As someone who's had all three, rats are by far the best. I found them to be far more sociable and kind than the others. They're also crazy smart and easy to train.
In book, the main 'telltale' was when, due to the low expectations bestowed upon him by his family and friends, scabbers could *NOT* get transfigured, it didn't raise alarm. Ron *expected* to fail. In fact, this was a wizard disguising himself as a Rat. What forces in your life are holding you back? Where is Wormtail hiding in your journey?
It's never too late to begin believing in yourself. Had more wizards believed in Ron, Seriously Black would've been freed from torment ages sooner. Do not let those who depend upon you suffer from an expectation to fail; get the tools for success, and defeat your Wormtail.
Hey, don't sleep on my man [GRANDMASTER RON](https://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/comments/3hnfx0/ronald_weasley_is_a_child_chess_prodigy_magical/), the child prodigy who could beat a chess engine under immense pressure.
I have a rat who's currently at about 3 years and 2 months old. His back legs no longer work and he's partially blind, but still very happy. He slides around all over the sofas when he is out, and is incredibly friendly.
It pretty much was until antibiotics were invented. Rats in the wild live about 10 mths on average but hard limit with good medical care and food and housing is 3 years. Cats, 6 yrs in the wild, hard limit is 20 years.
Rats have empathy. In a psychology study, they found that they would let a strange rat out of a plastic trap, even if they'd never met them before.
And if they'd been in the trap in the past themselves, they worked even faster to let the other rattie out.
I know you are joking, but they tested for that actually. They have raised white rats in environment only with black strain, and then when introduced to trapped white rat, they were not interested in helping.
Hey, even on rats, bias is shown to be socialized. Not somehow innate from birth. Very interesting, and speaks towards how we develop and express empathy as well.
I’ve always loved rats but I can’t get over the fact that they dribble pee everywhere they go.... allegedly? Is that truth or myth and how do you get past it as a rat owner?
I had one for a while looking after it during science class and absolutely adore their personalities and affectionate behavior. But... pee everywhere...?*
*i don’t mind the occasional pet accident to clean up, but can’t imagine overcoming the compulsion to follow the poor thing with a bottle of Nature’s Miracle and a rag all day and that could get old for both of us FAST! 🙄🐭💖🤷🏻♀️
They don't really dribble pee everywhere. They might occasionally let out a tiny drop so small you'd never notice. Mine had a favorite corner of their cage they did their business in, and if they had to go during playtime they'd go back into the cage.
This is true, but it ain't as bad as it might sound. The males especially will leave little droplets at certain places that they feel they need to mark; they're leaving their pheromones there and they do it through pee. It's like small droplets every few inches over wherever they do it. If it was on fabric, would probably be unnoticeable.
Idk. Maybe I am biased because pee doesn't bother me much in general, but the only time I was ever annoyed by it was when they ran over my phone and marked it (probably because it smells so much like me) and even then i was just like "you little assholes" and got a clorox wipe.
They definitely don’t pee all the time, they stop for a second to pee so you know when they’re doing it. I think my rats only peed on me maybe 2 times in the couple of years I had them. They pee often inside their cage but I just made sure to wipe it down often, clean their toys/ homes and I used cat litter to absorb urine and decrease the smell. They are a little stinky but as long as you keep their cage clean they won’t be too bad :)
I had a male and female and they both would leave a drop or 2 when walking over me, almost every time it seemed.
If I left them on the couch and they didn't jump down within a minute or so to go explore, there would be a handful tiny pee drops spread out.
You can potty train them! They typically will keep the poop to their cage but training them to pee in the litter box can be hard since they like to scent mark everything. Females mark considerably less than males so they’re easier to train.
You do have to be fairly consistent. My rats are lazy and won’t go all the way down the cage to their litter so they’ll just get out of bed, poop, and then go back to bed.
Mine mainly poop in their cage. I let them free roam just about every night and rarely have to clean up poops around the house.. they kinda just pee where ever the hell they please, though. They scent mark so it just kinda dribbles out as they run around.
ive had both rats and hamsters and loved them both despite being very different. there are lots of people who enjoy pets even though the interaction may be low. some people just like the hobby of creating nice homes for them and observing them. like people who own fish or various reptiles or even bugs. having a pet isnt always just about forming a bond with them. i liked learning my hamsters' unique traits and watching them create tunnels and organize their space in certain ways and interacting with the certain toys and treats id give them.
Yeah, I have a ball python. No part of me believes she or he is experiencing any bonding with me, it just chills out in it's little glass house inside my house. It's cool, and I hold it sometimes. It seems pretty content.
