[kpoppops]

Hello ^.^ I was just interested in what made everyone decide to buy a rat and how did you pick them out of the crowd?

For me, I had originally wanted a pet mouse since I was like 10 so I bugged mum about it for another 8 years until she caved. However after lots of research I decided a rat would be more fun.

I bought Jun at a pet shop. I didnt even get to see him before I bought him, I just didnt want the lady also looking at him to buy him.

Jin came from a guy who runs a pet shop but hand raises his animals. He showed me a beautiful black rat who did all sorts of tricks. Jin however, hanging upside down on the cage caught my eye. I asked the guy about him and he said that Jin was crazy and no one could control him therefore he had no manners or any commands. I still bought him and I know understand why the guy thought he was wild (Jin has his own set of rules on how things work)

Kiu and Tae were not planned but a lady wanted to "get rid" of them in a very cruel way so I couldnt leave them and therefore I ended up with all four of them!

What are your stories?

 

[Isamurat]

I've been owned by rats for years now, my parents originally decided to get me and my brother rats after an unfortunate incident when we played with our goldfish. We were 5 and 4 at the time and 30 years on this Christmas I am still hooked.

For my current group, I got Moo and Shine as my friend had a litter whose dad was my last and much adored boy, the mum was also special to us both so I was a bit over the moon when they were 4 does born (2 for each of us, 2 dumbos and 2 top eareds, one of each black and agouti). I got the agouti dumbo as we both knew I'd been desperate for one for a while after a couple special rats in the family (plus my friend already had 4 lol) and we wanted a nice mix so I got the black top eared (Shine) too, accidentally I got the 2 best rats both in looks and temperament but as we work together breeding this hasn't been an issue.

My next girl Skally came as I wanted to build a mixed aged girl group, my 2 babies would appreciate adult company. There was a larger scale breeder looking for a pet home for two of her retired breeding does so I took both, one has since died leaving me with one old lady.

The next pair were born here, Moo had a litter of 11 lovely babies and those two stood out, both were really pretty and Autumn in particular was like a mini Moo in her silly bold temperament.

My next rat Fuse was also born here, from Shine, she only had one girl so I knew she was a keeper from day 1. Cat, the other rat in that pair is from a litter born to my friend born on the same day (we time our litters for this reason), my friend picked out her four fave rats both for temperament and looks from her 2 litters (with my help) and we then decided that the one she was least likely to breed from of the 4 best was Cat so I took her. She kept the rest. The other rats went to pet homes. Cat may go back to her for a litter of we decide she's suitable. I'm really glad actually as she's much more sane than my 3 home bred girls.

 

[Nev&Remus]

We had rats when I was about 10 years old, I've always loved them since! My partner and I have had gerbils for a few years. Every time we go to buy their food I have to look in on the rats they have. He didn't get why I loved them until we asked if I could have a little cuddle one day. Immediately he fell in love with them and a week later we had brought the one I cuddled and his brother home. The boys have definitely won him over and I can't imagine us never having rats in the future now.

 

[buzzwizz619]

One day i randomly typed rats into gumtree, i have no idea why i had never wanted rats, knew nothing about rats and was perfectly happy with my little gerbils. But that day i typed it in and saw 2 boys on there needing a new home, the advert said one suffered from recurring myco flare ups, then i started researching myco and rats and after a few days i emailed the lady about them. Luckily those rats already had a new home but i spent the next few weeks researching rats and decided i needed rats in my life, this was about May i think. I had a holiday booked for august and knew getting someone look after rats wasnt going to be easy so i decided to wait until after i got back off holiday.

Once i get something in my head my brain goes 100 miles an hour so i got a cheap Jenny cages off gumtree, started buying accessories, started making hammocks and generally kept myself occupied with ratty related things before i got them. I had the cage set up in my living room for about 6 weeks before i had my first boys!

