Rats! What, Where, and How
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2015
- Jessi explains what rats are, where they came from, and how to care for them in captivity. Rats are awesome in so many ways!
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I think people don't realize how great rats are when you're dealing with a rough time in your life. If it wasn't for my buddy Auggie, who looked like the huge rat she showed only he had the Siamese coloring and dumbo ears. He took away plenty of my tears. I miss him dearly.
+Tamara Sauls Rats are wonderful, loving little friends
SalemInsomniac
You are so right! I wish they had longer lifespans. Our last rattie passed on last week. His name was Piggy and he was found in a plastic Rubbermaid container with a waterbottle and a cut piece of carpet to sleep on, next to a trash dumpster. He was all white with red eyes...just plain and he was scared of every loud noise/raised voice, timid as could be. But we hooked him up and he turned out to be a sweet guy. Actually, I don't think we've ever had a rat with any behavior problems...
knightofdreamz
I know what you mean! I'm so thankful I got to have ratties in my life. 😀
I bought my albino rat Marceline when i was changing schools and got earliest phrases of my anxiety. Shes been a source of a lot of comfort, that i could think in school that theres a small friend waiting for me :) marcy and her friends are still going strong, and so am i. My anxiety is a lot better if you wanna know.
Their intelligence is the biggest surprise for me. Typically, you'd expect intelligence in animals that have long lifespans. High brain function is expensive, so it's more of a payoff in an animal that lives longer. Animals with short lifespans don't need to be smart to be successful. It's just eat and breed as soon as possible. But rats are undoubtedly intelligent, and that breaks this rule. Same goes for octopods, but they are also invertebrates that developed notable intelligence.
+ShadeSlayer1911 Octopuses seldom live past five years. There's no correlation between intelligence and longevity.
+VoyagerAbove Yeah he said rats and octopuses break the rule, I mean I haven't researched the topic, but I'm guessing he's thinking whales, elephants, humans, etc.
+ShadeSlayer1911
You are right that Intelligence is Expensive. Many animals are not smart for a good reason.
But it can give an animal a leg up. It can push them ahead in the rat race by being smarter. Rats are very smart yes but they have to do adapt and survive in many situations. Situations where other rodents simply won't survive rats do.
Also their high intelligence helps them with their social life. Rats are both social and intelligent and their intelligence turns their race into a "super animal." A species that can work together in big groups and do things lone members can't.
Rats like humans can work very well together and make very efficient and successful strides forward where other animals wouldn't.
So is it worth being smart? Is a big brain using allot of energy worth it? Well rats are allot like us, so yes it is worth it. Not every species gets much from being so intelligent. But rats and humans do, our social structures and our abilities to work together makes everything better. Or worse if that cohesion turns ugly.
I think part of the reason why rats are so smart is due to their social construct. They have to be smart to work together. In return they get more done then species that are loners.
+Masticina Akicta
You're all assuming intelligence has a well-defined mathematical definition that can be definitively quantified.
They're highly social and cooperation is one of their most important means of survival, wich is why they need to be intelligent
Rats are still the cutest rodents to me. They've got such curious looking faces.
Sigh, I miss my Teddy rat so much. I had ten little rats (9 came as a "surprise" with the mother who I "rescued" from a feeder tank), and they were the best pets I've ever had. I really want another rat or two as companions, but the expectations from past rats (Teddy in particular would welcome me home from college or work by running up to my feet and begging to be picked up and held. He'd chitter when I'd walk by, and when he was dying I would pet him and it was the only thing that made him happy) and my schedule don't exactly allow for it. :/
He's the only pet that I think of to this day and tear up or even cry from the memories. If I wrote a tragic rock song about him, it'd hit top charts hahahah
Thanks so much for the informative vid on these awesome creatures. Wish more people could see them for the wonders they are
I had rats also, and agree totally with y. Have had similar good experiences
Pimms is adorable. It's always been strange to me how there's a general conception of rats as dirty or ugly, while other similar-looking rodents like gerbils and hamsters are considered cute. (I think they're all cute, personally.) Thanks for sharing!
small, fury, not dangerous, and interactive? cute.
+PinkGrapefruit22 I agree, but I think what puts some people off is the tail.
+Hannah Shoshana Dangerous depends on the individual personality of the rats, out of the 30-40 that I own, 3 or 4 of them will bite forever and always, and they bite hard, I've been bitten about 20-30 times in total.
that is significantly less danger than would be posed by most dogs should they choose to bite
Hannah Shoshana
Yup, out of all of the time i've been bitten I've never needed stitches or even a doctor once.
