Lost my furbaby today. He was last of ten years of lineage. He jumped out of his cage and could almost get on my bed so I helped him and then he died. Hurts. Done with helping bring lives into this world by breeding them or pet store. Please adopt. These are the sweetest animal you will ever meet. Thanks. Thanks to the late Shadow
Mad respect for admitting that you didn't do enough research when getting your first rats! We've almost all been there. I made the same mistake with my gerbils. Did some research but not enough and ended up with a broken bond and big mess. I did learn though and ended up really enjoying them for the years we were together. I now research every potential pet to death. Videos like this really help shed light on the mistakes that can be made, but also the progress that can be achieved through a willingness to learn. Thanks for sharing!
My rats are such a massive source of joy and yet they stress me out so much :') just like you said, the medical emergencies are absolutely heartbreaking
The difference I have seen in the 6 pet rats from the pet store and the three dwarf rats I have now from a breeder is incredible. The dwarfs have had practically no health scares and are already two years and four months while still acting like only year old rats. I wouldn't ever go back to getting them from the pet store.
Thank God for your mother's support. My first Guinea Pig it seems I failed in almost every way but love. My family immediately was unsupportive because he reminded them of a rat and perhaps the first time I heard the word "repulsive". He did live a reasonably long life but when he died and I was devastated I thought I might never have pets again. Many years later I suffered severe depression over Alex, but built a rocking horse in his honour who I hoped to be a companion forever. I had the strength I felt to have another pet and saw a rat up for adoption on the tv. I had never seen one before there B4. I didn't know if I could go through with it so I didn't even have a cage for her when I brought her home. She had the good sense to stay put in the squirrel den I had built for the squirrels where I lived while I went up the street to get a modest aquarium. Later I got a bigger cage. I just wanted to save a life, and surely I did a better job than with Alex and I found a vet for her and she was a wonderful pet who had just learned to jump from the floor onto my lap in my chair. Then my dad threw myself out and I had to spend one night with her in a homeless shelter against the rules before returning her to the humane society where I was in tears as I filled out a form on which I was told to refer to her as a cat. I named her Devin Rose which in my study of names I much later learned that "Rose" can mean "horse". My new place informed me it would probably not be a problem to have a rat, but after I purchased one made me also take her to the humane society. So eventually I got guinea pigs again. I am forever thankful for my rats and guinea pigs. I feel guinea pigs and other rodents benefit from the undeserved stigma of rats. I pray that rats might one day receive their rightful respect and love and that all rodents may receive the love and respect due them. I've now sworn off pharmaceuticals because of animal experimentation while my food stamps won't even pay for tea to help my insomnia. God bless you. I greatly value the beautiful painting Donut made and I was sorry to hear of Donuts passing. Thank you for all you've done to bring awareness to these wonderful creatures.
Animal so-called 'research' is scientifically INVALID, killing both the animals, and the humans, plus sociopaths, and psychopaths go into fields where they are free to harm, and do as they please. Serial killers start out torturing animals, and BIG PHARMA is all about $$$$$$$$$$. They certainly do not care about humans in any way, shape, nor form or else they would practice legitimate scientific studies, NEVER involving animals. I know a whole lot about this particular subject.😮😢
I'm so sorry about Ninja. I had a similar situation with one of my groups. I got 4 boys and one of them was really sick after coming home to me. All the rest was fine, but Ghost was sick and weak for quite a few days (I also took him to vet after a day cause I thought those were just sneezes), and for a good while after that he was much smaller than his twin brother. Fortunately he made it to full recovery and later on grew to be a huge beautiful chunk of a rat.
Thanks for sharing this with us.. I had a similar experience with pet shop rats, in that they really do not know what they are dealing with as they deal with them very infrequently. I started out actually with a very young wild rat that I had reovered from a glue trap - he was stuck with his nose in the trap and I'm sure he hated me from pulling him out of it as his whiskers were stuck in it.. I had to pull him very slowly out and wait for him to separate from the trap without ripping anything out, it would have been painful, but he survived it, rather than dying horribly in it. He was a classic brown rat that you see out in the wild and around the house. The land lady Sarah was receptive to him as she used to keep rats before this, I had not. She said he had to have a friend as they are social animals, I ended up getting a white boy rat [Albert] as company for the escapist - who I called Houdini, it turned out to be an excellent name for him as he was always escaping.. so many hours fretting over where he was and then trying to catch him - the wild never left him. Albert unfortunately ended up getting Mycoplasmosis which I knew nothing of, nor did Sarah as she said she'd never seen anything like it, it took his life very quickly, but Houdini ended up being unaffected as it probably was in his wild dna to resist this disease. I got another rat - this time a black one named Oscar, but this time from a breeder.. Sarah also got two rats, girls... one night after a few glasses of wine Sarah let the boys and the girls play together.. Now mature aged Houdini wasted no time at all in jumping Daisy's bones and then Rosy's bones too.. the little devil was going for it!! Out of that Daisy ended up with 9 brown ratties, and Rosy had none. Then another night after another few glasses of wine Sarah let Oscar play with the girls along with Houdini.. my god.. they do not waste any time with flowers and other trivialities... straight at it.. so another 6 rats... this time hooded ratties and two beautiful black girl rats. All of them were great but the brown ratties were a little older than the hooded ratties but they were happy to be with each other.. it was a big mob. What I found though was that the brownies were more resistant and the hooded ones - which seemed to have got infected from Albert's condition - had persistent visitation from Mycoplasmosis, treatment was required frequently for them with Doxycyclin and Enrofloxacin... it was expensive, what was frustrating was to get a vet appointment in time to nip the problem in the bud with them, as the Mycoplasmosis seemed to rip into them so very quickly and if you did not belt it on the head the second you detected it then it was hard to kill and hard for the rats to recover from it, timing is critical and you should always have drugs on hand, administered immediately if you hear persistent sneezing, coughing or if the rats start audibly talking, most important!!. Surprisingly though the oldest in the end was a brownie girl named Jewels.. she lived to 3 years where the others got mammary tumours or succumbed to Mycoplasmosis, I cried with the death of every one of them - me, a then 59 years old man.. they make space in your heart and then leave a huge hole when they leave. Despite this and about 6 months after the last of the boy ratties had died - I adopted another rat of a friend named Zap and he lived for another month after Jewels died, I'm sure he missed her, he was a good deal older than I was told as he'd gone boney despite good feed and medications as and when required, including a vitamin B shot administered by the vet. He in the end succumbed to Myco as well. I waited 6 months after Zap passed to get another mob of rats, this time 9 of them, 5 boys and 4 girls from a breeder located 3 hours away.. she said she'd bred the Myco out of them... nope.. they may have had some resistance but not enough.. it took about 6 months and they too get coughs and talk audibly, the difference now is I have the meds on hand and immediately dose them if I think they're affected. Another thing I am doing is feeding them cut oranges and mandarins, which they love. They don't eat the skins and neither the boys nor the girls seem to be affected by it.. I was told they should not eat citrus allegedly due to cancer of the kidneys for the boys, but that is falsely based on lab testing results for citrus oil which is in the skin of the fruit - they do not eat that, ever. So, yes, rats from breeders are recommended, but make sure the breeder has a good reputation before you get rats, lest you have a lot of bills and heartache to go with it.
