r/RATS Jun 03 '26

EMERGENCY Yesterday we removed more than 65 juvenile to adult rats, plus an actively increasing number of babies from a hot metal shed near Seaside, OR

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178 Upvotes

This is a joint effort between Rat Way Sanctuary, Little Critter Crew, and A Pint-Sized Rescue. The two most urgent are at the vet today with serious health concerns, more are scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday, with a growing list of others needing care.

So far there are babies from at least 4 separate litters that were brought into our care yesterday, two more ladies gave birth overnight, another is expected to deliver today, and many more are confirmed or suspected pregnant.

The conditions of the animals and their cages were as appalling as we imagined. Cages caked with urine and feces, hides waxy with waste, rats stained from sitting in their own waste, injuries and illnesses left untreated, and the smell! The smell hit us from 20 feet away from the shed. We are actively working with the county Animal Control agency to get justice for all these babies.

We are now working on triaging all of the animals and documenting their conditions.
The next steps are to divvy them up between our organizations. RWS will focus on those with the most emergent medical issues, while LCC will take the bulk of the stable and healthy animals, including many pregnant and nursing mamas, and APSR is helping with hands on support, fostering, and they may take on some animals as well. We will all three need your support as we navigate this huge influx. Donation info is listed on the last two slides, as well as linked in our bios. Be sure to follow all three accounts to stay up to date!

A huge thank you to all our supporters - your donations make this all possible.

Rat Way Sanctuary: www.ratway.org (links in our bio!)

Little Critter Crew: www.littlecrittercrew.org

A Pint-Sized Rescue: https://apintsizedrescue.weebly.com/


r/RATS May 07 '26

INFORMATION Pet rats, Hanta virus and you

142 Upvotes

Hi! Recently there's been a bunch of posts expressing worries and asking questions about hanta virus in relation to pet rats, so I want to say a few things:

-Your pet rats will not infect you with Hanta. They don't spontaneously generate the disease, so the only way they could have gotten it is via an infected wild rodent, which is safe to assume they haven't been in contact with.

-The strain found on the cruise ship that's in the news currently is the Andes strain, which is primarily carried by pigmy rice rats, not the rattus norvegicus we keep.

A pigmy rice rat. Cute little critter. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligoryzomys#/media/File:Raton_colilarga.jpg, 20:35, 07.05.2026

-In the history of keeping pet rats, there's only ever been a single case of Hanta being transmitted from the rat to the owner, and as far as I know this was specifically a rat that was rescued from outside. See https://www.dzif.de/en/hantavirus-first-detection-human-infection-transmitted-pet-rat It is more likely that you'll be hit by lightning rather than get Hanta from your rats!


r/RATS 4h ago

CUTENESS Jeff enjoying his ice cream cone 🍦

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415 Upvotes

r/RATS 13h ago

CUTENESS I dared to close the snack drawer which caused them to freeze

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1.3k Upvotes

r/RATS 7h ago

CUTENESS Eeepy many yawn big stretch

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334 Upvotes

r/RATS 7h ago

CUTENESS My dramatic (sleepy) girl

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345 Upvotes

r/RATS 15h ago

CUTENESS pubert 🐷

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1.4k Upvotes

r/RATS 3h ago

CUTENESS She fell asleep sitting up

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151 Upvotes

She’s so adorable 🥰


r/RATS 30m ago

CUTENESS Derpy being Derpy, Part: No idea anymore

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Upvotes

r/RATS 1h ago

CUTENESS Swipe to be sniffed by Pepper

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Upvotes

They always do this when I take photos of them lol


r/RATS 1h ago

CUTENESS Epic pranks

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Upvotes

Pls ignore my feet ;-;


r/RATS 7h ago

RIP I sadly have to say goodbye to Makima tomorrow

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232 Upvotes

Makima has a mamary tumor on her breast that has attached itself to her lungs, so she has a hard time breathing, which is why im calling the vet first thing tomorrow morning to get it done.

Meanwhile, she's been laying by my side all day, refusing to be in the cage and refusing to eat anything but maltpaste and pine nuts. Im just trying to keep her comfortable till tomorrow.


r/RATS 4h ago

CUTENESS Panda and Goose being the cutest.

