Pet Rat Question

[AmandaJ]

Somehow I've ended up with a pet rat (young female). My snakes eat frozen/ thawed, so one would think this wouldn't be an issue.

One would be wrong. And now I'm in search of Rat #2 since it appears rats are a highly social animal and as such should not be kept in any quantity less than pairs. Oops. Needless to say, Rat #2 (also a young female) will be joining us shortly.

So.

Is there anywhere I can interact with other rat owners? Because, considering the fact that my cinnys dine exclusively on f/t rat fuzzies, uhm... I feel as if I'd be persona non grata on the rat forums. Is this true, or is there some opening for those of us who came to be rather fond of the little beasties through our association with reptiles?

It's not as if I'd EVER discuss feeding time in that type of forum. I work very hard to keep the two separated in my own head, and would never add to it outside of that.

[SarWildDog]

I know of several facebook groups I'm a member of. I actually started with rats, then got into reptiles xD I actually bred lines of pets, so adding a couple of feeder lines wasn't much different, though the two will never intertwine (unless my feeders produce something interesting xD)

[AmandaJ]

Well, as you can tell from my signature I've added significantly to my rat collection. We went to pick up our second female and my rat breeder (also my snake breeder, coincidentally) had three young rats for us to pick through.

They all came home with us and one of them ("Oops") turned out to be male. I just paid a stupid amount of money to have him neutered because I've reached my max level on rodents. I realize I could have traded him back in but he's our nicest rat and we're all rather attached, especially my older son and since that's the child who's NOT into snakes, I figure it's smart to keep his favorite new beastie around.

If you're able, please let me know of any rat groups on Facebook. They're cute little suckers and since we now appear to be free from rat babies (thank goodness) I can continue to fling my bp's their food with a relatively clear conscience.

[Annarose15]

You named him "Oops"?! I LOVE IT!!!

[AmandaJ]

Annarose, well he kind of named himself We picked up the 3 new rats and introduced them to The Sarah Rat (not to be confused with Sarah the Sand Boa... oy), and as they all three relaxed into their new home (3 levels, I'm insane) I noticed the cute little pink-eyed brown-and-white teddybear dumbo had a rather suspicious looking rump.

"Oops" indeed, LOL

[aldebono]

Amanda, you are close to my neighborhood.

There are LOTS of reptile people who would also be considered rat people if the pet breeders would take us into their clique. So we are considered feeder breeders and get a semi bad reputation. However, we love our ratties just as much.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk rats. I am sure Missriss2012 will be on here shortly as she is rat crazy too.

[AmandaJ]

Very cool -- and thank you so much! Yeah, they're pretty stinkin' cute. And holy cow, they can sure mess up a cage quickly. I try to stay on top of the little, uh, "pellets" but they're like little machines...

[Lupe]

I personally have 5 pet rats They are great little critters.

[wolfy-hound]

If you don't volunteer that you have snakes, generally you can talk rats with lots of people.

[AmandaJ]

True. I just feel a bit awkward with it, because I'd be deliberately hiding that fact. Once upon a time it would have freaked me out, and I just don't have the energy to deal with devastated "How could you???"s should it get out that I'm also a snake person.

I know not every rat person feels that way, but I've also seen enough while lurking to give me the impression that it is a possibility. Then again, perhaps there are enough herpers in the pet rat world that it's not entirely the shocker I think it would be. I'm still pretty new to both snakes and rats, and admittedly some of my impressions and concerns could be way off. It's not as if I have any plans of trumpeting "Hey, these pet rats I have are really messing with my snakes' minds!" on a rat forum.

So likely I'm okay