Owing pet rats and ball pythons?

i have three snakes and three pet rats and all live about 10 feet from each other and i have never had any problems. oh ya, and just a heads up, rats are addicting also.

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

i have three snakes and three pet rats and all live about 10 feet from each other and i have never had any problems. oh ya, and just a heads up, rats are addicting also.

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yea rats are fun. i have my four snakes like 7 feet or so away from my rat and they dont seem to mind that it is there. they dont ever strike when i open the cage or anything it just hasn't affected them.

Yepp i also had pet rats/Hamsters before. I used to keep them in the same room as my snakes without a problem.

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Originally Posted by eel588

So, basically as long as I don't get rat bite fever, and I don't try to make my snakes and rats friends, it's easy to have both as pets. Cool beans. I appreciate the hands on knowledge and will be looking around for a couple weaned pups. Enjoy the holidays all!

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yes, you will be ok, I have rats and the rat bite fever thing. it's rare in this country and most will never see it. but it can happen and I just wanted to put it out there to make you aware of it, not to scare anyone. I do know and talked to the person who had it, it almost killed her, mainly because they didn't know what she had. she even had bumps in her mouth from it. if it was caught sooner then it wouldn't of been so bad.

I also keep pet rats and have no problem. The only thing I worry about it is if a BP somehow gets loose and eats my babies! :( But that *shouldn't* happen.

If you are worried about the smell, that's not an issue either. My snake room doubles as a rat room. I have noticed the new ones are on edge for about a week, but they get used to it fairly quickly. I can't pre-scent the room, but once one BP strikes and the others hear the squeal, or whatever they hear/feel/see, they all know it's suppertime!

Did any of you know that rats are #4 on the smartest animal list? I knew they were smart, but WOW!!!