The next mission was to find a rat rescue, unfortunately the one where i live is closed down and all the others were a long drive away. Another problem was with them being my first ever rats i wanted babies for two reasons, 1 so i could have as long with them as possible and 2 so i could see how awsome rats are without the behavioural issues that rescue rats come with ( i know not all have issues but 3 out of 4 of my rescues since have). Eventually a few weeks before i went on holiday i saw a post on a rat rescue facebook page, it wasnt technically a rescue but the lady had brought mama rat and her first litter of pinkys from a pet shop where mama was in with 3 males. Mama rat was already pregnant again and nursing her first little and the lady took them all in.

I was looking for a pair of boys, the lady said she had 3 boys left and i was more than happy to take all three. It fell really well that the babys would be ready on the saturday and i was comming back off holiday on the thursday, so after sweet talking my dad into taking a small diversion on the way home i collected my first three boys on our way back, the lady very kindly let me donate the sale price to a rat rescue.

Ronnie and Reggie were also from the rat rescue facebook page - they were in my area and needed a home as they belonged a child who was in a childrens home and he could no longer care for them and my boys were young enough to to introd fairly easily.

Pumpkin and peanut were also from the facebook page (i really need to keep away from that group!) they werent local, i ended up having to get a train to manchester to get them but someone "wanted rid" of them and said they were vicious. I was worried about where they would end up as no one else on the group was able to help and i didnt want them to end up as snake food, after all you say a rat is vicious whos gonna take it? Turns out they arent vicious at all, you cant poke your fingers through the bars or let them lick baby food off your finger like i can with my first 3 but im sure i would bite someone if they were covered in something ever so yummy haha

5 months since i picked up my first boys im addicted <3 Ive already lost Reggie which is why im sure having babies for my very first rats was a good decision and im sure that i will end up having many more over the comming years <3 Im not sure if i will have babies again, i always feel that babies are the easiest to rehome i think i would rather give a home to a older rat who has either been neglected or just needs somewhere to spend the rest of there days in happiness.

I love my boys so much <3

 

[moonkissed]

My very first rats I had wanted to get a small pet & I searched online to try and find what would be the best fit for me. Rats fit the bill perfectly. I went to the pet store and they were just so adorable I had to have them. The two I picked were caged together so I took them both to keep them together.

My current rats- 1 boy & 1 girl came from pet shops- I chose them purely on color. They were beautiful. The girl was a beige with ruby eyes and she was just so lovely.

1 girl was a rescue from someone I knew- she was not friendly at all and they couldnt handle her. I took her in to just give her a nice peaceful life.

1 boy i got off craigslist- he came with his brother who recently passed away. They were near me and needed a home and came with a cage so I said why not.

4 were from breeders and the rest were bred by me. The 4 from breeders were chosen for their health, temperament, lines, colors to breed.

 

[KayRatz]

all but two of my rats have been from pet stores. fawn and buffy were from a feeder breeder.

my mom came home with gracie from her job at a pet store. i don't recall how we chose fawn and buffy. i picked zinc and klardae based on personality and cola and fizz on looks. chose argo for being hairless and naut because of his color. i picked squid and inky both on looks and personality. i knew i wanted a standard black berkshire so i.picked the friendliest and healthiest berk in the cage, and i wanted a dumbo so i picked the friendliest dumbo as well as the only rex.

 

[liesel]

I wanted a dog but didn't have the proper space to house one. I looked up "small pets like dogs" on the Internet and rats came up. At first I thought that was super odd but as I kept reading I realized they did sound like mini-dogs ( coming to their names, ability to learn tricks, loving their owners back, etc) it sounded perfect. I was sure though that when I told my roommate I wanted a rat she wouldn't be interested, but to my surprise she'd had experience with rats and loved the idea. Our landlord was actually on board as well so I went to the store not having a clue what I was doing. The store clerk told me that since I had no experience with rats I'd be better off getting the calm one and she let me hold her. I instantly fell in love. I really had no idea what I was doing and sometimes now I look back and realize some of the things I did with my first little girl I would never do now but she was very forgiving and very tolerant. Now I don't think of rats as mini-dogs. They are similar i suppose, but also so different but somehow I ended up hooked on rats and while I still don't have a dog that is now by choice cause I'd rather have rats.

