I've been trying to decide what pets to get once I have my own home. I've really considered rats, but I'm not sure they'll fill the same emotional place as a dog and/or cat would.
You’ll be surprised obviously a dog and cat is better but a rat is also good option too and there more affordable and easy to take care of there really intelligent and highly social and have a strong bond with there owner, Every time I see my rat Julie I smile she makes me happy and I do feel better when she’s around she cuddles with me licks me and gives me a lot of love I take her with me places I go, and they can be emotional support animals, just consider them 🙃
I’ve been wanting rats so badly for a while now, but my parents are convinced that rats carry diseases and that they are gross ☹️ I wish there was a way I could change their mind (I can’t show them these vids, stuff like this won’t work, I’ve tried) Ps: cyclone is sooo cute!! Will you be adding her name into the channel name?
protip: lick a cheerio and let them take it from your hand. ratties share food. and IF a rat lets another rat take food from their mouth its a huge bonding experience so a little spittle on cheerio in your hand means 'i trust you enough to feed you. i will always have food to share' good way to make friends! they will even expect a little pet because ratties groom each other after sharing food so if you are speaking rat you HAVE to rubble em just a little bit to seal the meal!
Mine are adult lab rats I rescued in a panic from our lab (I'm a biology student) and I fear I did everything wrong with them since then... I had to grab them against their will to get them from the university to my house, then I again several times to transfer them from space to space because they didn't have a cage yet, and then one more time I had to run after them because they escaped the new cage. They must hate my guts
Oh my god that looks so much like my dwarf rat nihm ❤ aww so cute. There was only one rat that i didn’t do this with but that because she got out and came to me right away and passed out(fell asleep) in my hands 😂 her name was flicker and she was my nearly 5 year old rat by the time she passed she used to snuggle me any chance she got too
This when cyclone became one with the rats lmao cin is like oooo a newbie heheeh maybe I can make her my sneaky minion to able get me things muwahahaha
Ok so I have two rescues. One is more friendly and fond of me (Aiza) super chunky. The other is really shy only will take food from me. I adopted them last Saturday. They are still adjusting to life post SPCA. I want to let them free roam in my bathroom primarily. I have two small dogs and I don’t want them to become chew toys. Should I wait until I have more of a bond with them?
Question! So we got a new addition to our rat family “Astraoth” we gave him some space from our other 2 boys at first and then after about a week him and the other boys just clicked and everything was good until about 2 weeks ago and now astraoth is constantly fighting with the biggest boy we have and blood is involved (very scary) it seems like a dominant thing but idk.. hoping for some advice, he’s a cute little red eyed white rat that I would hate to get rid of due to them being compatible
can you tell us about the expenses of rats? I would love to have information and saving for when it's needed to care for them please? you are the only CC that I know who reads lots of comments and answers some of them
Can I answer… well I’m doing it ,I have a rat and I was surprised of how much rats cost first the rat itself is $15 If you’re getting it from a pet store they used to $6 but since Covid that changed also there food is about $7 you can also give them some food you eat as well like fruits and vegetables, a cage cost $76 if you want to get a good one but a really good one in sometimes $100.
How do you clean the cage with a new rat that you don’t want to spook? In a situation when she still doesn’t trust you and won’t let you pick her up but it’s been a week or more and the small cage really needs cleaning.
We got our first pet rats at the weekend so 3 days ago now, I've already been bit pretty nastily (my own fault it was 24 hours after getting them and I tried to pick him up) the last few days when there awake I'll sit Infront of the cage and talk to them, offer treats through the bars. Yesterday I opened the cage door and let them come out a little, no pressure, no fast movements etc. one boy did so well. Kept coming back and fourth to say hi but still reserved. The other one Billy, the one who bit me just comes over, bites me and then runs away, he literally comes to me ready to bite and I'm starting to get scared of him. Any tips on helping us to feel comfortable with eachother? We have children and I'm obviously not letting them near them at the moment and making sure there coming to say hello but not been too noisy and jumpy in front of there cage.
Hey, can you just make a video that just explains EVERYTHING you should know if you're gonna get a pet rat? I kinda wanna get a couple sometime so that would be really useful :)
I had a male rat earlier and he was quite easy to tame... I bought a new female rat and she is hyper active and always tries to bite my hand.... It is hard for me to build a bond with her what should I do ???
