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.
Last year, my boy (age 12) asked for a pet rat. I thought he was kidding, but he showed me YouTube videos of pet rats being adorable. So I said 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.
Rats, like cats, use a litter box. They’re very trainable, so they can come when called. They’re attached and affectionate. They have 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.
Rats are adorable. Lab rats have even been shown to laugh when tickled.
But the truth is, fancy rats are completely different from pest rats, even if they are the same species. If you keep a rat, keep it well-fed and its body and living area clean, take it to the vet when sick, etc. it's not going to pose anywhere near the kind of hygiene threat that a wild rat looking for food in your garbage (and maybe nesting in the area) poses.
It's like, I love dogs too, but I would treat a feral dog scavenging for food VERY differently than I would treat any of my pet dogs.
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.
Last year, my boy (age 12) asked for a pet rat. I thought he was kidding, but he showed me YouTube videos of pet rats being adorable. So I said 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.
Rats, like cats, use a litter box. They’re very trainable, so they can come when called. They’re attached and affectionate. They have 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.