Little-Miss Posted December 28, 2008 Posted December 28, 2008 Anyone recommend them? Strange question i know... I really want a pet! Not quite ready for babies so need something to nurture lol! My brothers girlfriend has got a couple of rats and i thought they were brilliant. I've had hamsters in the past, considered a house rabbit, but cant be bothered with bunny proofing. Really wanted a Bearded Dragon but setting them up costs a small fortune besides the fact we currently have 2 corn snakes (well, my boyfriend does). Just wondering...
EduTech Posted December 28, 2008 Posted December 28, 2008 Noo! not the rat! i dont like them... oh wait! is this for you?
Little-Miss Posted December 28, 2008 Author Posted December 28, 2008 lol, what don't you like about them out of interest? My dad hates their tails...
EduTech Posted December 28, 2008 Posted December 28, 2008 I dont actually know.. bizzar i know.. i think i dnt want to get bit by them lol... maybe i will just be quiet now before i look even more like a... ****
Little-Miss Posted December 28, 2008 Author Posted December 28, 2008 get your rat out Helpful....thanks....
SYNACK Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 They have a tendancy to be imposible to house train and are quite happy to pee on people or anything that it under them at the time - from experience with others rats. The smell of rats (domestic or otherwise) will also draw other rats in if they are anywhere about - from experience at one of my schools. Why a rat instead of a more easily trained animal? Containability?
witch Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 As the mother of three and an animal lover, we have had many a small creature over the years - and I would vote for a guinea pig EVERY time. I have always kept them, and they are happy and companionable little creatures who can get quite tame and express themselves with many different noises. When I was at college I had a black guinea pig called Gulliver and he travelled all over with me - and kept me sane when I was lonely. We currently have 3 guinea pigs and 2 rabbits: I like rabbits but they don't DO much. As for rats, we have had quite a few over the years - they are clever and fun but you can't sit and cuddle one as they don't sit still. Also if you get a 'biter' there isn't anything you can do! If you do get an animal, promise me you won't leave it in a cage alone in a garden - the thought of all those poor lonely animals is so sad.
chrbb Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 Gerbils are easy to look after, also very useful as they eat paper and cardboard so could do alot of your recycling for you:D Actually they eat anything, my dad made them a tunnel out of some old GWR oak and they ate that! You have to have two because they get lonely. (same sex obviously unless you intend to set up gerbil supply business)
matt40k Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 I've got three cats... so can't really comment on the rat thing. Had hamsters, kept my old dog entertained, as well as the rest of the family Still I think 1 of them thinks he's a laptop has he's been sleeping in an old laptop box (Dell\Dilly, I suppose you could see how he got confused), the others prefer laying on the keyboard, might bring them into work and use it as an excuse for why I'm not doing my work, just hope the boss is a animal lover. Still Jasper can actually turn the TV off and the video player in his own unique way, sticking his paw in, it does work rather well too!
Andrew_C Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) Rats make quite good pets, but are not maintenance free. Get a BIG cage, big bale of wood shavings, and as a treat some shredded paper (they LOVE nesting). Cleaned out regularly the smell was no worse than a teen-agers bedroom. Which brings me on to - they are nocturnal. Cage in bedroom is right out. She wouldn't listen! Daughter's lasted two years with a couple of trips to the vets for a broken foot, no idea how but suspect cage-climbing injury. Healed itself in the end. One was fine and friendly, the other "explored things" with it's teeth. Hurts a bit! Edited December 29, 2008 by Andrew_C
localzuk Posted December 29, 2008 Posted December 29, 2008 I've had 9 rats over the last few years, all of which were resuced. They make excellent companion animals, but are not low maintenance. Cleaning them out is a daily/2 daily job. They are also susceptible to various problems such as dodgy lungs, tumors, and useless bladders. Personally, I don't think a cage is big enough for rats. We had a room dedicated to them. Also, they are social animals, so in many cases you need more than one. They are not nocturnal as such - they sleep as and when they want to. In our case, it was random, partly sleeping during the day, and partly sleeping at night. Finally, if you do choose rats -DO NOT use wood shavings. This will damage their health no-end. We used paper based cat litter instead. (Ours lived anywhere between 2 1/2 years and 5 years).
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