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Thanks Ted.....i saw a show the other night on RATS, but it was done in the UK. They were saying because it is damp over there, that Rats and Mice, were the ideal pets. I did not know people in North America would also find these critters as pets.

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I have been owned by rats since 2001...I currently have 6 wonderful babies in my home, 2 are rescues.They make wonderful pets and I have learned alot from and about them over the years.I am now very addicted to rats...

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Someone told me that they carry diseases? Is that the truth, or an old wives tale?

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Well once they did carry the plague. I think it started of in the flea (in france first) The fleas were the one infected but they travelled on the rats. Which because rats breed exteremly quick and have huge litters the diease quickly passed over to parts of uk and other places. THe flea would bite a person then they would have it. It was a fatal diease which killed hundreds of people. Its an interesting story to read. But this happened years and years and years and years (you get the point) Ago. before anyone on here was probberly born lol Also dieases etc have to been brought out of the pet rat through strict quaruntine issues etc. Rats which are wild are usually ones you cant trust :) But did you know rats are actually one of the cleaness animals around?

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No, i did not....i guess the stories that float around, are just that, Stories....Truth seems to come out, only when questions are asked! I think it would be interesting to hear some of the Folk Lore...from the UK..can you tell one?

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I have a funny story to relate reguarding one of my baby boys. I had just given them their food (nutrochoice brand nutrolite dogfood), and the gang were happily stashing and munching away on it. Fuzzy Knickers had just gotten a piece of food from the dish, when he decided that he really needed a drink. The problem was he had his mouth full of food, and couldn't quite figure out how to keep the food and have a drink at the same time. Fuzzy sat there for almost two minutes shifting the piece of food around in his mouth so he could take a drink, he finally gave up and went to his stash to drop off the food then went back for more. He made three or four more trips before he remembered that he was thristy, so before he got more food he went to the waterbottle and had a drink, then got some food. Ted_E_Bare

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Good story......lol..... Do you let your Rats out of the cage to roam....do they listen to you? Be interesting to know more....

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I let my two girls out of their cage more than they're in it. In fact, they're confined only when I'm not home, or I'm not able to be with them. But then, I'm old and retired so I'm able to give them lots of attention. Adam in Victoria, BC.....Canada

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Sure my rats listen to me, when they feel like it. Some are better listeners then others, Freddy for instance is great at listening to what not to do and doing it anyway. I have to let the gang out in shifts of 1/2 hour give or take a few minutes, depending on how naughty their being. The scary girls Ick and Eek get out first and run on "the rat couch", an old futon that I no longer needed. Then Freddy, and finally the three new babies the "Popcorn boys", who are only allowed out for ten or so minutes right now as they are still learning the ropes. I do let them out a couple of times a day, usually in the morning and evening when they can be kept watch on by me. Most days during the summer when it is nice out I take Freddy out with me for a walk, usually around the block, or up to my great aunts place for a visit. The baby girls have started their training to be able to go out and ride on daddy's shoulders, by the end of the summer they should be comfortable with it enough that they can go to my great aunts place and back. Ted_E_Bare

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ive got 2 rats but have had many more over the last 6-8 years! these two i have now are great! they fight a lil bit tho. but there only young(8-10 wks) ! Rats are exteremly dominant creatures so at the mo there still fighting for top rank! (much like doggys do) This time im feeding them strickly Rat food! which is a nugget best diet! Every nugget is the same which means every bite they take has all the nessuary nutrients they need in it. They also enjoy fruit and veg! ive researched into the rats health becuase last month my old girl kaily died thorugh a fit because of her tumour! i found some interesting facts! Females are more liekly to get tumours, if the rat isnt having the correct diet... and through cleaness of the cage too!!! Just like us really! Ill be getting some cool photos shortly of the rattys! Any tips etc that you can pas over would be greaT! maybe theres a different way to how you care for them over there!.. Whats your discusion on Sawdust for flooring? .... I now use Non Toxic wooden cat litter. Because i find the sawdust cuts there feet and also tends to create lots of dust in the cage which is bad for the respiratory system! Even if its Dust free!!!!!!!

