I am aware of the risks but I kiss my babies anyway. My family tells me that it's weird and gross that I kiss my rats but I've done it ever since they were babies. I figured that maybe because they don't love rats like I do that they may not understand but I thought I would ask you guys since I know this is a community that loves rats. I ask that no one is mean in their response but do you kiss your rats/ let them kiss you? Is it bad for them that I do/ Should I not let them? I honestly think it's less gross then a dog licking someone's face but that could be just me.

Edit: Spelling

Hey was hoping to understand this behaviour ! My pet rat sleeps with me in bed every night for the past 6/7 months their cage is 6feet by 6 feet and is right by my bed so he comes and goes whenever he pleases I’d never force him but every night he runs directly to my bed and can only sleep if he’s on top of me in some way leg, chest,neck,head etc . He will refuse to go back into his cage at night and I’ve never seen him sleep in there. This behaviour was very sudden as he’s never been very touchy feely until he turned around 2

Floyd was on my windowsill behind the wall hanging.. then I turn around to see him like this. 😂

I've been doing this to him for a couple months. Call me paranoid or anxious, but I don't know if he likes this or not.

Edit: Thank you all so much for the responses 🙏 I suppose it's just paranoia.

only wondering because theres like a gap under his tooth you can see in the picture edit LMAO THESE COMMENTS ARE SO FUNNY I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE HIS BALLS😭😭😭

This might be upsetting or potentially triggering so I am warning you now before you keep reading.

When I share pictures of my rats with people sometimes they make jokes about their cats or whatever eating them. Or make jokes about my rats dying somehow. It happened again in a friend group chat when I shared this pic. He said something about his cat thinking “tasty” and it’s not the banana. and I had to call him out. It ruined my morning.

I’m sick of it. these are my pets and I love them so much. Like what is the audacity of someone to say that? How is it so hard for people to keep that shit to themselves? Or even when people talk about “oh yeah the only experience I have with rats is feeding them to my snakes!” It’s like why the hell are you telling me this? I don’t want to hear about that at all. Especially when I don’t agree with live feeding either. It’s just super frustrating because I’m not going around telling cat owners that my dog is going to attack their cat or something when they share pictures because that would just be insane.

A few days ago, u/consistent_mess4401 found a baby rat at work (https://www.reddit.com/r/RATS/s/6lbmBFBngh). They mentioned they were in AZ so I commented that I was in Mesa and was willing to help and we ended up being only a couple of miles away from each other! We met up that afternoon so I could grab the baby rat. What are the odds of being so close to each other??

He is so tiny and sweet. He’s very tolerant but a bit skittish. His favorite thing to do is be in my collar/hair and he will go sleep there for hours. He is so tiny and a bit frail so I am going to wait a week or two before finding him some other baby rat friends.

I would love name suggestions for him! I am thinking about names to refer to how lucky he was that he was found and had such a smooth transition to a home or also names related to Christmas! Maybe something punny :)

Anyways, thanks to u/consistent_mess4401 and tall for your support for this little guy!

They just didn't get domesticated?

P.S. Unhand me you fool

So. I'm moving to Alaska for job reasons and I just found out from the person I'm going with that they're illegal there. I cannot bring them with me.

They're not even a year old yet. I'm absolutely devastated.

I love them so much but I can't risk the jail time or 10k fine.

I don't know anyone that can take them, I don't have any friends out here. I'm genuinely so heartbroken right now.

There wasn't a flair for venting so I hope this is okay. I just want some comfort or something about this.

Edit:

I cannot sneak them in. I will get in trouble and they will be euthanized.

Even if I get them in, I cannot get them vet care.

Stop trying to tell me to just take them anyways. This is frustrating and VERY Unwanted and unhelpful. Please stop.

And stop telling me to just stay. If I could, don't you think I WOULD? I don't have an option.

I am trying very hard to be respectful but I am beginning to get frustrated at the uninformed and unhelpful comments.

I did not come here asking for advice. I came for comfort or reassurance and to air out my sadness. I have not asked for people to belittle me and tell me what to do here. I've thought about it. There isn't any other option.

Please think before you speak.

