This is to answer Dakkobear's question in another thread.

I've got 4 rats DRat an agouti rex, Geordie Hinny an agouti dumbo they're my Newcastle rats. Fitlike is a black hoodied and Loon is a husky/roan. The Newcastle boys are from a breeder and the Aberdonians are rescues.

I've had rats for nearly 2 years and am totally besotted :D. Any more ratty people out there??

> Any more ratty people out there??

I'd love a pet rat, but my OH isn't keen on them :(
I remember when I was a teenager, my best friend always had pet rats, they were such loving, friendly little charatcters, they would sit on her dads shoulder while he watched TV :)

I used to have rats years ago.  Loved them to pieces!  Unfortunately they don't live for long enough.  The last one I had to get PTS 'cos of a tumour, broke my heart, so I haven't had any since.

Oooooooooh a ratty thread...

Or 'wats' as they are named in my house after a friends 4 year old insisted that thats what they were.

So, my wats are..

(All girls currently)

Donna, Janet and Louise - three rather tarty girls named after the girls in Two Pints of Lager - Donna and Janet are bestest buds and get on great, Louise is annoying, smaller and petite and really really squeaky. (They are actually litter sisters).

Thunder, shes a big lass... (I had all six girls from her litter but shes the only one left, and they were all named after weather, so we had Thunder, Rain, Cloudy, Misty, Snowy and Lightning)

Dyna - aka Miss Dynamite.. shes a bit of a chav hoody rat.

Then in the cage below;

Roy and Hayley, pair of black hoodies who are very quiet and unassuming and wouldnt dream of doing anything bad.
Elizabeth... aka Elizabeth Swann.... because *cringes*, shes a mismarked siamese and her nose marking is over one eye giving her a look of an eyepatch.. so shes Elizabeth Swann, because shes a piRATe...*groans*
And finally, Tulah, named for the kids tv character from the Hoobs, after a boy rat I had previously who was so similar in character and looks who was called Groove.

I have also had, now long gone..

Groove (Hoob), Oscar The Grouch (Sesame St), Sir Didymus (Labyrinth) and Gobo (Fraggle Rock), on a Hensons muppets characters theme..
Moose, a very fat squishy old rescue boy who sadly had to spend much of his life as a bachelor due to his instance on starting fights he couldnt finish.He lived to see 4 years old though, and passed away in his cage biting into a lump of his very favouritest 'chocklit'.. (and i had a charicature done of him by the EXCELLENT artist Carle Haynes, scoffing chocklit.. http://www.carlehaynes.co.uk/miscgallerynew.htm this pic is SO absolutely and completely Moose its not true!). loved that rat, he would sell his soul for some chocklit.

Godber and Fletch, Milo and Jim - Godber and Jim were black hoodies who came to me with their cage mates Milo and Fletcher. Fletcher was sadly always an evil sod of a bitey rat, but Godber his best buddy was one of the sweetest rats ever - when Fletcher was dying, Godber covered him up with bedding and made sure his nose and mouth were clear so he could breath!

Milo was my sheepyrat - a dumbo rex boy, very squishy and so friendly - he was proof that small animals ARE worth rescuing even if you will only have months with them. He's my avatar on another forum.

Rats are one of the best pets next to dogs, so much fun, so naughty and cute and engaging to watch and interact with, even though it is heartbreaking when they die I will always have ratties now.

Ah, rats :-)

I have 22 at the moment - all rescues of sorts bar 2.

The boys - one group of ten; Acastus, Benjamin, Cade, Lincoln, Ronon (all agoutis), Archie, Joseph, Marty (silver blacks), Michael and Vasha (all self or blacks).  One group of three; Tristan (agouti hooded), Fernando (cinnamon pearl) and Abbruzzi (blue agouti).  One loner, trying to get him in with Tris, Fe and Abe at the mo - Balthazar (black hooded dumbo).  And a group of six - Ramone and Sebastian (agouti hooded), Tez, Arty and Dashel (lilac hooded), and Rodney (black hooded).

The girls - Freya and Seren (both huskies).

