Since I’m feeling in a
rather “posty” mood today, I decided to fulfill my decision to create a thread to unite rat lovers. I
will also compare the differences and likenesses between the rats from Pixar’s
Ratatouille – which includes Remy and “Rollie” – and rats in the real
world.
Rats! – And Why We Love 'Em -
Rats! The very word often causes us to
formulate in our minds the grotesque picture of a furry creature with elongated incisors, sharp claws, and a
long, bald tail. Many people cringe at the very name; others have learned to live with our city-street
counterparts, while others have gone as far as keeping them as pets.
But what is it about the rat that
makes us tremble in our beds at night, or avoid dark alleys? Why does our, often vague, picture of these
diminuative rodents represent an animal that has been hated for centuries? Contrary to popular believe, there is
more to these whiskery night-dwellers than meets the
eye…
[b:04
ba4bf14a]My Experience with the Species[/b]:
Ever since I was ten (10) years old, I have loved
and cared for these – as I call them – irresistably adorable rodents. The first time I walked into a pet store
to observe the rat section, I fell in love with them. My mom finally surprised me one day when she said that I
could purchase one (or two), even though she had previously told me that I wasn’t allowed to own a rat until I
was twelve. I was ecstatic, and rightly so. After my experience with nine rats in total, I came to appreciate the
animal. A rat is more than a pet; it is family…
Martha and Rachel: Marth
and Rachel were my first two rats, although I probably should admit that I only rightly owned one of them:
Rachel. Martha became my mother’s rat soon after I purchased her. I never could have picked out two sweeter, or
curious, rats.
Martha was the equivalent of a sugar plum cake. She would kiss people’s fingers; cuddle with
me on the couch at night; and loved her sister, Rachel, to the core.
Rachel, on the other hand, was part
tomboy; a real soldier in her time, Some of her trials and acrobatics included: jumping two to three feet from
one surface to the other, battling numerous tumors and diseases, losing half of her tail, and opening small
doors. One thing I loved about Rachel was that she would never eat her food until
she came back and said “thank you” for it, in her own, special way.
Poor Martha had a rather hard
time of it in her later years. The tumors she could handle, but one thing that she couldn’t survive was cancer.
She finally got so weak to the point that she could hardly walk or eat, much less clean herself. Rachel, the
“trooper”, would clean, feed, and cuddle her sister through those troubled times. It was rather
heart-warming to watch. Martha lived to be about two years old, while Rachel lived a little longer: about two and
a half years, which is pretty good for a rat. They both smiled before they died. I’ll never forget
that…
Hannah and Abbey: Continuing a tradition, we named our third and
fourth female rats after the third and fourth American Presidents’ wives. However, little Hannah and her partner
Abbey certainly wouldn’t have made good First Ladies. Hannah was a born scaredy-cat, while Abbey was rather shy
and quiet around strangers. I don’t remember them very well, unfortunately. However, I do recall Abbey’s
tendency to squeak whenver someone tried to kiss her. It was rather funny to watch/hear.
Brownie and Blackie: The two “obviously named” brothers, Brownie
and Blackie, were given to me by a cousin of mine, due to the fact that she just didn’t have enough space for
them any more. I gladly took them and had just as much fun with them as I did with my other four girls. By that
time, I already owned four rats – Martha, Rachel, Hannah, and Abbey, accordingly – , so those two boys changed
my total of four rats to six. Brownie hated to get and give kisses, yet loved baths. Blackie loved to give and
get kisses, yet hated the water. Both boys groomed and slept with each other, yet fought whenever I took them out
to play. Odd they were, but long they did live. Both boths almost made it to three years old, a feat for a rat.
Suki and Miki: These poor girls where raised in a dump of a pet shop, and
each were unfairly mistreated. I certainly didn’t blame Suki for almost biting my finger off when I first got
her, as she had been picked up by her tail most of her life. Miki was actually rather friendly, which made my mom
decide to get her.
After a week or two, Suki became sugary-sweet, and Miki got fatter than ever – I think
she had a slight problem. They both lived a suitable life, although Miki had a rather hard time of it, due to her
food obsession. Both of them loved their nightly massages.