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the best shavings I've found are the hard wood type, Aspen is recommended. It doesn't cause any dust, is ok for little ratties to breath, and won't cut feet etc. Soft wood shavings like cider and pine are no-nos, they have bad things in them that cause illness in small animals. Recycled paper products made for litter are ok, but again cause dust. The best place I've found to get advice from more knowlegble owners is the "ratlist" on Yahoo groups, they are wonderfully helpful to new rat owners and can answer all kinds of questions. I must warn you though the Ratlist is a high-volume e-mail list, approx. 50 or more messages a day! So if you do join the group select 'Daily digest' so that you will get 1 email with 25 messages in it, instead of 25 individual emails.

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What do you think about my lil ones fighting... im right to not worry right? To lil girls! 9-10 weeks.. (well around that) they have a lil scrap now daily. But sleep and lay on eachtother other times.. i havent worried before aout this. but since uve owned rats too might help :D

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As long as the fights don't draw blood, their just sorting out the pecking order. Don't worry about it, they also play fight too just think of it as a pair of children rough housing. Eventually they will settle down and the fights will dwindle to a few every now and then. Again, if theres no blood don't worry about it.

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Ok here is a funny little story I remembered from one of my past rats. Ratski (I didn't give him that name), was rescued from a friend of my land lady, he was extreamly over weight 750grams which is almost a pound. He was put on a diet, which ment he had to continue to live on his own. Ratski was the biggest wuss, he ran and hid any time a new person came to visit. I had put an empty Kraft Dinner box in his cage so he could shred it and make bedding, well little did I know that that box was hatching an evil plan against poor Ratski. I was sitting watching TV one night when it started, poor Ratski was pinned upside down under the box and was whining piteously. The poor boy was out matched by a box that he out weighed by at least 700 grams, so as I was laughing at him I helped his get the upper hand on that evil box. After that little incident the Kraft Dinner box ended up over on top of his food dish, which, being the big wuss he was, ment he couldn't get at his food without going over to the box. He again began to whine piteuosly, so I moved the box to the other side of his cage. A few days later I was sitting at my computer and heard a thump from Ratski's cage, it was him throwing the box across the cage. Later on he managed to flatten the box and was sitting on it, quite proud of himself that now the box was pinned under him instead. Sadly poor Ratski died of a heart attack about half a year after I got him, but he did manage to cut his weight in half in that time, and become a little bit more brave. He's the only one of my rats who was ever willing to wear the harness and leash. Theres a picture of him in my photo gallery.

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I was watching Breakfast Television, from Toronto, and they had Jerry Langton on who has written a book called RAT? How The World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way To The Top. I wasn't too thrilled with the guy, but my five boy rats were extreamly interested in the guys compainion, a brown hooded girl that was in a hamster cage on the desk between him and the host. All my boys were plastered to the bars of their cages, little noses going a mile a minute. I'm thinking that they were wanting a date with Patches (the girl rat). Casper

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I guess males of all species are the same...! I just checked out you image gallery: Ratski was one BIG rat! I don't know if it would work for your rats, but I trained my cats to the harness by treats and association with going outside. Since rats are highly intelligent animals it might work with them, too.

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LOL my hamster i had a while back used to love goin outside on a harness...it was so funny....She used to break out of her cages all the time, too....how she did it,. i'll never know LOL

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Another little story about one of my past rats. I had read somewhere that rats were great mousers, and would scare mice away from places. Being that I was living in a building that seemed to be infested with mice, and management that didn't seem to care. I took it apon myself to try and get rid of these mice, at least out of my place. This is what led me to go to the local pet shop and buy my first ever rat, a gorgeous black berk girl that I named Ninja (hoping that she would assassinate some mice, never did happen). Almost her whole body was shiny black fur, just her feet and tail were pink. I didn't know much about keeping rats at the time, of course I didn't know thing 1 about what to feed them, where they should be housed, compainions, etc. From that moment on, I went on an extream learning curve. I found out that Ninja was lonely, so I went out and found a female compainon for her. I don't recall what I named her, but I do remember she was a champagne hooded. I put the girls cages side by side, and let them sniff and see each other. A few days later I took the tops off their cages, and let them go back and forth. Ninja went into the other cage, grabbed a toilet paper tube, brought it to her cage, and that was that. They were constant companions from then on, if only all my introductions were that easy. casper

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Funny, isn't it how rats are so very different from the stories about them?! They are actually very social creatures who are quite fastidious....

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Good to see you back on line ...i missed reading about your rats. It is something that pet owners don't brag about, at least in my neck of the woods. Thanks again...........