OUR PET RATS
25 videos • 289 views • by MamaRat We became a rattie home in October 2016, and didn't realize how much we would come to adore them. Rats are highly intelligent and social with each other, and humans. Sadly, their lives are short, 1.5 to 2.5 years. Domestically bred rats are very susceptible to pneumonia and tumors. Minun and Plusle, (not siblings), were both born early September 2016. Minun died very unexpectedly 8/4/17 from pneumonia. Spinda joined our home 8/5/17, and was born approximately early July 2017. We were intending to get a male to be a companion to Plusle after Minun's death. Much to our surprise, Spinda was a female. Spinda gave birth to 14 babies on 9/7/17 after the normal 21 day gestation. At least we had 7 days advance notice, since that's when physical signs of pregnancy become obvious. After birth, Plusle moved to a separate cage, and needed a male companion. Steven joined our household a few days later. We kept 2 babies from that litter: Dusty and Squishy. *Spinda and the rest of her babies lived with us for 5 1/2 weeks, and then they all went to a quality pet store to be adopted into homes. In the summer of 2019, we switched from having male rats to female rats. Both girls lived about 2 years, with Tina living the longest of all our ratties. And thank goodness we had these amazing furry companions during COVID! It made a world of difference in our lives, and the girls had the most frequent human interaction of any of our ratties. They thrived! In late 2021 after having ratties for 5 years, we decided no more. They're such wonderful, loving, clever creatures! But to care for them properly and give them the lives they deserve, it takes a lot of time and work. Also, I never envisioned having to take rats to a vet, but that happened a lot. Treatments for pneumonia, tumor removals, and emergency care for a near fatal injury led to some big vet bills. We loved them and gave them the best possible lives. 🐀❤🐀❤🐀❤🐀❤🐀❤🐀❤ Plusle 9/2016 - 1/2018 Minun 9/2016 - 8/2017 Steven 6/2017 - 7/2019 Dusty 9/2017 - 6/2019 Squishy 9/2017 - 9/2019 Tessa 7/2019 - 9/2021 Tina 8/2019 - 10/2021