I might have mentioned once or twice that I really like rats. I have kept a lot of animals and I have to say I think you can't do better than a rat. I admit never having owned a dog or cat, or really worked with them much either, but rats are amazing.
I have had a lot of rats, most of them rescued. I have had babies that I got from pet shops and ones from breeders too.
I have noticed that males, known as bucks, tend to be a bit cleaner than females (does). I am not sure why this would be the case.
One particular favourite rat was Snowball. I rehomed him from a pet shop. He was quite an old rat when I got him and I quickly discovered that he hadn't been handled very much. He was a Himalayan colour, not your everyday pet shop rat, so I suspect his previous owner was using him as a breeding buck to produce show quality babies. Maybe he got too old to breed from so they just gave him away.
Snowball was a large rat and his fur was a beautiful white colour, apart from his nose and bottom that were brown, the typical Himalayan markings. He had to live alone because you can't put adult male rats together or they will fight to the death. All my rescued females were not spayed so he couldn't live with them.
Snowball took quite a bit of taming. He was not a vicious rat at all but he was not used to hands and every time I tried to pick him up he tried to bite. This was just his way of defending himself and not his fault at all.
In the case of a nervous rat that will bite I tend to find using something like a towel to get them out of the cage works really well. Once he was out of his cage he was no longer territorial and soon got used to the idea of sitting on my lap and letting me stroke him.
Snowy never became a cuddly pet but as long as he was happy that was the main thing. He would tend to sleep a lot being an old rat and slept on my sofa. At the end of the day he had learned that he was going into his cage for the night and would crawl onto my hand and let me put him home.
I don't really like to talk too much about the end of any of my animals but it is enough to say that he got sleepy and doddery like a proper old man. He began to go off his food and eventually would only take soft food like weetabix and baby food. Fortunately nature took its course and he died in his sleep before I had to make the decision to have him put to sleep by my vet.
What I will always remember about Snowy is the time I brought him home from the pet shop. I had to take the cage apart to get it in my friends car and had him just sitting in a tube which he could have run out of at any minute. It was far from ideal. When I got him home I just put my hand in the tube and picked him up. I was so greatful to him that he chose not to bite me that day. It was clear from his behaviour in his cage that if I put my hand in there he was going to let me have it.
It isn't ideal having to get your pet out all wrapped in a towel but to be fair to him he was a rehomed animal that hadn't been handled by his previous owner and he was perfectly fine once he was out of his cage.
Rats are not vicious animals at all. My current pair Pippa and Poppy are so sweet. They came from a pet shop but were babies when I got them. The shop hadn't handled them at all. They are so clever they learned to come out and let me pick them up. I have no doubt in my mind about them. They will not bite. They are such rewarding pets to keep and Pip and Pop both know their names so they come when they are called. You won't find a better pet than a rat I am sure of it.
Here are some things from my shop that feature a photo of Snowball so you can appreciate how beautiful my big boy was.
FallenAngel, I can tell that your big boy Snowball was a very nice and handsome boy. Amazing story about him.... And even he wasn't a cuddly pet I am sure he was so attached to you. I think he had some not so good memories before he got to your home and perhaps he bit you from time to time because of these memories. Ok, I am just guessing.
ReplyDeleteAnd he died like a proper old man.... Yes, it was too said to read about it but that was also good that you wrote about it. Very touching story about Snowball.
Please, say hello from me to Pippa and Poppy. It is interesting that they know their names. I wonder how did quickly they learn their names? Do you repeat their name once when you call them or a few times?
Do you know I never thought about the rats as interesting pets. I do now. I also used to think about rats that they might be vicious, not anymore.
Thank you for sharing this amazing story with us.
Kaya Snowball never actually bit me. I was lucky though. If you get baby rats that have been handled they are the best pets. The older ones and the rescues are not so easy to handle if you do not have lots of experience.
ReplyDeleteI think it took a while before they knew their names. It took me about 2 weeks to give them names because I wanted their names to match their personalities.
I would say it took Pippa longer than it took Poppy because Poppy is the cleverest one. The first word they learned was food. I just said food every morning before I fed them. They learned it in 4 or 5 days.
FallenAngel, its me again. I thought about this post and I came with an idea.
ReplyDeleteWould you please be a guest on my blog Planet and I will post this post on my blog with a short introduction of you and referral to your blog. You have a very interesting experience with rats and you tell about it in a very touching way.
If you are agree to do that, it is everything up to you what you would like to post about rats. I like your post as it is. If you don't want to do that I promise never bother you again.
Please, let me know what do you think about all this.
P.S. I has changed my picture, just tired of old one...
Kaya I don't really understand what you want me to do. I never had a blog before and I don't know what being a guest means. If you want to put my post on your blog I don't mind that at all.
ReplyDeleteYou never bother me. It is nice to talk with someone that feels the same way about animals and nature that I feel.
FallenAngel, first of all I am glad that you don't mind to put your post on Planet.
ReplyDeleteInstead to explain what does it mean, to be a guest would you please go to the Planet and scroll down and find the post "Two hunters..." (August 10, 2010). I asked one of bloggers Fram Actual to post his real encounter with wolves. Just encounter only, not killing them because my blog about kindness toward animals.
I also would like to write a very short introduction about you. Whatever you will decide. Do you want to write it by yourself or I can use what you wrote on your blog,s profile about yourself. We also will keep your blogger name FallenAngel. I like it a lot.
Ok, why am I doing it? If I see something really very special I always want to share it with others. It's just me. Not sure how many "others" read my Planed but it would be great if somebody would stop by and read about Snowball and your Poppy and Pippa and how you care of them. And perhaps would think differently about rats. ( I mean myself).
I also found a great young photographer Peter, he is from Malaysia and if you have a time and a chance just stop by my other blog Visual Impact and look at his photos, they are so different and great. Of course, if you wish. He also was very kind and let me interview him. He is so interesting.
Please, let me know how would you like to introduce you on my blog?
Kaya I was worried you wanted me to write extra things to put on your blog. Right now I have a bad shoulder and typing hurts.
ReplyDeleteI looked at what you did on your blog and I am happy you enjoy what I write so much that you want to use it. You can use whatever you want from my blog.
Because of my shoulder it would be easiest for me if you are willing to use what I wrote in my profile.
So happy you like my name. I got it from a lyric by a German band I love listening to. They wrotea lyric that goes "Angels fall down" in one of their songs and I thought that FallenAngel would be a really nice name to have and a little tribute to one of my favourite bands.
I have a post about wild rats further back in my blog. I think it is in August if not it will be in July. It is about how I found some wild rats living near me and what I learned about them. You might find that interesting to read and the photo I managed to get is one of my favourites of all time.
FallenAngel, please no worries.
ReplyDeleteI assume you gave me your Ok on publishing one of your post. I read your two post about wild rats and they are both great. Right now I am lost and don't know what to choose. Perhaps, I will post about wild rats but didn't decided yet. Ok, I am going to work on posting one of your posts on Planet.
And please, take a very good care of your shoulder and take it easy on everything.
I am going to choose about wild rats and I am going to use your photos mentioning that they are your own photos. I guess you are ok with it.
All my best to you and get better soon ( I mean your shoulder).