# rats



## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

i'm getting a couple pet rats today. i set up their cage lastnight and i'm going to get them this morning. i hope they still have the one i want. i was at the pet store and there was this brown and white female that i got to hold and she was just so sweet and friendly. i want to get her and one other one. ^_^ now, i just need to figure out what to name them.......


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Do you want two females, or a pair?


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

i'm getting two females. they're going to be named Pocky and Ramuné after my favorite Japanese candy and soda.


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

here's pocky. you can barely see her through the hole in the cardboard box










and here's Ramuné


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I used to grow rats myself. At one point I had over 100 of 'em, living in their big "rat condo" I built for them. After awhile it turns into work, though, instead of fun. You are wise to keep only a couple of females for pets. 
Maybe they're not already pregnant. LOL!


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

no, the pet store breeds their own and once the breeder females are pregnant, they take the males out, and once the babies are born and weaned, they sepparate the male and female babies into sepperate cages for sale. and even if they are pregnant, the pet store i got them at will take the babies and sell them for me if i don't want them.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Make sure you cycle the tank properly before releasing the new members of the family.


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wait a sec we are not talking fish here forget that 
*BUT*
Be very careful using pine shavings. It causes respertory problems. Corncob is the safest to use for bedding for rats.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

haha, thats funny fish doc, nice new additions celeste


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

fishfreaks, I see you can finally show everyone that you are a they. Thanks go to shaggy for letting us set up our own titles.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

haha yup  nice ain't it


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

ok, i lied. pocky is a male. i'm going to take the female back because she doesn't like me anyway and get another male. don't know how i missed it, it's pretty obvious....... pocky is so sweet though! he sat on my shoulder for like 2 hours lastnight and let me scratch his chin.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

They are much better than gerbals or hampsters. They love attention and are nowhere as nippy. People cringe at the thought of having them as pets but they are actually one of the better pets out there. We currently have 10 of them.


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

Don't be hatin' on my gerbils man. I've got two males and they've never bitten me. They're much friendlier than hamsters, who will bite you as soon as look at you.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Part of the biting has to do with how much they are handled. The more they are handled the better they are. 

Birds are in a catagory by themselves. They always test before they step and are territorial about their cages even if they know you.


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## Imbrium (Feb 7, 2005)

Actually, even gerbils that are never handled are less likely to bite than hamsters. I'm not saying gerbils never bite, just that they're not so bad. 
Tarantulas are less likely to bite than gerbils.


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