* dies of cuteness overload when baby rat comes on*
I had to replay that part because I realized that I didn't hear a word she said.
Facts
I had rats in High-School. They were the sweetest things and we became very close friends. I had three total, all feeder rats rescued from a local petstore. They were Virgo, Sagittarius, and Gemini.
Virgo was a rat I got for my birthday, and so I named her after my star sign. She was super mellow and would easily fall asleep on me. She also liked to play "mom" and would try to groom my hair and my face. A note- Always remember to take off mascara before playing with your ratty friends. Rat teeth and hands+ eyelashes= no thanks.
Sagittarius I got when she was older so she wasn't socialized so well and didn't like being held, though she did like chasing my brother about which was pretty funny.
Gemini was the youngest of the three and she loved exploring EVERYWHERE. She even climbed up on the dog once, dog was not appreciative, though Gemini enjoyed snuffling around in the weird new ground she found herself on.
Both Virgo and Gemini lived full happy lives, while Sagittarius tragically died quite young. I can never have another rat though, partly due to me being unable to do care for the little friends because college life is busy, but because I don't wanna have my heart break anymore by seeing my rat friends pass away after I grew to love them so much.
She ain't joking about rats' teeth growing fast. Once, one of my rats fell and somehow knocked out both his top front teeth. I had to feed him oatmeal because he couldn't bite off bits of his food, and had to file down his bottom teeth for him so they didn't get too long.
Within a week, his front teeth had grown back to their normal length.
ratlover523. Did you take it to the vet?
i recently had a rat that moved into the drawer under my oven! did not realize how common this is. none of the dogs or the cat seemed to mind, but i was scared i'd cook him, so i trapped him and took him to a park. he had collected some weird stuff- an old q-tip, a plastic bread tie, a glass bead that i had made downstairs (patron of the arts, clearly). i still wonder what he's up to out there
2:05 OMG HE SHRUNK!
lol. he turned back into a baby
I love rats so much! I've had two sets of them. But they have such a short lifespan, and all of my rats eventually got tumors. This video actually makes me want to cry because it was so heartbreaking to lose them. I can't have rats anymore because it's too painful.
My wife and I use to keep pet rats. Very fun and extremely smart little critters. Thank you for this great and informative video.
+HarryManI3ack Some of the smartest and most interactive animals I've worked with.
I love how excited you are when talking about these rats :) Take care, and God bless
I have a rat named Rattacate she is adorable and with the hair and the arm thing... its more of our hair mixed with a tiny bit of porcupine she is gray all over with like white slotches near her legs! I LOVE RATS
My roommate and I adopted two rats from our university's behavioral research lab when they found themselves with a surprise litter - their female kept sneaking out for fun times with the males! Clarabelle and Benvolio have become a wonderful part of our family, and it's been wonderful to learn their personalities as they become more comfortable with us.
They love crawling inside our shirts and exploring, burrowing in our hair -- Benny even tries to chew on my earrings sometimes! This video was really helpful for me when I was struggling to socialize with them. Thanks so much for helping me out - I can't think of what life would be like without them now!
I'm so glad you finally did rats!! They're such amazing pets. I miss mine all the time, but the short lifespan and expensive vet bills were just hard to handle :(
Thanks for doing this episode on rats! I enjoyed it a lot, and will share with friends and family :)
I've had lots of rats throughout the year, and they have been some of the most lovely, affectionate and charming animals I've ever had the pleasure of living with.
I do research with rats and it is always the best part of my day to handle and play with our rats. They're super cute and cuddly! Some of the males, too, get so wonderfully plump and can be very calm and docile (I say they're pliant), and they're such fuzzy little goobers; love them so much
Yaay! Thank you so much for doing this video! I had two rats as pets a few years ago and they were so smart and full of personality.
They are some of the cutest rats I have ever seen, completely and utterly adorable.
Rats are some of the best pets. They're smart, clean, full of personality and soo loving. I rescued a rat named George that would come to his name, sleep on my pillow, groom me and bring me "gifts". it's been about 20 years since he passed and I still think of him as one of my very best friends. I wish more people would give them a chance.
I've had a total of 10 rats in a span of 3 years. Up to 5 at a time. I can't have anymore because of heartbreak when they eventually die. Awesome video. Brings back memories.
