What inspired YOU to get Rats?

[StoicNate]

I'm asking this to know why rat owners own rats. What inspired you to get rats?

I'm inspired to get a couple of rats because of a girl in one of my college classes.
She brought her 2 female rats to class one day in a small carrier. I thought it was awesome.
The rats were so playful and that really got me thinking of getting some for myself.

How about you?

 

[mia9_28]

My cousin had two rats and my mom had met them and held them and told me all about it. I wanted one after, go figure. Plus, I had never had much luck with hamsters... so I got my first rat and loved it.. got two more after he passed away and plan on having many more in the future!

 

[chelshorsegirl]

I wanted pets. Dog and Cat deposits on houses where ridiculous, so I started researching small animals obsessively. Rats sounded like the optimum small animal. So I started poking around here, and fell in love even more. Eventually I found a good cage for a good price, contacted eagle who lives near me, and the rest is history. I love my boys

 

[victoria]

The kids I babysat got rats. They'd been talking about them for months and I would reply, "Great... I hear they're good pets but definitely not my thing...". Five minutes after I met their rats I was in love! I told the family I was going to get some (I was looking for a companion animal at the time and they fit my life at the moment) and they laughed. Two weeks later they were a little shocked I got two and speechless when we spoke earlier this year and I mentioned I was up to 10. (Ten is my all time maximum number, I have seven right now and I'm trying to stay in the 5-8 rat range.)

 

[KatTheHippie]

My best friend, who I practically lived with as a kid, brought home a pair of rats. I had had hamsters and gerbils, and though they're adorable and loveable, I fell in love with how intelligent rats were once I met Reeses and Pieces. After I brought home Bennigan and Winky, the rest was history.

 

[Unepuce]

Was all a complete coincidence for me - a friend of mine found one outside and tried to convince me to take him for a year and half - of course I wanted nothing to do with it :emb:

Then one day, I decided to hold and and see - the very next weekend, Container was moving to my place.

 

[hprats]

I'd been wanting another pet for at least a year. I did a lot of research about rabbits, but the more research I did, the more I realized a bunny wasn't for me. I looked into other pets too...
Then a friend of mine, who doesn't live near me and has rats I've never seen, told me one of her rats was sick, and she was upset, and I wanted to help her, so I started googling everything I could find about rat health and disease. I also found out how awesome and cute they are. And I just decided they would be a good fit for me, and I was right!
I don't know what it is, but I feel some connection to the species, they're just so cool.

 

[twitch]

a friend of my boyfriend at the time had decided that he was going to breed rats. we were over when the babies were young and he was looking for homes and i fell in love with the little furry butts. i wanted to take one of the boys home and was allowed to name one, Cyrus (a name i had considered for my own son later) though i when i asked my dad if i could have him i was told no. a few months later a girl at my school had had an accidental litter and no one seemed to want the little black girl with the white belly. so i got a few hamster cages off of friends and kijiji, wired a bunch together and hid her from my dad by taking her to school with me each day. eventually dad found out about her. dad had picked me up from school and just a little bit before pulling in home pocket crawled out of my pocket and into my hand where she washed her face, bruxxed then curled up for a nap. she was still just a baby and small and adorable and fitted nicely in the cup of my hands. dad was quiet but when we pulled in home and we didn't say anything (i couldn't my heart was full in my throat threatening to choke me let alone allow me to speak in defence), dad just looked at her with his hand on the key in the ignition. finally he told me he wasn't going to clean up after her, she was my responsibility and he wasn't going to pay for her food or vet. i IMMEDIATELY agreed then learned A LOT along the way over the last 8 years. i may not always have rats in my home, but i will always have them in my heart.

 

[uglycupcake]

We had 2 girls as class pets in 8th grade. They were so cute and inquisitive! I started off just holding them, and really bonded with one of them, since she'd give me kisses and we'd cuddle (I love animals, but generally, they're not really interested in me. And when she returned my feelings it made my heart melt!) ...and I'd wanted rats ever since.

