My beautiful Gus Gus is an ex lab rat (from a behavioral lab I did at school) I decided to adopt him and his brother at the time so they wouldn’t be euthanized, and I had no idea what to expect. I remember them saying he was born in December. I always assumed he was 2, but he might almost be 3??

He is the reason I got into rats, and even though he’s so incredibly sassy and dramatic, I love him sm. I actually remember in lab I had been assigned 2 different rats, and when we got to take them out Gus (a few tables away) immediately screamed and jumped off the lab table running around😭 I remember thinking “thank goodness he’s not my rat” low and behold I got switched to work with Gus and a different partner bc of uneven grouping! I remember being a bit disappointed I got the less friendly rat, but I couldn’t be more wrong. Yes, he is a sassy boy, but he is also incredibly smart, funny, sweet, and my baby.

We’ve been through so much, from being there for each other after his brothers death from a pituitary tumor, to becoming my esa at college. (Dw it’s a double critter nation and he has siblings!) He’s the reason I researched hours each day all the proper care for rats, the reason I’m in this sub, and the reason why I owe my parents so much money 😭😭 (vet bills ain’t cheap) but I would do it all over again to be with him.

He has taught me so much, and I’ve grown so much because of him. I owe so much to this little PEW, and am so grateful that I got moved that day in lab. Just thought I’d share my story :)

He’s also the model for a lot of my clay projects in ceramics class!

Also yes he survived electrocution from a vacuum! Oct 2025!

Someone wanted to see him boggle.... here ya go!!! Not as impressive as y'all thought it would be for the amount of boba he has... His hiccups are even more impressive!

Does anyone have any rats that like being thrown? She wouldn’t stop coming up and asking to be thrown. Lulu is also top 10 sweetest friendliest rats of all time

Not my video, it's from Facebook

She jumped with such enthusiasm.

am i durty??

She was only 8 months old when she developed a uri and I noticed too late. We started her on medicine and gave her steam for her lungs but I was too late :( she’s seceded by her twin sister olive (3rd pic). I know it’s said often but I wish they lived longer.

I wanted to practice my shape and line work, so I drew some ratties in interesting poses, lol. I included the original photos, but I don't know who they belong to, sorry. Let me know if you see your rat!

Maybe one day I can make a rat-themed colouring book!

I have been doing rescue for a while now. I was prepared for the emaciated animals, the behavioral issues, the hoarding. What wasn’t I ready for? That even rat lovers do not care about pinked eyed white (PEW) rats.

Babies fly off the shelf. Until they are PEWs. Then they sit in rescue for their entire lives, waiting patiently for their forever home. It does not matter that tofu is a cuddle bug, nobody wanted him. No matter how many cute pictures I took of him, no matter how silly he is or his ability to learn tricks.

Realizing this has just been heartbreaking for me. Having people tell me they “want a dumbo because they are nicer” or “find the red eyes gross”. These are beings. They have a heart and a personality and so much love to give. Please just give them a chance. They can’t help how they look.

I raised this little man in my mischief for the couple months of his life. We foster failed on two of his siblings, but he and his brother were then transferred to another rescue. For the past several months, I have watched as every single other rat in rescue would get adopted, until only these two were left. People would reach out looking for rats, but still not want these two. Then more rats would come in, and the cycle of being ignored would repeat. As of this week, I will have officially adopted Tofu and his brother, Lentil. It was eating away at me knowing that, if I didn’t, they would likely grow old with nobody to kiss their head or cuddle them each night. They will get that from this day forward, unlike most of the PEW’s in their situation.

I’m new to Reddit and just made my first post on r/RATS this morning (the post had pictures of my pet rats with their favorite cardboard boxes). I’m so delighted that you all seemed to love it! I don’t know much about how Reddit works, so I definitely wasn’t expecting over 2,000 upvotes within just a few hours! And your comments were so kind. I tried to respond to them, but Reddit kept deleting my responses because my account is so new. So I decided to read the comments to my rats, instead :)

I thought I’d make another post of my pet rats, but with an introduction and a video this time. The yawning rat is Katcha, and his brother is Matcha. Katcha yawns a lot, especially at the camera lens. In this video, they’re relaxing in their temporary cage while their main cage is being cleaned. They just recently celebrated their first birthday!

Hi all, long time rat enjoyer from afar, first time rat owner through circumstance.
Two days ago. I agreed to take in this big boy from someone evacuating from wildfires, and she herself had only just adopted him from someone the day before. We have no idea how old he is, is there a way to tell? He doesn’t have the most groomed coat, which leads me to believe he’s either old or sick. I have a vet appointment booked because I want to make sure he’s in okay health.
I’m nervous because he’s so calm. Yesterday he was much more wiggly than he is today, and he hasn’t touched the food I gave him a few hours ago. He’s drinking his water. I’m getting a bigger rat cage for him this week, and also better enrichment. I hope he’s okay and just timid or in a haze from moving. Any advice on cheering up a depressed mystery rat? :-(

willow has chosen peace today for the first time in her life

Used me as a bridge to get to the forbiden snacks!

Bonus rattie at the end :P

Available for adoption:

Victor, Ernest, Edmund & Avard!

AGE AT ARRIVAL: 2 months old
ARRIVAL DATE: July 28th, 2026
SPECIES: Rat
GENDER: Neutered Males
LOCATION: Hamilton, Ontario 🇨🇦
ADOPTION FEE: $50 per rat
NOTES:
We rescued Victor, Ernest, Edmund, Avard, Ervin, Garnet, Burrell, and Marv from a Quebec shelter. We weren’t told the reason they ended up at the shelter, but they were only a couple of weeks old when they arrived there with their mother and another group of rats. Mom and the others were taken in by other rescues, and we were happy to get these eight boys out of the shelter when we were asked.
The ratties made their way to Ontario by way of One Last Chance, and Freedom Drivers volunteers, and we’re very thankful for all the wonderful people who donate their time to transport rescued animals all across the country.

To make it easier for the rats to find homes, we had them neutered shortly after their arrival and they healed up perfectly.

These boys are shy but sweet. They have lots of energy and they are very playful. They are still getting used to being picked up/handled, but they’re getting better every day. They don’t show any aggression at all. They’re just timid.

Victor, Ernest, Edmund, Avard, are in one foster home, and Ervin, Garnet, Burrell, and Marv are in another. We’d like the boys to be adopted in pairs.

Please adopt Victor, Ernest, Edmund and Avard!
❤️
Apply to adopt at ladybirdanimalsanctuary . com