Saturday, April 20, 2013

A To Z Blogging Challenge: R is For Rats!

If you know me at all, you had to know I would not pass up an opportunity to show off my rats and try to convince all you non rat lovers out there that rats are great pets! This is Lucky, my little three legged rat. I got him when he was still a tiny baby. A friend of my daughter who works in a pet shop called my daughter and told her that this little guy was going to be snake food or euthanized because it was against their policy to sell rats that are disabled. So she wanted to know if I would take him, which I did and he's such a great little guy. Just look at that face!

He kisses everyone as soon as they put their hands near him. He's so affectionate and loves to come out and play. 

This was Ares. I just lost him last month and he was 3 1/2 years old. That's old for a rat. He was a sweet old guy. I adopted him and his three brothers and they were such a bunch of characters. 

Here are two of Ares brothers, Jasper and Hades. I lost Hades just a couple of months ago..he was 3 years old when he passed away. They might not live a long time but they sure to give us a lot of love in the small amount of time they are with us. Hades and Jasper slept like this all the time. These two were my two biggest rats. Jasper was the biggest at 3 lbs and 19 inches long. 

Of course I had to throw in a funny picture of these two. Jasper doesn't seem to mind that Hades has fallen asleep with his foot on his face. 

This was Fang. He was my cuddler. He spent so much time sitting in my arms, on my shoulder or sleeping on my chest. He always wanted to be held, so much so that sometimes when I opened the cage door to clean the bathroom corner he would take that opportunity to jump on me and sit on my shoulder until I was done and could sit and hold him for a while. If you want a pet that will love you unconditionally, want to cuddle and sneak over to play with your hand...a rat is what you want to get.

And this is Marbles. One of his parents was a hairless rat and so he is half hairless and has patches of hair that are missing because of his mixed parentage. Some of his hair is curly, some is straight and some is gone. He's a nibbler. He says hi by grabbing your finger and nibbling on you, just like he would do to another rat in his pack. 

As you can see, I think rats make great pets and think people who have never thought of owning one should give them a chance. They are not dirty vermin, in fact they are quite clean. They groom themselves several times a day just like a cat does and they pick one corner of their cage to use as a bathroom, which makes keeping the cage cleaner for longer much easier. 

If you would like to learn more about rats, I have written a few articles that you might find interesting. 





15 comments:

  1. I am that non rat lover. The only rat is like Jerry from Tom & Jerry! But yours definitely look too cute. :)

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  2. I have never had a pet in my almost 23 years on Earth.

    Most (not all) people here in India treat rats like vermin. Except for a temple in Rajasthan.

    Gotta say, Jasper is a big one.

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  3. Love the shot on the back, cute they are.

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  4. Me, Thanks! Glad you liked the pictures. :)

    KK, I've seen videos of that temple and think it's just so cool. I would totally visit there and see those rats.

    Pat, Thank you :)

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  5. I love your pictures of your rats. Your fatty boys are a bit like my Holly (she's a two handed rat, hehe).

    I've never had a three-legged rat, but our Ivy is missing a toe on a back foot. It's great that you were able to to take him on.

    They definitely make the best pets.

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  6. I had gerbils when I was in high school. They were pretty cool. The hair on their tails really helped me a lot, because, for some reason, the hairlessness of the rat tail is kind of freaky to me.

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  7. I'll stick with my guinea pigs, but rats are cool. Pets are great, aren't they!
    Happy A to Z-ing
    Jemima at Jemima's blog

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  8. I had a couple of rat friends when I was younger. I just read an article somewhere that indicated that rats have become an extremely popular pet so obviously you are not alone! Thanks for sharing glimpses of all of your friends.

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  9. I have no problem at all with rats - I am having to rescue them quite often from my felines ;) I always tell my cats off when they've hurt a rat or mouse, and call them "Horrible cat!"

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  10. I have never had one for a pet, probably because I have always had cats. My niece had one though and took it with her everywhere she went. He was adorable. I would think that they would make very nice pets with their own personalities, and I truly enjoyed the adorable pictures of yours. I can see they are very much loved and content! So cute. I don't think Romeo the cat, would be too happy with the competition. He must be the only, only one...Great post, and thanks for sharing!! www.sandysanderellasmusings.blogspot.com

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  11. Click, The big squishy ones are the best.

    Andrew, you know, I thought their hairless tails would bother me too when I first adopted one. But I quickly got used to it.

    Jemima, Yes, pets are the best.

    Elf, thanks Elf. Yes, they have become a very popular pet.

    Trisha, I've never had a cat as a pet but I hear they are good pets.

    Sandy, Thank you, I appreciate that. They make great pets.

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  12. I just love looking at your little herd Mary. They're all adorable. I love the whiskers in that first pic!!

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  13. Your fur babies are adorable!! Happy A-to-Z 2013! ~Angela, Whole Foods Living, http://www.wholefoodsliving.blogspot.com/

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  14. Of course, what else?! :) Those are all really cute photos.

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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  15. They're so cute! I love rats (and mice). But I can't convince Hubby that they'd make good pets, so we have to be content with guinea pigs.

    Rinelle Grey

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