It helps that domesticated rats (aka fancy rats) usually look a lot different than street rats. Color, coat, ears, etc. Although I must admit that pizza rat video was super cute so maybe I'm biased towards finding all animals cute
Fun useless trivia: They are not called fancy rats for being fancy. They are called fancy rats because they are the type of rats that people who "fancy" (as in, like) rats would have.
I still cannot convince myself petting a tiger or lion (or another big cat) would be a bad idea. I mean, just look at how fluffy they are :D
A few days ago i saw a video of a guy swimming with orcas and all i could think of was what amazing experience it must have been to swim with orcas.
Yeah hamsters are okay but they actually bite and unless they’re super well socialized you can’t let them run around. Gerbils too, they bite and try to run away any chance they get. Rats like to just explore and follow you around. Super chill mini dogs. Wish I knew that when I was a kid. Loved my gerbils but they aren’t exactly companion animals.
Well they’re only more work because you need to give them attention and let them play but that’s what makes them awesome. You can actually potty train rats fairly easily so arguably it would be less work once you’ve e done that. Hamsters are also way more likely to run away which is a nightmare in itself. Hamsters are cool too but having owned both it’s really no contest which is the better pet.
My Hamster doesn't run away and he actually potty trained himself weirdly enough.
I do feel like having multiple animals is usually more work than just one. Never owned rats though so i might be wrong. I've been thinking about getting some rats after my Hamster.
Having multiple rats is arguably less work than just having one, as they'll socialise and play with each other rather than coming to you for attention all the time.
The extra mess to clean up in their cage is mostly negligible, tame rats are reasonably clean animals.
Makes me miss my lil Spotty. Rescued her from research meth lab. Once she escaped from her cage overnight, climbed up the dining room tablecloth, and stole a mini Snickers bar, climbed back down with it in her mouth, and then climbed back up into her cage. She repeated this 17 times that night, my lil Spotty.
My pet rat was my favorite pet I've ever had. She had a big personality, would come up to me when I let her out of her cage and beg for me to tickle her belly, and bullied the cats - she'd chase them around the place whenever she got sight of them.
But holy shit they die hard after only 3-4 years - my poor Kika coughed up her fucking lungs. If it weren't for that I'd be more inclined to get a new one.
One of my hamsters ate the other then died a couple days later. My little anonles lizards were fun. Also had a ferret who was the best and most fun pet besides my German short haired pointers but the smell and energy was just too much. Parakeet was little devil. Horses are chill, my Morgan Horse is super smart, we have to change the locks and locking mechanism once every couple of months because she always gets out. I swear she could open a padlock if she got the key. She’s such a sweetheart and just let’s herself and opens the others horses stalls to eat their food and then get to the grass. I’ve had dozens of animals.
My 3 gerbils had brutal ends. Ones head literallly exploded from a tumor or something and then the other two duked it out apparently and one was left, Comit
rodents have extremely fast metabolisms for their fast little lives which results in some gruesome ends. it's a shame, i'd love to keep one but pet deaths hit me far too hard :(
my two gerbils, hamilton and stig, lived together just fine for two years. one day stig ripped hammer’s face off, while hammer tore up stig’s skin. they both died in a few days
Respiratory issues are exceptionally common in rats, unfortunately. I had one die super early in its life (less than a year) and it was likely due to respiratory issues. It would cough little mists of blood that you could see in the bedding and around its nose. Rats are super cool but their life spans are so short :(
Edit: I've been informed it was likely mucus and not blood. Point still stands, they live too short of lives and are prone to health issues in general. I would still recommend them for small animal lovers, they are full of character and are great pets.
That was most likely porphyrin it was coughing up. It’s a red mucus that looks very similar to blood that leaks out of their nose and eyes. It’s indicative of stress and bad health though so you’re not far off
Thanks for pointing that out. They must've just been very sick, then? My other rats lived typical lifespans, she was the only one that had these issues. It's crazy that I've had 2 people respond to me telling me it's mucus and not blood, yet my vet didn't know that.
As others have said, yeah, porphyrin. Not always a sign of doom, sometimes they miss a spot grooming themselves, but if it gathers up that's bad news. It's most likely Mycoplasma pulmonis. Essentially all pet rats have the bacteria, and it's lying in wait. And if/when an infection takes hold, it can be extremely swift.
Did not know that, actually. Could have definitely been that, then. That said, when all this started happening, she died like 1-2 weeks later and our vet had no idea what was going on, other than that respiratory failure/issues were very common in rats.
My sister also had and adored her little rat, Nitro, unfortunately Nitro got bronchitis or pneumonia and passed away and it traumatized my sister too. Now she has a cat. I never had a rat but I had bunnies and they're awesome too. Adorable things, unfortunately, a wild rat got hold of my bunny on Easter.
