If you need help in a hurry (for instance, pet rat medical advice) you can get help from a few
knowledgeable rattie people (myself included) here:
. If you do not have an emergency but need advice about pet
rats, you can write to us here:
. You can also check here: Rat Help
to see if we already have an answer to your question.
Rats have poor vision. To compensate for this, a red or pink eyed rat
will often weave its head side to side to add "motion" to see better. They
also don't see in color.
Rats normally prefer to have cage mates. It is possible to group female
or male rats together, though care should be taken when introducing a new
rat.
While it's great to have both female and male rats, be wary of letting
them play together; rats can complete the courting ritual and the whole
romantic relationship in about two seconds.
Generally speaking, male rats make better "lap" pets, preferring to sit
and have their ears scratched by an attentive human friend. Female rats
are very curious, and love to explore and play games. Both genders make
great companions.
Rats can eat chocolate.
Rats can sprint short distances at speeds up to 35 miles per hour.
Rats can also eat smaller pets. Rats are omnivores, and have enough predatory
instinct left in them to consider birds, fish and even some smaller rodents
as "snacks."
Rats can live twice as long as a camel without drinking water.
Rats don't have canine teeth.
Rats don't have thumbs.
The oils in cedar and pine are toxic to rats, and should not be used in
their bedding materials.
A rat's temperature is regulated though its tail (assuming it has one).
A really hot rat will lay on its back so that it can "sweat" through the
soles of its feet.
A group of rats is called a mischief.
Red discharge from a rat's nose or eyes is usually porphyrin, not blood.
Unlike blood, porphyrin is flourescent under UV light. It is produced in
glands behind the rat's eyes. Overproduction of this discharge can be caused
by stress or illness.
A happy rat will chatter or grind its teeth. Often, chattering teeth results
in "vibrating" eyes, caused by the lower jawbone pressing the backs of the
eyes. This is a good sign, regardless of how silly it looks.
Rats are excellent swimmers and can stay underwater upwards of 15 minutes.
A rat's jawbone isn't fused in the middle like ours, so it can make it
looks as though the lower incisors have wiggled apart a bit.
Rats can't vomit. A rat can, however, gag on something if it eats too
quickly. The plus side of this is that rats can usually eat and drink before
surgery.
You can't catch rabies from a rat. (Rats have a "dry" bite and rabies
is passed through saliva.)
Soda does not make rats explode.
Rats bathe themselves, usually six times a day or more. A rat's saliva
has some pink pigmentation, which can cause a light-colored rat to look
discolored. A warm washcloth with baby shampoo is great for those trouble
spots.
PEW stands for "Pink Eyed White" the fancy rat terminology for "albino"
or any all-white rat with pink eyes. Conversely, BEW stands for "Black Eyed
White" (which is not an albino).
