Rats are surprisingly sweet pets
I used to live in a basement apartment, next to the trash room. Rats were often blocking my door, and I could hear them walking in the ceiling right above me as I slept. I hated them so much that I happily killed as many as I could, with no remorse.
Many years later, I saw my 5-year-old boy nurturing a ladybug at the playground, giving it so much love. I realized it was time to get him a pet. I called the pet store, and they recommended mice.
“Mice?! Don’t they bite?”
“No. These are domestic mice, also known as ‘fancy mice’. Wild versus domestic are as different as a wild dog versus a poodle.” They are bred over many generations to be sweet companions.
So we got mice, and they were wonderful. As easy as goldfish, and much more fun. My boy would carry his mouse in his pocket as we headed out into nature to play. We built them homes, boats, and toys.
So that was surprise number one. Mice make great pets for kids. Low-maintenance, super-portable, perfect for playground attention, and a short lifespan.
A few months ago, our last mouse died. I was surprised how hard I cried - the hardest I’ve cried in my life. She was such a big part of my boy’s childhood.
A few weeks later, he asked for a rat. My arch enemy? I thought he was kidding. Then he showed me videos of pet rats being adorable - maybe even better than mice. OK.
We adopted two twin brothers, which he named Cricket and Clover.
They look almost identical but I can tell them apart by their personality.
Full of energy and wants to climb to my shoulder?
That’s Cricket.
Mellow and wants to cuddle in my armpit?
That’s Clover.
Turns out they’re even better than mice. Mice can’t help where they pee and poo, but rats, like cats, save it for their litter box. Rats are very trainable, so they can come when called. They’re more attached and affectionate. They have more personality, which then makes us more attached and affectionate, too. Go search for videos of pet rats, and you'll see.
Many times a day, I go cuddle them and kiss their bellies, and they lick my nose. They’re wonderful.
As much as I love these rats, my deepest joy is that I'm loving what I used to hate. Cuddling what I used to kill.
(That’s Cricket, licking my head. Who knows why.)
that's so cute! i'd love to have a pet rat or ferret
I'm not sure we can be friends any more. JK, we need to celebrate our differences. Thanks for the new book!
It’s all about beliefs I think. The codes are those which determine the game. If you want to change the game, just change the codes. It’s not rats are disgusting so that we are eager to kill them, or not rats are adorable so we adopt them. That’s all about our perspective (codes).
A common trait among rodents (rats, hamster, mice) are they love good cardio. Providing a running wheel will allow them to exercise in safety and maintain their body shape. IIRC there's an old study where wild animals voluntarily used running wheel and rodent are the most frequent user.
This was great, I didn't know you had a son or were married, must have forgotten?
Nice to see a video of you and your rat as well, they are funny! My friend out here has a pet road runner, she raises chickens and he just follows her around everywhere,gets on top of the chicken wire and watches her feed and take care of the chickens! Animals are a special part of God's creation that's for certain😊
I had no idea that Rats were good pets!
I had pet rats throughout my 20s. They were my companions as I moved to London and become a writer. My favourite, Hester Prynne, would sit on my shoulder as I typed. First time a new boyfriend stayed the night, I fished Hester out from between the pillows and explained that she often slept there. Most men were repelled. One thought she was cute. Reader, I married him.
That's awesome!
Proof that evolution can be a positive.
We need to be open to change.
. Good Lord this is hysterical.
My wife has been feeding the birds, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, turkeys a whole varietie of birds and probably possums and raccoons as well in our backyard
The latest resident in her backyard zoo?… Yes, a wild rat. Can they be tamed Derek?
I absolutely love this post in the video of the rat, licking your head is priceless
Always enjoy your content
Thank you for doing what you do
Kenny Tomasian
When my husband suggested a pet rat for our 8-yr-old daughter, I had to give it some thought. He grew up with pet rats (it’s more acceptable in his Central European culture). I guess my mind was fairly open having, as a child, read and thoroughly loved the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.