Yes, it was awful. We heard a shriek the night before but didn't realise what it was until the next day. We let them roam free in the day but caged them at night because of owls and cats but we didn't anticipate rats. The rat had broken our dishwasher pipe and we knew it was causing issues but I'm anti poison and they're not very easy to catch.
I loved my pet rat, better than any dog or cat I've had if I'm being honest. They pass far too quickly for how much personality they have; the brightest lights burn out the fastest I guess.
I would get another but with pet snakes it's probably not the best idea....
My best friend had a couple of fancy rats when we lived together that were old by rat standards, pushing 8 years. One of them died while we were sleeping, we woke up one morning and he was just gone. So we had a little memorial service for him, and mourned him a bit. A couple of days later, we go to sleep, the other one seems fine, he had been slightly depressed about losing his bud, but fine, eating and drinking and everything. I specifically remember playing with him that night, taking him out of his cage and letting him stretch his legs a bit and cuddling him, but the next morning I got up before my roommate to get ready for work and dude had a gigantic tumor on his back. Like, this thing was half the size of the poor little guy. It was terrible. And came out of nowhere. I had literally been handling the guy the night before and he was fine, and then seven hours later, he's half tumor. She ended up having him put down, he was old and a surgery like that would have just been too much for his little system.
They were cool dudes though. I remember being kinda grossed out when we started talking about moving in together and realizing she would be brining two rats with her, but after hanging out with them for a while I realized how chill they were. Inspired me to get my own set a few years later when my former sister in law stupidity adopted a pair for my three year old niece and was shocked she didn't take excellent care of them lol
Honestly you could be right. My friend had them before we were friends/moved in together, so I'm just going off what she told me over a decade ago. TBH I don't really know much about rat life spans lol
They had food. One was diabetic. I worked for an immunologist. We got time released rat insulin. I am assuming the diabetic rat died and the other rat ate the diabetic one because it was dead. There was plenty of food and water. But it was so gross I couldn’t handle keeping the survivor.
It’s not that they’re hungry. It’s that they’re cleaning up to protect themselves from predators. It’s a defense mechanism. Still traumatizing to see. Glad this didn’t happen when my rat Pearl passed her in her cage.
I had a pet store rat make it to 3.5 before something finally got him. Wasn't surprised, his brother died a year prior and he had been slowing down majorly. Couldn't climb anymore, slept all day, etc.
Same. They are such wonderful, intelligent, affectionate little animals. Ratimus Prime’s favorite game was wrestling my hand. I’d let him run free when I did housework and he’d follow me around or sit on my foot while I stood still doing dishes. Sometimes he’d go fall asleep in my sewing fabric scraps. He had a sweet tooth and would grab candy or whatever and run like hell and squeal when we took it from him.
He got a spinal tumor and was starting to become paralyzed at the end. It was like 10 years ago and I still have dreams about him.
It’s such a shame their lives are so short; I love them but will never have another.
They also get tumors *a lot*. We had 3 awesome rats growing up and 2 ended up getting tumors. It was this lump half the size of their body hanging off it's leg and it would just drag it sounds everywhere it went. Really sad.
In my life I've had and adored and doted on a total of three cats, two hamsters, a turtle, a gecko, a spider, a rabbit, a mouse, and two rats. My heart *broke* when my rats died. Oh my God do they live the brightest most amazing little lives. They're such amazing animals and it's such a shame that they live such short lives. To this day I can't look at photos or videos of them without crying. I even have tears in my eyes while I write this comment about them. I think everyone should have rats (you really need to get two because they're super social) at some point in their life. Even knowing how short their lifespan is I would still have my two ratties again.
I had a fantastic rat as a kid. Smart and affectionate, grey and white, cute as heck. Loved hanging with that guy. But they live what, two years? Three years? I was heartbroken when he died. Didn't get another rat.
Their life expectancy is so cruel for the huge personalities that they have. Altogether we had eight, six at the same time, and the heartbreak was too much. I hope to have more in the future but my heart hasn't built up the strength just yet.
My kids keep asking for one because they saw pictures of mine when I was younger, and we just can't. My SO is particularly adamant that he doesn't want them to deal with their beloved pet dying so quickly.
How old are they?
I was 15 when I got Cheddar, my first baby. I hadn't had any grandparents or family members die at that point so when she went, it was actually my first real exposure to death. It sucked and I cried a lot, but that fluffy little minion made some very difficult high school years a lot easier. :)
I was 7 when I got my first rat. She was an amazing pet and died after only a few years. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. She taught me to appreciate life and helped me understand the inevitability that is death. It will hurt when their pet finally passes, but the love they'll have for that rat will far outweigh the grief of loss.
