New Addition

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
1,659
I ended up with this little guy today :) He was given to me by a guy who tried to feed him live to his snake and the snake didn't want it and he didn't want to keep it, he thought I would want to feed him to one of my BP's however I feed frozen thawed (I have NO desire to start feeding live either lol) and none of my guys are onto rats at all. I said I would take him and keep him as a pet :)

He's adorable and super friendly. I was thinking of naming him Templeton since one of my Tarantula's is Charlotte (my first one, the rest of my collection has much more creative names lol.) However, Im not sure if it suits him yet so I'm open to name suggestions.
 

Attachments

sharpfang

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
909
Templeton 4 SURE!

LOL - that is very *nice* of you! ;) - Jason
 

PrimalTaunt

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
467
Jeez, Shell. Don't you know that those things carry diseases and eat babies whole?

Congrats on the new addition.
 

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
1,659
Jeez, Shell. Don't you know that those things carry diseases and eat babies whole?

Congrats on the new addition.
Yes, I know Trav. We are all going to get the Bubonic Plague now for sure :rolleyes: That is unless he eats the kids before he infects them.
 
Last edited:

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
1,659
LOL - that is very *nice* of you! ;) - Jason
LOL I just couldn't say no. Plus, I had an empty cage, lost my ancient Panda hamster a few weeks ago so why not.
 

ametan

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
186
What a cutie. And Templeton is a great name. If anyone brings up the Charlotte's Web association you can say, "Charlotte's Webb? Huh, never even thought of that. I named him after the A-Team character."

You could always go with Algernon.
 

Mack&Cass

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
1,574
And look at it this way: if when your BP is big enough to eat rats and you find yourself out of food one week, it's just a quick snap of the neck and voila! Food!

I'm (half) joking. That's what I would do, but then again I've manipulated my brain into seeing all rodents as snake food. At least I'm not as bad as Mackenzie. I don't know if you've seen that Evian commercial where the babies are dancing on rollerskates, but when it came on one night, all I heard from Mackenzie was "look, honey, dancing snake food".

Cute rat. It looks exactly like our class pet rat named Sunny that we had when I was in grade 7.

Cass
 

Scoolman

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
612
Lucky little sob. I had many prhans I ended up keeping when my monitor would not eat them.
 

ZergFront

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
1,956
Awww, cute. Rats are one of the few rodents I can ever see myself getting. That or a chinchilla, gerbil (too bad not legal in CA) or teddy bear hamster. Very smart for such little creatures. My mom thinks they are ugly because of the thick tail. :(
 

Lorgakor

Arachnomom
Staff member
Joined
Sep 9, 2004
Messages
2,369
He totally looks like a Templeton! Cute little guy. I could never feed live either.
 

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
1,659
Thanks all :)

Templeton it is (although I do like Algernon, never thought of that one.)

I've had all kinds of rodents; numerous different hamsters, a chinchilla, gerbils (never again) but he is pretty cool, I could see myself saving more rats lol
 

GiantVinegaroon

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
1,389
Is he used to you at all? In my experience feeder rats sometimes take some time before they get used to you.

Rats really are great pets. They're like little fuzzy dogs. Enjoy the new addition!
 

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
1,659
Actually he is extrememly docile with me already. I haven't kept rats myself, but my hubby has and he said he would be nervous with me at first, but not at all. The minute I open his cage he is climbing up my arm, and not to escape lol he will just sit on my shoulder or in my hand, although he has a fascination with my laptop, wants to jump on it lol.
 

pouchedrat

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
614
I'm definitely a rat person before anything else. Awesome addition! My last rat passed away last week, and I'm currently ratless (unless you count the two african soft furred rat orphans i got over the weekend), which is the first time I've been ratless in 15, almost 16 years. I really don't feel like myself without them, either.... but their short lifespan is too much to handle anymore, plus vet bills get astronomical with the tumors, respiratory illnesses, etc, they can get.

Probably the best pet (domestic) rodent you will ever have. They can be very easily trained to do tricks, to use a litterbox, to come when called, etc. Plan on getting another? They do best in same-sex pairs, and you'll notice a huge difference in how they behave. And no, two will not make them bond less with you, either.

just be sure to keep boys and girls seperated, because they will breed, and they can have a lot of offspring that can be very hard to place.

Feeder and pet rats really aren't much different except "feeders" usually aren't handled from day one (so it can take time to get them used to you), are poorly bred, poorly inbred, tend to have a ton of health problems including tumors later in life, and oftentimes i've noticed males can get hormonal after a certain age (they'll get aggressive and territorial towards anyone going near their cage), since they're not bred with that in mind. That's not always the case, and honestly out of the WELL over 100 rats I've had in my lifetime from ALL different rescue situations as well as from professional breeders, only about 3 were aggressive enough to be considered biters. Out of those three, only one wasn't able to be handled even after trust-training, or neutering, and such, and was nasty until the day she died. It's really not THAT common.
 

ametan

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
186
A rat is the first pet I plan on getting for my son when he's ready (he's only four right now). They're clean, easygoing, and furry. Now I just have to talk my husband into it... You should've seen him freak over the free roaches that came along with one of my Ts. {D
 

pouchedrat

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
614
Sounds like my man, LOL! He was freaked out when moving in with me because I was the "rat chick" and he had no clue what to expect from them. Eventually We picked out two rat girls for himself so he could see what they were like from babies on, and he fell instantly in love.

He now says he likes rats because they're like humans. They're greedy, selfish, will hide and stash food from each other, bicker and fight when they don't get their way, but also intelligent and constantly craving attention from their owners.

Now that I keep inverts, he's even more freaked out. I bought some snakes recently (tanzanian egg eater, and two southern ring necks) and apparently snakes are his number 1 FEAR!! I'm so mean.......
 

Shell

ArachnoVixen AKA Dream Crusher AKA Heartbreaker
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
1,659
Sounds like my man, LOL! He was freaked out when moving in with me because I was the "rat chick" and he had no clue what to expect from them. Eventually We picked out two rat girls for himself so he could see what they were like from babies on, and he fell instantly in love.

He now says he likes rats because they're like humans. They're greedy, selfish, will hide and stash food from each other, bicker and fight when they don't get their way, but also intelligent and constantly craving attention from their owners.

Now that I keep inverts, he's even more freaked out. I bought some snakes recently (tanzanian egg eater, and two southern ring necks) and apparently snakes are his number 1 FEAR!! I'm so mean.......
hahahaha, mine loves snakes, we have Ball Pythons currently. The spiders are growing on him, at first when I wanted to get one he was a little unsure, now he likes to help me feed and stuff. All the other critters he's cool with, he's really just as bad as me for wanting all different pets :)
 
Top