Rats can vary a lot in how friendly and sociable they are. I've even had some rats that were just totally friendly and intrested in humans immediately and wanted to climb onto hands as soon as they got home. It's intresting how variable this can be. On that note, as general advice for people looking to get rats, if you can get rats from an actual breeder (as in, a pet breeder, not someone who breeds them as food or something), these rats tend to be a lot friendlier and more social to begin with, since they're used to good handling and a friendly, trustworthy human. They might cost a bit more, but it's in my experience always worth it to get them from a breeder, rather than a pet store, if possible.
My experience was always that ones from a good breeder were much quicker to bond with me but in the long term store bought rats got every bit as attached. Health wise is a different story. Always do your research and go for a good breeder.
@@Altitudes Yeah, definitely. I was mostly giving advice for an easy start for people new to keeping rats. In the long term, rats from a pet store can be just as wonderful and friendly (and honestly, not even that long, they learn to trust a trustworthy owner quickly!) You're right about the health issues. I've had a lot of rats, both from pet stores and from breeders, and the ones from pet stores tend to live shorter lives (possibly due to inbreeding, bad care as babies, or whatever), and may have issues when they come in.
This is less about general, newcomer advice and is more directed at people that have already had rats and focus on sociability. I don't shy away and get the ones that have been abused, because someone has to socialize them. Beginner? Fine, you need to start easy. But after that, getting only the most sociable rats ignores all the rescue rats that are tired of being rehomed and being uncomfortable in their own skin from isolation. One of the sweetest rats that I ever had was the most aggressive I have ever seen. He was surrendered after a pet store sold him but obviously not to a prepared soul. It took months, but my wife and I turned it around for him. He had a good life after the point most people did not expect much from him. I guess this post is for people that will maybe look at rat adoption a bit differently after reading this. This path isn't for everyone, but maybe another rat like my Carl can have a happy ending too.
@@IceHibiscus but I personally wouldn't purchase a rat from a pet store, just like I wouldn't purchase a dog from a pet store or breeder. It's unfortunate for the pets that will go without homes, but it will save many more in the long run if we stop giving money to businesses that are breeding animals for profit without caring about the animals' needs. If there's no demand, they'll have to lessen the supply, and eventually stop or change their practices completely. I definitely think that rescuing pets is a good thing, but I don't think that encouraging people to give money to the folks who hurt these animals to begin with is a good idea.
They don't cost "a bit" more. They cost 7-10x more now. Breeders have like doubled and tripled their prices in the past ~3 years where I live. It sucks.
Just saying, thank you for properly quarantining the baby and keeping her out of sight. A lot of people just chuck the 2 cages next to eachother and that's so stressful :'( She is adorable and I can't wait to see more of her. Rescue rats are awesome.
Oh Cyclone. You and your older sisters were how I was introduced to this channel. You might be gone now, but we shall never forget you. Rest now, brave potato. Rest in peace 🕯️❤️
Also cyclone's fur looks like when I'm baking an carrot cake an the pattern changes as you ad milk to it. I can't explain it very well but it brings me fond memories. She's so cute!! Wish all the best for you and your rats!!!
Cyclone is so cute! Can't wait to see what mischief she'll get into with the other chaos potatoes! When I got my current rats Iris and Meisha, Iris had champagne Siamese points and a champagne cap on her head with a little white mark in the middle of it like Cyclone's. Since then, the cap turned white, her points became brown-gray, and there's a bit of a gradient between the brown-gray and white from the base of her tail to the middle of her back.
I remember when she was just introduced, I miss her so much. Hope your doing alright. You truly give all your ratties the best lives and your a great owner. Cyclone lived a very good life. She will be missed. ❤
aww she's adorable. i have no plans on getting rats but thank you for deciding to document this journey bec it's interesting and def good education for new rat owners
Do you have any tips or reassurance on how to get over the fear of them biting you?I know it’s quite out of character for them to bite unless they’re agitated or in pain but I’m always nervous that when I put my hand out they’ll bite me 😓
I will help I was and still kinda am afraid of this but you have to think of the worst thing can happen and most likely that’s unrealistic, and they will nibble on you if they are agitated but it doesn’t hurt as much as you think it does and it won’t hurt it feels like a pinch and if there doing this it’s a good sign this mean they care about you and don’t want hurt you, if they draw blood 🩸 while biting you then they wanted to hurt you, and remember the rat is more scared of you then your scared of them so be patient.