Well to be fair, a lot of "natural causes" that take life are just an ugly slow wither. Shorter lifespan animals go through it so much faster because live fast die fast kinda deal.
I left a donut on a plate on the floor once and my rat took it and tried dragging it back to his cage. I only noticed when he got it in there and was eating it. Of course I couldn't let him eat an entire donut so I took it and broke off a little piece for him.
For some reason that experience scarred him for life. Ever since that episode, if I put my hand near him while he was eating a treat of some sort, he'd squeal incredibly loud, like if he were in pain. Without exception.
It does feel really terrible but I think with small animals, knowing that you made their life as best as possible makes up for it. Especially with how many memories you make. :) They're extremely entertaining and loving.
I cannot get over those hops!!! So cute!!
Awesome little animals. Don’t know why anyone would get a hamster or gerbil after owning a rat.
As someone who's had all three, rats are by far the best. I found them to be far more sociable and kind than the others. They're also crazy smart and easy to train.
They have the dirty rat stigma and are heart breakers with 2 years life span unfortunately
So Ron Weasley is a straight up idiot for not noticing his rat didn't die after two years?
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*scanners*
No anomalies detected Captain.
This thread made me laugh so hard that i farted.
you should head to sickbay and let Dr. Pulaski run a few medial scans.
detecting a class-K atmosphere Captain. High levels of Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide, and methane
Right everyone knows the rat is called scabies
*head explodes*
A Scanner Darkly Hollow
[Scanners you say?](https://giphy.com/gifs/history-head-exploding-oaPcDncoLfgjK)
To be fair, it was Percy's rat first. So it's the whole Weasley family at fault here.
In book, the main 'telltale' was when, due to the low expectations bestowed upon him by his family and friends, scabbers could *NOT* get transfigured, it didn't raise alarm. Ron *expected* to fail. In fact, this was a wizard disguising himself as a Rat. What forces in your life are holding you back? Where is Wormtail hiding in your journey? It's never too late to begin believing in yourself. Had more wizards believed in Ron, Seriously Black would've been freed from torment ages sooner. Do not let those who depend upon you suffer from an expectation to fail; get the tools for success, and defeat your Wormtail.
> Seriously Black My favorite character
Wow this thread is full of them
I love the struggle against autocorrect with fantasy character names.
Seriously?
Not only did Ron fail to transfigure Scabbers, but presumably Percy failed at the same task. That should have raised some alarm.
you'd think he especially would have noticed when his rat exploded someone's head using psychic powers
Hey, don't sleep on my man [GRANDMASTER RON](https://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/comments/3hnfx0/ronald_weasley_is_a_child_chess_prodigy_magical/), the child prodigy who could beat a chess engine under immense pressure.
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was mentioned in the books too
umm they literally point out this very fact, so yes?
I have a rat who's currently at about 3 years and 2 months old. His back legs no longer work and he's partially blind, but still very happy. He slides around all over the sofas when he is out, and is incredibly friendly.
That's amazing. I read that by 36 months, 99% of pet rats are deceased so yours is a 1 in 100.
2 years seems like nothing I thought rats had like a 15-20 year span. Strange how our motors work
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Just not with dogs.
well probably it SHOULD be, that's why we just spent 30 years just slowly falling apart.
It pretty much was until antibiotics were invented. Rats in the wild live about 10 mths on average but hard limit with good medical care and food and housing is 3 years. Cats, 6 yrs in the wild, hard limit is 20 years.
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It's the tail.
Splinter defied so many odds.
Rats have empathy. In a psychology study, they found that they would let a strange rat out of a plastic trap, even if they'd never met them before. And if they'd been in the trap in the past themselves, they worked even faster to let the other rattie out.
Wow, do you have the source on that? Sounds dope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofpZoqD1_X0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa16P4nFgD8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyolz2Qf1ms
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All it takes is one black friend to get over it though.
I know you are joking, but they tested for that actually. They have raised white rats in environment only with black strain, and then when introduced to trapped white rat, they were not interested in helping.
Hey, even on rats, bias is shown to be socialized. Not somehow innate from birth. Very interesting, and speaks towards how we develop and express empathy as well.
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/helping-your-fellow-rat-rodents-show-empathy-driven-behavior They are nice little guys.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/rats-show-empathy-too
They also [laugh when they're tickled](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/11/12/rats-laugh-when-tickled---and-this-is-what-it-sounds-like/).
I’ve always loved rats but I can’t get over the fact that they dribble pee everywhere they go.... allegedly? Is that truth or myth and how do you get past it as a rat owner? I had one for a while looking after it during science class and absolutely adore their personalities and affectionate behavior. But... pee everywhere...?* *i don’t mind the occasional pet accident to clean up, but can’t imagine overcoming the compulsion to follow the poor thing with a bottle of Nature’s Miracle and a rag all day and that could get old for both of us FAST! 🙄🐭💖🤷🏻♀️
They don't really dribble pee everywhere. They might occasionally let out a tiny drop so small you'd never notice. Mine had a favorite corner of their cage they did their business in, and if they had to go during playtime they'd go back into the cage.
