Oh! I do wanna mention real quick that my experience with vet bills comes from the United States. So if you live in another country it’s likely that your experience will be different (and hopefully cheaper) than mine!
A less common con is if your pet rat shows an aptitude for cooking you have to put your life on hold for them to use you as a large puppet to live out their dreams
You will, however, probably get a well-paying job at said rat's dream restaurant. Until the rat's pack shut the restaurant down for just trying to help out, because the health inspector is a little b!tch (i hate these stupid comment guidelines)
As a snake owner, I apologize on behalf of all the other snake owners who seem to never miss a chance to remind everyone their snake eats all sorts of cute and cuddly friends rather then uniting with the rat pack against every old fuddy duddy normie who goes "eeeewwwwwwwwww" at the sight of anything that isn't a cat or dog.
I just remind those kind of snake owners, that snakes also eat humans, and also kill humans just cos they can. Or i'll tell them my furry pet is a mongoose, feel free to bring your slinky over to meet him. ;)
@@owieprone Yeah… no… anyway, nobody who owns a snake and actually cares about animals would be commenting about their snake eating a rat. I personally own a snake and would never comment something that horrible. If you’d like me to explain why you’re so incorrect btw, feel free to ask
Sometimes I wish snakes were vegetarians so I could own a pet rat and a snake or ferret and it wouldn't endanger my pets. But then again having pets in the first place endangers the pet. Existence is danger. Be safe. Don't exist. (Wait that comes off wrong- continue existing please)
As someone who loves both rats and snakes I will be your ally because I'm not allowed to have them but I support people who do as long as they take care of them
It makes me angry and baffled to see comments like, "my snake would like to meet them." As a snake owner, I get told so much that the only good snake are "dead ones" or "a pair of boots." I liken it to wishing death on them, which no pet owner deserves to hear. Why would someone try to bully others for the type of animal they like to care for? Especially when I know they are getting bullied for their own choice of animal. Rats make great pets! I've never and probably won't get any (allergies with most things with fur) but I still like them quite a bit. I love their sweet faces and how affectionate/loving they are. They deserve to live happy and healthy lives like any other critter.
It's so wild. I say this as someone who keeps a snake and guinea pigs. I love all my pets, but I don't let them play together if they wouldn't all be safe...
No joke, i had a friend who named his rat Plague and he was the most adorable thing ever. Plague would be running back and forth getting exercise and would eventually fall asleep on his head. And because i know people will ask, no he wasn't a black rat he was a white and brown rat
She has had enough of those "Pestilence, Snakes, Exterminator, and Mouse trap" comments and has chosen violence, nice job channel narrator whatever your name is
@@friendlyratforecast Hell yeah. I got out of a abusive home life with my mom because she threatened my chaos potatoes, and swore at someone for the first time in my life, and that was only the first time someone threatened them. Dunno how I'd respond to some rando online saying it.
@@friendlyratforecast Here's a fun fact. The black death was ACTUALLY spread by other people, not, I repeat. NOT rats. The fleas and ticks people carried went from person to person, spreading the black death around. TLDR: The black death was spread by other people, and the rats were framed for it.
The vet costs are no joke. Because they're considered "exotic" pets, vets charge so much more. One of my girls had multiple tumors removed over the course of her lifetime, and each time was around $1,000. They're worth it though ♥️
i’ve read how easy it is to perform surgery on rats, and you’d think it would lower the cost, but not for these greedy fucks apparently. I cant afford to get my rats’ tumor removed, luckily it’s small and doesn’t impact her. My other rat however…..her tumor is beyond surgery. She’s old and not a candidate for surgery anyway. At the moment i’m just giving her pain meds and antibiotics to try and keep her comfortable.
