Well...I was there to look at new litter boxes, and I took a look at the small animals cuz they are always so cute. My husband and I have been talking about getting rats from a rescue. I saw 2 little rats cuddled up together, and had to have them. One of them came up to the glass and responded to me. I asked an associate about purchasing the rats, and she asked me what I was going to feed them to. I told her I wanted them as pets and she got SO excited. She said nobody ever takes them home as pets. I figured as much, which made me feel better about *purchasing* a companion animal. I went against everything I preach...but it just felt right at that moment. I knew they were going to get eaten if I didn't take them home.....I wish I could've taken them all home.

My son is so stoked on the little girls........He won't hold them, but he pets them with a gentle stroke. One is all greay with wavy hair and curly whiskerrs, and the other is biege. The biege one is named Buttercup, by me...and the other is Razor by my husband *rolls eyes* He wanted her to have a "tough" name. Anyhoo...I will post pictures as soon as I can...they are so sweet!

Yeah, you'd better!



Can't wait!

Yay, rat babies! I'm glad you followed your heart, and brought them home.

I got my first two rats from a pet store. They turned out to be some of the best pets ever. Congrats on the new additions to the family!



pictures, pictures, pictures!

Razor and buttercup. LOL. So different, that is awesome.

I came really close to buying a mouse out of a snake cage one :\\ If I didn't think my father would kill ME and have me for dinner when I got home if I came home with another animal I would have done it. I always think about that little mouse...



Congrats on your new babies!

Awwww! Rat children congrats

yaya

congratulations

My husband decided he liked Fink better for the grey one. SO, they are Fink and Buttercup. Kai is finally sleeping, so I'm going to take pictures now. I'll post them in this thread.

I actually found a pet store in the mall that only sold rats as pets once, the girl that worked there insisted upon it and asked 'You will be keeping the rat as a pet?' instead of 'what are you feeding the rat to'. She would handle the happy rats there and play with them daily. It was a great thing, but I doubt it lasted.



I did decide to buy some rats from the other store in an attempt to rescue, but those poor guys were not handled and were sold as feeders. I was in my 20s and the b*tch behind the counter frowned that I was keeping rats as pets and asked for my ID! Ugh...



<3 Rats

Awww. Fink sounds like a rex to me. I have two rex boys, Curly and Willy. I also have a female named Buttercup lol. She was a beige hooded baby but soon turned into a himilayan. Go figure. Of course, I keep my girls and my boys separate. A great place to buy cages is martinscages.com. They are good with pricing and they have such roomy cages. Aquariums and the tiny plastic cages from pet stores are crap, plain and simple.

The cage they have now is very spacious, but I will be buying a bigger one as they grow. I didn't buy them one of those little plastic thingys. I bought them on with a loft where their food sits. I also bought them an excercise ball...but the kid just wants to throw the ball! He doesn't understand that there is an animal inside of it. My husband lets them out at night when he gets home....Kai and I are asleep by then.



http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...2/DSC01505.jpg

Here is a picture of Fink on my husbands arm.



http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...2/DSC01527.jpg

...and here is a picture of Buttercup. She's still very shy, so I don't take her out too much yet. I'm trying to let her acclimate to her new surroundings. She's a bit skiddish and pees *a lot* when she's held. I wrap her up in a little blankie so I can cuddle her easier. She likes that very much.

aww that's awesome, congrats

i got two rats in the end of may the adopted very fast only they're not super-social because they were already pretty big when i got them

i have the same cage



well congratulations !

How cute!



I want to "rescue" a rat, too, only I have cats and I'm sure they would torture the little guy to no end Oh well.

my cat is afriad of the rats, lol.

Congratulations on your adoptees, Frenchie!



I'm not looking for a cat or rabbit to adopt at the moment (I have one of one and two of the other), but since my last two gerbil adoptees died last year, I have a vacancy in my no-cats-allowed "rodent room" again. My local shelter has one gerbil and two rats (the rats aren't together). I know rats can be very responsive and affectionate to their owner, but I've never had one.