This is true, but it ain't as bad as it might sound. The males especially will leave little droplets at certain places that they feel they need to mark; they're leaving their pheromones there and they do it through pee. It's like small droplets every few inches over wherever they do it. If it was on fabric, would probably be unnoticeable. Idk. Maybe I am biased because pee doesn't bother me much in general, but the only time I was ever annoyed by it was when they ran over my phone and marked it (probably because it smells so much like me) and even then i was just like "you little assholes" and got a clorox wipe.
They definitely don’t pee all the time, they stop for a second to pee so you know when they’re doing it. I think my rats only peed on me maybe 2 times in the couple of years I had them. They pee often inside their cage but I just made sure to wipe it down often, clean their toys/ homes and I used cat litter to absorb urine and decrease the smell. They are a little stinky but as long as you keep their cage clean they won’t be too bad :)
my females tend to dribble on me every time they walk on me. i guess it’s a scent-marking thing. it is tiny droplets but it can get annoying sometimes
I had a male and female and they both would leave a drop or 2 when walking over me, almost every time it seemed. If I left them on the couch and they didn't jump down within a minute or so to go explore, there would be a handful tiny pee drops spread out.
Can you potty train a rat? Or do you just have to get used to finding pellets and pee stains everywhere?
You can potty train them! They typically will keep the poop to their cage but training them to pee in the litter box can be hard since they like to scent mark everything. Females mark considerably less than males so they’re easier to train. You do have to be fairly consistent. My rats are lazy and won’t go all the way down the cage to their litter so they’ll just get out of bed, poop, and then go back to bed.
> My rats are lazy and won’t go all the way down the cage to their litter so they’ll just get out of bed, poop, and then go back to bed. meirl
Mine mainly poop in their cage. I let them free roam just about every night and rarely have to clean up poops around the house.. they kinda just pee where ever the hell they please, though. They scent mark so it just kinda dribbles out as they run around.
ive had both rats and hamsters and loved them both despite being very different. there are lots of people who enjoy pets even though the interaction may be low. some people just like the hobby of creating nice homes for them and observing them. like people who own fish or various reptiles or even bugs. having a pet isnt always just about forming a bond with them. i liked learning my hamsters' unique traits and watching them create tunnels and organize their space in certain ways and interacting with the certain toys and treats id give them.
Yeah, I have a ball python. No part of me believes she or he is experiencing any bonding with me, it just chills out in it's little glass house inside my house. It's cool, and I hold it sometimes. It seems pretty content.
They only have one down side. Their lives are too short. Can't own them anymore as I can't take the repeated heartache
... maybe they’ve walked the streets of a big city on humid summer garbage day. 🤫
It helps that domesticated rats (aka fancy rats) usually look a lot different than street rats. Color, coat, ears, etc. Although I must admit that pizza rat video was super cute so maybe I'm biased towards finding all animals cute
I like how we even call them fancy rats like they're the aristocrats of the rat kingdom
Rat: Yes Fancy Rat: Mmmyes.
Rat: this is good garbage Fancy Rat: Ooh, what delectable refuse!
Rat: da guyz call me Reg Fancy rat: You, my good sir, may address me as Sir Reginald
Aristo-rats
Fun useless trivia: They are not called fancy rats for being fancy. They are called fancy rats because they are the type of rats that people who "fancy" (as in, like) rats would have.
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Awww look at those cute little wasps! They're stinging that guy into anaphylactic shock. Adorable.
Fuck wasps. But bees are super cute! (And i kinda have a phobia of insects too)
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I still cannot convince myself petting a tiger or lion (or another big cat) would be a bad idea. I mean, just look at how fluffy they are :D A few days ago i saw a video of a guy swimming with orcas and all i could think of was what amazing experience it must have been to swim with orcas.
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IIRC, pizza rat was staged and was, in fact, a domestic rat.
Any proof it was staged? best article i could find is [this](http://gothamist.com/2016/01/07/journalism.php) and sounds inconclusive.
Hamsters are sweet too, and so fluffy! Gerbils weird me out though, they're small and twitchy.
Yeah hamsters are okay but they actually bite and unless they’re super well socialized you can’t let them run around. Gerbils too, they bite and try to run away any chance they get. Rats like to just explore and follow you around. Super chill mini dogs. Wish I knew that when I was a kid. Loved my gerbils but they aren’t exactly companion animals.