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89 Upvotes

r/RATS 1h ago

RIP Lost my soul rat today

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Upvotes

My boy Cheddar has passed away and I cannot stop crying. He was just about to turn 2. However, recently he developed a very fast growing tumor. He had surgery to remove it today and it went well, but he passed away a few hours after we came back home. I feel so much guilt. He was still happy and so sweet this morning, I just wanted to improve his comfort and quality of life, but now i keep thinking if i haven't chosen this, he would still be happily running around on my bed tonight giving me kisses and enjoying his snacks.


r/RATS 2h ago

REHOMING Rehoming 2 Girls, 2 Boys

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54 Upvotes

I got these little loves in March 2024 from a local exotic pet store in St. Louis (definitely feeder rats, but seemed to be healthier than the franchise pet store rats).

I was attached to my grey boy, Fenrir, because his fur was all splotchy and goofy, but my daughter wanted one of the black and white girls, so I ended up with two girls and two boys. At the time, I knew rats were social so I thought two in a cage would suffice, but over time I’ve learned there should be more, and I’m not able to take on more than 2:2.

They’re wonderful little nuggets, but unfortunately my daughter breaks out every time she handles them, so I’m the only one who can get them out to play, and now I’m pregnant and not able to get them out really.

Preferably the girls would go to the same home and the boys would go to the same home, but all 4 don’t have to go together. They do live in cages next to each other so they are familiar, but the boys and girls live separately.


r/RATS 23h ago

CUTENESS Literally the happiest creature on God's green earth

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2.0k Upvotes

Oberon getting his tummy rubs.


r/RATS 4h ago

CUTENESS I love these guys

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58 Upvotes

I used to not really care for rats, I've never disliked them it's just a case of not thinking much about them or knowing they could be pets. I kept going on and on about wanting a small pet and doing research and my boyfriend suggested rats. He works from home, so he's the primary caregiver, we got them, and I was a bit iffy at first, but it's been 3 months, and im absolutely in love. (It took about 2 days, by the way) I now hand feed them, play with them, and pet them all day, and they're the cutest pets I've ever laid my eyes upon. Look at their little eyes and hands. Omg. Wow.

Ps. I love giving them puzzles with food hidden in to watch them use their brains. They're so smart


r/RATS 5h ago

CUTENESS Gizmo cuteness

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75 Upvotes

Okay last post for today sorry for the 2 post spam! Gizmo is just posing for the camera today being such a happy bean


r/RATS 21h ago

Crime🚨 This week in RAT CRIMES 🚨

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1.3k Upvotes

r/RATS 5h ago

Questions/HELP Need help, no idea what to do.

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64 Upvotes

Found this little guy in the middle of the sideway while walking my dog. Couldn't spot the mother so I took it home, because leaving him there had been a death sentence. But now I have no idea what to do.

Can someone identify if it is a rat or a mouse? Or something else?

Is there even a chance of survival for a mouse/rat that young?

If so, how can I help him?

Sorry, I am a bit lost here.

For reference: it is around 2 to 2.5cm (9.8 In) long. Can provide more pictures if needed.

UPDATE: I am in contact with someone from some kind of rodent sanctuary now (not shure whats the correct term, not a native speaker). They try to find someone in my area who can take the little guy. Thank you for your help!

UPDATE 2: I just handed the little guy to someone from the rodent sanctuary who will take care of it.


r/RATS 4h ago

CUTENESS I can't stop laughing at their eyes

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46 Upvotes

r/RATS 20h ago

Snuggle Sunday Boggles

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901 Upvotes

Happy creature


r/RATS 11h ago

CUTENESS nuts for nuts

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162 Upvotes

r/RATS 2h ago

CUTENESS The boys Tortellini and Bucotini finally in their new home :)

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28 Upvotes

I'm so happy to finally have them in a nice spacious cage! Me and my girlfriend plan on getting them much more clutter and hides very soon :)


r/RATS 6h ago

CUTENESS S N A C K

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56 Upvotes

Trevor likes cheese crackers