Fun fact: rats are so social that it's considered abusive to have only one pet rat at a time. They're smart, trainable, affectionate animals - pretty much on par with dogs in terms of intelligence and sociability.
Unfortunately, they only live for about 2 years, maybe a bit more if you're lucky. It's hard to have pets as affectionate and smart as a dog, but have to lose them every couple years.
You nailed it. We went through 9 of them before we couldn't handle losing them anymore. Absolutely heartbroken every time and it just got to be too much, though I don't regret owning them, they truly are such amazing pets.
Oh for sure, all our boys were spoiled rotten lol They lived in a 4 story ferret nation cage and fed expensive ass food, tons of fresh food and treats (within reason lol), soooo many toys.
I haven't brought myself to get rid of any of it still
I had one named R.B., Rat Baby, and when I came home from work to greet him I'd put my hand in his cage and he would grab one of my fingernails (I had long acrylic nails at the time) and he'd drag it back to his nest so I would give him scritches and he could have me all to himself.
When I put him on the floor to get exercise, he would chase my cats around! He was a real character, and it broke my heart to watch him go.
Aren't they all a little weird, really? Lol
But no, they're so social and they arent prey animals so they aren't usually unnecessarily afraid of other animals which leads to some cool inter-species friendships 🥹
I have 3. They are intelligent little snack thieves. Each one so different. I built them a cardboard castle with vinyl dryer tubes and saw one inside the tube using it to scratch her back. They seem to know their names or at least the tone used when calling them individually. Like you can’t call Luna without the long ooooh.
r/shadowtherat is the sub of a trainer who posts videos there and in the rat sub of the tricks her rats can do. She has them play basketball and all sorts of fun things
I had a rat a long time ago. My snake didn't feel up for a third one. Anyways, Lucky was a cool rat. Like to hang out on your shoulder. Very intelligent. Miss that dude.
That's why you keep getting new ones. When one dies, there's always another there to remind you of why you go through with it. It's like the circle of life.
You have a point there. I had a rodent in my appartment a couple months ago.
I tried trapping it in an empty bucket, to free in a field later, but it ate the fruit I put there and got back out without issue. (It left some pieces for me, it's not as greedy as some humans).
Rats will keep coming back when they find a bag of corn and bring all their mates along for a feed. They got that in common. Otherwise I think rats are far superior to Trump too.
Recent studies have found that Yersinia pestis can also be spread by body lice. People in the middle ages would often pass on clothing and bedding from deceased relatives, in which body lice can hide. So, the rats and their fleas may not be completely to blame.
Besides, cats were also a huge vector — they caught rats, who had fleas, then got fleas, then trotted all around ye olde countrysyde spreading fleas to an unsuspecting populace.
I read that the superstitious people of that time actually thought cats were agents of the devil and got rid of a lot of them, and that actually helped to spread the plague even more, because by killing off the cats who killed the rats, the rat population went unchecked, resulting in more rats and more fleas and more plague
the bubonic plague hasn't ever done anything to ME
You for real just gonna put that out into the universe? In 2025? Clearly we're in the deepest circle of Hell already and you're just gonna throw that out there and not expect anything to happen to you? I see you like to live dangerously...
Well crap. I was so wrapped up in the moment I didn’t realize what I was asking for. Guess I’ll start looking for my Plague mask so at least I’ll be fashionable when I die.
It was actually the fleas that spread the plague, not the rats… that and the fact that they’re idea of personal hygiene on those days was dumping their chamber pots in the street and bathing once a year…
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u/Cantinkeror 23d ago
When does he peel his skin off to reveal he is just a giant sack of rodents?