Unfortunately, the rats that were kept in our class were kept in an aquarium that was too small, with just an igloo, food dish and water bottle ... infact their cage wasn't cleaned frequently enough until I insisted on staying in and cleaning during lunch. They also lived off a seed mix, and were fed WAY too many yogurt drops a day (5 or more!!), since we didn't know better, and as kids, we had the mentality of "we should be allowed to eat all the candy we want! and the rats should too!"

Surprisingly, they both lived past 3 years, and didn't really have health problems. One of them did have some mild respiratory issues, but nowhere near as bad as what my current girls have... really sad, considering they live in a better environment and have a proper diet! lol... go figure!

My parents were extremely against it ( a VERY illogical argument of how wild rats would think that they're welcome to live at our place too if I owned pet rats, lol!!... in reality, my mother is just terrified of animals. She loves them, but she can't handle their close physical presence)

The first thing I did when I moved into a new house was get rats! The parents weren't very happy about it... and still don't like them, but like to hear stories about their antics and have even offered to pay for vet bills if necessary.

I'm so glad I have this forum to refer too, or who knows what kind of inadequate care I'd be giving my rats? They wouldn't be living in a CN, that's for sure lol.

 

[temblabamomo]

I begged my mom for years to let me keep ferrets, she said absolutely not. Mice? No. Guinea pigs? No. Rabbits? No. Chinchillas? No. Basically if it wasn't a cat, it wasn't allowed in our house.

Then a "friend" came by while Mom was out of town, said she was moving and couldn't take her rats with her, could I babysit them until her other friend came back from summer camp, he was going to be their permanent new home. She disappeared from the face of the earth, and I found out the summer camp friend had never agreed to taking them. Mom came home to find me the uncertain owner of two young rat boys.

I wasn't planning to keep them or ever get more. But they were wonderful and I was in love and before I knew it, I was just another rat fanatic. I have 5 boys right now, all rescues or shelter rats who I'm thrilled to share my home with. As dirty as it was for that girl to just dump her animals on me like that, I'm glad she did. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have the joy of rats in my life.

 

[hprats]

My parents were extremely against it ( a VERY illogical argument of how wild rats would think that they're welcome to live at our place too if I owned pet rats, lol!!... in reality, my mother is just terrified of animals. She loves them, but she can't handle their close physical presence)
.

That's really funny.

 

[AshleyRayeRats]

Rats found me when I started working at an animal shelter. I started in animal care and whenever I was assigned to clean the "critters" (rabbits, g-pigs, hammies, ferrets and rats), it was always a good day! There was just something so peaceful about being around such quiet creatures. The rats definitely had the most personality of all of them. They would sit there and observe me, always trying to grab at me when I came close.

In December of 2008, A very special and handsome rat named "Orca" came into the shelter with 3 siblings, he was being beat up on and they separated him. I fed this boy some cheerios, cuddled and played with him and spent every day for a month telling my husband how amazing this rat was. On my day off, we both went to the adoption center, fed Orca some cheerios and took that sweet boy home.

Our heart rat has since crossed the bridge, but without his love and the way he pulled me in, we would not have rats in our lives.
We now have 7 rats! I wish I would have known about these beautiful, intelligent and loving creatures years ago. I guess I am making up for lost time by filling up my double CN with rescued sweeties.

 

[rhapsody]

I was exposed to ratties when I started volunteering for my local small animal rescue in 2009. HOWEVER, I was completely satisfied being the "Crazy Hamster Lady" and I wasn't very comfortable handling (and advertizing) the other larger critters at the adoption events. Back then, rats were waaaaay to big for me and I was terrified that they would squirm out of my teeny hands.

Then in Fall 2010, my hubby got a job that required that he'd be traveling 90% of the time (I only get to see him on weekends ). My hamsters weren't that great in filling the void, so I started looking into a different pet. However, I'm horrifically allergic to cats and rabbits, my apartment situation isn't ideal for a dog, guinea pigs are way too wimpy, and fish and reptiles weren't interactive enough. Therefore I defaulted to ratties. During the next adoption event I volunteered at, I finally asked to hold a rat ... and I was a goner. That happened last November, and my rattie crew has already expanded from 2 to 6 ...

 

[mia9_28]

It's like a spreading disease... as soon as you meet one.. you want one. And as soon as you have one, you want 10 more!

