Hubby and I were at Western feeds (pet store here) and there was this aquarium with baby rats in it, about 10 or so. I was sitting there talking to them and they all huddled in a corner except one. He was so cute he jumped onto the box to see us better then he jumped and clinged to the lid. Put my hand in there and he just licked me, but was scared to be held. Anyhow we just had to buy him, now he's at our house and lives in our bedroom, and he just loves cuddle's and kisses now. He is soooooooo cute, he's all white except for a grey mask and it looks like he has a diamond on his head, not deaf at all. We named him Snitch, hubby named him.

He's Soo cute, just had to let you all no :)

Awww....go get him a friend. They are social animals - he needs a brother. He will be lonely :) Great excuse for two :)

Pet stores here are always selling singular ratties and it really bugs me - they are highly social, they need a mate to groom with and play with :)

aaawww don't you just love wickle bunnies :) i agree chloe all rodents etc should be sold in pairs apart from hamsters that is :)

I bought two gerbils the female one used to stamp her feet at the male he was lovely she was a b*** and kept biteing his tail when he wouldent move out the way of the food . he was such a personatiy. they both lived till they were 5 and eventully got on after a year but it was hard work.

I wouldnt have another pair of rats again, i had two brothers, and they fought it was not pleasent seperating them(told it was rare), but it does happen occasionaly with males kept in pairs.  We ended up having to cage them seperately as they would have ended up killing each other.
Kept apart afterwards they were fine.  They are great first time pets for children and do become very tame, Jane used to sit with Casper on her shoulders but could never get Willow to do the same, but he used to love attention all the same.
Both of them used to react to their names, and the clap of our hands when they were out of their cages, very intelligent creatures.
Dean

I've always kept rats in pairs, and its rare for them to have a problem they can't sort out between them. Personally, I prefer females, they are generally more affectionate and are easily trained - very smart animals :) I also had two males, Casper and Druid, and all my rats (except for casper) were trained to shoulder ride. However...they SHOULD be kept in pairs or more, and if separated, kept in ajoining cages - they need other rodent company - even when they hate the other rodent. A rat would not live alone in the wild, as I said, they are highly social animals :) A litter mate pair should be fine.

In cases of fights, its always a good idea to get an aggressive rat castrated before they are separated permenantly as a last resort - 9 times out of ten this works very well, however, it should be done by a vet who is aware that the rat anatomy is signiificantly different from the dog or cat and has performed the op before :)

HTH

Congratulations on your new addition dollface :) Hope you will get Snitch a pal. Now you have a home for all your toilet roll/kitchen roll tubes! Were about to have a new addtion too - Gothboy is getting a Mexican Corn Snake when it hatches. Wonder what Manic Morse will make of it :D

awwwwwwww
i love rats they made great pets.
i had a pair of hooded rats for 4 yrs one and 5yrs the other.
their names was Spider and Web.
lost them exactly a year apart to the day :(

stanlib

they are very easy to get attached to aren't they - I had 2 lovely females who were very very tame - and would run up my leg on to my shoulder when called, I had to have them put to sleep when they kept getting tumours, despite having them removed twice :( I also had a favourite male, and I cried for two days when I lost him

I just love them. I use to breed them awhile back and the babies were so friendly, people were surprised how friendly they were. I kept a father and son together then (Roach and George). Kitty was my female and she adopted two newborn mice and it was so nice to see them together. Since the mice were male and female litter mates I put the male mouse Bob in with Roach and George and the female Pinky stayed with Kitty. It was fantastic how they all got along, I think the mice thought they were rats. When people would come over Kitty would keep Pinky in her house and wouldn't let anyone see her. I even have them all on video.

Since that was awhile ago we decided we wanted another one and yes Snitch is so cute, he has a wheel, toliet rolls, tube, box, cloth and a Q-Tip box in there. My children are sure going to be busy now, I just told them to not allow him to close to the hamsters cause they may fight.Don't think he will be bored between hubby, I and the children holding him. We may get another one in the future but I want to bond with him a little more since he is just new and so curious too. :)

I would love to have a rat, degu, gerbal, mouse (maybe hamster but they seem to be loners) all together...Not sure if they would get along but I know mice and rats do...lol :D

Now I got to get him a leash for summer walks (on my shoulder).or maybe just a pen so he can enjoy the summer also. :)

He sounds lovely. Ultimately, its up to you - but I wouldn't introduce another later on, the newbie is likely to be killed - but if you bred them you probably know all this already! :) IMO no human or toy can compensate for a mate of their own kind, you can't groom him or play with him 24x7 nor snuggle up. Its also a myth to believe that a single rat will be easier to tame.

Good luck with whatever you decide :)

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My kids have pet rats, they love them to bits. They are great pets.
We had a female first for 3 years, sadly she died of cancer.
We then got 2 males (babies) Watching them playing and snuggling up together, makes me think the female missed out on the rat company they need.
When they were about a year old, one died, he'd had breathing problems from being a baby. The kids were devastated, and wanted a replacement straight away. They didn't want Patch to get lonely.
I didn't know if I could introduce another male, with Patch being an adult.
I asked around, getting different reactions. Eventually read somewhere that if you wanted to introduce a baby to an adult, it was easier to introduce 2 babies, then they had each other to play with instead of tormenting the adult. And they would feel braver if there was two.
Also to introduce them on netural territory, I did it in the bath, with a towel on the bottom.
Exactly what I was told would happen, did. Patch chased them around for a while pinning them down (but not biting) just letting them no who's boss. I then put the babies in the well cleaned out cage for a while, then put Patch in. I had no problems at all. They have been best friends ever since. The babies would play and fun fight all day, then cuddle up with Patch all night. Sadly all good things come to an end, Patch died about a year an a half later. Devastated children again, but at least the other two have each other. If and when anything happens to one of them, I'd have no hesitation to introdue another two.
After having rats for so many years, We would find it difficult not to now, they are a pleasure to have, and so funny to watch, especially at feeding times.
Anyone who hasn't experienced rats, is missing out, well thats my opinion. :D

Michelle.

Oh, they are lovely, we have had pet rats for a few years now, they are great childrens pets, at the moment we have 2 brothers, Micky and Traffic lights ( the kids named them, one as markings like the micky mouse symbol and the other has 3 spots in a row!!!!!:)).
Wouldn't have anything else now, they are very friendly.
Karen.