@@scorchclasstitan6727 Rats are very close to humans in genetics, so like us, it can be because of genealogy that they get ill more often than not. It also usually happens near the end of their life like with us
@@scorchclasstitan6727 It's mostly female rats, I haven't seen very much in the way of male rats. I have heard that spaying your rats can reduce the chance of tumors in the long-run, but I could very well be incorrect; I've only had male rats myself
The price went way up! a dozen years ago we paid about $200 to have a tumor removed from our favorite rat of all time. It bought her six more months of life. But we were heartbroken all the same.
I hate it when other snake owners rag on rats. They're cute and adorable, I may own some someday, if I can get over how weird it will be to own both rats and snakes. The pet rats at the pet store always look so happy and friendly, and I always feel sooooo terrible because the food freezer is right across from them. I remember the first time I went, I stopped to look and talk to the pets, and the owner was terrified I was there for a live meal. Everyone was relieved that I said no, it was soooo awkward. They love their rats there, I had to bag my own from the freezer BC the one employee there just couldn't. Didn't mind doing the work, since they source their snake food from reputable sources that keep their rats well and they're humanely euthanized. The way I look at it, both rats and snakes are horribly misunderstood and we need to treat both with respect. Like, if you had pet cows or chickens, most people wouldn't be harrassing you with stupid comments like that.
Exactly! I think rats and snakes and mice n stuff like that should be treated kind of how most farms are treated. Aka, we love this creature, we/the animal needs to eat, so we're gonna feed the animal/ourselves cause we kinda.. have to. That doesn't mean you can't love a cow, pig, mouse, rat, sheep etc as long as it's there with you.
Agreed! Personally, I wouldn't own a snake but I do think snakes are cool. I just hate how so many in that community have to be so mean to rat owners. It's not like we don't understand rats are prey animals and get eaten, we just want to be treated respectfully. And stop live-feeding snakes, it's only for the owner's gleeful enjoyment, not for the snake's benefit. Rats can and have killed snakes to defend themselves. Any reputable snake breeder will get their snakes on frozen/thawed before selling them because that's the responsible thing to do. And I'm a rat owner who knows this. No excuse for people who want to own snakes.
@@krystenbishop1139 Hey, I totally get why you wouldn't want one, especially if you owned rats first. Though, if you one day change your mind, there are snakes out there that can't and don't eat rats or mice, like egg eaters. I rescued a spider ball python, so she unfortunately needs to eat rats, but she thankfully only eats frozen-thawed. Despite the old owner telling us she only ate live. And yeah, she is missing the end of her tail and had scarring up her lower spine. Poor gal is stunted, she was around 3 1/2 feet despite being 10 when we got her, and she had a serious wobble. She's about 5 foot now and hasn't refused a single meal, be it her usual, a f/t mouse my much smaller snake refuses, or a little bird egg. No idea how she wasn't killed, this is a snake who will strike straight up when her food is on the ground right infront of her, and who sometimes forgets where up is. It's a genetic issue linked with the spider (and other) fancy genes. No cure, no way to breed it out, it can worsen or get better at random, but it's a permanent disability that can cause the animal so much harm they require euthanasia. It gets worse when the snake is excited or scared. My other snake is a hognose, who I did buy from a very good breeder. She's never ate anything live, other than some eggs from my parrots that were potentially fertilized, but not far along enough in incubation to have anything but a clump of cells inside.
I had 2 pet rats so far - sadly, they don't live more than around 3 years - sniffle... They were AWESOME - they'd sit with me and watch TV, I gave them little games and puzzles that they loved, and they were always so affectionate - they knew for sure who I was. This animal is HIGHLY underrated as a pet - BTW, they clean themselves constantly!
I love my rats but a con you didn’t mention is that they pee in small amounts almost everywhere outside of their cage, especially when exploring new places.
Also inside their cage as well. Your entire setup will smell like urine unless relentlessly cleaned every couple days. Am also very surprised this was not mentioned.
