Does anybody keep rats AND snakes as pets?

[AK907]

Oh yeah, we have several pet rats. Few people realize how intelligent and social they are. They aren't like a hamster or even a guinea pig. They are more like a puppy and will actively seek attention, especially when allowed to run loose. Ours get a few hours every night to run loose and play and stay caged up during the day while we are at work.

[Trackstrong83]

Oh yeah, we have several pet rats. Few people realize how intelligent and social they are. They aren't like a hamster or even a guinea pig. They are more like a puppy and will actively seek attention, especially when allowed to run loose. Ours get a few hours every night to run loose and play and stay caged up during the day while we are at work.

Yes I would take a rat over a hamster ANY DAY!!
Mine would sleep in my lap all the time when I was little

[mikel81]

I have 15 snakes and 2 rats. The only thing I do is wash my arms before I change waters or clean cages. And I handle my boas usually after a shower so I am sure to not smell like rat. They do seem to notice the smell but all of my balls could care less. I would say it increases your chance of getting tagged but it is definitely not as bad as I expected it would be when we got the rats. I really like all of my snakes but nothing compares to the companionship from a couple of lazy rats. My boys are passed out on my shoulder right now fighting for room on one side. They really are quite a rewarding pet to keep. I actually got interested in them from pictures posted by a user here.

[Mike41793]

Are rats smart enough not to piss/crap on you? Also are they clean where they always go to the bathroom in the same corner of the cage?

[Trackstrong83]

Are rats smart enough not to piss/crap on you? Also are they clean where they always go to the bathroom in the same corner of the cage?

If mine had to poop, it would run off my lap, poop on the floor, then run back to me lol I know still not good, but better than my lap.

Unlike contrary belief, rats are EXTREMELY clean animals. I mean of course their poop isn't going to smell good, but they are constantly cleaning themselves, and even clean food before they eat it. I've even heard some rats that are litter box trained? Now that would be awesome.

[mikel81]

Yes they are very easy to litter train. Mine are about 2-3 months old and basically did it themselves. They also figure out real quick you don't want peed on and get antsy and try to get off you so you learn when they need to go. I usually put them in their cage every hour or so and they run to their litter box and put their tails up in the air, then get a drink and are ready to come back out. They do dribble a little sometimes when they are running around to scent mark,especially males but it doesn't really smell at all.

They are great pets. They play when you want to and will sleep when you want to sit around(usually). I keep a plastic bowl I had cut to use as a snake hide and put an old shirt in it for a nest and they will sleep in it all day. Look up some videos of them doing tricks. I have one of mine fetching a ball already.

[Lupe]

I have 2 pet rats and 3 snakes. I don't feel bad about feeding rats to my snakes because they are already dead. And since I brought the rats home I haven't noticed any change in my balls activity, and they are pretty close to each other. A plus side to it is the one time my big ball python got loose, he went straight to the rat cage

[Coleslaw007]

I've had various rats as pets most of my life, loooong before I ever thought I would own snakes, they make great pets. The most recent is Raat. We got him before we had any of the balls, shortly after we got our corn. Our friend got two rat pups for his hatchling ball and his snake wouldn't eat one so he gave it to us. Cthulhu (our corn) was still a tiny, tiny hatchling and far too small to eat a rat pup. It was about a 2 week old pup, eyes still closed. We got goats milk and a nursing bottle for rehabilitating small animals and bottle fed him until he could eat solid food.

When he hit maturity he became really nippy and aggressive so we contacted a rat rescue to get advice. They advised us that some males can become hormonal when they hit maturity and become very mean and that he may grow out of it but may not and the only surefire way to stop it would be to neuter him. At that point we had zero reason to breed rats so we ahead with that and they helped us get him fixed for quite cheap. It completely flipped him back to sweet little cuddle buddy. Now he just chills with the grow-out babies or the females who are resting from breeding, he's our little metro guy. He is the sweetest rat I've ever met and actually comes to his name. I wish I could get pics out of my old phone so I could post baby pics of him, his head was the same size as the rest of his body so he was like half head, half body. Adorable! We also consider some of our breeders pets but they don't have nearly as cool of stories. Bdan, my BF, is much more all about the rats than I am, he gets a bit fur-mommy about them lol.

Here's the closest I have to a baby pic of him:

[snakesRkewl]

[Capray]

I have kept and bred pet rats before, they are great! Currently I have just one single old lady rat, her sister died of mammary tumor (common in unspayed/bred females)
And I have a little ball python! I have to feed her live, and these little rats are at their cutest when they are about 5-6 weeks old, I just remind myself that all nutrient from that poor rat are going into her and that is greatly appreciated..

here's a pic of her

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...2520%25235.jpg