Everybody I know who has said they hate or are scared of rats have completely changed their minds on rats when they've been introduced to mine. One of my friends went from thinking they're gross to considering owning them. It's amazing really.
That's it, I'm getting rats next time! I've had gerbils for a long time and I love watching those silly things hop around and bolt away at full speed, but they're not very cuddly or interactive.
Jessi, I really enjoy your informative and enthusiastic videos, thanks for making them!
I got two rats a few months ago (dispite my family's protests and disgust) and they are some of the sweetest pets I've ever had!
So happy to see this video! I used to have rats as a kid and they make such great pets!
I took in 3 rats recently from an animal shelter. They are great. I was just thinking about asking you for a video about rats. Thanks for making one! :)
Rat couches! That's adorable. And the little rat belly rubs! So cute.
thanks for the awesome video Jessi! I've been wanting a pet rat for many years now, but have been waiting till I was out of university (done) and more settled with a job (not done :p). This video filled in a couple of holes I still had in my newbie knowledge!
I didnt know most of this stuff when i adopted my first rat. Thank you so much Jessi.
aww yea, I've been waiting for this episode, as someone who has a couple of rats. They're so awesome
When mentioning their vocalisations behind our hearing, you should be mentioned that they also giggle, too cute! I miss my darling rats so much, they're really wonderful pets.
Thank you SO MUCH! I love rats. I've had them as pets as a child and they're the best.
Excellent video, thank you!
She gives excellent tips on the living environment to establish for pet rats. They absolutely need cage mates and a big cage with lots of water, toys, ledges, & lab blocks. But the "scoop" method may be better than just picking them up by wrapping your fingers around them. Notice how the rat squeaked (sign of alarm) when she picked it up by grabbing it instead of using the scoop
I love rats, I'm glad to see a good video about how to care for and keep them happy! I had a couple rats, well they were technically my sister's but we both kept them. One was albino, red eyes included, and the other was a honey. They were brothers, and they snuggled up on their hammock together. I miss the boys but they lived a long life.
thanks for uploading this, I'm going to share this with the rest of the Pittsburgh Rat lovers club tonight. I know my girls love watching your show with me. I have 2 black hooded Long-Evans rats (rescues from a university) and Black Irish Standard Dumbo who is such a sweet heart.
Grew up with these guys and had much fun with them, far cleaner than most would believe. Wouldn't have them now though as their lives are too short for my heart to bare.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this video. My ratties mean so much to me. If only others could see these beautiful creatures for what they are.
Thanks for the video!
It's so refreshing to see a *good* and *accurate* info video about rats
Great video, I feel like some people are unfair to rats.
I had pet rats as a kid. and I loved them. So playful. So cute.
Oh my gosh! Those little rats are so cute. I love them so much!
Finally a video on rats! :) love these little creatures.
I had rats for a few years, and I loved them so much. My main girl was grey and white with a triangle blaze on her nose. Her favourite thing do do was sit on my shoulder and stand against my head, sometimes climbing on top of my glasses but eventually she got too big to do that so she settled for grooming my head instead. She lived for over 2 years and developed a tumour, but she didn't let that stop her from being her happy little self, until she couldn't hold on anymore. After that we decided not to get any more rats so we spent as much time as we could with her sister so she could have our company. It's a shame they have such short lifespans because they are such sweet animals and they really are the perfect starter pet.
I heard of an experiment that scientists did, were there were two rats, and one of them had a lever, and whenever that rats ate some food, the lever was pulled, and when the lever was pulled, the other rat got a small electrical shock, and when the first rat found out that it shocked the other rat when it ate, it stopped eating because it didn't want to hurt the other rat
I chuckled when you mentioned how clean rats are. It reminded me of my first rat Nosedive, and boy was he one ripe little dude! That booger hardly ever cleaned himself and would sleep in his own filth. I had to bathe him almost weekly because he would gradually smell of homemade nachos (sorry for that comparison, but seriously he did).
He was an awesome buddy though; very chill.
I've had many pet rats over the years and they're my favourite companion. My last one was so smart she learned how to open her cage door. The only time she used this skill was when she was old and she would sneak out in the middle of the night and come and sleep on my pillow near my head.
Aww, sweet heart. I've had a few that also curled up on my pillow to sleep with me. Rats are the best.
This was beautiful! My favourite animal.
Great videos, Jessi! I love the content and was happy to buy something in your Amazon Wishlist for you. I just had a quick note about what you said about the Plague, rats, and gerbils.
