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- Sep 6, 2019
Every human must care for a rat only then can the great plan continue why have you been negligent human?
Why don't you own a rat
- Thread starter Postal_Rat
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2017
Rodent nuts are huge and disconcerting. I find them threatening.
HERE YOU GO
kiwifarms.net
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- Oct 31, 2020
Rats are great pets, but I lost my last one because she ate some chicken bones that fell behind a table, then died just after in her cage; the bones were probably too splintery. I didn't want to get more rats after that, but they are still nice to own.
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- Sep 10, 2013
I would love one but my cats would probably think that I brought them a new toy.
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- Feb 3, 2021
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- Dec 25, 2020
At least yours will always be bigger.... right?
You can find rats who prefer to go to the bathroom in one spot of their cage, but it takes them time to learn if they want to do that. I had two rats at different points in time who would sit on my shoulder constantly. One of them would pull my earlobe when she wanted back in her cage because of boredom or needing the bathroom. Sometimes, she'd tug really hard because I didn't listen a few times lol.
Then again, I had one rat who pooped everywhere in and out of her cage, and she was more solitary than the others. So it really depends on the rat you get, and how they're treated. If you have one rat, it will probably focus on you more compared to two or more rats together.
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I once had two pet rats. They were very sweet and I loved them dearly. But they both were incredibly messy pets. It got to the point were I was cleaning their cage every other day.
Rats make small "nests" out of anything you give them, be it toilet paper, newspaper, cardboard, etc. They also piss and shit on everything naturally, so within a day of giving them these things I would have to throw everything away. Though I suppose there would be a way to toilet train your rats since they are very intelligent animals and quick learners. I'm sure there are people out there who have done it.
Though aside from the general messiness, I guess one of the greatest things about having a pet rat (other than their cuteness) is that you don't have to waste as much money on rat food. You should still definitely buy it, but they usually will eat whatever you eat. I used to give mine strawberries, raspberries, tiny slices of ham, lots of stuff. Just try to avoid giving them junkfood, they can still eat it but it's just really not good for them.
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skxllfxcker
kiwifarms.net
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B2_Spirit
kiwifarms.net
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Hamsters are the most worthless animals. They sleep all day, try to get out of their cage all night, and shit pellets on you all the time. The only thing hamsters are good for is putting them in a ball and watching the cats swat it around like the end of the world. Oh, and taking that hamster ball, spinning it around really fast then stopping it and watching the hamster stagger around like it's drunk.
Ratoyan
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2014
Im gonna impart some rat wisdom onto you fellow Kiwis from my time researching and taking in abandoned Pet rats.
1. Rats whiskers are more sensitive than human fingertips, and grow as long as the rodent is wide, although with some fancy pet breeds this can differ due to genetic abnormalities.
2. Rats purr like cats when they are happy/excited/nervous, but it is a behavior called bruxing where they gently chitter their teeth together.
3. Rats are clever enough to know what foods not to eat by trying a small amount of something new and seeing if they feel ill. If one rat falls sick, the entire colony will avoid that food. Pups learn what to eat from their mothers milk and the smell on her fur.
4. Rats have similar empathic traits to humans. Discovered with experiments you can see on youtube due to their popularity (ill link some interesting media below), rats were placed in a closed off environment that was restricting and uncomfortable but ultimately posed the rat in no danger. Their cagemate was placed outside and between them was a door that the cagemate had to learn how to open. Due to previous tests, rats understand the areas outside their cage they are put into always have a puzzle, so when the trapped rat emitted a distress call, the rat refused the temptation of even treats to open the door first. The two would then play and often the cagemate who freed said trapped rat would share its treat, although not always lol, as is the rat way.
The more unknown fact about rats is that they care for their sick and injured much like other pack animals. They will keep and cuddle with the ill rat until they recover or pass and show sadness in losing a friend. In my care I have seen visibly depressed rats after losing a cagemate due to old age.
5. Rats hate being alone. Most rats become distressed when placed into an environment in which they cannot sense or gage the behavior of another rat. A human can mitigate this, but they still desperately search for their own kind not out of a need to breed necessarily but a need of companionship.
