There are actually lots of reasons, but I wanted to highlight a couple of them today:
1. They LOOOVE leftovers of (almost) any type. There are a few forbidden foods, but generally they can eat anything that people eat. Also, unlike a dog, you don’t have to have very much left on the plate for them to get really excited about it. Your toddler’s unfinished bowl of rice & beans? Put it in the rat cage! Half eaten banana from this morning? Into the rat cage! It’s great to feel like I’m not wasting food, and giving my ratboys a treat at the same time.
2. Unintimidating. Lots of young kids who are freaked out by dogs and even cats are not intimidated by rats because they are so small. The kids may not want to hold a rat, but you can bet they’ll LOVE watching them in their cage. I was reminded of this again yesterday when a friend was visiting with her 14 month old daughter. The girl couldn’t get enough of watching the rats.
3. Fun to accessorize their “house”. I love finding new hidey homes or making hammocks for the rats. Presently I have a box “clubhouse” for them on the top of their cage that they get to play in during “free range” time. Remember wishing that you could be tiny so you could fit in your toys? Well, rats are small enough, so you can live vicariously through them.
4. So darn cute & cuddly!
5. People wonder about you when they find out you keep rats as pets. I like to make people wonder.
2 comments:
i had a pet rat and i agree with everything you said! :) they are great pets and i have been trying to convince my hubby that we need to get one.
it's too bad they don't last very long though... they need to have longer life spans! then they would truly be perfect pets.
You know, Artemis, that really famous animal guy...what's his name....I got it-Jack Hanna! Anyways, he has called rats the pocket pet version of dogs. They really do act like little dogs in a lot of ways.
Aimee "roo", I'm so happy to meet another rat lover. I really didn't have any idea how great they were until we got our first boys 3 years ago. I do wish they lived longer, too. Your dh really needs to come around. But get two--they love having a (same-sex) friend.
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