April 4th, World Rat Day!

[Sketchy]

WORLD RAT DAY!

Give Rats some extra love on April 4th.
If you don't know much about this amazing pet, please look them up. They are nowhere near as bad as people make them out to be.
Give them a chance. You wont regret it. Though be weary of rats from pet stores, if they aren't handled correctly there they may fear humans.
If you already know and love rats, get out there and spread their awesomeness! Draw pictures, bring them up in conversation, take them with you for a short walk*, etc.
*ensure that the weather is good, and the rat bonded to you, before taking rat outside.

Click here to learn more about*unfortunately it isn't up to date, but it does explain the basic idea.

Feel free to discuss your love for rats here!
Tell us about your babies, or little ratters you hope to get.
Tell us funny/cute/happy/sad stories about your rats.
Share drawings, photos, crafts you may have that are rat related!
Tell us your experience and help spread the Ratter joy around. =)

[{ Castiel }]

Aha! I am so glad I found this! I have currently got two new rats Howard and Vince (named after Howard Moon and Vince Noir who are characters from a television program called The Mighty Boosh) and they are the cutesy things ever! Howard comes out on his own now, and doesn't need a nudge from me when i have onlyhad them for a couple of weeks and he just runs about my room, climbs my shoulders, gets under my top etc. Where as Vince is a little shyer and doesn run about so much, he doesn't go under my bed and when he does, he doesn't come out again! Vince prefers to sit in my lap and have a cuddle when Howard prefers to come out and run about :3 I first got them because I had to take home the school rat Charlie. He is a albino fancy rat as is so sweet. Anyway, at the beggining of the holidays mum warned me that we werent going to get any rats, but by the end if it she was beginning me to get some. My mum loves rats and fin all after years of wanting them I got them, just because I took the school rat home for a week.
When I first got them though they were very small and scared so the have made so much progress. On the first day when I got them Vince managed to escape from his cage and that night when I returned from a meal out with my family he was hiding under my bed! We got them out of the cage and borrowed a gerbil cage from my friend who lives round the corner from me and put them in there. A few days later when they were accustomed to the cage we started to handle them, and they enjoyed coming out and having a cuddle and a play. Recently we got them a ball and a carrier, Howard and Vince love the ball, yet hate the carrier so they need to get accustomed to it. I have beenteaching them tricks recently and now the know their names <3
I really hate the way that everybody portrays the rats. All of my friends whenever mention them scream things like 'Ughh vermin!' and turn away from me. They just hate the tails. I keep trying to tell them that they aren't
vermin but they never listen! Rats are not vermin! They are very intelligent, more so then dogs and yet they get
portrayed as evil, creatures. They get blamed for the black death, when it wasn't the rats. It was the fleas.

Anyway I feel like I have said enough, apart fom Vince is a hooded Dumbo rat with a grey hood and a White everything else <3 and Howard is a blazed Dumbo rat with grey markings and White everything else <3 They are by babies.

[Sketchy]

I'm so glad that they are warming up to you!
I currently have three girls (who are now 2yrs old, super affectionate, and always beg to come out with me), and two boys (who I have had for nearly a year.. They are still very shy, but like getting petted)
The boys(Russian Grey Dumbos with an identical white triangle on the tummy. Only differences between the two is one is slightly darker and they have very different personalities.) must've been treated terribly by the breeder before getting shipped to the pet store. The day my two weeks was up(yes I quit there because pet stores are terrible places) I rescued them. There was a black mold problem and I couldn't stand to see them get sick from breathing that stuff in. There had only been there a day.
The boys hate being picked up and will only let you pet them if they already know you and you are very slow. Sudden movements scare them.
They have never bitten me, but they definitely let you know they are uncomfortable.
When I pet Spaz, he rests his head in my hand and I pet him with my thumb.
Anx doesn't let you know he is enjoying the pets, but he will sit still anyways.

My girlies(hooded dumbos) have always been awesome. I got them from someone who had an accidental littler of 21!
It took them about a day to get used to me, and about a week to stop nipping my toes when we'd play.
Pinky (the hairless) has recently taken to beating up Crystals.. and tries to make it look like it was Crystals fault.
They remind me of little kids. It isn't really bad, she just pins Crystals down and power-grooms her, or will just hold her down for a long time. The only one that gets hurt is Pinky because she doesn't have fur to protect her. But it is just tiny scratches that don't even bleed.

Rats have always been my favorite animal. They are so smart, affectionate, entertaining, and down-right awesome.
I just wish I could help more people see rats the way I do.

[{ Castiel }]

That is very much what I wish with my friends :3
It sounds like Pinky is very much like Howard, he always does that with Vince! :3

[lkjhgfdsamnbvcxz]

AWESOME! I didn't know about it, I am gonna celebrateeeeee now! ^________^ yayayayayazzz!
Sorry for being so enthusiastic, but... I LOOVEE rats! They are my favorite animals, and I was always identyfing myself as a rat... so it's my day!

Thanks so much for letting me know. This made my day! (literally!)

---
Sigh. I'd LOVE to have a rat. S-T-U-P-I-D allergy! -__________________-" (I'd say something WAY more mean, but these forums are child-friendly) BURN IN HELL ALLERGY, BURN IN HELL! Y_Y You don't know... it hurts so much, especially that I am an animal lover and I don't have any animals, I am allergic too all of them. I also got asthma.

Whoever invented this dumb thing, allergy... I am going to KILL THEM with my BARE HANDS!

[MoonfallTheFox]

Ahh! Rat day! I shall go give my babies a treat to celebrate.

Anyway, I have three rats, two intact males and one spayed girly. They are-

Romeo- Agouti hooded rex, mismarked.
Snitch- Marked Seal Point Siamese.
Rosebud- Black hooded, mismarked.

I love them all, they are wonderful little ones.<3

[Sketchy]

I am allergic too all of them. I also got asthma.

Have you considered Hairless Rats?
One of my rats is hairless.

@Moonfall - I meant to buy yogies for them.. but they love these banana cheerios even more.. so they get cheerios, grapes, and peaches today. =)
Wish I had some actual bananas and broccoli for them, those are their favorite.

[MoonfallTheFox]

I'm just going to give them something small, if I get to eat this awesome cake I made then they can have a little bite.

[{ Castiel }]

I gave my two boys a massive run around my room. They were out for about four hours xD they started to take off all of the toys from my shelf and runaway with them. Lateri found them udder my bed xD

[nz rox]

ive neva been a fan of rats i never relly lyked them but after reading these posts they dont sound at all too bad (not lyk how everyone says) but i doubt im going to get one- we already have a dog tons of fish small sharkthing and yeah... and in another country a friend is looking after a birdie pet of ours so ill take that we wont have any more pets for a while... besides i dont think my mum really lyks them...