that was rad sad and rat beautiful thank you for sharing, i loved the implication that shadow the rat is named after shadow the hedgehog, incredible lore
This video made me cry lol it was so sweet and informative. It also made me so excited to recover from my break of owning hamsters because they face so many similar problems to rats (short life spans, minimal exotic vets in the area, easily stressed in a detrimental way). There's so much to learn about keeping rodents and its such a case by case basis. Thank you for sharing your stories and experiences xoxo :^] wishing you and all the girls well
Yeah I cry so much when my babies pass. Big tough old jarhead. LOL I have better luck with large animal vets. Believe it or not they usually didn't become vets for money, they love animals.
The story of your rats from the pet store and shadow your first ones at 16 years of age oh my God you broke my heart I was crying, could just imagine everything you said. I love rats as pets as well and my daughter and I have 3 one year and a half aged boys boysand my Tucker, just had three tumors removed and another one died of old age two years, nine months ,so we’ve been dealing with the loss but we just got week. My daughter found 2 nine week old rats from a breeder in our area, Ali and Bruno , baby boys and they are precious and now we have hope again. Having rat sure is a whirlwind and still very worth it. Thank you for sharing your story.
And so it began...thanks for the history of the beginning. I am getting 3 girls in December. They were born Oct 15. Names will be Lyric, Rhythm and Harmony. Keeping with our passion for music.
theres a pet shop i go to because they have a area for rats that have been given up to them and i always take them bc i cant leave them there and i know they may not be best temperment but i want them to have a better life
I always get two males and when I lose one, I get two new babies and let the older lone one raise them up. I choose the first male to come to me and be really friendly, and I also take the most skittish and scared and trying to avoid me one I can find. The friendly one shows by example, and the skittish one eventually comes around. My skittish boy Raylan was afraid of everything, cowered shaking. Now, he is a lap rat and shoulder rat and loves me. I always feel like the scaredest one will be overlooked, and never find a home. So its like I rescue it in a way. I know its a sweet rat inside, but its afraid of people because of mishandling at some point. When they gain trust, its beautiful to see the true personality come through.
I've only had two so far (will be getting a new pair of babies soon & hopefully an adult who needs a home). The second one to pass did so about two weeks ago. Anyway, one of my girls was super confident & social. She loved everyone & everyone loved her. She was the family rat. Her sister was very cautious & scared easily & she tolerated the rest of the family, but she was really just MY rat. They were the best of both worlds. I loved them both, & their differences only made the whole experience more fun & interesting. I think I will use your method in a few weeks when I go get the new pair...unless there is a pair who seem to be especially bonded to each other, I'd love to keep a pair like that together. I honestly enjoyed my cautious rat just as much as my confident rat. I had a special certain bond with each girl.
Thank you for sharing this! I loved hearing about your first experiences with rats, and getting to see some video of Shadow. I'm sorry the first three all got sick; that must have been awful. I'm so glad Shadow recovered and rhat you continued to own rats! I have learned so much from your channel and gotten so much joy from watching your rats iver the years ❤😊!
Have had my girls for almost a year now. Momma started out as a breeder for feeders and ended up becoming my "rescue baby". She had 7 on her first litter and 5 got fed off. I rescued/kept 2 ;I thought they were both girls and ended up getting a surprise 4 months later (actually 2 batches of "surprises"). 4 of the boys went to a good home, and the other 4 didn't survive due to respiratory issues. The girls on the other hand are thriving and a constant source of amusement! There is a reason why a large group of them is called "a mischief"!
Shadow is a beautiful rat and your other rats too I'm so sorry the first three all got sick; that must have been awful We rescue our boys and lady rats because of that they come with a lot of health issues that is so sad getting to see some video of Shadow the rat too Thanks for your great channel god bless all your rats and you too
Great video. I had rats as friends (I won't use the term 'pets') since I was 15. My first was Tim, and my last was Nibbler. Nibbler was 4 years old before she passed on (dammit, the tears are flowing now). It's amazing how such a small lifeform can have so large an emotional impact on us. Rats are adorably cool animals. Too bad my girlfriend eschews them (and cats). You totally _rock_ girl! 😊
Since we lost 3 old girls in the last month or so, we rescued 2 babies from the feeder bin. They are still in quarantine and Chuckie is so lonely waiting for a new snuggle buddy. But one of the teenies is super sneezy/coughing idk?? She's on Baytril and Doxy but it's so hard to administer since she is not used to being handled and she won't take it from the syringe or eat from my hand yet. I hate to force it when she doesn't even know she can trust me yet, so I am as gentle as possible and give reassurance after each dose. I just hope she can learn that I give good love cuz I am hoping one of these ladies might be my new ❤.
Try mixing the medicine in some yogurt or baby food, like a fruit dessert that's sweet. I used to make the mistake of mixing the medicine in way too much yogurt or baby dessert, and then they didn't finish it. I'd say a teaspoon or so is plenty then. Make sure it's something they really like!
T^T ... omg shadow showing her belly looks so much one of mine , and i'm shocked to hear you first experiences with rats for sure it was not an easy one
I'm new to rats, all are probably from pet stores as they were given to me by ppl that nolonger wanted them. I now have 7 all since August 22. I love your posts so much. I wish my ratties had the life you give yours. But I lack confidence around them, stupid I know.
I HAD THAT SAME CAGE FOR MY RATS!!! I hated it 😭 I desperately wanted the critter nation but my mom said it was too expensive. It made me swear to never buy anything other than critter nation if I ever get rats again. My story with rats is kind of tragic so I won’t get into it (I completely understand your bad first experience). But I think I’d also love to try having girls, as I only had boys before. Anyway Esther, I love your channel and have been here for years, even before I got my rats. Thanks for always making good ratty content and for teaching people about rats!