I googled if gerbils were more likely to blame for the Plague than rats and it appears that the study that spawned this idea didn't mention gerbils directly. It only provides an alternative hypothesis for why the Plague lasted so long stating that "the bacterium was continuously reimported into Europe during the second plague pandemic" which some news sites have assumed to be gerbil imports from Asia (as that was happening at the time). This study (as far as I could read) doesn't state that the existing rat population weren't a larger, more deadly secondary plague reservoir after the primary plague reservoirs introduced the bacteria.
This study _does_ cast doubt on rats being the initial plague reservoirs of the second plague pandemic in medieval Europe, though. I did not know that there was ever _any_ doubt, so thanks for inciting this search for knowledge as I have learned something new today.
PS. Love the show!
Source:
www.pnas.org/content/112/10/3020
(Original study)
Over all, an excellent video. Thank you!
Just to clarify about cages, however: you need at least 2.5 cubic feet per rat, and a minimum of 5 cubic feet, even for one rat (in the very rare circumstance that you have a rat incapable of getting along with other rats). There also needs to be a space in the cage tall enough for the rats to stretch to their full length when standing on their hind feet. Rats love to climb, so horizontal bars are best, and the bar spacing should be no wider than 1/2 an inch, or baby rats and small females will be able to escape.
thanks for this!
2:53 If that doesn't say cute, I don't know what does. Rats are adorable!
I have had 5 pet rats over 2 1/2 years. but today I am very sad because one of my rats named bubble has just passed away but this video has cheered me up a lot. thanks 😊
Great pets. I have two right now. Very friendly and playful.
i love how peppy u are!! lol i subbsribed!!👍
I love my boys. Clark (brown dumbo), Glove (brown normal), and Edmund (gray dumbo). I've had a lot of different pets in my life, and they are easily my favorite companions.
thank you for this. now i have something to send to the rat haters in my life. ;)
also, sooo muuuch adooorableneeesss. the fact that you named him Pims nearly killed me. too cute.
I had two pet rats but they both recently died, they are wonderful pets and the only thing stopping me from getting more is i'm going to Uni soon and won't be able to look after them.
There are definitely going to be more rats in my future!
Thanks for the great video :)
Yay rats! I've kept them on and off for nearly 20 years and currently have 2 hooded males. I converted an Ikea cabinet in to a massive 4 level cage that is about 6ft tall and posted a video explanation and tour of it on my channel.
I've had pet rats since I was 13 and they are seriously the best pet ever!
I had a pet rat when I was a kid! hands down my favorite pet, she was so smart and sweet, I trained her to sit on my shoulder while I went about the house
I have two pet rats and am absolutely in love with them.
this makes me miss rats! we used to house rats that had no home because they were abandoned or their owners couldn't take care of them anymore. they are so much fun to work with!
awesome video!! i love rats ♡♡
Yes I have had a rat and I miss him so much. I have thought of getting another one but I can't yet. His name was Socrates. :) He would walk all around my shoulders any time and often.
- Heidi
hehe, great video, lol obviously I loved it. Only thing is I had great success with aspen as a litter box substrate. It is too dusty for all over litter, but I also found carefresh a bit too dusty as well. when I still had my ratties I used a few layers of newspaper(vegetable based ink) then a piece of fleece over top for an all over bedding. :)
Thank you I asked for this 😘
I seem to recall reading about a relatively recent study on rats that found they are among the only animals that can not only think, but actually think about what they are thinking.
They're really adorable. You have to get to know one to know how awesome they are. I didn't like them until I interacted with some during a research assignment. They are super affectionate.
I have a pair of female gerbils right now. I'm having issues trying to get them to be relaxed with each other. I bought them together initially, and they started fighting so I put a perforated divider between them. They kept trying to get at each other though, and eventually chewed through the divider after a few years. They are older now, so they don't fight anymore, but they start to look a little ungroomed and their weights start fluctuating after two weeks. I don't really know what to do since I know they are supposed to be social, but they also don't seem at ease with each other.
I have two huge boys, i bring them at work to play with kids and teach everyone how cool they are. They enjoy it a lot! They have a suuuuuper huge cage with multiple levels and dozens of hides and toys.
the rat sqeak surprised me, haha
Pims is the cutest friggin rat I've ever seen.
I really want rats, but as a broke student at the moment, I can't really get any ;u; But once I'm in a stable job and done with school, I might just get two, or more!
the more the merrier!
