Rattus Norvegicus

[poliphilo]

There was a rat in the back yard yesterday. I was watching it through the living room window. At one point it almost let itself in through the open kitchen door and I had to rush round to shut it out.  I suppose I should be horrified, but mostly I was thinking how cute it was with its waddling gait and snuffly-wuffly nose. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've seen a wild rat out and about in daylight.

Comments

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

Rats make absolutely wonderful pets. Sweet, affectionate, intelligent, and very clean. I've had a number of them in my life.

The big minus is that they, due to excessive inbreeding, are very prone to a lot of maladies, cancer especially, so they tend to not live very long, which is heartbreaking.

If you do acquire one, do it through one of the many rat-fancier societies. You'll have a much better selection (there are many varieties), and a healthier animal.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Yes, the sad thing about having rats as pets is that they only live 2 to 3 years. That's why we always have 8 to 12 at a time, of various ages; I grieve every rat's death, but in a sense the colony lives on.

Rats from a good breeder can live up to a couple years longer than a rat with bad genes, but it's still a short life. We adopt from rat rescues, then give them the longest lives we can.

Btw, female rats are very prone to benign mammary tumors (still a health problem), but spaying her before 6 months of age can reduce the chances of all tumors by 85%. Yes, we spay our girl rats. It's not cheap, and only some vets can do it (experience spaying dogs/cats is not good enough), but it makes a huge difference.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted. But the short-life span is a deterrent. At the moment, of course, we keep rabbits. Rabbits are less intelligent, less affectionate- but they do live longer.