 

[arresai]

I'd had hamsters,guinea pigs and mice growing up and they were never as friendly or interactive as I'd have liked. Then 2 two years ago, after much prodding,needling, my hubby finally agreed to "let me" have a pair of males (Remi & Dexter RIP) and I was hooked. I now have 8 (5 boys and 3 girls) and dearly miss my lost babies. I can't imagine my life without them.

 

[rhapsody]

Then 2 two years ago, after much prodding,needling, my hubby finally agreed to "let me" have a pair of males (Remi & Dexter RIP).

LOL, I had to do that too!

 

[stormmidnight]

i've always LOVED animals.my fav was my bunny butsy <3 but had to get rid of her because we were moving and the landlord didnt allow butsy(even tho he let us keep the cat and dog?) i was so so sooo upset. then my aunt introduced me to her huuuuge rat. i have to admitt it kinda growsed me out. but we went to the petstore to get her rat some items and i saw storm and midnight <3 my mom is upset i bought them but whatever, love them already

 

It all stared 2.5 years ago for me.

To be honest I used to hate passing the section in the pet store with rats..I used to get the creeps.One day we were there..and we were walking past and there was one big white albino girl there (no other rat) ..she looked so sad and scared ..so we took her ..even though I was not sure..then we researched and got her a friend ..and her friend was pregnant ...and now I am so in love with rats.

 

[Rattus]

We had always had a family pet (dogs) and I always wanted a small animal but my mom wouldnt let me..of course because I was young and she knew she'd have to pay for supplies. Well when I graduated highschool and got a job and had my own money I was in the kanata centrum and I went into Petsmart with my boyfriend to pick up stuff (we had a family bunny aswell) We just happened to wander by the animal tanks to see all the cuties. Going by all the tanks the "baby Rats" sign caught my eye. I had never really thought of rats all all before, although they never scared me..they were just another animal. But it fascinated me how badly of a reputation they had and people were selling them. I sat and watched them for the longest time and turned to my boyfriend and said "I wonder what it would be like to have rats.." and of course hes no help he said "..well why dont you get some and see." LOL So after much debat and talking with the small animal rep about rats we decided, 2 little boys Nero and Octavian. Yes it was a complete impulse buy I know :roll:

So I went in wanting to pick up 1 or 2 things for our family dog and rabbit and walked out with 2 baby boys and a bill of around 300$ in supplies, food, toys, books and a temperary cage :lol: but I was living at my moms still so that evening I snuck the cage upstairs through the back door and hid them in my room LOL a few days later my mom found the cage in my room and gave me a dissapointed look but knew now she was screwed and didnt want me to get rid of them cuz she felt bad for the babies :giggle: I won. So she asked to see them and sure enough now my mom thinks rats are cuties and always wanted to hold them afterwards! :laugh4: Id come home into my room and catch her trying to play with them.

The same day I brought them home I knew it was the start of a long relationship. I was amazed and fascinated at how intelligent, curious, social and aware these little guys were of their surroundings, it was like little people with furr, although I got them from a pet store..that one trip to petsmart gave me the bond with an animal I had never had before :heart: Now I've gotten my sister and brother to understand and love rats too and my 6 year old neice fell in love with them although I had to keep telling her to be gentle! I couldnt let her hold them yet. But now when she's see's mice in the house she tells her mommy not to hurt them or she'll be angry :giggle:

 

[ChrisK]

My step daughter had a few rats as pets when she and her partner were putting their house up on the market. She was able to put all her pets in the basement when showing the house, except for one old lady rat, who was a bit too frail. So she asked if we would foster her old girl rat (Baby Blue) until they sold the house.

It was really a favor to my husband that I said yes, and I said yes only on the condition that he take care of her completely, because I was really not too fond of the idea at all!

At some point during her stay, I started warming up to her, and one night, she stayed in my lap and curled up and went to sleep for an hour. She captured my heart that day.

Though sadly, she had to be put down within only a few weeks of her stay with us, she is the reason I love rats. And so, months later, when my husband said "can we have a pet? can we? can we? can we?" I agreed that rats would be okay with me. And the rest, as the saying goes... is history.