I'm not sure you went against your principles. It's wonderful to adopt from a shelter or rescue organization, but you saw those two and fell in love with them.

Ahhhh, Buttercup and her cute little nails

I rescued 2 hamsters a few years ago from Petco, they had been abandoned and were given to me free...I had to buy cages, though.



I ended up giving them away for Christmas.



I have always loved mice though, I'm keeping one now. His name is Fred. I'll ask him if he wants to join the group, but I think he likes pooping on the keyboard too much to allow him any real chat time.

Just so you know, my Grandmother knew Ghandi, and the Indira Ghandi (did I spell that right?), as well as the Prime Minister Nehru (spellcheck please...).



__________________________________________________ _______________'



Sometimes I think this country is run by a little sissy...



We are all controlled.

I don't think principles should go beyond the saving of a life...



You kept yours and adapted towards a greater threat (your new pets were probably being raised as snake food...).

Awwww! I fostered 2 rats a few months ago. They were great! I miss them Shame you live so far away from me Frenchie, I know of a perfect rat rescue here. But I do know the main rat lady lives in CA so if you want to get more in the future, give me a holler and I can find her for you.



Here are the foster rats I had. Blade and Boyd



Someone mentioned they were afraid of mixing cats with rats but as you can see, mine got along fine. If anything the cats were more afraid of the rats than the other way around lol

OMG they are so beautiful!!!! How come you didn't keep them?

Cute fosters, Rain!

I was helping a friend out my friend who was way over loaded with rats at the time. http://hleughmyer.tripod.com/ She has a rat rescue. I just kept them until they were adopted since I didnt have the space to permanately keep them.

This made me smile. Fink and Buttercup are adorable. I had a mouse named Speedbump when I was a teen. I'd love to have a mouse or a rat, but having a cat and all...

Yeah. Rats and cats can get along. One of my older rats used to chase one of the kittens around the room. She was so curious about her. That rat would also sit on the back of one of my older cats and neither of them minded it. She did, however try to bite my dog. Sophie was sitting on my shoulder and Bear came up to sniff and she lunged out and tried to nip him. This 100lb. dog had his feelings hurt by a little rat. It was too cute.



One of my other cats used to sit on top of the rat cage and Abby (the fiesty rat) would go after him, reaching her hands out really fast trying to get ahold of him. She pulled some fur out once.

--



I think Fink is a much better name than the previous, definitely. haha. Can't wait to see more pictures of them, Frenchie, as they get more accustomed to their new home!

Aww this thread makes me want ratties again! One of my rats was named Fink too - he was a big albino boy and soo sweet



I also rescued rats from a pet store. My ex works at a pet store, and I was in talking to him one day (wasn't an ex at the time) and saw four adult rats there. He said they had been dropped off because some stupid girl had just moved out of her apartment and left them there!!!!



These ratties were soooo sweet. It killed me to think that they would be sold as food. But I already had two boy rats at home - and three of these four were girls. That would mean another cage. So I held out, figuring someone would take them as pets. I went in one day ... and then there were three. One of the girls that worked there had sold one of them for food!!!! That was it, I convinced them to let me take the male. "Odd" (short for Odysseus) went home with me that day. I got another cage. Then Candy and Dee came home with me too. I still feel bad for that other girl that didn't get to go to a real home

I never thought I'd say this, but those rats are sooo adorable! When I think rats, I think dirty, stinky sewer rats. Not the case at all here.

Yeah thats what most people think of when they hear the name Rat. Poor things get a bad rap... Glad you think they are cute. I thought so too. Lots of personality too. I miss them.....

Yeah, and wild rats *can* be nasty creatures. I used to have degus. Note the "used to". They were minding their business in their cage out on the porch one lovely fall afternoon and some wild rats got into their cage and killed them.



I tried to make excuses for them... but I just couldn't justify what they did I guess it was a territorial thing or something.



So yeah, while pet rats are adorable little things, I wouldn't go near a wild one... (same thing goes for cats, but that's another story)...