I've had four pet rats in total, and I loved them very much, I wouldn't exchange them for any other animal. However I agree with everything said in this video, they're extremely prone to cancer and other disease, you always need to keep in mind that they don't live long and they're rather destructive. They're extremely cute and playful, love interacting with anything new and I just adore them though!! I definitely want to have them again if the circumstances allow. Good video, I'm happy you mentioned them
@@HenryLeslieGraham as far as I know, current domestic rats come from lab rats that went through a lot of inbreeding and such, making them suspectible to different diseases.
@@bambootriangle yes this is what I have heard too. pet rats are just more colourful versions of lab rats (probably invented by a lab rat breeder to make more money)
I have had a few rats, they are great. Yes, they don't live long but they make up for it. And yes, one of them ate all cables in the room and the other one was a gardener to all my plants and all my bed sheets and pillows had wholes but ... I loved them.
My last Guinea pig of 3 just passed away last month. I had him for only 4 years, he had a tumor by his heart that they couldn’t do surgery on. My two girls who passed the year before him I had for almost 8 years. Finding them a vet was horrible. I drove an hour and a half one way for their vet because no one around me knows Guinea pigs.
I once saw a chameleon in a friend's back yard! It was so pretty. This was an area where chameleons live in the wild, it wasn't a "freed pet" chameleon. Personally, I'm against any type of "parrot" bird because there is a lot of bird trafficking and jungle destruction involved in the "parrot" business. I've seen them in the jungle when I traveled and it's just sad that so many are taken from the jungle and taken to the US to sell. Then, they end up with irresponsible owners who don't understand the effort it takes to have a bird like this for decades.
My daughter had a chinchilla that we both adored, but who suddenly died after we had adopted him about 6 months before without us knowing why. We had adopted him from a pet store and he was supposedly 7 years old, but even the vet was unable to confirm his age.
You did a great job with this video! I wholeheartedly agree with every one of these choices. I had rats. They're sweet. They just don't live. Also, I had a friend who was devastated when her Burmese python grew so large after five years that she couldn't afford an enclosure for it and the food bills were astronomical. Then she couldn't afford the daycare bill and the cost of feeding a 14 foot python that she raised practically from the day he hatched. I thought I wanted one until I saw the reality of keeping it. Another pet I like (but don't want) is a caiman. Again, where am I going to build that enclosure? How is a pond going to function in my living room? I have a friend who has one. It has a neat personality. But that's a big pet.
Monkeys also get sick from us much more easily, and have a lot of diseases that they can give to us in reverse. As a new exotics vet myself so many clients want one, or a chameleon or macaw, and are very shocked to hear the reality.
Agree completely about chameleons. That $50 lizard will be needing well over $500 in supplies to be cared for properly. Do it right or don’t do it at all!
Rats are great first pets for kids (who are old enough to be responsible), simply due to the fact that you're not saddled with a 10+ year responsibility.
I agree entirely with the pet rats. I have 6 rats of my own currently and in total I have had 8 rats + fostered many others (pretty sure in total 11 Fosters) All of these rats I’ve had within the past two years. I can definitely say as sweet and bonding as they are they can definitely be quite expensive with medical costs. Rats must see special exotic/small animal vets and often these vets aren’t as common. For perspective the closest vet for them near me is almost an hour away and other practices are 2-3 hours or more. Out of the two rats that I had that passed away, both passed from medical conditions. One had a cancer mass with an abscess on top and was taken to surgery but with how small he was passed unfortunately after surgery. The other passed due to an unknown medical cause that couldn’t be diagnosed or cured. Both were under 1 year old. Also I can definitely agree with the respiratory diseases. Rats with respiratory issues are very common and unfortunately even if one rat has this type of issue it is very contagious and almost always will spread to any other rats that are in contact with that one. Unfortunately most respiratory cases can’t be cured either. Some can be managed to make symptoms minimal but others it’s practically impossible to control. Often respiratory diseases aren’t always found in time either. Out of the 6 rats I currently have 4 of them have some respiratory issue due to how contagious it truly is and the fact at some point they had contact. Thankfully as long as your rat still is active and stays healthy otherwise they often can still live to be happy pets. My other two rats and all the fosters I have had were never in contact with the four and through constant precautions never caught anything. Also rats are always meant to be in pairs or groups at all times due to them being very social. It’s very very very rare to have a rat that is happy and healthy independently. Overall despite all of these common issues and their life being only around 2-4 years I would still say they are amazing and loveable animals and pets! I have never once regretted having any of them and I love all my fur babies so much!
I’ve had 13 rats so far in total and I fully agree. When people I know show interest in getting rats of their own I really try to make sure they’re aware of the inevitable cycle they’ll experience, and that they’ll fall in love with something that doesn’t live for very long. Funny enough my vet says the same thing. She loves seeing everyone’s rats but doesn’t want any for that exact reason.
A cockatoo is as much work if not more than a macaw. African Grays don’t make good pets either, same reason. Your list is spot on. I’d add venomous reptiles and crocodilians.
Oh thank you very much for sharing this information Do you have a question could you do a short RU-vid video on salivary glands and also the salivary gland being injured and reasons why and can they live a life without surgery thank you again
@@bbmw9029 I wonder if people will get that you're not trying to be a party pooper but thinking of the implications of long lived rats in the wild on the environment, nevermind if they are dumped near a community.
I'm pretty sure I just heard of a major research project to breed/gene-edit long-lived rats. the point is of course to research anti-aging methods to eventully adapt to humans, but the byproduct if it works is going to be long-lived rats probably becoming available as pets (unless they want to keep their genes secret or ban their breeding via patent).
and I have seen the claim that there already have been for a long time rat lineages bred well enough specifically as pets (as opposed to feeders and lab animals) to have a life expectancy around 4-7 years, rather than the commonly expected 2-3.
Macaws, but really ALL parots, Need to live in pairs or groups or have a lot of contact with their human(s). Also these Birds can get OLD and can be very particular in who they do or do not like. We had Ricky a darling African grey. Cute, cudly , smart, very chatty and playful... But the ONLY woman he or she liked was one of my sisters. ALL other women it disliked and were met with downright agression he was adorable with boys and men one would think it was the sweetest bird alive but any lady besides that one sister it seemed to hate with evil intensity.... Whenever folks tell me they want a parot i warn them you are spending the rest of your life with a 4 year old wich might be VERY particular about who it does or does not like.... we never figured out why the cute sweetheart bird my father and i could do basicly anything with him and was friendly to every male human just went devil mode if any female came near it.
dont get a macaw because you want an animal that doesn't require attention? then don't get any animal. if you treat animals like children. then don't be backward and think that you can morally get away with thinking the animal you get should fit your lifestyle. get an animal - care for it. don't get an animal that you are able to care for. because the same rule applies to spouses and children.
Why is has the word "love" replaced any other word that resembles "like" ? ... it's destroying the meaning of the word ... and you wonder why new couples do not use the "L-word" ? ... yeah stop raping our language doctor, thanks.