My cat vomits if he doesn't get enough cat grass, also he's a ragdoll so leaves a trail of poop for me to find a couple of times a month cos it gets stuck on his fur, he does try to tell me but his 'poop emergency' yowl is the same as 'i've done a poop clean my tray' yowl. And tbf i've know humans with less ability to not shit the bed or pee in closets, and vomit somewhere uncleanable.
I love rats. They were the most affectionate pets I had ever own in my life. I started off with 4 boys, laziness potatoes ever but so sweet. Then I ended up with 5 girls after that, they were crazy smart and great cuddlers. Unfortunately, wild rats were discovered in my apartment and they gave my girls a very progressive and contagious illness. They didn’t make to their first bday because of it and since the landlord isn’t dealing with the problem properly it wasn’t fair to take in more domestic rats. If I lived somewhere’s better I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again. And vet bills aren’t cheap and you really need to shop around and basically interview a vet before taking your rats to them too.
I hope the new landlord went to solve the issue at least, in most places (at least in the US) wild rats in the building are a major health hazard and have to be removed
Before seeing your channel I never thought rats could be pets, but I also always thought how it was a shame that wild rats carried so many diseases because I always thought that they are adorable and that I wanted one, finding out that pet rats are a thing through you made me really happy and I will get my own chaos potatoes one day
Honestly this, it's a massive shame because whenever I see a wild rat chilling it always reminds me of domestic rats. They're still super intelligent weird social potatoes, they're just living off actually garbage.
@@EvelynTheVoidDrifter awh.. I came across a book about pet rats at the library bus that came by our school once a week. After that I became obsessed with rats.
Yes, they will chew off your wallpaper and make you spend a fortune on the vet (and cute cage accessories). But I think the only real downside about rats is that you'll absolutely fall in love with them, so losing them after just a few years will break your heart over and over again.
Highly recommend looking at pet insurance in the US. I've never had any issues with Nationwide so far, and I've at least broken even on costs. For about ~$350 per rat per year, $100 deductible, they cover 90% of all vet bills, including wellness checks, spays and neuters.
They're awesome. I've had several throughout the years, and they've always been fun pets. From little Jinx basically getting me through high school, to my little Leia making my transition to a new city more fun. They're great, and quickly become attached to your hip. Awesome Narrator isn't wrong though, the illnesses they can come down with vary, and it's always sad to see them go. But it's a blast while they're around! Do it. Get two and name them Chips and Salsa because fuck normal naming conventions.
I had a landlord who would not allow a cat or dog so I got a rat. I never realized just how attached I would get and when he passed from pneumonia at 3 I was devastated. He never bit me and was so affectionate. He was so clean and had a spot in his cage he specifically used to go to the bathroom. The short lifespan was the biggest downfall. They are incredible pets!
The steel knife teeth is legit. The cute rat I was holding one day got spooked by the door busting open behind me. She bit clean through the skin of my finger and I didn't really feel it. I only saw the blood and was very calm because I knew the rat didn't mean it . The owner was more panicked than me. I was fine and it healed really well. I just hope the rat wasn't punished because of me.
My little chaos potato was an unintended adoption (foster initially from about 5 days old but had some wierd, neurological spasms which persisted into adulthood - his mom left him possibly due to this). He seems to be a roof rat, but is such an intelligent little bundle of energy. Even at 3 he's going strong! What surprised me most was just how aware he is (totally intelligent and completely aware of emotions/if something is out of the norm - if I knick myself while cooking he totally cleans the wound and grooms me lmao). He loves jaw massages, snuggling, and saying hello to people for bananas or oats x3. Love your channel and how you are destigmatizing and educating about these these sweet, caring 🥔🥔🥔c: keep up the awesome work!