 

[RattieFosters]

I became obsessed with rats after a friend of mine who had a pair of boys went on vacation for 2 months and asked me to look after them. They were so sweet and playful that I then spent about a year watching youtube videos, reading books, and stalking forums all about rats and their care. xP

I finally contacted my local rescue and asked if they had any male rats that were already bonded. When I went to see them, my trio just fit the bill. They were older (14 months at the time), well bonded, and quite friendly.

Sebastian and Frankie were brothers from the same litter, and Tony was from a different litter, but had been introduced to them at a young age. Basically they'd been adopted as babies by a girl who really loved rats and actually knew a lot about them, but after having them for awhile, her life just started getting more and more hectic, and the rats were getting less and less out of cage time, until eventually they weren't being taken out at all. :/ The girl decided to give them back to the rescue in the hopes of them finding a better home.

Now they're completely spoiled, and get at least 1 hour of free range time every night (usually it's more like 1.5-2 hrs) xP

 

[DVirginiana]

I've been keeping exotic animals and small mammals since I was twelve, and I've had a couple mice, so when I ended up with an accidental rat it wasn't a huge deal to decide to keep her, then get her a friend that she'll be able to meet fairly soon. I'm mainly a reptile hobbyist, so between pet store visits and other hobbyists I'm around feeders fairly often. Sometimes a feeder will just figuratively fall into my lap and I'll end up keeping them. It usually ends up turning into a lifelong love of whatever animal I end up with, which is nice.
When I'm getting rodents on purpose, shelter adoption/buying from a good breeder isn't an option, I like to get feeders. I don't really care about pattern/appearance so I figure if I'm going to pay money to support more rats entering into the pet trade, I may as well pick up a rat that isn't very 'desirable' as a pet and probably wouldn't have a chance otherwise.

 

[Augustine]

I got my first ratties not long after my cousin did. I got to interact with her rat, Cleo, and fell in love.

My first two came from PetSmart, while the others were from a smaller petstore, who as it turned out, were an even worse choice than the former. My PetSmart rats were okay health wise, but the others all had myco.

Luckily for me, we have a really great rat rescue a few hours away, so any future ratties will all come from a good, reputable place.

 

[ElectricPaladin]

I was primarily a reptile dude until my wife got hit by a triple whammy of tendinitis in her wrists, a mysterious ankle injury, and a bout of depression. We wanted to get her something warm and soft to cuddle, since my lizard is lovely, but not what I'd call friendly. One of our rats has decided that I am clearly HER human, though, and she's so charming that I can't resist her!

 

[jillybean]

I started with pet mice (I can't remember what prompted that, I just wanted them for a long time so finally went for it). Well, they were quite wild and ran away often. As I was looking up ways to tame them, I kept seeing rats come up as ideal pocket pets for people who want pets you can interact with. The tail and reputation had me wary, but I decided to go for it after I gave up ever finding the runaway mice again. I posted something on Facebook expressing that I decided to give rats a try, and lo and behold, a friend of mine actually bought 2 feeder rats that the snakes were refusing to eat, so she gave them to me. I started my rattie journey that way with Les and Pepe. I don't know what happened with Pepe still, but I walked in to the room where I had their cage one day to find him dead . Les went a few months later due to an advanced URI (prior to me being a good researcher to have seen the signs before it got too late).

