Rats!

I had a male a while ago, about 4 years now

R.I.P. Sunny

 

How long do Rats live under good circumstances?

 

I can't handle loosing loved ones so quickly, that's why I stopped having rabbits... :/

 

I used to have rats. Absolutely love 'em. They have personalities that rival dogs/cats. Mine were usually content to sleep on my shoulder, occasionally shoving their noses into my ear our exploring the contents of my pockets.


I think their life span under good circumstances is like 3-5 years or so, which sucks

 

If you want something that lives long get yourself a turtle

 

Used to had one some years ago, found her as a baby norway rat on the street one berlin night and took her in - she took over the shared apartment. Cute and ultrasmart little rogue she was, always whistling for food and entertainment, doing high wire acts just for fun, scaring the shit out of unprepared visitors or transfixing people by sleeping on their lap.
She died after almost 6 years as a grey senior veteran and a whole bunch of people attended her funeral,
R.I.P., RiffRaff - still miss you dearly!

 

I would love to have rats but we have 3 cats at home plus my mom and sister are scared of rats so I'll have to wait till I move out

btw @mike generic I loveyour choise in name's

 

Or a smartass human....

 

- me too!!!

 

awesome name but yeah finding pet names IS fun our three cats are named after jungle book figures (mowgli, shanti, balou) and when I get a rat I'll call him/her rabies

 

oh yes, naming pets can be pretty freakin' funny. we've got one hannibal and one lecter in our rat colony (because they preferred human fingers as food instead of vegetables/fruits in the beginning ). we're some kind of rat shelter, currently five ones. amazing living beings!

 

Out of interest - do rats still interact with humans if they are kept in numbers/clans/colonies?

 

what are you up to, comrade pied piper?

As far as I remember the wild ones have a very territorial system of hunting/foraging grounds, sometimes organized with a pascha ruling over a number of female held areas, sometimes a whole clan defends it's territory against strangers - very social amongst themselves, some reports described cooperative and collective behavior, but outsiders will most likely driven off or hunted down.

 

the ones we've got at the moment are very... human-friendly. especially if human has got food in his hands.

although they are not THAT fixed on humans, they do not only know every part of the family, but are very social and tame, regarding us more as a part of the mini-tribe than just as 'giants that will bring food daily'

 

Nothing in perticular - and we have the feline, guess she would be veeery happy if we give it a chance...
But in rememberance of RiffRaff's devotion to almost everybody within reach and especially the regular whistling "call for the refrigator" in the morning, or the "do-something-i'm-bored" call - I still wonder how much she tamed the bipedals to bring food... or do entertainment.
And I still think that she learned to "open" eggs by rolling them off the table or the sideboard with intent!

 

I don't own rats but I love them oh so fucking very much...