Last Christmas, we welcomed Ratty Bobbleton McRatterson IV (fancy name for a very fancy rat). As Derek said of his pet rats, Ratty is the sweetest, most interesting rodent I’ve ever had as a pet, and maybe even better than the cats and dogs I’ve known.
Every morning, when I let him out of his cage, he does the rounds in the house to check on all his humans, making sure everyone is awake and ready to start the day. And he is sooooo smart. How is it possible with such a tiny brain?! But he is VERY smart.
Early on, he would come to the kitchen with me when I was making my morning coffee to plead for nibbles. But his little claws were so sharp, I would wince when he would try to climb on my pjs. But he learned. He still comes to the kitchen with me in the mornings, but now he just gently puts his front paws on my leg as if to say, „hey lady.. don’t forget about Ratty.” I never thought I’d be so attached to a rat, but here we are. 😅
Awwww! I love this! Thanks for posting this, Marie! — Derek
So glad these critters are working out for you so well for you both!
Noah and I had two pet rats, Canada and Violeta. Canada was your white lab rat with red eyes and Violeta looked like Remy from Ratatouille. Canada loved to cuddle with us and all Violeta ever wanted to do in her life was escape. We would find her sometimes hidden in the deepest depths of a couch or cabinet.
We loved them and miss them dearly. I don’t have the heart anymore for their rapid demise. I was still recovering from losing Canada when Violeta died.
Now we have a seven year old puppy named Hugo who still has many years to go. I have decided to not date for a while so I’ve been single for three years now and plan to continue that for a while so I appreciate having Hugo’s company.
Love this story! Wouldn't have thought of rats as pets until reading this. Great that you're so open minded too & willing to try new things. I have a cat so couldn't adopt one but yours are adorable, thanks for sharing. :)
3 years 6 months ago I went vegan. Not plant based, I mean truly vegan, which means for ethical reasons: best choice ever made. Good for my soul, good for the animals, good for the Planet. Rats are loving pets, cows are big dogs, not to talk about pigs, chicken are sweet and cuddling too. Only regret, not to have made the choice earlier in my life. May all sentient beings be free from suffering, and may you continue in this path of love, compassion and freedom from prejudice.
He's licking your head because he loves you Derek :)
You never cease to surprise and show me a new perspective
I heard you talking about these rats in Tim's show. my 8 years old has been asking for hamsters for so long and I have million questions, especially because we have a cat at home.
can you share more what you love about them? I didn't have any pet before we had our cat, and now I'm a big cat lover, so happy to change my mind about it (rats) again.
Watching your video made my day - thanks
That’s hilarious.
Really Cool! I learnt something really new today!
Appreciate it, Derek!
- Clint
I've never considered rats as pets. As a kid raised rural, rats were trouble. That being said, I've heard they are very clever. Are they difficult to housebreak?
This refreshed my brain again. Derek. like the old you i hated rats as well. i literally killed one or two myself with hammer, with anger. with regarding to connect with pets. i have most recent experience. there is a dog in my office. and everyone is busy to embrace or cuddle her. sometimes she would come up to me with her arms on my lap. i'd pat her head. she enjoyed it. she is a mirror of our humankind's life. it means our work spack lack of affection or love. i think.
BEN......
I used to say, "I" and "Me"
Now its "US", now it's "WE"
Very cute! It seems many animals love your scalp :)
Ha! Readers, Ron is saying this because when he was visiting New Zealand, his beautiful dog also licked my head like my rat in the video. — Derek
I believe the reason animals sometimes like to lick us is because our skin is salty from our sweat.
Nice :)
What a sweet story, Derek. I didn’t know that about mice and rats. Though I won’t go and adopt one anytime soon, I enjoyed a different perspective and the education about domesticated mice and rats. Thank you for sharing.