Yeah, about the vet bill thing... Just talking about my CURRENT mischief: 1) Forever sneezy since he was about 8 months old. He's now coming up on two years old. He's been on Clavamox since December (which is $60 a pop and doesn't last long). He's been on Ventolin puffers. Still sneezing. Oh, then a few weeks ago, he injured his eye and it ballooned up so he got X-rays, more clavamox, eye lube, tobramycin, and a special glaucoma eye drop I had to get from a human pharmacy, which my pharmacy didn't have so I had to go to another pharmacy. Oh, then he wouldn't let the eye lube get into his enlarged eye so I had to go back and get a slightly thinner eye lube. He cost me probably over a grand by now. 2) One lost ball privileges because he bit my old rat so bad he needed stitches. Then he got a lump that blew up and went black and had to be surgically removed. Thankfully not cancerous. He cost me probably $600CAD between the two surgeries. 3) I have two naked rats who like to get dust and stuff in their eyes. Also, cuts, ALL THE TIME. One required stitches because of the aforementioned ball privilege loser. And that was after he lost his balls. And one got a massive abscess overnight on his head that we thought was a tumour because it turned black after the vet biopsied it so I had to do warm compresses on him which he did not like at all. That cost me a few hundred dollars. So yeah, rats. Expensive until the day they die. And I don't even have pet store or feeder bin quality rats, but higher-end breeder rats. For such a small and comparatively inexpensive animal, they will get you on the vet bills. But, I love my boys anyways. They bring me such joy and I play with them after work because I work an emotionally draining job and they make me so happy. I love them to bits and wouldn't exchange them for anything in the world. I love my babies. P.S. My dog still wins for single most expensive vet visit. She swallowed a bone that got stuck in her esophagus and had to go to a specialty hospital to get it removed. That cost my husband $2500CAD 🙃
I think the best advice I have ever received in my life before I ever adopted my first cat, "Unless you are willing to pay at least $2000 a year on medical bills alone, then pet ownership isn't for you." When I found out my older kitty was diagnosed with stage 2 feline kidney disease, I spent over 3000$ on every specialty food, supplement, water treaters/fountains in one shot. His kidneys are much better and I would give them the world if they needed it. They eat better than I do, but I cant help it if I'm addicted to spaghettios.
I loved my little ratties so much when I had them! My biggest downside of being a rat daddy was their short lifespan. They're called "rats" for a reason: they make you love them, and then they leave you. 💔
It's really sad that they only live 2-3 years on average. I lost my coco 12 days ago at 2 and a half years old, she took her last breaths in my hands. I don't think I'll ever get over it, she's helped me so much and left such an impact on me. Some rats seem to "age faster" than others. Sapphire is 3, and lucky is also 2 and a half and they have been very energetic and healthy, even now. One of my rats, Plue, who is 1, had to have a surgery in June to remove an abscess, and keeps getting infections. It was a little over 500 dollars. So some rats may never get sick, and some may have health issues frequently. Another negative is: If you get this one species of mites from a bad batch of bedding, not only will they bother your rats they'll bite YOU, and you'll itch really bad, even days after getting bit. Currently having to deal with them because of Kaytee bedding. Coconut oil is what I am trying right now.
Gotta say ,I work at an SPCA, and whenever we are blessed with rats I give them 90% of my attention. We once had a troop of three furry bandits and decided we should let them out of their cage. I felt like a busy mom looking after toddlers. One was on my lap (being the best girl) the other was climbing up my arm and the other got ON TOP OF THE CAGE. Needless to say, I kept them out for roughly 20-30 ish minutes just letting them climb on me. One of them even made a game where I would pick her up and place her on the top floor of their cage, where she would then race down their little rat stairs to my hand at the bottom floor, and come right back on, then wait for the elevator that was my hand to take her to the top floor. Repeat until one of the other toddlers escapes again and I have to give *them* my attention. I love fluffy-faced snakes (get it? Because their tails are long an neked like a snake and the rest of them is just fuzz? :D?)
I rehomed a wee boy, from someone who said he was a biter and if I didn’t take him, he was going to shoot him! Needless to say, it was a swift YOINK!!! He a chocolate point sweetheart, my Draxxybaby and I made him roast dinners and we played and snuggled. He only bit me once, he was coming to the end of his too short a life and wasn’t feeling well, respiratory infection, vet reckoned he may have been older than two and a half years and that’s he didn’t respond to treatment. I miss him and his funny little R-attitude.