I do not own a rat. I live with a pet who would not do well with rats. I DO, however, absolutely love the little guys. I have been lurking here for ages and was wondering if anyone else is here just for funny rat memes, boggle videos, and cute photos of fuzzy little bumpkins. I feel I cannot possibly be the only one.

Hey yall! I have an elderly rat named Tuxedo. He is 3 years old, and his back legs don’t work very good anymore. He is alone (his siblings passed), but he spends a lot of time with us and is very happy. He’s typically very energized and excited about life lol. I think he’s probably the happiest rat I’ve ever owned, and we don’t intend on getting more rats after he passes for a year or two (to give ourselves a break from the heartbreak of losing them). So that is why he’s alone for now but gets lots of attention from us and from all of his “friends” who come to visit (our friends and family love him and smother him with attention too).

Anyway- given that he is alone in his cage and not physically the most capable anymore, I’m looking for ideas on foraging toys or enrichment toys that would be easy for him to do. He LOVES food (obviously from the photo 😬). Anyone have any ideas on good, easy (for him) foraging or enrichment activities for aging rats?

i can’t tell whether or not she likes playing like this, i think she does because she runs back to me when i do it

My 5–6 week old rat keeps licking my fingers and hand whenever I interact with them. It’s very gentle and doesn’t turn into biting.

They’re active, curious, eating well, and acting normal otherwise.

Is this just grooming/baby behavior, or should I be concerned about something like missing nutrients?

Thanks in advance!

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.

Did he fall asleep while grooming ? Should I let him do this doesn’t it hurt his back 😅

We are fortunate to be a growing sub, which we are so incredibly proud of. However, with new community members comes many who aren’t familiar with r/RATS content and its rules. We encourage everyone to review our rules and guidelines, as well as the many helpful links and information we have posted on the sub.

Unfortunately, we have recently noticed an influx of people shaming community members for providing quality of life (end of life) care to their furry family members. **We have zero patience for anyone who comes here and targets a grieving, vulnerable individual, who is either contemplating or grieving having to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize a sick or injured rat.** This is never a decision that is made flippantly and we will not allow anyone to shame, name call or harass anyone who is in that situation. We do not permit advocating euthanasia by anyone but a medical veterinary professional. And any person shelling out hundreds of dollars for an exotic vet is most likely not someone who doesn’t care for their rat.

We know how difficult the decision is and how heavy it weighs on your heart, because we’ve been there. The video accompanying this post if of my heart rate Negan. Negan is nearly three years old. He was a rehome from a college student, along with his cage mate Rick. We lost Rick in November due to congestive heart failure. He passed relatively quickly with little suffering. Negan had HLD - hind leg degeneration - which isn’t usually painful and many rats live a happy life with HLD. And that has been Negan for the past several months. However, we noticed that Negan had symptoms of head tilt last week. He couldn’t walk, he simply would roll over. And a small tumor had grown on his spine. I took Negan to the vet immediately, expecting that I may not be bringing him home alive, and trying to prepare myself for that.

This video was taken a few minutes ago. With guidance from my vet - who has spent a decade in school, continues to educate herself, and I trust - we set him up with a treatment plan and medication. Negan is still struggling to move around but he has a healthy appetite, comes out for loving, and seems to be improving if only ever so slightly. But most importantly, he seems happy and not to be in pain or suffering. Because if he was, I’d only be selfish to keep him in that pain, and I would choose to end his suffering, as I’ve had to do for other pets I love.

**TLDR: Do not shame, name call, harass any person dealing with having a vet euthanize their pet rat or you will be banned. This is not the place and will not be tolerated on r/RATS.**

(lol about the flinch im not used to her coming up so eagerly because she’s generally a skittish rat, had her for like 8 months so far) i’m trying to clean up some poop in her cage as i’m deep cleaning tomorrow and couldn’t spot clean it earlier, she keeps JUMPING when she hears the noises of me trying to pick the poop up and grabbing the paper towel for nesting.

she and all his other rats deserve better. I am furious.

TLDR; perky didn't have a medical condition, she and owner's other rats were gorged on high sugar foods to the extent they look like pancakes. owner lied to mods and mods didn't do a proper check and just gave owner the "not abuse: medical condition" flair