Dude same!! I got pet store rats and throughout their 2 years of life (maybe not even that long) one of them NEVER warmed up to me no matter how hard I tried to socialize her, to the point of where I couldn't even take her out during cleaning unless I had a lucky day, and she ended up getting a tumor that was half the size of her body and I had no idea for the longest time because she always hid from me and tried to bite me. The other one wanted to be a good rat but was also nervous and died pretty quickly also. Thennnn I went to a breeder after almost being discouraged also, and LOOOOVE my super smart and sweet cuddly bred rats and they are in MUCH better health too ❤
I'm glad you shared your first ratties with us The reason I have kept rats 4 10 years now is because of my first two, Phillips and Nugget. They were amazing and I'm glad I they found me. They brought so much love to me I will always love those two New I couldn't be without them 🐀💙🐁💗
My first rat is from a pet shop called pet works and my second is from a breeder I still have them almost 3 years known there boys and healthy so I'm glad for that
I’ve just started breeding pet rats and they are so much fun! I’m hoping to find enough homes for them all! It’s a new side projects because I breed lab rats for feeders, but I’ve taken up the passion of fancy pet rat breeding and don’t want any to end up as feeder from that certain group
I’ve had rats off and on since the mid 90’s. The amount of information on rat care today is astounding compared to what there was back then, I probably would have been able to spare myself a lot of trouble had I known then what I do now. Not all of my rat groups were connected, I had a couple in middle school (90’s) and then a whole slew of them in the 2000’s. That group pretty much was an unbroken chain over several years, all of them petstore rats. Had a few more around 2012, then took a break due to a lot of moving and life changes. My recent group was only 4 boys that my husband and I had between 2019 and 2022. These were my first rats from an actual breeder and they definitely had great health and temperaments. I don’t currently have rats but I’m hoping to talk our landlady into allowing them once we’ve been here a while. I have been watching videos and looking at pictures of other people’s rats and lastnight I even dreamt about them. lol Soon hopefully!
Same here. When we got our first 3 girls, people thought we were insane for getting them. I kept telling people that they're like little dogs, they know their names, our names, each other's names, and they give you kisses and love!
I've had mice since I was a kid, but only ever had one rat. It was given to me as a gift, and neither myself nor my parents knew better on how to properly care for a rat. He ended up mean as hell and didn't live very long. It's been around 26 years since I had that rat, and after hundreds of mice, and channels like yours I'm ready to try again, this time with 3 rats a much larger holding area and a lot more research. With rats and mice, I always kept in mind: 1) They're only going to live for 2-3 years. 2) As they have shorter lifespans; you're not getting a friend for just a few years. You're their friend for their entire life. 3) It's your job to make sure their time on this earth is the best possible and to pass on your love and what you learned with them to your next generation of rats / mice.
I also just recently got a pair, and I was just holding them on my couch, but this was an older couch, so one had slipped loose and bled out because of a spring she got stuck on, or it was because she was squished, I am not sure. This was like a couple days ago this happened to her, but thankfully I am getting three more rats in a couple days, so my baby has new friends, that are also around her age. I think all I really learned from that is I'm getting a new couch, and also freeing up space so they have their own free roam room, instead of putting them in the dangers of my own natural living spaces.
My first rats were pet shop rats and I had seen them a few months before...then they were on clearance which is never a good sign for the animal. When I got close to the enclosure, the larger male who would go on to be Philly recognized me. From the first week he was pretty much my shoulder rat and we'd go outside/ to the trails and even some stores together. Went on to live 4 years, but that's totally atypical I hear.
I tried to go to a pet store and couldn't find any. Found a breeder near by and my rats are sooooo friendly have had them since 6 weeks old there about 7-8 months now and love attention lol
Yeah that’s the nerve wracking part of getting new rats - sometimes a sneeze is just them adjusting, sometimes it could mean something way worse. I’ve had other rats sneeze and sniffle a bit and it be nothing (Blueberry one of my current older girls did that when I got her, and she hasn’t had any health issues at all), but Ninja and Shadows cases were pretty awful and so that always makes me nervous whenever I see a new rat getting sneezy.
If i saw this vid before I got rats I would have freaked out cause one of my rats sneezed a ton when I got her she still does a bit but not nearly as much and its been ages so shes good :3
Please Buy from reputable rat breeders, Most my girls had Mycoplasma from the stupid pet shop even though they had a "vet" on staff. Ive lost 7 girls and one amazing fawn boy because of this. Shadow is the best and I will always take her advice.
pet store rats are fun and funny, and i know the difference between well bred rats and PTStore rats. My first two males from PTStore smelled like Dorito chips and loved to play hide and seek. rATS FROM Breeders are always wanting to come out and interact with their owner and playmore.
My first two rats are my first pets overall. I got them from my cousin who works for some lab and takes care of their lab rats, so i knew there shouldn't be much problems with their health. However, they were very shy and skittish. Being worried constantly about everything i do, it did lead to me not bonding with them, cage set up being bit eh, as well as me putting them through more stress than i should. Especially when i was going home from uni for like a week and had to take them with me, they really didn't make things easy back then (as well as said cage setup) Currently they did learn to tolerate me more or less, won't really let me handle them but i think they are more or less aware i'm not there to hurt them. There are some systems i've worked out with how they are, like when i need to get them out of the cage i just wait for both to be in sputnik, then i can gently take it out with both of them inside. While it is a stressful experience and i wish i could've done more for their lives to be better, they are my first rats and first pets, so i think i've still done better than most people who wouldn't even put much research into it in the first place. I did learn from my mistakes and when i get a new rat or two next month (my cage is up to 4 rats) i really hope to give them all best life i can
i had rats from a petshop and they were extremly scared of people and they had helth probloms , second time i got them from a hardwere store and they were rlly frendly ( i got 3 but i was scared of me at first )
I've almost always gotten rats that were basically accidental litters from people on Facebook or people I know so it's basically been a crap shoot on their temperament or health. However, I have been pretty lucky for the most part and have had some really good rats who have only gotten sick kinda naturally as they have gotten to the end of their lives. I did have one random girl die very young for pretty much no reason. I think it's very possible she had a heart condition because it was SO sudden and she was perfectly fine the day before. I was so upset because she was barely 6 months old. I still have one of her sisters and now I have three more girls that I got to keep my last girl company. I do wish I had the chance to see that girl grow up tho because she was the sweetest out of that bunch. Her sister that's still alive is still pretty sweet tho. I know she's gonna eventually be going soon tho because she's about 2 years I think now and does have some mammary tumors..but she's been doing pretty well despite that so unless she takes a huge downturn in health, I will just make the rest of her life the best I can!