It's been a few years, I knew between work and taking grad classes, I wouldn't have time to devote to rats. After graduating in December, I got back into the 'I must get a rat' mindset. My brother and sister-in-law were wanting to get a pet for me for Christmas, and when they asked my mother, she told them that I've been really wanting a pet rat. So, they picked up a rat from Petco for me (they don't even like rats, so I wasn't about to fault them too much for not doing their research about rats from there, or about buying only one). I named him Jack. Jack wasn't doing well as a lone rat, so after a few days of checking Craigslist in hopes of finding a companion for him, I caved in and went back to Petco where I picked up Davey.

My boys were very timid when I first got them, but they are warming up slowly but surely. They come to the cage door anytime I stand up from my couch or come into the room b/c they're certain I have something yummy for them. They still hate being picked up and my couch is about the only place outside of their cage that they don't act terrified. But they'll get there . They're still fairly young and I haven't even had them a full month yet (though tomorrow does mark the 1 month since I got Jack).

 

[Gribouilli]

I got my babies from a great local rat breeder. I waited 2 months for her to have a litter. That was that or getting rats from Petsmart which I knew would have been a HUGE mistake. There were no rats at my local shelters around that time.

 

[Summer102]

I first started thinking about getting a pet this past October but I wasnt sure what pet I wanted. A couple of months prior to that October, I had a hamster who I got from a pet store, but he died in three weeks of a respiratory infection. I knew I definently did not want a hamster. I did some research and decided I wanted a Guinea Pig. I bought a cage and all the neccecities for a guinea pig, and I went to my local petshop to try and find a guinea pig. While I was there, I saw a cage holding several rats, and there was this one white and back female rat who stood up on top of the cages water bottle, and she stared me right in the eye. Just then an employee said to me that the store is closing in a couple of minuetes and if I was going to buy something I had to do it now. I was a little overwhelmed at the time and I left. I came back the next day and the same rat was there in the cage but she was one in the cage, I asked an employee and he said that the rest of the rats had a resperatory infection and that they should be better a week from now. I asked if I could hold the rat that was still in the cage and when I held her, she immediatly crawled up to my shoulder. I was hooked from that point on to her but I didnt want to buy her without another rat. I came back a week later and looked in the cage and there was a different group of rats there, but my rat was still there and she was sleeping on top of the water bottle with a friend. I immediatly bought her and her friend and brought her home. I named the white rat Sugar, and the black and white one, Spice.

I am not sure why Spice was still in the pet shop when almost everyone else had either gotten sick or had been bought. I was convinced that she was different from the rest and she absolutly is. Sugar and Spice are both currently healthy, happy, and extremley freindly animals.

 

[LilyLuna13]

I had always wanted a small animal as a pet (I've had tons of hamsters over the span of my life), but my Mum wouldn't let me get anymore hamsters. So, my sister brought up the idea of getting rats. My mum was tentative, but she did a TON of research, and decided that I could possibly have them. She was worried that she would end up taking care of them, even though they would be MY pets. So, eventually, I convinced her, and she said okay. We looked and cuddled with rats in different pet stores, but my Mum was never happy with them. We once almost got two adultish rats bc my mum didn't want me to be alone on a tuesday that I didn't have school and she and work, but we didn't end up getting them. I then went to a Petsmart with my Mum and my sister on Sunday, August 31 at about 4:00. I played with the two rats there, and eventually my Mum said that we could get them. I started crying with happiness, and we left with them. In the car, we thought about names. I had left my notebook with possible names at home, but brought up some names I remembered. Eventually, we settles on Lily and Luna (Lily Scarlet Evans Ferguson and Luna Violet Lovegood Ferguson). Although, I came up with the middle names on my own . When we got home, I called my dad and told him that we decided on rats. He left his house and arrived 30 minutes later (my parents are divorced). He arrived at 5:30ish, and I showed him Lily and Luna. We had a big Martin's Cages cage, and they loved it. I remember, I had the first day of school the next day, and I couldn't sleep at all that night. I ended up sleeping on the couch, and I was worried that the Lils and Lu were part of the reason I couldn't sleep. Luckily, they weren't, and the first day of school, I boasted about my rats to everyone.