Our kids looked after baby rabbits, hedgehogs, lambs & our daughter had a horse. Great to see them learning care & nature skills at a young age
Derek, I have heard what wonderful pets rats make and how intelligent they are. I think it is really sad that there is an ongoing war of humans against these rodents but what the answer is I really don't know.
I love that you’ve embraced an animal you once hated. If that’s not emblematic of true change idk what is.
My partner got us a ferret on a whim, bonding me to our danger noodle, Odin. We’ll have him 5 years, this coming January. Watching him go from this palm sized terror into a this full sized evil genius that loves to snuggle has been such an eye opener. I dove into ferret behaviors, how mustelids differ from rodents, how they’re alike, what’s distinct to ferrets/rats/mice/badgers/etc.
Our little guy has common traits with honey badgers and always makes me think of Stoeffel, the honey badger. He figured out if he goes into the lower cabinets of our kitchen, he can hop into the utensil drawers, then with enough time shove said drawer open to hop on the counter. The more complex the journey, the more determined he seems to take it on.
I resonate with others here discussing their rats; it caught me off guard how much I love this little light, while so many only have fear or repulsion for them. I’m going to ugly cry so hard when time takes him in a few years. they only live to be 6-8, longer than rats but is any time ever enough for a loved pet? He’s been more work than we could’ve anticipated, but the investiture he’s given us, how he seeks us out for play or a snuggle when he could just hide away always warms my heart.
Yes. I totally agree. Our attitude towards something may change when we experience in new environment. Or, when our belief has shifted from the past. That's why the more we grow, the more we understand the World better.
Very curious! Did you get the rats from the pet store as well? I normally see mice but never rats.
much like your past self, rats were a problem to be solved/killed and so i had a visceral reaction to the subject line. you amaze me for even considering this much less enjoying them as pets. gotta go watch those videos.
I love this. One concern I’ve had is that rats mark their territory with urine. Is that the case?
I never considered the possibility that rats could be wonderful pets until I started to notice all those rat pictures by Michael W Lucas over on Mastodon...
Ohh!! this is exactly what happened to me with cats. I HATED THEM. Was terrible we used to live next an abandoned terrain and was infested with wild cats. They where fighting all the time, screaming... horrible I was really scared of them!.... Now I own 3 cats... and I LOVE THEM. They play with us we call them by name and they know exactly to whom we talk, they love to cuddle they are soooo sweet! and all of them were rescued from shelters or found on the street. I would love to get a Rat now!! haha
Nice. My son had a green-cheeked conure, which I only mentioned because of the similarities in the journey toward loving the little guy.
Band becuasr you showed us such a cute head-licking video, I will give you this link to the rat temple in India, which I was fortunate enough to visit at one point. Well worth a look if you are ever in the area (like maybe within a 6-hr trip). It’s not the greatest website and you find out lots more on other sites if interested, but you’ll have the name of the temple.
http://matakarnitemple.com/
That's funny. Thanks for sharing.
What kind of tea are you drinking?
Weirdest sentence you've maybe never heard: Rats laugh ultrasonically when you tickle them. Google it!
My first job beyond working in my mom's pet grooming business was at a pet store. My manager, Amber, showed me pictures of her pet rat that liked riding on her shoulder. This was late 80s, so actual photographs! Since then I've had cats and a dog, but no other pets. I'm petless now, and appreciate the neighbors' cats that visit when I sit out back in the mornings. I occasionally see an opossum walking across the back wall, looking so ungainly and ugly-adorable - I looked up what they eat and have secretly starting leaving fruit and vegetable peelings by the hole under the shed where I think they live. Hopefully I'm not causing problems, they don't seem to be destructive. I don't know that there are opossums that are domesticated, but then my uncle tamed a baby squirrel and kept it as a pet, so maybe this weirdness runs in my family ...
I had a pet rat in college and he (or she?) was great. I let him free roam in the house and he would always find me if hungry or needed cuddles. They do like to lick and I think it might be the salt in our sweat they are after. Maybe?
