I used wood chips) twice a week and it should be fine. I also gave her empty tissue boxes for a house. I'd put a door and window in them and then give her some paper towels and fluff to nest with. She got a new house about once a month with more frequent nesting material changes.

Rats are omnivores. Mine mostly ate Rat chow but I would give her occasional apples, bread, carrots, even tiny pieces of steak.

I did get Madame a companion (Little Boy) but always only had two rats. Little boy was just a baby when I got him. I don't know if she was just too old by the time he was an adult or whether it was because I introduced them when he was a baby and she 'raised' him.

Madame died of cancer at about 18 months. They only live about 2 years if you're lucky. Little boy passed away before he was 2 as well.

I think rats are cleaner and smarter than guinea pigs and hamsters. Guinea pigs are really affectionate. And hamsters are pretty small and easy to take care of. But I do think hamsters smell more than rats. If you have a choice get a female rat as the boys tend to leave a little drop of pee here and there.

BTW I was in my 20's when I got my rat. I got her because I was in a condo that didn't allow dogs as pets. I own my own home now and currently have one dog. Previously had two dogs.


Galaxee:

Scientists have begun to use lawyers rather than rats for laboratory testing. When asked why, one scientist responded "Because there are some things even rats won't do."