Just got my first rats! Rosemary my Albino from petco, and Thyme my black and white from a breeder. Except on day 3 I was filling their food bowl like I do everyday and Out of NOWHERE rosemary just bites me. Not mouthing, draws blood kind of bites. Thyme saw that and is now doing it too. I tried treats and talking, I've given them their space but everything i do for them they'll lunge at me and bite me! Its making me frusterated and I'm trying to be gracious since they're still young but I don't know If I can do this much longer. Can you tell me any possible sollutions? I'm guessing rosemary is just scared or something, since she does it way more than Thyme does. (Thyme only did it twice) and she's shaking and jitterey and breathing quickly a lot. I want the best for them, but I also want to give up and return them. What am I doing wrong?
I have 3 pet rats that I claim I rescued though they were bought from a breeder. Nothing wrong with the breeder they take very good care of their animals, it’s just that my fiancé bought a couple rats as food for his pet python. We brought 2 brown hooded rats home and he fed one to his snake but I was told I needed to take care of the other one for a week before he could feed his snake the next one. Well… I fell in love. It started eating from my hand and running up to me when I came to see it like it was excited. I was always finding myself happy to see this rat so jumpy and making cute little clicking sounds. She eventually started walking up into my hands and would perch on my shoulder. I would just let her sit there. I told my fiancé that I think I’ve fallen in love with this rat and I really want to keep it. He wasn’t about it but I kept begging him. Eventually I got him warmed up to the idea by showing him how cute it was when she would munch on sunflower seeds and various goodies and he started to like her too. And then he finally caved when she ran up his arm and perched on his shoulder to eat a small piece of walnut. His mom ended up bringing me a big old bird cage and I bought a hammock from the store and did all the research I could. Found that rats have to have a friend because they will get lonely so I went back to the breeder and got another 2 rats. An albino and a Russian blue. I was told they were both girls but the albino was a boy and this made me sad. Eventually I ended up with an albino girl and now I have 3. The Hooded brown rat is Quitela, the Russian blue is Supernova, and my albino baby is Ruby Tuesday. ❤ had them for almost a year now.
And for some added info they are not in the bird cage anymore I now have them staying in a quite large $300 double decker sugar glider cage now that could easily fit about 6-8 rats in there no problem.
I agree with you but last time I got my ratties from a breeder was a horror story she told me the were from her but homed and given back she lied about their ages by a year my vet said they were already 2 years old or close to it my one nibbles I only had two months he passed away we had a necropsy done he has leassions on his lungs that of an old rat plus other health issues did rt have his brother much longer contacted the breeder she said my vet was lying and offered to sell me two more 😢
My brother got his two rats from a pet shop, I got my two from a rescue, and oh. my. god the difference is INSANE. He's had his for a few months now, on the way home they bit my dad, couple days later they bit my mum, and they've bitten him more than a few times - one time so bad there was blood dripping all down the stairs and all over the kitchen. They still aren't brave enough to come outside and he can't bring them out of the cage. On the other hand, my girls have been here for 3 days. On the first day, I grabbed them and put them in my hoodie pocket (I know, I should have left them alone - I was just too excited) and not only did they not bite when I grabbed them, they fell asleep for hours in there. Second day, they ran onto my hand for treats. By the third day, I could lean my hoodie pocket into the cage and they would run over and crawl inside. They spend HOURS with me, I take them downstairs, make dinner with them, do homework with them. They crawl onto my laptop and run back to me when they get scared, they sit on my shoulder, under my hair, in the crook of my arm - they're so sweet and friendly. They were a bit more expensive but 10000% worth it IMO! If anyone's on the fence, definitely adopt
My gf and I got 4 rats at a family owned pet store Tulip(6weeks) is fine she's a dog but pocket sized, lilac(5weeks) is a love bug but has come down with the sniffles her medicine has been helping, (in our separate cage) Chow(4weeks) has been very skiddish since we got him and he had a pretty bad sneeze that came on 2 days after we got him, the meds are helping but hes at 120 breaths pre minute, while the other 2 girls are sitting around 90-100. We lost Bean(4 weeks)30 grams less than chow) a week and a half after we got him and it was crushing, we woke up and he was at 260 breaths per minute i had to count off a slowed down video I took. Brought him to the vet within hours and gave him medicine from the vet and I stayed up till 4am with him cuz he wanted to sit on my neck when i set him down in the cage to go lay down for bed i did more research and came across someone saying there rat was dying and only wanted to be held, and i got a bad feeling so i wanted to stay up with him i was back to the rat room half an hour after setting him down and he was on the net motionless but still warm, i fucking hate myself so much for leaving him in his final moments its a week later and im at work crying typing this out because it feels nice to share it, but the loss is still so hard we got some closure burying him but i still cant forgive myself for leaving him alone, I feel sick to my stomach every day that i have to go give medicine to the other babies because of my anxiety with bean. I posted the video of Bean breathing heavily for awareness because i feel like there is a serious lack of rat health help online, and its a hunt to find anything helpful online.
IAM so sad I asked for 2 girls rats .for my other 2 sisters rattail and claw..the new girls 8 months to I realise 3 weeks later I realised my rattail and claw is pregnant and the girls are boys and the boys one brother attacked his brother and I separated each other he so secard griffindor of ravenclaw and griffindor won't let me hold him he secard IAM secard are they brothers
Ive owned a lot of rats. ( I prefer male rats) Ive had my best luck at reptile stores. They raise healthy rats. Best rats will pick you when you stick your hand in the cage. The least fearful rat will come check you out. He or she will be a better rat than one chased down.
Lost my furbaby today. He was last of ten years of lineage. He jumped out of his cage and could almost get on my bed so I helped him and then he died. Hurts. Done with helping bring lives into this world by breeding them or pet store. Please adopt. These are the sweetest animal you will ever meet. Thanks. Thanks to the late Shadow
Sorry for your loss x
Thank You Kitt. ❤
Mad respect for admitting that you didn't do enough research when getting your first rats! We've almost all been there. I made the same mistake with my gerbils. Did some research but not enough and ended up with a broken bond and big mess. I did learn though and ended up really enjoying them for the years we were together. I now research every potential pet to death.
Videos like this really help shed light on the mistakes that can be made, but also the progress that can be achieved through a willingness to learn. Thanks for sharing!
We all been there. I bought my first rat because they have huge testicles. Figured it would gross people out. Didn't know how awesome they are.
I have had rats for almost 30 years. It's always sad when they pass, but always worth it to get more. Thanks for your great channel. 🙃🐁🐀
If you think about it you have a addiction
@TheOnlyKontrol if you think about it you should shut up because you're not helpful. Hopefully that didn't come off as rude
@@TheOnlyKontrol You should get some. Don't get just one. Happy Thanksgiving. 🙃
@@Drewski777 that was rude
Do you have a coping skill you practice when they pass?