Adopt two from a rescue
I love rats so much. I have two and they're both amazing and friendly. Most people mistake them for giving diseases and biting.
i have two rats right now and had a single rat when i was a kid. Biggest advice is get them young or they will be extremely difficult to handle without biting. I like them, they are funny and always excited to see me since i usually bring them a small treat everyday.
Thank you. As a rat lover (they are my preferred companion) I find it's hard to convince people that rats rock. :)
SOMEONE ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDS MY LOVE FOR RATS!
I never had rats, but I DID used to keep gerbils, but I never knew that the historical plague came from gerbils rather than rats. I learn something new every day.
They also like going down your shirt! Shelf bras are their favorite :)
Pro tip: if you have a wire-sided cage (preferable for ventilation) you can secure their water bottle to the side of their cage with thick metal wire (often comes with the bottle) and don't have to worry if you already have a plastic water bottle, or just don't want them to have the chance to hurt themselves on potential sharp edges.
+lostismyconstent PS. And thanks so much for the awesome video Jessi! Really love your stuff and this is one of my favorite animals!
My cousin had rats when I was younger and she had them potty trained. They were so friendly and cute. Wanted one ever since but having a cat that likes hunting has made it improbable to do.
+Brandi Mathis They can be litter box trained! Little smarties :) Cats can stress out prey animals if they stare at or stalk them, so good thinking about how they would get along. We had a rat that used to play with our cat, seriously they would bound and run with each other all over the house. Adorable.
I've listened to podcasts on play in animals & discovered that rats laugh when tickled.
Just saw this video...I miss my little buddy Chronic. He was the smartest loving little guy ever...Rats are awesome pets.
You should talk about finches. I'm thinking about getting one but I can't find enough info on there intelligence and how they can be trained to interact with humans. Thanks and I love your show!
AMAZING 😍❤😍😍 I love my rats so much 😍😍😍
i work at a place very similar to animal wonders and we don't actually have rats but we do keep frozen dead ones to feed to our raptors and other meat eating animals. I often have prepare the meat and i have kind of distanced my self from them but gosh darnitt you made me fall in love with them. I am dreading the next time i have to do that.
+Jimmy Paterson I'm sorry. But now you have a better understanding and appreciation for the lives that go toward keeping the raptors happy and healthy.
+AnimalWonders Montana, I have the same problem with rats and mice, I have a corn snake, and I know multiple people that owns rats as pets (and one furry who is a rat ), and it always make me feel weird talking to them about it, as I feed a animal that could be they pet to my pet every other week.
the worst was at the once when I was buying a frozen rat at the pet store and a women came in with a rat in a baby carriage to get its nails trimmed.
Rats are one of my favorite mammals! They super cute! They behave a little bit like a catdog but are smaller, cleaner and they dont need so many time outside (they need some!) !
(i have two syjamise standard dumbo boys ^^) :3
I really loved your video! I was just wondering if, the next time you do a video on rats, you could mention that pet rats are significantly different from wild rats. Thanks! :)
I had all sorts of small animals as pets and rats are by far my fave. I wish they lived longer.
I have two pet rats: Arthur and Alvin Jr. Arthur is a hairless rat and Alvin Jr is a beautiful blue dumbo.
I used to have two pet rats and they were really great pets. One of them smelled like grapes; quite the opposite of the dirty/smelly stereotype some people believe. It's too bad they don't live very long :/
Whenever I need to introduce my pet rats to people who don't like rats I tell them that they are "Mongolian long-tail hamsters" and suddenly the rat-haters are ooh-ing and aah-ing over how cute and adorable my pets are, especially the dumbo long-tail hamsters.
Yo what coffee do you drink that gives you so much energy Man you are hype My favorite Rats will always be Pinky and the Brain
In my developmental psychology class we were studying attachment and bonding. A lot of research has been done on rats because they socially bond a lot like a human would. Because of this research, it has be down that when you play with rats and tickle them, they laugh!
Cool video.
Our Rats are called, Roland, Ratatouille , Pickle, Lilly, Moonstone, Amethyst , and Topaz . Tanzanite passed away 😿😿😿 xxxx
When I was I High school I had a rat she when ever where with me she was a fun animal. I enjoyed have her she got me thought some really hard times. They make great pets and after they get to know you they will just want to spend time with you.
I've always wanted to have a pet rat! They seem to intelligent and affectionate. I hope to still get one one day.
Rat Lovers Unite You guys got a new sub