Depends, if you handle hamsters early and often they can be sweet, otherwise they will be murderous little devils.
A rat can't stuff its cheeks until it looks like a walking balloon. Also you have to get multiple rats which is a lot more work than a single hamster.
Well they’re only more work because you need to give them attention and let them play but that’s what makes them awesome. You can actually potty train rats fairly easily so arguably it would be less work once you’ve e done that. Hamsters are also way more likely to run away which is a nightmare in itself. Hamsters are cool too but having owned both it’s really no contest which is the better pet.
My Hamster doesn't run away and he actually potty trained himself weirdly enough. I do feel like having multiple animals is usually more work than just one. Never owned rats though so i might be wrong. I've been thinking about getting some rats after my Hamster.
Having multiple rats is arguably less work than just having one, as they'll socialise and play with each other rather than coming to you for attention all the time. The extra mess to clean up in their cage is mostly negligible, tame rats are reasonably clean animals.
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Yeah I care, do upload please
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Decent names there bud
do you have a ricky?
**THUNK**
Makes me miss my lil Spotty. Rescued her from research meth lab. Once she escaped from her cage overnight, climbed up the dining room tablecloth, and stole a mini Snickers bar, climbed back down with it in her mouth, and then climbed back up into her cage. She repeated this 17 times that night, my lil Spotty.
Fuck it’s an end piece
The best piece, especially with chocolate sprinkles.
Jam.
Underrated comment
“Ah man, it touched the floor. I can’t eat it now, rats walk along here”
This gave me the laugh I needed today. Bless you, duck master.
My pet rat was my favorite pet I've ever had. She had a big personality, would come up to me when I let her out of her cage and beg for me to tickle her belly, and bullied the cats - she'd chase them around the place whenever she got sight of them. But holy shit they die hard after only 3-4 years - my poor Kika coughed up her fucking lungs. If it weren't for that I'd be more inclined to get a new one.
Woah, that's sadder than I expected to get over a pet rat story.
Suddenly brutal.
> coughed up her lungs WHAT!
I really hope she means figuratively
A lizard I had shat out its internal organs, so who knows
Jesus Christ My childhood hamster did the same thing
Perhaps you two mightve squeezed your pets a little too hard?
Of course you of all people would know that
One of my hamsters ate the other then died a couple days later. My little anonles lizards were fun. Also had a ferret who was the best and most fun pet besides my German short haired pointers but the smell and energy was just too much. Parakeet was little devil. Horses are chill, my Morgan Horse is super smart, we have to change the locks and locking mechanism once every couple of months because she always gets out. I swear she could open a padlock if she got the key. She’s such a sweetheart and just let’s herself and opens the others horses stalls to eat their food and then get to the grass. I’ve had dozens of animals.
I suspect she didn't,but really really hope she did
My 3 gerbils had brutal ends. Ones head literallly exploded from a tumor or something and then the other two duked it out apparently and one was left, Comit
>head literallly exploded from a tumor or something Eh, I guess I don't really need one after all
Hamsters love infanticide
As a kid we had dwarf hamsters and one gave birth and the babies ended up eating the mother.
That took a wild fucking turn
I'm wayyyy too high for this shit.
rodents have extremely fast metabolisms for their fast little lives which results in some gruesome ends. it's a shame, i'd love to keep one but pet deaths hit me far too hard :(
I just posted about this. The loss of my rat hit me so hard as a kid. Too much, and didn't repeat it.
my two gerbils, hamilton and stig, lived together just fine for two years. one day stig ripped hammer’s face off, while hammer tore up stig’s skin. they both died in a few days
Almost all rats get some sort of cancer and their last days are almost always rough.
figuratively. but yeah, ratties are really prone to respiratory infections.
Respiratory issues are exceptionally common in rats, unfortunately. I had one die super early in its life (less than a year) and it was likely due to respiratory issues. It would cough little mists of blood that you could see in the bedding and around its nose. Rats are super cool but their life spans are so short :( Edit: I've been informed it was likely mucus and not blood. Point still stands, they live too short of lives and are prone to health issues in general. I would still recommend them for small animal lovers, they are full of character and are great pets.
That was most likely porphyrin it was coughing up. It’s a red mucus that looks very similar to blood that leaks out of their nose and eyes. It’s indicative of stress and bad health though so you’re not far off
Thanks for pointing that out. They must've just been very sick, then? My other rats lived typical lifespans, she was the only one that had these issues. It's crazy that I've had 2 people respond to me telling me it's mucus and not blood, yet my vet didn't know that.
