We are used to sleeping with them. We have been sleeping with rats in the bedroom for… four years or so? I guess it’s comparable to a mom sleeping with her newborn baby. It’s instinct. We don’t roll over them, we know they are right there. Sometimes, all three of them are rolled up right next to me, sometimes, nobody is there. Though we sleep with them, I do not recommend it for everybody because yes, it can be dangerous if you are not used to it.

Yes, neutering and spaying rats is possible. Actually, spaying females is highly recommended in order to avoid the growth of tumors. Of course, we have to take them to an exotic vet and it costs us an arm and a leg, but it’s all worth it. Our rats (and now the rabbits, too) are our only big expense apart from the mortgage on our house. We don’t spend money on anything else but them.

HAHA, did you seriously ask me for pictures? HAHA! I have a MILLION of them!!! See, how I had a hard time to shut up about my kids? Once I start posting pictures… you will beg me to quit that! HAHA! I will see if I can find one of each group and hopefully I will limit myself to that.

Every rat is completely different. They look different to us, we know them, they have totally different personalities… to us, it is very easy to keep them apart. Yes, they all have names and they all know their names, too. Basically, rats are like little dogs. They are supersmart and remember things and people, too. Truly, they are like magic.
Our rats live in huge, huge ferret cages (the boys in the bedroom have two cages in the bedroom but the cages are always open). I don’t like to keep anybody in cages though, so we rotate the groups out. Everybody gets to come outside every single day. I am very obsessed with that. I will not go to bed unless everybody has had playtime.

We keep the rats absolutely seperate from the bunnies. They do not get to interact. Ever. When the bunnies stretch, they can reach up to three of the cages, but Velvet and Dancer leave the rats alone. They ignore each other and we want to keep it that way, too.

Yes, I’m a complete nutcase, but you know what? Life has never been better! The fact that all our kids were unwanted at some point or another makes it all worth it. We want to offer paradise on earth to the less fortunate ones. It makes me feel good to see them sleep happily without any worries in clean cages with plenty of food and clean water and with companions (or not) and just being happy. They are very important to us!

Yes, I am on a rat forum as well. I have been there for … 7 years almost.

I am looking through my pictures to see which ones to post… I will post those of our current kids. Rats are very, very good companions. They cheer me up, they give me love, they are super clean – they are very, very wonderful!

Ian and I. Haha! He makes me look so tiny!

Above, you can see Kilo his very first time running in the room. That’s not his cage, his cage is on a table, it’s a huge cage. That cage is always in the room for the rats to go into hammocks, have a waterbottle and climb around.

This is Ian. His eyes are cloudy, he is older, too. We don’t know why his eyes are like that. It’s as if he was dead. There is no gloss to them. They have been getting better here, but just a little. Ian is so happy to enjoy freedom! Every morning, he comes out in the room for two hours.

Ian on his first day home in his old cage.

My very old man Galileo. Isn’t he cute??? Look at those big eyes and his long, long nose! He got that one from his mommy. Hehhee!

Again Galileo. I always sing to him… Bohemian Rapsody, Queen.

Hahaha!!! This is Nudity, my pile of five naked rats.

I need to load the other ones… before everything crashes over here….

From left to right: Coda, Catherine, Sabrina and my boy Cado (the white one).

Nudity again. Fifine is the one with the dumbo ears.

My Vasco boy!

Vasco sleeping…

Rocky, when he was younger

Benji, one of the bedroom boys.

Awwww, thank you all! You guys make my heart all fuzzy! I am so very proud of my rats and bunnies!

To answer a few questions… 

Haha! No, that’s Rocky’s lip! It’s not his tongue hanging out. Haha! Rocky recently passed away. We have his brother here who looks just like him.

Rats usually don’t live very long. In most cases, rats need help to pass away (euthanasia with gas at the vet’s). We have had a few hamsters too and three of them were dead all of a sudden. Only very rarely does that happen with rats. Once they reach 2 years, that’s awesome! Anything beyond that is extra super time and every little second needs to be cherished as if it was the last one together. We have had rats that needed help to pass at the very young age of only one year old but we have also had others who were over 3 years old. Galileo is our old man right now. It’s amazing how strong and alert he is at 38 months (min.)! When he came to us with his brothers, three of the four needed to be on medication, Galileo being one of them. He is such a healthy boy! He has been on antibiotics for more than half his life but is doing very well on it. 