My rats are such a massive source of joy and yet they stress me out so much :') just like you said, the medical emergencies are absolutely heartbreaking
The difference I have seen in the 6 pet rats from the pet store and the three dwarf rats I have now from a breeder is incredible. The dwarfs have had practically no health scares and are already two years and four months while still acting like only year old rats. I wouldn't ever go back to getting them from the pet store.
Thank God for your mother's support. My first Guinea Pig it seems I failed in almost every way but love. My family immediately was unsupportive because he reminded them of a rat and perhaps the first time I heard the word "repulsive". He did live a reasonably long life but when he died and I was devastated I thought I might never have pets again. Many years later I suffered severe depression over Alex, but built a rocking horse in his honour who I hoped to be a companion forever. I had the strength I felt to have another pet and saw a rat up for adoption on the tv. I had never seen one before there B4. I didn't know if I could go through with it so I didn't even have a cage for her when I brought her home. She had the good sense to stay put in the squirrel den I had built for the squirrels where I lived while I went up the street to get a modest aquarium. Later I got a bigger cage. I just wanted to save a life, and surely I did a better job than with Alex and I found a vet for her and she was a wonderful pet who had just learned to jump from the floor onto my lap in my chair. Then my dad threw myself out and I had to spend one night with her in a homeless shelter against the rules before returning her to the humane society where I was in tears as I filled out a form on which I was told to refer to her as a cat. I named her Devin Rose which in my study of names I much later learned that "Rose" can mean "horse". My new place informed me it would probably not be a problem to have a rat, but after I purchased one made me also take her to the humane society. So eventually I got guinea pigs again. I am forever thankful for my rats and guinea pigs. I feel guinea pigs and other rodents benefit from the undeserved stigma of rats. I pray that rats might one day receive their rightful respect and love and that all rodents may receive the love and respect due them.
I've now sworn off pharmaceuticals because of animal experimentation while my food stamps won't even pay for tea to help my insomnia.
God bless you. I greatly value the beautiful painting Donut made and I was sorry to hear of Donuts passing.
Thank you for all you've done to bring awareness to these wonderful creatures.
Animal so-called 'research' is scientifically INVALID, killing both the animals, and the humans, plus sociopaths, and psychopaths go into fields where they are free to harm, and do as they please. Serial killers start out torturing animals, and BIG PHARMA is all about $$$$$$$$$$. They certainly do not care about humans in any way, shape, nor form or else they would practice legitimate scientific studies, NEVER involving animals. I know a whole lot about this particular subject.😮😢
I'm so sorry about Ninja. I had a similar situation with one of my groups. I got 4 boys and one of them was really sick after coming home to me. All the rest was fine, but Ghost was sick and weak for quite a few days (I also took him to vet after a day cause I thought those were just sneezes), and for a good while after that he was much smaller than his twin brother. Fortunately he made it to full recovery and later on grew to be a huge beautiful chunk of a rat.
Thanks for sharing this with us.. I had a similar experience with pet shop rats, in that they really do not know what they are dealing with as they deal with them very infrequently. I started out actually with a very young wild rat that I had reovered from a glue trap - he was stuck with his nose in the trap and I'm sure he hated me from pulling him out of it as his whiskers were stuck in it.. I had to pull him very slowly out and wait for him to separate from the trap without ripping anything out, it would have been painful, but he survived it, rather than dying horribly in it. He was a classic brown rat that you see out in the wild and around the house. The land lady Sarah was receptive to him as she used to keep rats before this, I had not. She said he had to have a friend as they are social animals, I ended up getting a white boy rat [Albert] as company for the escapist - who I called Houdini, it turned out to be an excellent name for him as he was always escaping.. so many hours fretting over where he was and then trying to catch him - the wild never left him. Albert unfortunately ended up getting Mycoplasmosis which I knew nothing of, nor did Sarah as she said she'd never seen anything like it, it took his life very quickly, but Houdini ended up being unaffected as it probably was in his wild dna to resist this disease. I got another rat - this time a black one named Oscar, but this time from a breeder.. Sarah also got two rats, girls... one night after a few glasses of wine Sarah let the boys and the girls play together.. Now mature aged Houdini wasted no time at all in jumping Daisy's bones and then Rosy's bones too.. the little devil was going for it!! Out of that Daisy ended up with 9 brown ratties, and Rosy had none. Then another night after another few glasses of wine Sarah let Oscar play with the girls along with Houdini.. my god.. they do not waste any time with flowers and other trivialities... straight at it.. so another 6 rats... this time hooded ratties and two beautiful black girl rats. All of them were great but the brown ratties were a little older than the hooded ratties but they were happy to be with each other.. it was a big mob. What I found though was that the brownies were more resistant and the hooded ones - which seemed to have got infected from Albert's condition - had persistent visitation from Mycoplasmosis, treatment was required frequently for them with Doxycyclin and Enrofloxacin... it was expensive, what was frustrating was to get a vet appointment in time to nip the problem in the bud with them, as the Mycoplasmosis seemed to rip into them so very quickly and if you did not belt it on the head the second you detected it then it was hard to kill and hard for the rats to recover from it, timing is critical and you should always have drugs on hand, administered immediately if you hear persistent sneezing, coughing or if the rats start audibly talking, most important!!. Surprisingly though the oldest in the end was a brownie girl named Jewels.. she lived to 3 years where the others got mammary tumours or succumbed to Mycoplasmosis, I cried with the death of every one of them - me, a then 59 years old man.. they make space in your heart and then leave a huge hole when they leave. Despite this and about 6 months after the last of the boy ratties had died - I adopted another rat of a friend named Zap and he lived for another month after Jewels died, I'm sure he missed her, he was a good deal older than I was told as he'd gone boney despite good feed and medications as and when required, including a vitamin B shot administered by the vet. He in the end succumbed to Myco as well. I waited 6 months after Zap passed to get another mob of rats, this time 9 of them, 5 boys and 4 girls from a breeder located 3 hours away.. she said she'd bred the Myco out of them... nope.. they may have had some resistance but not enough.. it took about 6 months and they too get coughs and talk audibly, the difference now is I have the meds on hand and immediately dose them if I think they're affected. Another thing I am doing is feeding them cut oranges and mandarins, which they love. They don't eat the skins and neither the boys nor the girls seem to be affected by it.. I was told they should not eat citrus allegedly due to cancer of the kidneys for the boys, but that is falsely based on lab testing results for citrus oil which is in the skin of the fruit - they do not eat that, ever. So, yes, rats from breeders are recommended, but make sure the breeder has a good reputation before you get rats, lest you have a lot of bills and heartache to go with it.