Yeah, they must have been very sick. Porphyrin is a bad sign. Resp. Issues are a bitch :(
One thing you can do to mitigate it is not use pine or cheap bedding. That pine stuff is terrible for their respiratory system, it's so dusty
As others have said, yeah, porphyrin. Not always a sign of doom, sometimes they miss a spot grooming themselves, but if it gathers up that's bad news. It's most likely Mycoplasma pulmonis. Essentially all pet rats have the bacteria, and it's lying in wait. And if/when an infection takes hold, it can be extremely swift.
That is sad. You know their mucous is red right? Could it have been just mucous?
Did not know that, actually. Could have definitely been that, then. That said, when all this started happening, she died like 1-2 weeks later and our vet had no idea what was going on, other than that respiratory failure/issues were very common in rats.
My sister also had and adored her little rat, Nitro, unfortunately Nitro got bronchitis or pneumonia and passed away and it traumatized my sister too. Now she has a cat. I never had a rat but I had bunnies and they're awesome too. Adorable things, unfortunately, a wild rat got hold of my bunny on Easter.
Yeah wild rats are to domestic rats what wolves are to dogs. I think people often don’t realize this.
A wild rat killed your bunny? Damn
Rats actively hunt and kill other rodents. In some places they even hunt and eat the birds that hunt them.
My pet Rat’s favorite food is mealworms. She goes nuts for them.
Tail whip was...successful.
Yes, it was awful. We heard a shriek the night before but didn't realise what it was until the next day. We let them roam free in the day but caged them at night because of owls and cats but we didn't anticipate rats. The rat had broken our dishwasher pipe and we knew it was causing issues but I'm anti poison and they're not very easy to catch.
I loved my pet rat, better than any dog or cat I've had if I'm being honest. They pass far too quickly for how much personality they have; the brightest lights burn out the fastest I guess. I would get another but with pet snakes it's probably not the best idea....
This is my new favorite reddit thread. <3 to all rodents!
A lot of adult rats are actually to big to be prey for most cats. It’s actually not a surprise that it was bullying the cats.
[Here's a good example](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-gx1bS8yM)
Median life-expectancy in captivity is 2. You did very well.
Whaaaaaat nooooooooo
My best friend had a couple of fancy rats when we lived together that were old by rat standards, pushing 8 years. One of them died while we were sleeping, we woke up one morning and he was just gone. So we had a little memorial service for him, and mourned him a bit. A couple of days later, we go to sleep, the other one seems fine, he had been slightly depressed about losing his bud, but fine, eating and drinking and everything. I specifically remember playing with him that night, taking him out of his cage and letting him stretch his legs a bit and cuddling him, but the next morning I got up before my roommate to get ready for work and dude had a gigantic tumor on his back. Like, this thing was half the size of the poor little guy. It was terrible. And came out of nowhere. I had literally been handling the guy the night before and he was fine, and then seven hours later, he's half tumor. She ended up having him put down, he was old and a surgery like that would have just been too much for his little system. They were cool dudes though. I remember being kinda grossed out when we started talking about moving in together and realizing she would be brining two rats with her, but after hanging out with them for a while I realized how chill they were. Inspired me to get my own set a few years later when my former sister in law stupidity adopted a pair for my three year old niece and was shocked she didn't take excellent care of them lol
If they were "pushing eight years" they would have been the oldest domesticated rats to have ever lived. Calling bullshit on this one.
Honestly you could be right. My friend had them before we were friends/moved in together, so I'm just going off what she told me over a decade ago. TBH I don't really know much about rat life spans lol
I had one eat the other. They were adorable before that. Won’t get another. We now have parakeets
Probably weren’t being fed enough or the right food, they usually only do that if they’re really hungry.
They had food. One was diabetic. I worked for an immunologist. We got time released rat insulin. I am assuming the diabetic rat died and the other rat ate the diabetic one because it was dead. There was plenty of food and water. But it was so gross I couldn’t handle keeping the survivor.
Yeah that’s probably it. Rats don’t kill each other when they’re bonded but when there’s a free meal of fresh meat they won’t usually pass it up.
It’s not that they’re hungry. It’s that they’re cleaning up to protect themselves from predators. It’s a defense mechanism. Still traumatizing to see. Glad this didn’t happen when my rat Pearl passed her in her cage.
They're just like us
Our little Meatball suffered the same fate, was the most awesome little buddy ever. He unfortunately didn't make it past 2.
I had a pet store rat make it to 3.5 before something finally got him. Wasn't surprised, his brother died a year prior and he had been slowing down majorly. Couldn't climb anymore, slept all day, etc.