This doesn't deter me at all for the possibility of owning rats. I'm well aware of what rodent teeth can do and all the behaviors you described are essentially the same as ferrets. Ferrets need lots of attention. Ferrets need to run around and explore. Ferrets are clingy. Ferrets are susceptible to cancer and other illnesses. When I do get rats, I shall be well prepared to care for them. I have experience in caring for rodents of all kinds.
I love ferrets and rats, but I feel like I wouldn’t really like to own them because of something she didn’t mention in this video; poop and smells. Don’t rats poop a lot? Also, smell - not sure about rats but I’ve heard ferrets can be quite smelly. How do you manage or put up with the smell of ferrets?
I appreciate you talking about the work and time you have to put into caring for rats. I had a pet rat years and years ago, and when I got pregnant, I realized I was not going to be able to give her the attention she needed, so she was rehomed with a dear friend. I haven't gotten more rats since then, primarily because having to work and care for kids, I simply can't give them what they need. Someday, though, I will definitely have them again. Also, yes I know now that rats do best if they have another rat for company, this was almost 20 years ago and all I knew was they were super social. Since all I had was collage classes, I was able to spend a TON of time with her, and she seemed genuinely happy and lived almost 4 years between me and my friend.
As someone who recently got a baby rat (I researched beforehand, don’t worry) one of the FIRST things I did was get her own chew toys because I knew how much rats chew on things
You mentioned the short lifespan and honestly I think that's the biggest downside. My heart is still broken after losing my 17-year-old cat a couple years ago. I don't think I could handle that happening four or five times as often.
I don't mean to plague you with bad jokes, but I just found your channel thanks to this video! Had a friend who's rat and snake were besties. No one knows how or why. The two would regularly escape into each others enclosures and snuggle up. The rat also liked the dog and enjoyed watching the fish tank.
Another advice I might wanna add based on my former roommate owning a rat is that they will be active at night so in case you’re not used to hearing noises or just need pure silence to sleep a rat will also be playing around in their cage at night (of course this is just based on my roommate’s rats idk if owners had rats that would sleep all night)
Adding to this: If a rat is used to being given food through their cage, they will think your finger is food. And I can confirm what getting bitten is like. It was my own stupid fault and I should have known better.
On behalf of all reptile weirdos, I will make this point: there are snakes out there big enough to eat cats and dogs, but I don't see anyone going on to dog and cat videos going "ha ha my burm could go for a snack" or "my green anaconda says Fido looks yummy". Or hell, for an even more absurd one, nobody goes onto human-featuring entertainment formats advertising that their reticulated python's ready for dinner. Consider why it is you're singling out the rat/rodent people, then stop it, its not cool.
AWE! 🎩 Dapper potato 🥰. I took care of my parents Kitten and he has many of the same incredible skills, looked away for 1 darn minute he had torn through the mesh on the kitten playpen,😤 and used his mystical skills to hide so well it took hours of frantic panic to find the furry little bastard 😂. Tricked him with a cat soundboard, he was in the little corner gap behind my corner desk, just heard muffled kitten meows 😂
Keep in mind that rats are likely to get sick when they are old, not all the time, and prices vary siginificantly depending on how fast you notice something is wrong, where you live and how competent is your vet. I had a female rat - Daisy who happened to get tumor on her neck, I got to vet quickly and paid equivalent of 30 bucks for operation, then I believe it was either 10 or 30 for medicine. It was the only time in her life that I had to pay for healthcare not new toys. It's also worth noting that rats and rodents in general are cheapest pets you can own thanks to their cheap and durable enclosure and ability to eat MOSTLY everything.
