A Looong time ago, I promised more photos of our little caged puppies. er, rats. . . The youngest named hers puppy and they are alot like little dogs. They are social and friendly and pretty darn smart. Ours are in a little bit of a slump right now as the humans dash about mostly ignoring them, but I think that will pass. I wish I took more time to play with them and if I did, others would follow:
This is App, she is very curious. It was hard to take pictures because no one would keep still. They were too busy exploring the room. We frequently provide them with boxes, even cutting little holes or taping them together as mazes or tunnels, but this one just happened to be there.
They love fresh food. I believe they are eating snow peas here. We feed them fruit, veggies, store bought treats, and basic rat food. They LOVE raw squash. Occasionally, we give them a rare meat treat, but I don't think we've given them much sweats or grains. This is Calmly and Puppy. Hermione is trying to squeeze in blurry.
Rats are good pets for young children. They are easy to hold, don't hurt easily and simply want to be near you! Our youngest is able to hold and carry her rats around. Supervised, of course. App just wants to get in her hair and whisper in her ear!
Because they are so tame it is not a problem to let them run around loose for a bit. They love to explore and hide. They will also hide food and chew on things- so watch your important papers or favorite blanket!. When you are done, simply wait for them to run up to your lap or walk up to them, they don't really mind you, though they probably don't want to be locked up again.
Ours are about 1.5 years old now. My current teen did a research project on them for last year's homeschool science fair.
I have had their teeth trimmed it that vets. I need to check them again for that. Even though we give them things to chew, it's just not enough like the 'real world' to do the job right.