I would also like to add that most our rats come to us when they are already older. They are less trouble when they are out of the baby stage and while yes, they might have some behavioral issues at first, it doesn’t matter to us. Once they are here, they learn very quickly that they are safe and that they won’t be going anywhere else, that this is it, we are their humans, this is their house, too and it is our job to make sure they get everything they need.                                                                                                       

The naked rats… Haha! When I first saw naked rats, I thought they were ugly. Poor rats, they have been absolutely overbred – yes, they will remain naked forever. There are people out there who purposely breed naked rats. Naked rats have a much faster metabolism than furry ones, thus they need to be kept warm, they need a lot more food and water than furry rats, they need to be kept meticulously clean or else they will develop abcesses left and right… Since they eat and drink a lot more than furry rats, they of course pee and poop more, too! Oh, the joys of cleaning out Nudity!!! I constantly clean them out. When we agreed to foster them, it was out of necessity, really. They were tiny, they needed the extra care, there was no momma, they were dropped off at the rescue without the mom… we couldn’t say no. Then, we wanted to keep the boys only but we were worried that the girls wouldn’t be taken care of properly and that they were going to be bred. The rescue charges $40 per spayed rat (that’s what they pay too to get them spayed) and there aren’t many people out there who are willing to pay $80 for a pair. Also, we were supposed to tell the rescue which ones were bonded… but they always piled up all together! We just couldn’t do it. We wrote the rescue a nice check and kept them all.

Naked rats are just like furry ones, but they smell differently. They kind of smell like human babies (I’m no fan of human babies), while furry ones smell completely different. Intact boys smell like sandelwood or cornchips while girls smell like… rose petals. I really think so. I am addicted to smelling rats. I take them in my hands and squish my nose all over them and inhale. I love it!!! Once boys get neutered, they lose that certain smell to their fur and are odorless.

Oooooh, I could write in forever about my kids! Thank you all for your very kind remarks! Oooohhh, I’m flying!!! I’m so happy you like my rats!!!

Yes, haha, I work! I am the Academic Director of a very large language school. Huge responsibilities… daily!
Ask me whether I have a life beside the animals! Haha! The answer is no. Our animals are our life. I get up two hours early in the morning to take care of everybody. I clean out the bunnies’ litterbox every morning, Velvet and Dancer come out and hop around the place. I switch the rats out, let Vasco out, turn on the computer, clean, clean, clean, do a wash, rotate the rats again, make the bunnies their breakfast, and then I rush to work.
I get home, rotate the rats, let the bunnies out, change my clothes (I have to dress up for work, of course), check on everyone, make dinner for the bunnies, dinner for the rats, something for us to gulp down, give medicine to my oldies, plop down on the couch with my Vasco and fall asleep (usually around 10pm at the very latest).
On Saturdays, I volunteer for 6 hours at a small animal rescue, on Sundays I walk dogs for about three hours at the county animal shelter. Since I am surrounded by many people at work and have to be polite and professional all day, in my freetime, I stay faaaar away from people.
We rarely ever go out, we go on vacation to see my parents in Europe once a year together (I usually fly out once on my own and once with my husband per year), that’s it. My life in a nutshell. AND IT’S AWESOME!!!

All our rats get to come out of their cages on a daily basis. Vasco is a rat, just a regular pet rat… but he is special. He is extremely bonded to us humans, he doesn’t like the rat room (the first rat ever who doesn’t like that room) but it’s because we are not in there. He wants to be with us at all times. Whenever we are home, he is out on the couch (two couches connected via an end table. I tend to fall asleep on the couch, so Vasco and I cuddle up together and sleep. When my husband goes to bed, he puts Vasco into his cage. In the morning, first thing I do is take Vasco out on the couch again. He has his comforter there and goes to sleep there after saying good morning to his mommy and daddy. He is our Prince right now (Galileo is the King). He is not bonded to all humans, just to us.
The free range rats (at all times) are the three in the bedroom (Stradakuhs, Benji and Rocky aka Nike). Yes, we sleep with them too (whenever I make it from the couch into bed).
If you entered our home, you wouldn’t be able to smell the rats or rabbits. If you saw us on the street, you would never believe we have rats as pets. People are always shocked when I mention we have pet rats. They think I’m joking. HAHA! I find it hilarious to see how superficial regular people can be! I say regular because I find we are different. We (you guys and us over here) love animals and understand they have souls, too.

I haven’t!!! I have not been online much, yesterday, I wasn’t home until 9pm, which just killed me! Funny, we have very similar jobs! Wow! I knew there was a reason why we clicked!