6. Rats have metacognition
This one is an interesting one. The definition of metacognition is along the same line of "Knowing how smart I am and what tasks I am capable of completing". Rats posed with different puzzles determine which puzzles output the most food and surprisingly they take into account the time required and if they are capable of doing it. Instead of attempting a puzzle too hard for them that has a lot of treats behind a locking mechanism again and again, they cut their losses and go to the next hardest one. After solving that or failing, surprisingly they take into account if it was easy or not and fun and pick the puzzle that evens out the least amount of resistance and gives the most amount of treats.
7. Rats dream about where they've been and the puzzles they've done that day, often expressing regret for not being able to get a reward.
8. Wild Rats can jump over a meter upward, and fall over 40 feet and come out unphased.
9. Rats eyes are capable of moving independently from one another and are affected by a rats mood, often appearing to pop out of a rats skull in a display called Boggling, which indicates a high level of happiness and satisfaction.
10. A lab in the united states is currently working on the Rosetta stone for all rat language and have named it "Deepsqueak". Rat language has syntax and is made up of a complicated series of ultrasonic calls. I often recommend rat owners get a bat detector to see how loud and chatty their seemingly quiet rodents are to each other.
11. Rats laugh. In general when they wrestle with each other, and when tickled on their bellies gently.
12. Gambian Pouch Rats have been used as small landmine detectors due to their ability to not set them off, and their ability to work with their noses for yummy rewards.
13. Rats enjoy cuddling with people and each other, preferring to sleep in giant cuddle piles rather than alone.
14. Rats have hinged ribcages and skulls that can shift to get through tight spots, although I've seen plenty of fatter rats get stuck doing so.
15. A rats tail is actually an extremely effective way of regulating temperature in an animal with a metabolism that puts most human swimmers to shame. When a rat is too warm, they filter blood through their tails using a series of complicated capillaries. Most people say they cant stand their tails or hands, but honestly due to the biological innovation of a rats tail, id say its a pretty incredible limb.
16. Rats clean and sleep more than the average housecat does. Honestly I believe this is due to the number of parasites that prey upon small mammals and the small amount of hunting hours a rat chooses to be active
17. One lab experiment on neuroscience and enriched environments decided to allow rats the opportunity to drive tiny cars to see if it made their mood improve and they could learn to control them for a reward. Two sets of rats were housed in different conditions. One environment was enriched with tons of toys and fun things and another environment was very bland and standard for labs. There was a difference in the rats skill of driving by the end of the experiment with the enriched rats being better drivers. The rats showed excited enthusiasm for driving the tiny toy cars and did it when no food was given anyway because haha rat go vroom.
18. Another lab experiment showed rats are capable of learning hide and go seek. Each rat is given a role and the game plays out as normal. Rats were observed excitedly jumping and tussling with each other when they found their cagemate and continuing to play despite no reward being present.
19. My pet rat Travis is a "little shit" who chews my cables because on average a rats teeth can grow up to 5 inches a year! Yes he has many toys but he does it for attention because male rats are needy when they bond to you and will demand cuddles and pats. He is a good boy.
1. Rats whiskers are more sensitive than human fingertips, and grow as long as the rodent is wide, although with some fancy pet breeds this can differ due to genetic abnormalities.
2. Rats purr like cats when they are happy/excited/nervous, but it is a behavior called bruxing where they gently chitter their teeth together.
3. Rats are clever enough to know what foods not to eat by trying a small amount of something new and seeing if they feel ill. If one rat falls sick, the entire colony will avoid that food. Pups learn what to eat from their mothers milk and the smell on her fur.
4. Rats have similar empathic traits to humans. Discovered with experiments you can see on youtube due to their popularity (ill link some interesting media below), rats were placed in a closed off environment that was restricting and uncomfortable but ultimately posed the rat in no danger. Their cagemate was placed outside and between them was a door that the cagemate had to learn how to open. Due to previous tests, rats understand the areas outside their cage they are put into always have a puzzle, so when the trapped rat emitted a distress call, the rat refused the temptation of even treats to open the door first. The two would then play and often the cagemate who freed said trapped rat would share its treat, although not always lol, as is the rat way.
The more unknown fact about rats is that they care for their sick and injured much like other pack animals. They will keep and cuddle with the ill rat until they recover or pass and show sadness in losing a friend. In my care I have seen visibly depressed rats after losing a cagemate due to old age.
5. Rats hate being alone. Most rats become distressed when placed into an environment in which they cannot sense or gage the behavior of another rat. A human can mitigate this, but they still desperately search for their own kind not out of a need to breed necessarily but a need of companionship.
