Pet Rats: Yay or Nay?
- Thread starter longdog
- Start date
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Would you get someone to look after them while you're away or would you be taking them with you? If you bring them with you when you visit me Mr Madz might get confused and shoot them
I know of an excellent pet-shop who do small animal sitting for a couple of quid per day.
That said I do quite like the idea of riding on a train with a fucking great rat on my shoulder. Who needs a reservation when you have vermin?
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Just don't have a bath running while they're roaming free.
Yeah.
RIP scifisam's ratty
madzone
Physically unfavourable
I know of an excellent pet-shop who do small animal sitting for a couple of quid per day.
That said I do quite like the idea of riding on a train with a fucking great rat on my shoulder. Who needs a reservation when you have vermin?
Don't get me wrong- feel free to bring them ( I love rats) but with cats, foxes, dogs and Mr Madz it might be better if they stayed in a cage while they're here
ymu
Niall Ferguson's deep-cover sock-puppet
Yeah.
RIP scifisam's ratty
Sorry, didn't realise it was a fatal adventure with the running bath. One of mine got a bit of a shock when she jumped onto the toilet, but I was there in time to fish out a rather bedraggled little adventurer.Good idea not to leave chemicals and stuff in the toilet/bath/sink also. They don't seem to electrocute themselves chewing through wires, but you can also protect these with aquarium-style plastic tubing (split lengthways and run wires through them).
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Don't get me wrong- feel free to bring them ( I love rats) but with cats, foxes, dogs and Mr Madz it might be better if they stayed in a cage while they're here
I can't see even the most well behaved rat turning up the chance for a life of freedom on a farm can you?
Would be a pretty short life I would think.
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Good idea not to leave chemicals and stuff in the toilet/bath/sink also. They don't seem to electrocute themselves chewing through wires, but you can also protect these with aquarium-style plastic tubing (split lengthways and run wires through them).
The flat's already been Noodle-proofed so all should be well on that front
I can't believe people keep rats as pets!
Ugh, it's just wrong.
I've got a Jack Russell, no rats are safe in his 'hood.
Well, you actually have a rat of the dog world.
longdog
What is it you can't face?
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I can't believe people keep rats as pets!
Ugh, it's just wrong.
I've got a Jack Russell, no rats are safe in his 'hood.
well there's two sorts of rat (iyswim) wild rats, which are verminous, and pet rats which probably originated from lab stock and are freindly, cute and disease free
scifisam
deleted
We actually put a sign on the door to this effect and always checked for squeaking.
Still not sure how she managed to get into the bath at all. Seems like she must have managed to get on top of the toilet then taken a flying leap outwards and landed in the bath. Poor creature.
I can't believe people keep rats as pets!
Ugh, it's just wrong.
Attitudes like this are one of the disadvantages, but changing them is one of the advantages.
People don't realise how big a difference there is between pet rats ('fancy rats') and wild rats.
ymu
Niall Ferguson's deep-cover sock-puppet
They're incredible when they set their mind to getting somewhere. One of mine had this obsession with my fig tree, which was sitting in an old coal scuttle so she couldn't reach it from the floor. Every time I moved it further away from the sofa (her launchpad), she'd just study the situation for a while, find the optimal spot on the sofa, limber up and then and take the most terrifying flying leaps across the room. I had to sacrifice the tree in the end, to save her bashing her brains in on the coal scuttle.
ymu
Niall Ferguson's deep-cover sock-puppet
Domesticated rats are fabulous - they know their names and come when you call.I can't believe people keep rats as pets!
Ugh, it's just wrong.
I've got a Jack Russell, no rats are safe in his 'hood.
And you can teach them to kiss you by feeding them grapes from your lips.
scifisam
deleted
They're incredible when they set their mind to getting somewhere. One of mine had this obsession with my fig tree, which was sitting in an old coal scuttle so she couldn't reach it from the floor. Every time I moved it further away from the sofa (her launchpad), she'd just study the situation for a while, find the optimal spot on the sofa, limber up and then and take the most terrifying flying leaps across the room. I had to sacrifice the tree in the end, to save her bashing her brains in on the coal scuttle.
