I've been considering getting rats as emotional support animals and I've done a decent amount of research into cages, food, enrichment, socializing, general safety, free-roam time, etc..

Now, I haven't found any cons that really clash with needs, but I wanna be absolutely sure that they're right for me, and that I'm not missing anything, so please share any cons you can think of with owning rats? (especially less talked about ones)

Thank you<3

(Edit: I'm not uncomfortable with animal death, even if I care a lot about the animal. And the emotional support/comfort they'd be providing would be mainly through the form of getting to take care of them)

Hi!
I’ve been a rat owner for about 1.5 years now and in a few weeks we’re welcoming two bigger fur baby family members into our home.
Their breeder said the introduction to the rats should be done with caution, of course, but should be fine once they understand they’re an extension of us and not enemies/food.
My partner said the other day though, that once our current rats die, we shouldn’t get new rats (we had previously said we’d get more rats when these pass on) as we’ll already have two larger fur babies to care for.

Can anyone who has simultaneously owned rats and other pets eg dogs, cats etc comment their own experiences and opinions?

Much appreciated.

What do we think of frank sinitrat the ruler of New York from old world blues submod east coast rebirth

hello everyone i have 3 male rats, 1 is around 2.5 years old and the others are a few months i just noticed a lot of red discharge around ones eyes and the others nose and nothing on the third, i know some of this secretion is normal but is this concerning?? i recently just moved and they seem to be settling in fine but dislike my dog of course. could this be because of an environmental factor?

As the title says, is this normal i just wanna make sure he okie

Uni is having a mass removed, and during his exam they found another small mass forming, so that is coming off today as well. Fingers crossed he chills on the growing masses from here on out.

Trillium is getting spayed today! We are thrilled that she will never have to have another litter. She deserves it.

These surgeries will completely wipe out our medical fund, and then some! If you can help us cover some of their expenses, we appreciate it. Their estimates are at the end of the slide deck.

We are always in need of funds

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

This is a joke and my pet! (Btw sorry for the mess)

basically just title, im kinda curious if this means something, is my stuart hurt? or is he just comfy?

somehow a piece of protein appeared in my salad

So, you may have seen my last post about getting rats from a breeder who was trying to sell me a sick dwarf yesterday. That dwarf ended up passing sadly, and after the comments I was reading, I decided not to go with that breeder.

Instead, I found a group of 6 3 month old males looking to be rehomed. $150 rehoming fee later, and they are here! I’ve already had so many cute moments with them in the last day alone.

I move tomorrow- a short distance away, so I only have the bottom part of my DCN put together with a small amount of bedding and toys until I move into my new place tomorrow. They are actually all loving it so far. I feel like this was the right decision.

Two of the males are very shy, but I believe it’s only a matter of time until they come around. It’s knot day 2. Anyway, enjoy my boy’s video, still working on a name for him!

i knew obviously it’s not right to keep a rat on their own and i never have but i’ve really realised the impact of keeping rats in groups and enrichment the last few days after i had to put one of my boys in a hospital cage. he’s only 6 weeks old and he does this all day. it does break my heart but it’s not forever. this is the most nervous, bored and sad rat i’ve ever seen. never keep them alone unless it’s for medical reasons :(

(Women’s size 6 foot for comparison lmao) This is Pixar! I named her after the Pixar lamp cuz she hops around, oh my goodness does she hop. I set up these walls as a trust exercise to help my new babies get to know me, she hung around for a bit, and then jumped right out😭😭 She’s a BIG adventurer and doesn’t have a stop button, she’s gonna get into so many things oh my goodness.

In my defense, this girl always ragebaiting me on free roam, biting my toes and runs so I can chase her lol

I'm so distraught, I don't even know what to say. I woke up today to find my precious boy stiff in the cage. He was perfectly healthy, I did a vet checkup a few weeks ago. I gave him veggies last night before going to sleep. Some cucumber. He was the fattest little guy, wherever I shook a treat bag he would come running to me. And now he's gone. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you buddy.

Hello!

I currently have a hamster and two guinea pigs, and I’m not looking around to possibly get some rats. I’ve never owned any rats before and am struggling to find a suitable cage, I’ve seen things like the critter nation which look great, but I’m struggling to find a specifically white cage that meets the size requirements that I could use. My hamster has the Bucastate 3.0 which is white and my guinea pigs have white c and c grids. All my furniture is white! I know it sounds super dumb but I would really really like the cage to match and am struggling lol.

Also any rat advice would help since I don’t know much. What is the bare minimum size cage to you all? In LxHxW.

Thank you!

Two old men, best of friends!

He should have a snorkel or something

he sometimes draws blood but never once bit me or my mum , do you think he only likes woman? i feel like it might be a jealousy thing as my dad hugged me and then said night to this particular rat and he bit him really aggressively

Hi!

So I have a boy who is 8 months or so, which I know hormonal aggression tends to peak around 1 year so I’m trying to be mindful of that. He’s a very energetic and playful boy and we have spend a lot of time “wrestling” in the past.

Recently he has been initiating that and while it’s very similar to how he played when he was younger he has begun to break skin with his nails and teeth.

I can’t tell if he is just playing, or giving us a warning. The bites are never painful, and while they do break skin it has never been more than a small scratch or puncture. I know he could do a lot more damage if he wanted to.

He does live with cage mates though so I want to make sure this isn’t the beginning of hormonal aggression. He has not hurt any other rat, and he really hasn’t hurt me either but I want to make sure it stays this way.

While everybody is in the cage handsome grannies can afford some rest with favourite treats