6. Rats have metacognition
This one is an interesting one. The definition of metacognition is along the same line of "Knowing how smart I am and what tasks I am capable of completing". Rats posed with different puzzles determine which puzzles output the most food and surprisingly they take into account the time required and if they are capable of doing it. Instead of attempting a puzzle too hard for them that has a lot of treats behind a locking mechanism again and again, they cut their losses and go to the next hardest one. After solving that or failing, surprisingly they take into account if it was easy or not and fun and pick the puzzle that evens out the least amount of resistance and gives the most amount of treats.
7. Rats dream about where they've been and the puzzles they've done that day, often expressing regret for not being able to get a reward.
8. Wild Rats can jump over a meter upward, and fall over 40 feet and come out unphased.
9. Rats eyes are capable of moving independently from one another and are affected by a rats mood, often appearing to pop out of a rats skull in a display called Boggling, which indicates a high level of happiness and satisfaction.
10. A lab in the united states is currently working on the Rosetta stone for all rat language and have named it "Deepsqueak". Rat language has syntax and is made up of a complicated series of ultrasonic calls. I often recommend rat owners get a bat detector to see how loud and chatty their seemingly quiet rodents are to each other.
11. Rats laugh. In general when they wrestle with each other, and when tickled on their bellies gently.
12. Gambian Pouch Rats have been used as small landmine detectors due to their ability to not set them off, and their ability to work with their noses for yummy rewards.
13. Rats enjoy cuddling with people and each other, preferring to sleep in giant cuddle piles rather than alone.
14. Rats have hinged ribcages and skulls that can shift to get through tight spots, although I've seen plenty of fatter rats get stuck doing so.
15. A rats tail is actually an extremely effective way of regulating temperature in an animal with a metabolism that puts most human swimmers to shame. When a rat is too warm, they filter blood through their tails using a series of complicated capillaries. Most people say they cant stand their tails or hands, but honestly due to the biological innovation of a rats tail, id say its a pretty incredible limb.
16. Rats clean and sleep more than the average housecat does. Honestly I believe this is due to the number of parasites that prey upon small mammals and the small amount of hunting hours a rat chooses to be active
17. One lab experiment on neuroscience and enriched environments decided to allow rats the opportunity to drive tiny cars to see if it made their mood improve and they could learn to control them for a reward. Two sets of rats were housed in different conditions. One environment was enriched with tons of toys and fun things and another environment was very bland and standard for labs. There was a difference in the rats skill of driving by the end of the experiment with the enriched rats being better drivers. The rats showed excited enthusiasm for driving the tiny toy cars and did it when no food was given anyway because haha rat go vroom.
18. Another lab experiment showed rats are capable of learning hide and go seek. Each rat is given a role and the game plays out as normal. Rats were observed excitedly jumping and tussling with each other when they found their cagemate and continuing to play despite no reward being present.
19. My pet rat Travis is a "little shit" who chews my cables because on average a rats teeth can grow up to 5 inches a year! Yes he has many toys but he does it for attention because male rats are needy when they bond to you and will demand cuddles and pats. He is a good boy.
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Lifespan + their social nature = regular heartbreak.
Losing pets that often got to me, and I don’t regret any of it, but I can’t handle a pet with such a short lifespan.
Otherwise they were the perfect pets. Give me a rat with a 10-15 year lifespan and I’ll take a dozen please and ty.
Losing pets that often got to me, and I don’t regret any of it, but I can’t handle a pet with such a short lifespan.
Otherwise they were the perfect pets. Give me a rat with a 10-15 year lifespan and I’ll take a dozen please and ty.
Ratoyan
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2014
Gambian pouched rats or Pouchies live a few extra years give or take if youre really good to them. Theyre a lot bigger too and super cuddly. Also they dont do supersonic so you hear a lot of cute squeals. Also they have hamster pouches so you get things like this happening
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- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
Oh god that’s adorable. That’s good to know about the lifespan, I’ll def look into it. Rats are dope as hell, I have so many good memories.
Catman from cat town
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2020
You can only have one:
A siamese cat
Or a Siamese rat.
I don’t know which one is better but I like both.
A siamese cat
Or a Siamese rat.
I don’t know which one is better but I like both.