I've had rats since 1999, with a bit of a break after I moved.  Heading for a break again now - sadly I'm finding I can't give my guys the best they need any more so everyone is going to be rehomed. :-( The ten are the most important I think - they are getting tetchy because I haven't been getting them out enough (despite having an ubercage); the others won't leave for a while, as Freya needs ABs for a head tilt, Arty is on ceporex for mycoplasma (and his group all need to lose weight) and of course Balthazar is still waiting to go in with the 3.

It breaks my heart but it has to be done for their sake.

I have six :)

Graham - husky dumbo
Bernard - blackhooded dunbo

Tom and Martin - husky brothers

Joseph - black berkshire boy
Reuben - Russian blue boy

I love my ratties!!!

Oh brill ratty people there's a lot of us about ;-)

Mastifflover talk him round take him to a rat show you can do it but you really need 2 or 3 is better 4 betterer you get the picture GMR is a terrible scourge 

The big drawback is their short lives :-(

I was expecting you Em  Rather think one of my next breeder babies may be called Wat I love that :-D You seem to go in for really great names

I love the Moose charicature soooooooooooo much old rats are just so special and babies and teenagers and RATS !!!

Cor Julie there you are again I hope we aren't stalking each other :-D

I've only ever had boys as I think they suit my nature seeing as how I'm laid back with a fondness for chocolate and comfy beds.

Really sorry you are having to rehome your ratties Nikita but well done for putting them first

Thanks Cava.  It's a horrible decision though - but I feel better for knowing I did get them out of crappy situations.  I've been thinking about it tonight - it's trying to fit them in around dogs, work etc, but seeing as I'm not doing anything with the dogs when I'm eating dinner, I could feasibly keep one group and have them out then (eat dinner in my room or summat).

With that in mind I may well keep the 3/4 boys - Tristan isn't a good rehoming prospect because he's got some big fear issues around people.  I could also neuter his lot and keep the girls with them - I think Fernando needs neutering anyhoo, as he's maturing he's turning into a right little git with the others! :-P

If only I could win the lottery, then I could buy a huuuuge house and build each group a room-sized enormous cage... loads of toys...

I must be feeling suicidal here to speak up.......... :) I used to breed fancy rats, show them, judge them (in several different countries), was on the club committee in two different countries, for years and years, etc etc etc. And I would say no, NEVER EVER again. Not in my life would I have a rat in my house or anywhere near. I have seen the damage they can do, first hand, to both people and other animals when you are unlucky enough to either end up with a bad one, or clever ones that manage to escape. The horror stories I could tell..... Makes me shudder still.

Strange - never had one escape, except where i have left the cage open, and the couple of baddies I have had, well you know not to stick fingers in the cage or attempt to handle them.. but otherwise not a problem.

They CAN bite and bite devastatingly hard when they do so but in all my years of rat keeping ive been bitten once badly and that was MY fault.. Moose bless his cottons was dying, and stupidly i went to pick him up which was the last thing he wanted, his instincts to survive kicked in and he latched onto and THROUGH my thumb and hung off it (whilst my friend went green..) whilst i froze, torn between wanting to yell and shake him off and not wanting to hurt him.. so i stood there with him biting down over and over into my thumb, lowered him back into thecage and just had to wait until he let go.

That was a one off, a rare situation and I should have known better though - in general, as small furry pets go, I have been bitten more frequently and more painfully by mice, hamsters, degus, gerbils, chinchillas, rabbits (i still bear the scars from rabbits to this day, from kicks from their back legs to bare flesh), and snakes (and FISH.. my spiney eel ripped my hand open recently!) than rats.

I have also found that of all the commonly kept small furry pets (so hammies, mice, gerbils and rabbits and rats), rats are the least aggressive and most suitable for domestic pet life. Though I do understand, the vast majority of hamsters rabbits mice and gerbils are not really kept in suitable conditions - hammies are pretty strictly nocturnal and very territorial, so its unsurprising that when kept in tiny cages and woken during their night they are bitey.. rabbits are VERY territorial and again.. kept in small cages aggression is no surprise... etc

I just think rats, kinda like dogs, fit in better with the average humans lifestyle than other small fuzzies.