That sounds like my other rat, the one who who appears to have chewed her way out of the entire flat.
Whatcha going to name the rats, longdog? I'm trying to persuade my daughter to name the new rats (which we'll get at half-term, to have time to settle them in) Come-Here and Go-Away, for the fun when calling them (she's already vetoed my favourites - Eggs and Bacon - and we'll probably end up with more flower names).
aqua
made of cheese and gin
same with mine, one would make for an escape behind the fire, the other just follow us around the house
we bought ours from separate litters and they really didn't like each other
longdog
What is it you can't face?
Well that's a bit down the road but I was thinking about Neo and Morpheus
I'll probably ask for suggestions and take the ones I like most like I did with Noodle.
PursuedByBears
Go stick your head in a pig
I had a pet rat - Emily - when I lived in halls. She was lovely and would come when I called her name.
She used to sit on my shoulder and chatter away in my ear.
Answering the door with her sitting there was great fun, I can still hear the screams of the christian union girl as she ran away shrieking down the corridor and out of the block.
Wonder what she wanted?
She used to sit on my shoulder and chatter away in my ear.
Answering the door with her sitting there was great fun, I can still hear the screams of the christian union girl as she ran away shrieking down the corridor and out of the block.
Wonder what she wanted?
scifisam
deleted
Earlier tonight my daughter woke up with nightmares about Poppy dying. Poppy wasn't young, and had recently had a tumour, so I'd told the child that the rat had died of a heart attack. If I'd told her that the rat had died by drowning in the bath, I'd now have one very distressed, very smelly daughter.
So I've had to help her start writing a book about the Adventures of Poppy, who at one point got scooped up by an eagle, saw the tiny lands below her (with humans as small as rats) as she flew in the eagle's grip, then bit the eagle at just the right time and hid in a snowy autumnal tree protected by her brown-and-white colouring, and then tried to find her way home (plus sundry stories for how this all started, and how it'll end). This is based on some cultures believing that loved ones aren't really dead as long as they're remembered, so we can overcome the loss of a pet by remembering her. Any ideas for rat adventures - for further stories - are welcome!
So I've had to help her start writing a book about the Adventures of Poppy, who at one point got scooped up by an eagle, saw the tiny lands below her (with humans as small as rats) as she flew in the eagle's grip, then bit the eagle at just the right time and hid in a snowy autumnal tree protected by her brown-and-white colouring, and then tried to find her way home (plus sundry stories for how this all started, and how it'll end). This is based on some cultures believing that loved ones aren't really dead as long as they're remembered, so we can overcome the loss of a pet by remembering her. Any ideas for rat adventures - for further stories - are welcome!
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
The tale of the Plucky Rat who distracts the busy (and obviously fash) housekeeper, allowing her ratty comrades to feast on the leavings of capatilism!
course you'd need to dress it up in less ideological terms........
Yeah, pet rats are all good. I would suggest that if you get a wire cage, try getting one that is 'long' rather than 'tall' as one of my last pair took great delight in pissing off the top platform onto the bookcase, and nothing would persuade him to do otherwise.
My first rat was probably my favorite. He was called Montague, and was HUGE. Knew his own name, and had the run of my room. Only used to go back to his cage for a piss/shit. Used to collect 'useful' things too, mainly anything shiny. And eat spiders. Good rat, that one.
My first rat was probably my favorite. He was called Montague, and was HUGE. Knew his own name, and had the run of my room. Only used to go back to his cage for a piss/shit. Used to collect 'useful' things too, mainly anything shiny. And eat spiders. Good rat, that one.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Irrational hatred of their segmented tails - sorry, makes me want to gip....