God bless you!
I am so sorry for Ninja. And you! You must have been shocked! I lost one of my rats on his 21st day with me on New Year's Day!
that was rad sad and rat beautiful thank you for sharing, i loved the implication that shadow the rat is named after shadow the hedgehog, incredible lore
This video made me cry lol it was so sweet and informative. It also made me so excited to recover from my break of owning hamsters because they face so many similar problems to rats (short life spans, minimal exotic vets in the area, easily stressed in a detrimental way). There's so much to learn about keeping rodents and its such a case by case basis. Thank you for sharing your stories and experiences xoxo :^] wishing you and all the girls well
Yeah I cry so much when my babies pass. Big tough old jarhead. LOL I have better luck with large animal vets. Believe it or not they usually didn't become vets for money, they love animals.
Shadow was so cute. She knew you loved her and was fighting for her to live.
The story of your rats from the pet store and shadow your first ones at 16 years of age oh my God you broke my heart I was crying, could just imagine everything you said. I love rats as pets as well and my daughter and I have 3 one year and a half aged boys boysand my Tucker, just had three tumors removed and another one died of old age two years, nine months ,so we’ve been dealing with the loss but we just got week. My daughter found 2 nine week old rats from a breeder in our area, Ali and Bruno , baby boys and they are precious and now we have hope again. Having rat sure is a whirlwind and still very worth it. Thank you for sharing your story.
The little slideshow showing how all your rats were comnected fo each other in some way really got to me, thats so sweet
And so it began...thanks for the history of the beginning. I am getting 3 girls in December. They were born Oct 15. Names will be Lyric, Rhythm and Harmony. Keeping with our passion for music.
I got my two rats from a rescue place and I agree all the breeders and rescues are on Facebook no idea why
theres a pet shop i go to because they have a area for rats that have been given up to them and i always take them bc i cant leave them there and i know they may not be best temperment but i want them to have a better life
I always get two males and when I lose one, I get two new babies and let the older lone one raise them up. I choose the first male to come to me and be really friendly, and I also take the most skittish and scared and trying to avoid me one I can find. The friendly one shows by example, and the skittish one eventually comes around. My skittish boy Raylan was afraid of everything, cowered shaking. Now, he is a lap rat and shoulder rat and loves me. I always feel like the scaredest one will be overlooked, and never find a home. So its like I rescue it in a way. I know its a sweet rat inside, but its afraid of people because of mishandling at some point. When they gain trust, its beautiful to see the true personality come through.
I've only had two so far (will be getting a new pair of babies soon & hopefully an adult who needs a home). The second one to pass did so about two weeks ago.
Anyway, one of my girls was super confident & social. She loved everyone & everyone loved her. She was the family rat. Her sister was very cautious & scared easily & she tolerated the rest of the family, but she was really just MY rat.
They were the best of both worlds. I loved them both, & their differences only made the whole experience more fun & interesting.
I think I will use your method in a few weeks when I go get the new pair...unless there is a pair who seem to be especially bonded to each other, I'd love to keep a pair like that together.
I honestly enjoyed my cautious rat just as much as my confident rat. I had a special certain bond with each girl.
Thank you for sharing this! I loved hearing about your first experiences with rats, and getting to see some video of Shadow. I'm sorry the first three all got sick; that must have been awful. I'm so glad Shadow recovered and rhat you continued to own rats! I have learned so much from your channel and gotten so much joy from watching your rats iver the years ❤😊!
Have had my girls for almost a year now. Momma started out as a breeder for feeders and ended up becoming my "rescue baby". She had 7 on her first litter and 5 got fed off.
I rescued/kept 2 ;I thought they were both girls and ended up getting a surprise 4 months later (actually 2 batches of "surprises"). 4 of the boys went to a good home, and the other 4 didn't survive due to respiratory issues. The girls on the other hand are thriving and a constant source of amusement! There is a reason why a large group of them is called "a mischief"!
Shadow is a beautiful rat and your other rats too
I'm so sorry the first three all got sick; that must have been awful
We rescue our boys and lady rats because of that they come with a lot of health issues that is so sad
getting to see some video of Shadow the rat too
Thanks for your great channel god bless all your rats and you too
Great video. I had rats as friends (I won't use the term 'pets') since I was 15. My first was Tim, and my last was Nibbler. Nibbler was 4 years old before she passed on (dammit, the tears are flowing now). It's amazing how such a small lifeform can have so large an emotional impact on us. Rats are adorably cool animals. Too bad my girlfriend eschews them (and cats). You totally _rock_ girl! 😊
Since we lost 3 old girls in the last month or so, we rescued 2 babies from the feeder bin. They are still in quarantine and Chuckie is so lonely waiting for a new snuggle buddy. But one of the teenies is super sneezy/coughing idk?? She's on Baytril and Doxy but it's so hard to administer since she is not used to being handled and she won't take it from the syringe or eat from my hand yet. I hate to force it when she doesn't even know she can trust me yet, so I am as gentle as possible and give reassurance after each dose. I just hope she can learn that I give good love cuz I am hoping one of these ladies might be my new ❤.
Try mixing the medicine in some yogurt or baby food, like a fruit dessert that's sweet. I used to make the mistake of mixing the medicine in way too much yogurt or baby dessert, and then they didn't finish it. I'd say a teaspoon or so is plenty then. Make sure it's something they really like!
T^T ... omg shadow showing her belly looks so much one of mine , and i'm shocked to hear you first experiences with rats for sure it was not an easy one
I'm new to rats, all are probably from pet stores as they were given to me by ppl that nolonger wanted them.
I now have 7 all since August 22.
I love your posts so much.
I wish my ratties had the life you give yours.
But I lack confidence around them, stupid I know.
I HAD THAT SAME CAGE FOR MY RATS!!! I hated it 😭 I desperately wanted the critter nation but my mom said it was too expensive. It made me swear to never buy anything other than critter nation if I ever get rats again. My story with rats is kind of tragic so I won’t get into it (I completely understand your bad first experience). But I think I’d also love to try having girls, as I only had boys before. Anyway Esther, I love your channel and have been here for years, even before I got my rats. Thanks for always making good ratty content and for teaching people about rats!
