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Original poster

Can you keep a baby rat?

51 replies

Lofgh · 16/06/2020 12:41

We've found 2 baby rats. Don't think they're mice, tails too long. They look old enough to eat what adult rats would etc.

Can I keep them? I don't want to kill them. And I don't want them murdered if all it would've taken was for me to have them.

I has pet rats as a child, in England and from pets at home, but apparently they're domesticated and bred in India?

Thank you

OP posts:

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Reedwarbler · 16/06/2020 15:44

I detest rats, filthy things that spread leptospirosis in watercourses and other places (like animal fodder) through their urine, and they will chew through no end of stuff to get where they want. We have a small river locally that has warning notices along it telling you to wash thoroughly if you get the water on your skin (because of all the filthy rats living in the banks), and canal water is a well known carrier of rat produced leptospirosis. We had a jack russell who loved rats though, he would kill them in an instant by breaking their necks. He was a very popular rat hunter locally.
If you like rats, why not get fancy ones? Why take creatures out of the wild to have as pets? You aren't doing them any favours.

Flippetydip · 16/06/2020 15:49

Please please please keep them separately as of now. If they are different sexes you will end up with a litter before you blink.

I really wouldn't keep wild rats (although DD has 2 gorgeous fancy rats so I'm not anti-rat) as you have no idea what diseases they might be carrying.

Flippetydip · 16/06/2020 15:50

@DGRossetti

I can't help but wonder if their parent broke a leg ...

I was wondering the same thing!!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Other pets & animals

0blio · 16/06/2020 16:06

@DGRossetti

I can't help but wonder if their parent broke a leg ...

My thoughts too 🐀

Original poster

Lofgh · 16/06/2020 16:18

Thank you for the replies! I'm a clean house proud type but I just can't seem to even think of killing them they don't look like vermin to me. One has even taken a biscuit off of me and not moved an inch from my hand.

I saw a posting saying its illegal to let them off into the wild and by law I must kill them. Really? So someone could come to me and say ''Sorry Mrs Lof, you didn't bash their brains in so you're in big trouble''.

They both look to be boys as they have fairly big bilges (identical to each other). But you can't really see a willy!

I am taking them into the local vets at 6.30 so will update then

KillJoy They're gorgeous. I had two pet rats as a girl and both were so loving. Then my mum became allergic

OP posts:

Pemba · 16/06/2020 16:19

Seriously?

2Kidsinatrenchcoat · 16/06/2020 16:20

I wouldn’t, and I’ve had four pet rats over the years. I know someone who had a half-wild rat (pet rat escaped and came back pregnant) and even though they were treated as pets from birth their temperament was very different to a domesticated rat

Pemba · 16/06/2020 16:22

I wonder what tomorrow's next rat thread will be?

VetOnCall · 16/06/2020 16:22

I wouldn't recommend keeping wild rats as pets, at the size you describe these two should be able to fend for themselves. If you're going to go ahead and do it you need to get them sexed immediately. It's going to be difficult if they're opposite sex as to keep them alone is cruel but you won't be able to have them together or they will breed continually. Rats can be neutered but I'm not sure of the ethics around encouraging the keeping of wild rats as pets because they are wild animals and they are also classed as vermin, tbh it's not a scenario I've ever come across professionally (or personally). For their sakes it really would be better to release them in a safe area, they are wild animals, not domestic fancy rat pets and if they're young, fit and healthy keeping them is not ethical.

2Kidsinatrenchcoat · 16/06/2020 16:23

This should help with working out if they’re male or female

Wheresthebiffer2 · 16/06/2020 16:25

You could possibly keep one, but if you keep two, you risk them being opposite sex and BREEDING.

LaurieFairyCake · 16/06/2020 16:27

Can the people who actually keep pet rats say whether they're the same as the wild ones?

I'm assume they have that leptospirosis disease too?

Rats are lovely friendly animals

DGRossetti · 16/06/2020 16:28

I wonder what tomorrow's next rat thread will be?

Fricassee ? Sauteed ? Broiled or grilled ?

homemadecommunistrussia · 16/06/2020 16:34

My friend at uni had a lovely rat, I still think about him sometimes. He used to sit on my shoulder while I fed him digestives.

Pemba · 16/06/2020 16:35

Starlight39 · 16/06/2020 16:39

i have pet rats and they're lovely but they are generally bred to have a good temperament which you won't get with wild rats - they might be fine but they might not. There are some rat groups on FB that could give you more info, I know some people on there have kept wild rats alongside their pet rats.

Boy rat go through a bit of a puberty at a few months old where their temperament can change so even if they're sweet and tame now, they could change. They could also have diseases. There is a disease called rat bite fever that you can get I believe even if you aren't bitten. So I'd be wary to be honest . i'd just take them to some woodland and let them go - at least then you'd be giving them a chance.

Hatscats · 16/06/2020 16:42

They are wild rats. they should be living in the wild not in a cage.

I’d put them back where you found them.

Nature will take care of the rest!

VetOnCall · 16/06/2020 16:42

@LaurieFairyCake rats that are kept as pets are domesticated 'fancy rats' that have been selectively bred over time as pet animals, they're not the same as wild rats. There are physical as well as behavioural differences between the two.

OP, it is really not in these animals' best interests to be kept as pets. As vermin they should not be released but as you don't want to kill them the humane thing to do is to release them somewhere safe.

Stompythedinosaur · 16/06/2020 16:44

I keep rats, and I think wild rats are different in temperament. I had an adopted rat once that I was fairly sure was half wild rat and he was tricky to care for, he bit easily and didn't really enjoy human company like every other rat I have had has done.

I think the ok is doing a good thing, but would proceed with caution.

MintJuleps · 16/06/2020 16:47

Bet the vet will be delighted at your bringing in two vermin this evening

DGRossetti · 16/06/2020 16:47

My friend at uni had a lovely rat, I still think about him sometimes. He used to sit on my shoulder while I fed him digestives.

Many years ago, I had a friend that had a rat and a gerbil. (Their quote "the gerbil makes the rat look like Einstein" ... not that I saw any thought experiments about spacetime when I visited). The rat had the run of the place and would scurry along and then climb the sofa and sit on a shoulder. Any shoulder as it turned out.

They did think about keeping a snake too, but never got around to it ....

DGRossetti · 16/06/2020 16:49

rats that are kept as pets are domesticated 'fancy rats' that have been selectively bred over time as pet animals, they're not the same as wild rats. There are physical as well as behavioural differences between the two.

OT (but it is chat ) did anyone read about UK foxes "self domesticating" ?

www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/urban-foxes-may-be-self-domesticating-our-midst

Who knows - might solve the rat problem ?

AlternativePerspective · 16/06/2020 16:55

I would imagine that as they’re vermin and it’s illegal to keep them the vet would be obliged to destroy them humanely.

LaurieFairyCake · 16/06/2020 16:59

fancy rats

Gunpowder · 16/06/2020 17:05

I’m not sure there’s a case for adopting wild rats unless you live in prison and need them to carry drugs so you don’t get shivved.

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