Your friend is certainly showing his affection, so funny! Growing up in the New England boonies, I've had many kinds of pets; horses, snakes, lizards, a blue jay,(even tamed some chickadees) parakeets, dogs, cats, a praying mantis, a toad, chickens, a hamster, a gerbil, and yes a rat. Unfortunately, as soon as I got him, he disappeared into my mothers new recliner. Our 200 year old house had too many nooks and crannies, so I found him another home. Rodents are indeed very smart. Here in the high deserts of AZ, I have been dealing with intermittent infestations for years. Some carry Hanta virus. In fact I contracted a nasty fungus from one mouse that I barely came in contact with. These are wild little buggers, and I won't live with them. The only thing to do is seal every hole. Once I caught the most beautiful, large field mouse I've ever seen. Me and my cat herded him into a corner, and I scooped him up in a jar. I just couldn't kill him, he was such a specimen, so we let him go in the forest. I've also been battling a genius ground squirrel (for six years) who lives to tunnel under my foundation, who every time her new nest is disturbed comes to my sliding glass doors and peers in at me. She knows whose who!
Love your post about mice and rats as pets, and your own journey of growth. And the video is awesome…you are clearly enjoying it as much, if not more than, Cricket.
Adorable. My girlfriend has a Chinchilla.
Super cute... unfortunately though it doesn't care about litter boxes. >.<
You won't believe it.....but I screamed this morning when I walked outside of my apartment and a rat almost got stuck in my legs. Hard to love rats in NYC, but I love this post!
Nah! I can't.
Cricket is adorable.
Just watching the video made me smile.
Thanks for sharing.
I just don’t think I could but I admire you even more now.
I got a tattoo of a cockroach on my wrist to remind me that the only difference between abhorrence and reverence is my thinking (read Hold to hold a cockroach, Matthew Maxwell). Your post has challenged me to embrace rodents in general and see trash dump rats with a new eye. Thanks you as always.
As someone who used to live in NYC and grew up in the NYC area, this was a provocative post title! I did not previously know that mice and rats could make pets. The picture and video you shared show just how different a domesticated rat is from a NYC rat, haha. Very sweet, man.
In the great words of Arnold “What u talkin About Willis (Derek)”.
If you buy four turtles I will petition to reinstate your revoked New York membership:) All jokes aside. So many layers to this post it’s heartwarming and out there at the same time. Good to see you happy.
OMG -- O.M.G -- O..... M.....G.....! O...........
Epic pet video! Indeed Cricket looked very healthy and clean.
Can we play the song "Ben" now? Thought it was a weird song before until I saw this vid. :)
Love the vid. When my husband had rats, they went crazy for avocado...and toothpaste?
I love you and your mice (and rats). Thank you for your deep wisdom lived and delivered with such simple levity. xoxox
Nicola
Yes! I had a pet rat for a while too, and she was so cuddly and intelligent. Great pets, especially for kids.
In the days of Ai and robots may we become closer to the animals that we thought could only be wild and untamable even in their own habitats where they are actually wild. That is the earth I though the future would one day bring beyond all the flying cars and hoverboards.
So enjoyed this article.
In our family we had numerous pets. One pet was an iguana which I wasn't too keen on at first but grew to really like him. He used stay on our shoulders when we walked around the house!
So I can totally understand your aversion to rats & mice but we can all be surprised how we change our minds!
Who would have thunk it? What a revelation! Just keep it up.
Best,
Ernie
Hello! I'm updating my personal website and using chatgpt to brainstorm ideas. It recommended nownownow.com. Because I'm a curious individual I found myself on your website.
Anyway, the real reason I am here is to say that I think your rats are adorable! I had two of my very own (passed away this year, sadly :( ). They reached life expectancy of 3 years.
Their names were Shadow and Popcorn. Awesome little creatures, very smart! People don't give them enough credit.