Dude same!! I got pet store rats and throughout their 2 years of life (maybe not even that long) one of them NEVER warmed up to me no matter how hard I tried to socialize her, to the point of where I couldn't even take her out during cleaning unless I had a lucky day, and she ended up getting a tumor that was half the size of her body and I had no idea for the longest time because she always hid from me and tried to bite me. The other one wanted to be a good rat but was also nervous and died pretty quickly also. Thennnn I went to a breeder after almost being discouraged also, and LOOOOVE my super smart and sweet cuddly bred rats and they are in MUCH better health too ❤
Thanks for sharing your origin story with us. ❤
I'm glad you shared your first ratties with us The reason I have kept rats 4 10 years now is because of my first two, Phillips and Nugget. They were amazing and I'm glad I they found me. They brought so much love to me I will always love those two New I couldn't be without them 🐀💙🐁💗
My first rat is from a pet shop called pet works and my second is from a breeder I still have them almost 3 years known there boys and healthy so I'm glad for that
Rare footage of Shadow the Rat cursing. Also, who is Geral Diamond?
I’ve just started breeding pet rats and they are so much fun! I’m hoping to find enough homes for them all! It’s a new side projects because I breed lab rats for feeders, but I’ve taken up the passion of fancy pet rat breeding and don’t want any to end up as feeder from that certain group
I’ve had rats off and on since the mid 90’s. The amount of information on rat care today is astounding compared to what there was back then, I probably would have been able to spare myself a lot of trouble had I known then what I do now.
Not all of my rat groups were connected, I had a couple in middle school (90’s) and then a whole slew of them in the 2000’s. That group pretty much was an unbroken chain over several years, all of them petstore rats. Had a few more around 2012, then took a break due to a lot of moving and life changes.
My recent group was only 4 boys that my husband and I had between 2019 and 2022. These were my first rats from an actual breeder and they definitely had great health and temperaments.
I don’t currently have rats but I’m hoping to talk our landlady into allowing them once we’ve been here a while. I have been watching videos and looking at pictures of other people’s rats and lastnight I even dreamt about them. lol Soon hopefully!
Same here. When we got our first 3 girls, people thought we were insane for getting them. I kept telling people that they're like little dogs, they know their names, our names, each other's names, and they give you kisses and love!
Lost my rat harlow over3yrs old bless her.i do miss her
Rip
Harlow ❤️❤️
I've had mice since I was a kid, but only ever had one rat. It was given to me as a gift, and neither myself nor my parents knew better on how to properly care for a rat. He ended up mean as hell and didn't live very long.
It's been around 26 years since I had that rat, and after hundreds of mice, and channels like yours I'm ready to try again, this time with 3 rats a much larger holding area and a lot more research.
With rats and mice, I always kept in mind:
1) They're only going to live for 2-3 years.
2) As they have shorter lifespans; you're not getting a friend for just a few years. You're their friend for their entire life.
3) It's your job to make sure their time on this earth is the best possible and to pass on your love and what you learned with them to your next generation of rats / mice.
I think all of us make mistakes with our first mischiefs! I know I did, I am doing much better now.
just curious have you heard anything about Meatball after you found him a home ? ❤
I also just recently got a pair, and I was just holding them on my couch, but this was an older couch, so one had slipped loose and bled out because of a spring she got stuck on, or it was because she was squished, I am not sure. This was like a couple days ago this happened to her, but thankfully I am getting three more rats in a couple days, so my baby has new friends, that are also around her age. I think all I really learned from that is I'm getting a new couch, and also freeing up space so they have their own free roam room, instead of putting them in the dangers of my own natural living spaces.
My first rats were pet shop rats and I had seen them a few months before...then they were on clearance which is never a good sign for the animal. When I got close to the enclosure, the larger male who would go on to be Philly recognized me. From the first week he was pretty much my shoulder rat and we'd go outside/ to the trails and even some stores together. Went on to live 4 years, but that's totally atypical I hear.
0:18 my rat snuffles was the same colour pattern he also passed early :(
I tried to go to a pet store and couldn't find any. Found a breeder near by and my rats are sooooo friendly have had them since 6 weeks old there about 7-8 months now and love attention lol
One of my littlest rats sneezed a ton, but it was only the first few days in their new cage.
Yeah that’s the nerve wracking part of getting new rats - sometimes a sneeze is just them adjusting, sometimes it could mean something way worse. I’ve had other rats sneeze and sniffle a bit and it be nothing (Blueberry one of my current older girls did that when I got her, and she hasn’t had any health issues at all), but Ninja and Shadows cases were pretty awful and so that always makes me nervous whenever I see a new rat getting sneezy.
Thanks :D@@ShadowTheRat
If i saw this vid before I got rats I would have freaked out cause one of my rats sneezed a ton when I got her she still does a bit but not nearly as much and its been ages so shes good :3
Please Buy from reputable rat breeders, Most my girls had Mycoplasma from the stupid pet shop even though they had a "vet" on staff. Ive lost 7 girls and one amazing fawn boy because of this. Shadow is the best and I will always take her advice.
Awe I love Sonic’s color❤️
pet store rats are fun and funny, and i know the difference between well bred rats and PTStore rats. My first two males from PTStore smelled like Dorito chips and loved to play hide and seek. rATS FROM Breeders are always wanting to come out and interact with their owner and playmore.
Your girls look so sweet. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Your mom is awesome! Sorry about ninja.
Remarkable Ratty Mom 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
What do u use for liquid treats in your rat training videos???
My first two rats are my first pets overall. I got them from my cousin who works for some lab and takes care of their lab rats, so i knew there shouldn't be much problems with their health.
However, they were very shy and skittish. Being worried constantly about everything i do, it did lead to me not bonding with them, cage set up being bit eh, as well as me putting them through more stress than i should. Especially when i was going home from uni for like a week and had to take them with me, they really didn't make things easy back then (as well as said cage setup)
Currently they did learn to tolerate me more or less, won't really let me handle them but i think they are more or less aware i'm not there to hurt them. There are some systems i've worked out with how they are, like when i need to get them out of the cage i just wait for both to be in sputnik, then i can gently take it out with both of them inside.
While it is a stressful experience and i wish i could've done more for their lives to be better, they are my first rats and first pets, so i think i've still done better than most people who wouldn't even put much research into it in the first place. I did learn from my mistakes and when i get a new rat or two next month (my cage is up to 4 rats) i really hope to give them all best life i can
i had rats from a petshop and they were extremly scared of people and they had helth probloms , second time i got them from a hardwere store and they were rlly frendly ( i got 3 but i was scared of me at first )
I've almost always gotten rats that were basically accidental litters from people on Facebook or people I know so it's basically been a crap shoot on their temperament or health. However, I have been pretty lucky for the most part and have had some really good rats who have only gotten sick kinda naturally as they have gotten to the end of their lives. I did have one random girl die very young for pretty much no reason. I think it's very possible she had a heart condition because it was SO sudden and she was perfectly fine the day before. I was so upset because she was barely 6 months old. I still have one of her sisters and now I have three more girls that I got to keep my last girl company. I do wish I had the chance to see that girl grow up tho because she was the sweetest out of that bunch. Her sister that's still alive is still pretty sweet tho. I know she's gonna eventually be going soon tho because she's about 2 years I think now and does have some mammary tumors..but she's been doing pretty well despite that so unless she takes a huge downturn in health, I will just make the rest of her life the best I can!