My 7th grade science teacher had two pet rats. I loved playing with them after school. While I would love to own a rat, I am a cat person through and true. Cats and rats don't mix! Thank goodness for the internet, allowing me to watch cute videos of other people's rats
I was honestly thinking of becoming a rat parent but watching care videos for them made me realize I just physically and emotionally can’t. They require a lot of work that I’m not well enough to do and since they only live such short lives I’d be constantly heartbroken by losing them. Hell I’m still not over losing my first cat and he died six years ago 😞
They're such lovable creatures....I've actually had hundreds over the years. But, no matter how many you bring into your life, it still breaks your heart when you lose one. It's not fair that they have such short lifespans and are also susceptible to so many ailments. 💔
I'm so grateful for your videos & the ferret ones I watch, as you're right in that having either myself isn't possible but I love seeing them. So thank you 🥰
Yes! Thank you for talking about this. Unfortunately my two girls both have issues (Cookie has a pretty much permanent lung infection due to her severely runny nose and Cream gets weird pimply things in her neck) and they’ve both been to the vet at least twice. That adds up!
i got rats because of your videos but i always wanted a small pet anyway, ive had them for about 2 months now im part of a few forums about rat care and i learn new stuff every day my rats are the cuddliest rats in the world probably even more cuddly than yours it’s the truth, right now they’re snuggling next to me on the bed
If you have an entirely separate space you might still be able to get away with it. I was forced to dogsit my parents' dog a bunch of times and the dog, renowned rodent hater, who would instantly go savage any garden lizards, got over it and had near zero interest within a couple visits. The rats also stopped caring and even kept trying to go out and say hi when Molly was in their space 😅 It would have been better without Molly visiting, but it ended up fine.
your videos don’t make me want to have pet rats, due to knowing well I wouldn’t be able to take care of them- but they do make me wanna do research on the little chaos potatoes, and I’m really glad I found your channel so i can giggle at your rat shenanigans
I’ve had nine rats (3 pairs and a trio) over the past 19 years. They are incredible pets, but heed this videos warnings carefully. The vet bills are no joke. (Totally worth it, but your chaos potatoes depend on you so make sure you can actually afford their medical treatment).
Out of curiosity, about the constantly growing teeth, Would it be a good idea for a chaos potatoe owner to file they're teeth down manually (assuming using a special or super tiny nail file) to help with them nomming and biting everything?
Personally I wouldn’t recommend doing it yourself. As long as you give them plenty to chew on, 99% of the time they file them down just fine on their own. Some exotic vets will clip their teeth though if there’s a need to.
Your videos have indeed brought me happiness. It's helped with the passing of my boys and since I can't adopt rats again for the foreseeable future, videos like yours make it a lot easier.
Thank you for posting this💛. People need to understand that taking on a pet is a big responsibility. They're not just "things" to be discarded once you're bored or annoyed.
Thank you so much for making these videos!! Because of your channel, I will be bringing home two chaos potatoes in October! Your the best (so are Cape, Cin, and Cyclone) and please keep making these videos!
I love your honesty about your chaos taters. I've kept them and mice and boy they are something! I love them so much. Thank you for sharing yours with us. :)
One of my little rat babies cost me close to $2000 in vet bills to get tumors taken out, and cancer treatments. He eventually passed away, which absolutely crushed me and totally broke my heart. I miss him every day. Rats may not live long, but they love harder than anything. Not to mention that "mischief" is the perfect word for a group of rats.
Thank you for your rat videos, they bring me a great amount of joy and make my day quite a bit brighter. I'm very glad someone is showing the positive side of rats since they are so demonized by media. Please keep up the good work and keep showing us cute videos!
The original duo will always be missed! May Cin and Cape rest in peace... Ive been watching ur content for about 1 or 2 years now, when i realized they died it broke my heart☹️
I can’t imagine anyone more clingy than my dog who won’t sit on my lap but cries if anyone else s sitting closer to me than him. But I do love your rattles and all the silly comments you acted it to them. I adore the ‘we’re the rats song’ thank you and keep posting.