Before they passed away, my “rattly”
count totalled eight rats – Martha, Rachel, Hannah, Abbey, Brownie, Blackie, Suki, and Miki. This just goes to
show how often my mom and I walked into a pet store empty-handed and out of it with a new pair of rats.
Ben: Ben was the last rat that I ever owned, and he was also the
“coolest”, so to speak. Named after that well-known jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben was the most popular of
all of our rats; everyone just loved Ben. He was part dog, in a sense, having learned more tricks during his
lifetime than any of our other rats. One of his favorite past-times was lying flat on our coffee table and
spreading his back feet out behind him while doing this. He was a silly little thing…
Ben passed away
unexpectedly at the ripe old age of two and a half years old. He was probably my second favorite of the
bunch…
After owning nine of those little beauties, I became hooked and officially obsessed with rats.
I’m proud of it, too.
[b:04ba4bf14
a](Un)-Popularity[/b]
There is one thing that I didn’t understand until recently (a few years
ago): Why people seem to hate and fear rats in general. Throughout most of my pre-teenage and young-teen (13-15)
years, I often heard the same word regarding rats in every pet shop I visited: “Ew!”
Most mothers
with their young children would, when encountering the rat section, lean back and respond in a manner similar to
this: "Oh no, you don’t want a rat. They’re disgusting. Why don’t you get a mouse or a hamster
instead?"
Unfortunately, this is the most common response today. Most people just don’t understand
rats. Why, you ask? Well, the cause of it could be due to several reasons…
[b]The
Tail[/b] - The tail. Why is it that particular feature of the rat ends up being bashed and disliked
the most? Well, one reason is probably because it is, unlike the rest of the rat, hairless. The sight of an
already apparently digusting creature without a furry tail turns people away almost instantly. However, the tail
is one of the most essential and crucial features of the rat; without it, the rat is basically useless.
The
tail helps the rat in two areas: It helps the rat to maintain balance, and it regulates a rat’s body
temperature. When walking across a narrow beam, pole, rope, or wire, that elongated tail sure helps the rat to
keep its balance without falling off. That hairless extention also helps the rat concerning weather conditions.
Since the tail is bald, the rat is kept cool in the summer; while, in the winter, the tail “contracts”
and preserves body heat, so to speak, which keeps the rat warm.
[b]The Claws and
Teeth[/b] - Although a rat’s claws help it in many ways, it also causes people to back even furtherer
away from the rat. Claws aid a rat in helping it to hold on to slippery surfaces, dig into garbage and other
food-infested areas, and ward off male rats in fights.
A rat’s teeth also help rats to win fights, besides
helping it to eat and chew, of course.
The Manner of the Rat - To most
people – especially city-dwellers – , a rat is an unclean, useless animal. It’s main purpose is to "eat,
poop, and populate", so to speak.
Rats are actually very clean animals, at least…the pet ones are. I
often witnessed my rats clean themselves thoroughly five to ten times a day, if not more.
Except for,
perhaps, the city and wild rats, tame rats will choose a specific place to deficate. This further explains their
need to be clean.
Rats do populate abundantly, and often. This will be explained later in this section.
Basic Rat Facts -
Habitat - Rats will bascially
set up a home base in any spot that is suitable enough for their taste. The majority of rats prefer to live
comfortably around humans, their food supply abundant in trash cans and people’s kitchen floors and
refridgerators. Other wild rats survive on almost anything that comes in reach, as their diet consists of
herbivorous and carnivorous organisms.
Sustainance - As rats are omnivorous,
they will consume almost anything within reach of their paws. Anything from berries to chicken, and from lettuce
to trash will do for a rat.
Mating - Mating is quick, yet effective. A
female rat can become pregnant as early as the age of four or five weeks, the gestation period lasting
approxiamately twenty-one to twenty-three days. A female will go into heat/season thirty-six hours after giving
birth; and the birth itself can manifest up to twenty-four babies at a time. This is the reason why rats are able
to populate areas within a relatively short amount of time.
Care and Husbandry of Pet Rats -
A rat is a living, breathing thing, that
should be regarded as an animal, not an object. When purchasing a rat, make sure that the rats requirements fit
your time schedule and home environment.
