I’m not getting why she has to get rid of the rats.

Rats are awesome. I had 3 rats, and Carl had 2 rats. then we moved in together and had 5 all in one HUGE cage. They are friendly, inquisitive, intelligent and so much fun! Ours got along great with our dogs, ferret and birds. So they should be great with bunnies!!! awwwww I love rats!!!

My mom suggested I get a rat (weird, eh?) due to them beign so smart and you can train em. I so want one, but the hubby doesnt

ratforum.com I think that’s it. I was a member there a long time. I used to have 5 rats, now I’m down to two, but they really are my mom’s at this point since I’m allergic. Great pets though! They really do need to be kept in pairs or more though, so keep that in mind, and home built cages for them are a lot harder to build because they are MUCH better at escaping than rabbits. The forum is really good though. It’s like binkybunny, and there are a lot of people who really care about their rats.

Rats are supposed to be affectionate, terrific pets! But I’m with Furface… why does she need to get rid of them?

I have heard that rats can make wonderful pets.  One down side is that they seem to be prone to cancer- but that is not something you would have to deal with in a younger rat typically.  From my understanding they are super smart, sweet and affectionate- but  have caging requirements that are quite different from a hamster/mouse/gerbil- and they really thrive with more time out of the cage.

Geez… that’s sad.

I have rats, buns, cavies, hamsters… the whole lot.. no issues with them. They don’t really “interact” though, so I’m not sure what your question is regarding that.

If the young woman feels she can’t care for them properly.. provide adequate free range play time.. keep up with maintenance, and so on… then it is a good thing that she’s considering rehoming them. Rats are VERY intelligent and they need the stimulation of decorated cages, toys, human interaction …and a social structure within their own species. No LONE rats, please (unless there’s extenuating circumstances.. physical or behavioral, etc.).

Capital City Rat Rescue has an awesome forum, if you’re interested. It’s not a huge forum, where you’ll get lost in the shuffle ..and it’s not a forum full of “mean people” that will flame your eyebrows off.. at the first sniff of “new blood”. It’s mostly made up of very new rat people and very seasoned “veteran” rat people.

If you have further questions, you are welcome to PM me. I’ve had my bRats for 4 years, I think. I’ve nursed orphaned rats to adulthood. I do rehabilitation and hospice for them. I rescue and foster them. (I have a little 2 week old boy now, who was left on a school’s track in the blazing sun… *sigh* ….he’s doing really well. His name is Hurdle.     )

Yes, that’s very sad. I suppose that would be a lot of animals to look after with a baby.
Rats can be wonderful pets.
I would like to get a pair but I got scared off after reading that rats are actually preditors/oppertunistic scavengers.
The site said they would be very likely to escape & kill my budgies.
I may do some more research on escapeproof caging & get a pair (friends not mating)

Rats are illegal in my province -yeah I know-weird!

Anyways lots of people keep them and apparently they train wel and can be cool pets. Also they aren’t like ferrets-so they are safe to have around rabbits (in terms of, rabbits are not on rats menu)

i have one albino. his name is Dian Dian ( it’s a Chinese name, means a very small thing).  but now, he’s not as small as before. he eats a lot, considering his body size, and grows very fast. i adopted him from the same lab where Fluffy used to live. he is smart guy, very tame, but toooooooo naughty. the rule of thumb in my home is, put anything, put away from Dian Dian ( otherwise, we have to get a new one…) . we see Dian Dian as Fluffy’s little brother, but haven’t got him a proper English name..

i always wonder if anynoe has a wild type color rat. that would be cool!

AWWW

I have “wild type” colors, here… they are called, Agouti ..and there’s variations in the “agouti” coat.

Marika has a “normal” agouti coat. She’s asking the dinosaur to dance with her, I think 

Marianne and Ginger are variants of the agouti coat.. Mink and Cinnamon.

I used too!  It started when I stole my cousins rat because I was unhappy with the size of its cage and care it recieved.  After he passed I got a trio and built them an awesome huge cage.  I thought this site was cute. http://www.dapper.com.au/

And I built this cage, which worked out awesome. http://www.dapper.com.au/grotto2.htm