He's grooming your head. That's a sign of total trust and affection. <3
I hear you. I love this. Especially the transformation punchline "cuddling what i used to kill". 1<3 1LOVE =)
Pet rats are fantastic! My sisters and I each had a series of rats thru childhood. I remember them all—Thaddeus (he was so big when he laid in top of his cage he covered the top of it,
Sumo proportions; Liz’s Clyde, whose eyes used to pop in and out of his head when she sand the Clyde song to him; Joan’s Juke, she thought he was wonderful, but I never got her live for Juke… They were all wonderful companions.. of course our friends had rats also, so we’d bring our rats to visit with us. Rats on shoulders, on bikes, in pockets, in stores, what a time.
My last rat, Rip, passed away about a year into married life. That was a hard loss. Newish husband wanted a pot bellied pig, not a rat next. Sweet Jesus, DON’T GET A PIG!
In retrospect, I should’ve taken his reluctance to have another pet rat for what it was—he cared a lot about appearances. Pet rats weren’t socially acceptable, he was worried about what the neighbors would think, blah blah blah. Fuck that!
Thanks for stirring happy childhood memories this morning! Heartwarming, all the rats I've known and loved… wishing you many years of rat happiness;-)
This is funny, but my opinion of you has changed, just now, because…rats! What a kick! You’re more ..accessible..now it seems. I respect you more, interesting.. happy day!
I'm assuming that you remember me, your rats are so cute!! I only discovered this website today but its already rlly cool!! my website was just about random animals dressed up to look like the deltarune characters!
HiDerek,
Interesting, I have now thoughts about rats too.
Also we are still fighting them at our country house. UFFF!!!
Ceilings at night so so dreadful. Farmhouselife!
Here in city need a pet.
Will do research. And thanks for that nice story.
Regards from sunny Yokshire, England! :-)
Latvian man in England.
Cheers MARIS
I had a rat named Hugo. He was my best friend. He joined me at school, the teachers didn't know, because Hugo slept in my pullover-sleeve during school. When I rode my bicycle home, he put his head out of my pullover and loved it. At home, he ran around and joined me again while I was writing my journal and cuddled next to me and had his nap. I loved him. When he died, a part of me died (I was very young) and I still love to travel back to those memories, filled with joy. One day, I will get another one. That's for sure.
Awwww. Sweet story. Thank you. — Derek
Salty head. Mmm.
it has happened you have achieved rats active but beware if you fall asleep while they roam upon your bed or where ever you fall asleep - get if fall asleep...I lost Ben in 73... oh how I was up set I fell really asleep upon my dear friend Ben, how i longed for those beedy eyes to appear upon the blankets he scaled in days of yore and life,,,
Derek you have it RATSACTIVE
This is causing lauhgter this hit the rats spot
My neighbor has rats in her attic. I talked to the young exterminator and he said they were from the east coast but traveled to Arizona with the packing boxes. I saw one on the street earlier this week. Now I feel bad that it had been hit by a car. Heart heart heart!
😁
I can't imagine to pet a rat
What if you tell your rat
To come to the rate you hate
To Tell them to leave the house so they don't disturb you anymore
Great story
I love the portability of the mice
Your rat grooming you looks a lot like our spfinx cats doing the same to us.
I've had some of the sweetest rats on this earth! One liked to watch tv with me on the couch. They can be youre best friends. They love to be stroked and patted and some will come when called. Some people are so so wrong about rats. I raised rats for over 30 years with good experiences. And its so sad when they die. I would recommend rats to any one who wants a pet.
☺ Awwww. This is so nice to hear. Thanks Leanne! — Derek
The only person I have known to own rats is my childhood friend Alex. So, this post reminded me of him!
He's grooming you! What a delightful tiny moment! I'm sad to read about Clover's passing ☹
I hate dogs.
But I instinctively feel like in the future there will be a turn of things.