Welcome to "My Motley Crew"!

My "Motley Crew" has now grown to six lovely girls. All healthy and happy. They know their names and use their litter boxes. How fun it is to have the domesticated rat as pets! Contrary to popular belief, they're the best pets I've come across. The easiest to care for and the safest to be with the kids, we enjoy each one's little personality! Clean and safe--they are far removed from the "wild rat" most people think of when they hear the word "rat". You need to read the pages of this crew to get to know the domesticated rat!

The only thing that holds the domesticated rat down is their short life span and the medical struggles they come up against. This motley crew have had their share of ailments, including "wry-neck", upper-respiratory infections and tumors. So I've decided to turn their struggles into something positive.

In this site I'll share my lil' girls and their stories so everyone can better understand what a wonderful pet the domesticated rat can make and for the owners, what diseases a rat can come up against, and what we did to help.

To read the stories, simply click on the links below to go to the rat's page and read their story. OR click on the rat's to the left and visit them that way!

Either way--have fun in learning all about having a rat as a pet!  

Colors: Blue Beige Hooded Cinnamon Odd-Eyed, Patch, Spotted Lynx Ruby-Eyed, White Dumbo Amber Capped Hairless

Health: Pituitary Tumors Abscess Wry Neck/Inner Ear Infection Mycoplasma Pulmonis Viral & Bacterial Mammary Tumors Spaying Euthanasia

Misc: Picking A New Rat Introducing New Rats Food Playtime Housing Links Web Rings

Some Facts About Rats

"Much of the fear of rats is attributed to the wild rat's reputation for aggressiveness and spreading diseases. Through domestication, the pet rat's behavior may be as different from it's wild cousins as is the dog's to the wolfs. In fact, they may be safer pets than some of the more common companion animals.

Although rats have been domesticated relatively recently, selective breeding is quite powerful after just a few years because of their short generation time of 13 weeks. One hundred years, or 40 generations, for rats would be equivalent to 10,000 years for man."

Adult rats are about 7 inches long with a tail about as long as its body. They can live anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 years of age. They can be kept in a cage or aquarium with aspen shavings or recycled newspaper litters as bedding and eat rat blocks or pellets from pet stores, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. They can even be fed chicken bones, which they can easily consume.

Misconceptions About Rats

"Domestic rats, which have been bred since at least the 1700s, are tame. They don't carry diseases like wild rats."

"Domesticated rats have lost their wild, fearful quality. They're more social than people,"

This entire site is dedicated to the loving memories of My Molly.
May everyone find the happiness that Molly helped bring into our lives.

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