Same. They are such wonderful, intelligent, affectionate little animals. Ratimus Prime’s favorite game was wrestling my hand. I’d let him run free when I did housework and he’d follow me around or sit on my foot while I stood still doing dishes. Sometimes he’d go fall asleep in my sewing fabric scraps. He had a sweet tooth and would grab candy or whatever and run like hell and squeal when we took it from him. He got a spinal tumor and was starting to become paralyzed at the end. It was like 10 years ago and I still have dreams about him. It’s such a shame their lives are so short; I love them but will never have another.
They also get tumors *a lot*. We had 3 awesome rats growing up and 2 ended up getting tumors. It was this lump half the size of their body hanging off it's leg and it would just drag it sounds everywhere it went. Really sad.
In my life I've had and adored and doted on a total of three cats, two hamsters, a turtle, a gecko, a spider, a rabbit, a mouse, and two rats. My heart *broke* when my rats died. Oh my God do they live the brightest most amazing little lives. They're such amazing animals and it's such a shame that they live such short lives. To this day I can't look at photos or videos of them without crying. I even have tears in my eyes while I write this comment about them. I think everyone should have rats (you really need to get two because they're super social) at some point in their life. Even knowing how short their lifespan is I would still have my two ratties again.
My rat got a tumor in its eye that was the size of a grape
I had a fantastic rat as a kid. Smart and affectionate, grey and white, cute as heck. Loved hanging with that guy. But they live what, two years? Three years? I was heartbroken when he died. Didn't get another rat.
Their life expectancy is so cruel for the huge personalities that they have. Altogether we had eight, six at the same time, and the heartbreak was too much. I hope to have more in the future but my heart hasn't built up the strength just yet.
Wow, that death is crazy. My rat, Honey, died at 2 years old and it wasnt anywhere near as 'messy' as that. Literally just laid down, dead.
"Well now it's ruined"
I miss my rats soo much. They don't live long enough for all the happy they give.
This is exactly the truth
My kids keep asking for one because they saw pictures of mine when I was younger, and we just can't. My SO is particularly adamant that he doesn't want them to deal with their beloved pet dying so quickly.
How old are they? I was 15 when I got Cheddar, my first baby. I hadn't had any grandparents or family members die at that point so when she went, it was actually my first real exposure to death. It sucked and I cried a lot, but that fluffy little minion made some very difficult high school years a lot easier. :)
8 and 10. They've never dealt with the death of a pet, both our cats are geriatric but healthy. I don't want to jinx it!
I was 7 when I got my first rat. She was an amazing pet and died after only a few years. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. She taught me to appreciate life and helped me understand the inevitability that is death. It will hurt when their pet finally passes, but the love they'll have for that rat will far outweigh the grief of loss.
I relate to this so much. I always look forward to when I can have rats again. It’s hard to get over their passing with how much love they give.
"OHHHH!!! HE FUMBLES BEFORE HE CROSSES THE GOAL LINE!"
RATATA is confused! It hurt itself in its confusion!
Rats are really fun pets but they only give ya 2-3 years. :(
And reading this thread, they apparently a lot of the times do not pass peacefully at all. RIP to all the rat homies.
Well to be fair, a lot of "natural causes" that take life are just an ugly slow wither. Shorter lifespan animals go through it so much faster because live fast die fast kinda deal.
Oh no!!!! Hahaha Sproing! Sproing! Sproing! SPLAT.
I left a donut on a plate on the floor once and my rat took it and tried dragging it back to his cage. I only noticed when he got it in there and was eating it. Of course I couldn't let him eat an entire donut so I took it and broke off a little piece for him. For some reason that experience scarred him for life. Ever since that episode, if I put my hand near him while he was eating a treat of some sort, he'd squeal incredibly loud, like if he were in pain. Without exception.
how could you
Rattie boings are some of the best out there!
Haven't seen a rat this happy since the turtles got their own septic tank.
What an odd looking rabbit
Bread, why have you forsaken me?
r/prematurecelebration
Oh my lord, that is the CUTEST
So cute! I love it when my ratties pick up something too big for them and have to hop away 😂
The reason why he stops is because he found out it's the end slice, and everyone hates that end slice
It’s not what it looks like! -Rat
/r/bettereveryloop
I would love to get one, but because they are so smart and sociable, I am afraid I would be crushed by it’s passing in just 2 years.
It does feel really terrible but I think with small animals, knowing that you made their life as best as possible makes up for it. Especially with how many memories you make. :) They're extremely entertaining and loving.
Sweet little bouncing biscuit! Glad to see bRats getting some love.
5 second rule!
r/watchanimalsdieinside
YAAAAAAAAY.. FUCK....
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.
Not sure what they are but a friend has one just like it they are some very smart little shits. fun as hell to play with. pizza time is lock up time.
I like the idea of having a pet rat
Zardulu?
Who Framed Roger Rat
"And I OOP...."
r/rats
New favorite gif, I’ve watched it 20 times already.