Just got my first rats! Rosemary my Albino from petco, and Thyme my black and white from a breeder. Except on day 3 I was filling their food bowl like I do everyday and Out of NOWHERE rosemary just bites me. Not mouthing, draws blood kind of bites. Thyme saw that and is now doing it too. I tried treats and talking, I've given them their space but everything i do for them they'll lunge at me and bite me! Its making me frusterated and I'm trying to be gracious since they're still young but I don't know If I can do this much longer. Can you tell me any possible sollutions? I'm guessing rosemary is just scared or something, since she does it way more than Thyme does. (Thyme only did it twice) and she's shaking and jitterey and breathing quickly a lot. I want the best for them, but I also want to give up and return them. What am I doing wrong?
I have 3 pet rats that I claim I rescued though they were bought from a breeder. Nothing wrong with the breeder they take very good care of their animals, it’s just that my fiancé bought a couple rats as food for his pet python. We brought 2 brown hooded rats home and he fed one to his snake but I was told I needed to take care of the other one for a week before he could feed his snake the next one. Well… I fell in love. It started eating from my hand and running up to me when I came to see it like it was excited. I was always finding myself happy to see this rat so jumpy and making cute little clicking sounds. She eventually started walking up into my hands and would perch on my shoulder. I would just let her sit there. I told my fiancé that I think I’ve fallen in love with this rat and I really want to keep it. He wasn’t about it but I kept begging him. Eventually I got him warmed up to the idea by showing him how cute it was when she would munch on sunflower seeds and various goodies and he started to like her too. And then he finally caved when she ran up his arm and perched on his shoulder to eat a small piece of walnut. His mom ended up bringing me a big old bird cage and I bought a hammock from the store and did all the research I could. Found that rats have to have a friend because they will get lonely so I went back to the breeder and got another 2 rats. An albino and a Russian blue. I was told they were both girls but the albino was a boy and this made me sad. Eventually I ended up with an albino girl and now I have 3. The Hooded brown rat is Quitela, the Russian blue is Supernova, and my albino baby is Ruby Tuesday. ❤ had them for almost a year now.
And for some added info they are not in the bird cage anymore I now have them staying in a quite large $300 double decker sugar glider cage now that could easily fit about 6-8 rats in there no problem.
My rats are way smaller than those, am I doing something wrong? They’re about 2 months old btw
I agree with you but last time I got my ratties from a breeder was a horror story she told me the were from her but homed and given back she lied about their ages by a year my vet said they were already 2 years old or close to it my one nibbles I only had two months he passed away we had a necropsy done he has leassions on his lungs that of an old rat plus other health issues did rt have his brother much longer contacted the breeder she said my vet was lying and offered to sell me two more 😢
My brother got his two rats from a pet shop, I got my two from a rescue, and oh. my. god the difference is INSANE. He's had his for a few months now, on the way home they bit my dad, couple days later they bit my mum, and they've bitten him more than a few times - one time so bad there was blood dripping all down the stairs and all over the kitchen. They still aren't brave enough to come outside and he can't bring them out of the cage.
On the other hand, my girls have been here for 3 days. On the first day, I grabbed them and put them in my hoodie pocket (I know, I should have left them alone - I was just too excited) and not only did they not bite when I grabbed them, they fell asleep for hours in there. Second day, they ran onto my hand for treats. By the third day, I could lean my hoodie pocket into the cage and they would run over and crawl inside. They spend HOURS with me, I take them downstairs, make dinner with them, do homework with them. They crawl onto my laptop and run back to me when they get scared, they sit on my shoulder, under my hair, in the crook of my arm - they're so sweet and friendly.
They were a bit more expensive but 10000% worth it IMO! If anyone's on the fence, definitely adopt
🥹So sweet.
My gf and I got 4 rats at a family owned pet store Tulip(6weeks) is fine she's a dog but pocket sized, lilac(5weeks) is a love bug but has come down with the sniffles her medicine has been helping, (in our separate cage) Chow(4weeks) has been very skiddish since we got him and he had a pretty bad sneeze that came on 2 days after we got him, the meds are helping but hes at 120 breaths pre minute, while the other 2 girls are sitting around 90-100. We lost Bean(4 weeks)30 grams less than chow) a week and a half after we got him and it was crushing, we woke up and he was at 260 breaths per minute i had to count off a slowed down video I took. Brought him to the vet within hours and gave him medicine from the vet and I stayed up till 4am with him cuz he wanted to sit on my neck when i set him down in the cage to go lay down for bed i did more research and came across someone saying there rat was dying and only wanted to be held, and i got a bad feeling so i wanted to stay up with him i was back to the rat room half an hour after setting him down and he was on the net motionless but still warm, i fucking hate myself so much for leaving him in his final moments its a week later and im at work crying typing this out because it feels nice to share it, but the loss is still so hard we got some closure burying him but i still cant forgive myself for leaving him alone, I feel sick to my stomach every day that i have to go give medicine to the other babies because of my anxiety with bean. I posted the video of Bean breathing heavily for awareness because i feel like there is a serious lack of rat health help online, and its a hunt to find anything helpful online.
I wish my girls were easier to train 🙈 they just wanna run around
Sweet snuggly beans.
IAM so sad I asked for 2 girls rats .for my other 2 sisters rattail and claw..the new girls 8 months to I realise 3 weeks later I realised my rattail and claw is pregnant and the girls are boys and the boys one brother attacked his brother and I separated each other he so secard griffindor of ravenclaw and griffindor won't let me hold him he secard IAM secard are they brothers
❤❤❤❤❤❤
Ive owned a lot of rats. ( I prefer male rats) Ive had my best luck at reptile stores. They raise healthy rats. Best rats will pick you when you stick your hand in the cage. The least fearful rat will come check you out. He or she will be a better rat than one chased down.
Woaw impression j ai des rats et j essaye de les dresser c'est fascinant
After this kind of experience I think I would never have rats☹️
That is okay, this is your choice! No body need to forced you.😊
I live rats i actually have four pet rats
Huh. Owning pet rats is completely illegal where I’m from.
Where are you from? Let me guess Europe
Animal lovers are not supporting breeders.
So you should make sure you get you pet rat from a mouse breeder and not a mouth breather. Bamboozled again!
Good video. I get mine from the chicken coop
Perfect