Basically, a rat shouldn’t be given to any, fairly young child
between the ages of one to eight. Even nine or ten may be a bit too early for a young animal enthusuaist to own a
rat, unless he or she is already fully responsible.
If you do decide to adopt one of these beloved
rodents, make sure that you can give it the proper attention it needs, as such:
[b]Male or
Female?[/b]: Male rats are usually more laid-back and quiet, while the females tend to be more
energetic. However, some females – such as Martha – can be just as lazy as males, and some males – such as my
Ben – can be just as rambunctious as females.
Up and at 'Em: A rat is
bascially nocturnal, yet any rat can adjust to whatever time frame you want it to adjust to. Say that you work
from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Your rat will adjust his or her sleeping schedule so that it fits in perfectly with
your time frame. The rat will sleep the day away while you are at work, yet wake up refreshed and ready to go by
the time to you get home. This goes for night-shifters, as well. Rats can basically adjust to any time frame or
schedule.
Housing and Bedding: There are many brands of small pet bedding
that you can purchase at your local pet store, some being healthier than others. I always used CareFresh bedding
for my babies, and they seemed to love it. Unlike aspen, cedar, and pine-shave beddings, which are essentially
unhealthy for rats, CareFresh is nontoxic and safe; my rats never obtained allergies from the CareFresh bedding,
which is why I highly recommend it. Other beddings, such as BioFlush and Yesterday’s News, will work fine, as
well.
The cage should be cleaned of little “deposits” once a day, and the entire cage should be
thoroughly washed down at least once a week. Yes, it’s hard work, and you might hate it – as I did – , but it
sure keeps the cage spotless! There are a number of disinfectants that can be used to clean a rat cage, one of
them being Parvosol. Make sure that the disinfectant you use is safe for cages (and rats). The type of cage you
buy is also important. Please note that rats can pretty much squeeze their body through anything as big (or
bigger than) a quarter. If a rat can get its head through a hole, so can the rest of its body. Please see the
link below for more information.
Food and Water: A rat should always have a
adequate supply of food and water available; water especially in the summer time. My rat’s diets consisted of a
special rat food mix called Reggie Rat Food. Once in a while, I would give them corn
on the cob, small pieces of egg, and advocado, all of which they absolutely savored. However, there are some
foods and table scraps that you should never feed to your rats. See the link below
for more information.
The Health Factor: Rats can suffer from numerous
health problems, the most common being respiratory infection and mycoplasma (which all pet rats contain). Signs
of illness include sneezing, lethargy, and porphryin (red discharge around the eyes and nose). Take a peek at the
link below for more information on rat health and diseases.
Play-Time!: Rats
simply love to play! PVC pipes, bird toys, tissue boxes, and hammocks make great brain-busters for your rats.
Hammocks are mere sleeping quarters for rats, but it’s still fun to watch your little rodents swing themselves
back and forth on the things.
Tricks: Surprisingly, rats can learn a number
of tricks, depending on their personality and curiosity. A lazy rat who sleeps most of the time will, more often
than not, refuse to learn a new trick; however, an energetic rat will usually be just the opposite. With an IQ
level that is as high as a dog’s – or higher --, it’s no wonder that it was pretty much a breeze to teach my
rats these various tricks:
Stand up on
command
Kiss on command
Spin in a circle on
command
Tip over a cup
Pull up a cup by a
string
Come on command
[b]Walk across a
broom[/b]
Climb onto a stool/cup on
command
A
good source of rat facts and the like are featured on this popular rat and mouse website:
Click on RMCA Rat FAQ to learn more about these
rambunctious critters.
As of today, rats are still my favorite house pets to own, besides cats. They have
provided me with years of love and enjoyment, as have I to them.
I love 'em! Don’t you? 
Please
don’t hesitate to share your love or dislike for rats, for I am eager to know what you think of these lovely
critters. Express your views and opinions; I would love to hear them!
–
Mitch
Side-Note: I asked PixarVixen if I could write this before-hand, and
she said “yes”. I wanted to let you guys know that, just in case you were wondering why I made a post
about rats when there is a very convenient “Pets” thread down below (in the “Off Topic”
section).