Cava14Una - your rattie names are better! Lol.. Fitlike is an ACE name! Inspired.

I may be being talked into a few more girlies soon.. watch this space hehe. GMR is indeed a terrible affliction.. it leads to Hammock Shopping... (got a package from ratwarehouse earlier.. mmm fluffy new hammocks!).

My ratties live in my bathroom, which sounds weird but its the only dog proof room we have.. whilst it means baths are taken with the windows open so it doesnt steam up, and spraying of noxious chemicals is banned.. it also means i have the dubious pleasure of bathing whilst they free range..

Sounds gross to non rat fans but it IS hilarious, they trundle round the edge of the bath, push each other in, steal the soap and the toothpaste and the face flannels... and the towels if im not careful.. Last night I caught Donna and Janet trying to get a whole toilet roll into their cage (ambitious as it sits on top of a critter 3 which is around a meter tall!)

When I had the boys and pre the existance of a certain naughty deerhound puppy, they lived in the living room. One christmas, they planned an escape, and if it hadnt been for Moose's wee problem (that of his eyes being infinately bigger than his stomach), they would have gotten away with it...

They chewed a hole in the corner of the plastic base tray to their cage.. a hole big enough to fit a rat through..

Had I not suddenly clocked my mince pie, sat on the arm of the sofa pushed up against the rat cage, moving backwards slowly.... and thought 'hmm now... mince pies are not usually self propelling...' I would not have seen the hole.

When I investigated my apparently self propelling mince pie... I discovered it was being hoicked backwards towards the cage by a very industrious (and seriously boggle eyed) Moose-rat.. A tug of war followed, me pulling the pie one way and him, teeth gritted in the determined way only a rat with a WHOLE pie to himself will grit.. me saying 'erm... MINE' and him thinking 'er no MINES!'..

I gave him the pie. His eyes made me do it!

I've never had true escapes either, and I've had (I think) 65 rats now.  Not even when I've accidentally left the door open on one of my big cages recently (doh!).  Mind you, those boys were timid then... I open the door for them now and it's like a little furry flood!  Tried to put them back in yesterday, and I put Logan back 4 times! :-P

I've been bitten a few times - just yesterday actually, my group of 6 are a little hand shy because they've all been on meds lately trying to sort that myco infection out (just the one on them now), so they think my hand = bad things.  I only stroked Ramone but he nipped me.  The worst bite I've had though was from a black hooded called Elsabeth - I took her on from PAH years ago, she'd been returned for biting and I knew darnw ell that if I didn't take her home, her options were being taken back as a breeder or ending up as snake food.  So I brought her home - I stupidly went to pick her up one day and she sank her teeth in.  Seeing your pulse as it comes out your pinkie is just wrong lol!

She was strange though - she was never nasty, actually a very sweet rat but she seemed to have impulse control problems - bite first, ask questions later.  Little Abbruzzi is a little like that now, he's always going at 100mph and is quick with his teeth but he is learning.  I've had a few rats from PAH who've been brought back for nipping though - and honestly, Elsie was the only true biter.  One boy, Cassiel - an absolutely beautiful silver fawn - was a 'biter' but he turned out to be one of the nicest rats I ever had.  He died in my lap after choking on a piece of that shredded j-cloth bedding. :-(

I've been bitten worse by a degu, Ilya - he got my inbetween the knuckles of my pinkie and ring finger on my right hand, hit the nerve and I was in agony in a line from the tip of my pinkie right to my elbow for 2 or 3 weeks.  That was my own fault too, I got in the way of a fight.  Stupidity again.

Rattie lover here too...although they are known as 'the sleeps' here as that's all they seem to do!

Absolutely hilarious reading everyone's rat escapades...they are really wonderful little creatures to have around, definatley the best small furry to keep as a pet IMO.

We currently have 3 girls - Mary(shy Agouti who keeps herself to herself), Nelly(Agouti hooded, VERY outgoing, always wants to be a part of what's going on!) and Phoebe(very independent, nibbler who loves to climb!)

Was on a breeders list about a year ago, waiting for a dumbo litter, but heard our local RSPCA had some in so off I went, just to look of course and reserved the 3 girls! these are the second lot of rescues I've had and find them much more rewarding than petshop bought ones, which I've vowed never to buy again!

Musn't forget SkyHamster either who is a hamster who fell from the sky ;-)

I love rats- we use to have rats and I also bred them for a bit- I have pics of my daughter at about 3 holding a basket of baby rats and also them climbing all over her... They just remind me of lil puppies. When I bred I held them pretty much from day one and they were so use to being held- do miss them but have way to many pets right now.... My daughter wants some more so I told her when she gets her own place then she is more then welcome, but since she has a job now I dunno might let her get some maybe in the future.

I love rats and really want to own them someday. Unfortunately my mum is scared of them and wont let me have any. I have considered just getting some anyway, but she has told me that if I do either I will be kicked out or she will leave!
So no rats for me just yet, but they are first on my list of things to do when I move out ;)

Don't do it cutewolf!  lol :-) Did that myself at 16, let's just say it didn't go down well - even though mum didn't find out until I took them back to the shop (bad source, both were absolutely terrified and one was a biter).

Just be patient - my mum was scared of them too, but eventually she gave in and let me get one - then a friend because I explained that rats are absolutely miserable alone.  She seemed to give up after that... wasn't long before I had 28!!

Cutewolf- I was just like your mum, thought of rats gave me the creeps, but my daughters jird died and I was emotionally blackmailed into getting another pet for her. Sooooo 3 weeks ago we ended up with 3 boy ratty babies called Harry, cause he has a wee white mark on his forehead that looks like harry potters scar, Jasper cause I liked the name and Casper cause it rhymes and he has a white face like casper the friendly ghost! :-D We got three because there were only 3 of them and I felt bad about leaving one alone - how sad am I? :-)

I have no idea what breed they are, jasper and casper are both grey and white, the grey is down their backs and on jaspers face(he looks a bit like a badger) he has a longer coat and is more silvery grey than casper. Harry has similar markings but is a very light browny colour.

I have to say they are very sweet and having had lots of small furries over the years, these are by far the friendliest and have not attempted to bite me yet :-) I love em, although they are a lot pongier than the jird! :-(

Dakkobear - whats a jird? :)

its like a big gerbil - but smaller than a degu

jird
degu

I currently have 3 (rescued this year) male rats (hooded) and have owned quite a few rescues in the past.
I also have 7 degus and 6 gerbils. (includes 3 gerbil pups born Sat/Sun 24th/25th May overnight)
In the past I've also had mice and used to breed & show cavies/guinea pigs.

My hounds are used to having rodents around the house - but I never have them loose together just in case!

Pam
Hampshire

Yay a ratty thread!!
I've currently got 6 Spook, Mouse, Ice and Willow are all husky sisters. Mini is a mink and her sister Ivy is black. They all very sweet but a little shy.
I had one once form a pet shop that bit, she was very scared of hands and her tail would curl over her back when a hand approached. She bit me really badly once and I had to have stiches in my finger! She was sweet really and if you stuck your elbow into the cage she would climb up and sit on your shoulder.

I have ratties too yay, had 6 recently but now left with 2 old age got to them Coco was the old girl at a good old age of 3. I have 2 girlies now Chyna a white grey blue husky rat she has lovely markings and Bonni an agouti berkshire they are dumbos too. Got into rats when i found, yes found my first rat, a domesticated albino dumped in the park. She was called Bino, that was 3 years ago we then got coco and floss and then i moved to uni got two boys coz i missed the girls rupert and milo. rupert died so i got Rico he was a black berkshire dumbo. Then chyna and bonni. I have wanted degu for a while, but maybe having puppies soon so got to wait. But i love my rats they are soo good and tame. but i think degus are dinately a next for me done lots of research plus they live longer and bark too

Louise

Chyna sounds like my little Freya :-)

6 of my boys have just left for new homes :-( I am going to miss them muchly - especially my little troublemaker Logan - but it is for their own good.  The two women who took them were only going to take a pair each but they were smitten!

4 more of that group to go, then as soon as my hoodies are fully healthy they can start looking too.  It's heartbreaking but I know it's for the best. :-(