Rats Compared to the rodent family.

The rodent family is quit a big family. But to slim it down to the main animals, there’s mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, porcupines, beavers, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and chinchillas. But in this blog I’m comparing rats to all the other rodents. Ill start with mice. Mice are most commonly used on experiments, as are rats. But rats are smarted and science can do so much more with rats because of there intelligent. "Rats have been used in experimental mazes since at least the early 20th century." -Anne http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatsAndMazes.htm Now squirrels I heard are fun and cute pets. I don’t have any experience with squirrels but they look like fun critters. Non the less there wild animals and they belong in trees and parks. Rats well much rather stay inside with you then be released into the wild. Its safer. Chipmunks are most famous for singing in high pitch voices. Enough said right there, leave them because rats are better. Gophers live under ground so I’m not to sure how they would hold up as a pet. But rats and gophers both like to burrow. Its how they stay warm when winter comes blowing by. So porcupines is something I no people take in as pets. In fact I wanted a porcupine before I ever wanted a rat. I cant tell you weather they make a good pet or not but I no they’ll hurt when there scared. Ok at first I couldn’t believe beavers were part of the rodent family but it makes since because they burry them selves like ever other rodent. Non the less there not made to be pets. There so wild, but so intelligent to! Hamsters. In my opinion are the worst of all rodents. They sleep all day and make a bunch of racket at night. There highly stupid and escape artist. And they wont come back! It least rats no where to get there food so they’ll always come back to there cage if they ever get out. Rats are loyal unlike hamster! Guinea pigs to me are just a bigger version of hamsters. No good. Gerbils are like the smaller version of hamster, still no good! Now chinchillas are cure as everyone knows. I have never had one as a pet but id love to experience owning one, one day. I don’t know much about them but I only want one because there so darn cute! (just like rats!) "Chinchilla fur is considered the softest in the world and is thirty times softer than human hair." -(unknown author) http://www.chinchillaplanet.com/chinchilla-facts/ 
Maybe I’m biases because I own a rat and I think there all better than the rest but Iv good reasoning. You can tell me what you think of owning anyone of these rodents.


That is a chinchilla.

And those two wonderful rats are mine! the brown pass away about a year ago. the white one is still alive today.

Emma's thoughts on rat owning.

In this seventh blog I interviewed a young lady by the name of Emma Medoews. She is a previous rat owner and I got her thoughts on owning a rat, and just seeing a rat in general.

Questions:

1.       When was the first time you saw a pet rat? What was your reaction?

2.       What made you want a pet rat for yourself?

3.       Do you find rats adorable? What’s your favorite feature of them?

4.       What’s the hardest part of taking care of rat?

5.       How many rats have you had? How long did you have them?

6.       What’s the best part of owning a rat?

7.       What are some of the silly things you did with your rat?

8.       How often did you have to clean the cage?

9.       How did your rat get its exercise?

10.   How do you think rats came to be as pets?

Answers:

1. wheni was 7 i saw my first pet rat. i thought it was gross but kinda cute.

2.there really loving and actuly not gross. it was the first pet i could have beacause it was small.

3. ya i guess so. my favorite feature on a rat is there colors.

4. cleaning its cage!

5.i only had one that was mine. and i had her for three years.

6. playing with my rat!

7. let my sister put it up her pants.

8. you should do it once a week.  but i only did it twice every two weeks.

9. i had a rat ball and she toures the hole house.

10. probly the same way dogs, cats, and hourses came to be pets. someone thought it was a good idea.

All in all you can tell miss emma really enjoyed her rat. There not as bad as everyone thinks. She got hers when she was seven so you can tell its a good pet to have to start learning responsablity.

And heres a video of a person we all have seen before, rapping about his rat. http://kiwi.kz/watch/uzoemjjaiqf7

tips and check up on Dasie.

In the beginning of this project I said I would also include my own rat as to tell you how she’s doing and give you a little bit of my life to having a rat. Well dasie is pretty well up in her age. And like this book I’m reading called  :your world of pets”, it says rats, and mice live for about 3 to 5 years. Dasie is on her 4^th year. There four she’s getting up there in age. To help you grasp how old that really is in rat years, its around an 80 year old women. She has back leg problems and I am starting to see how hard it is for her to get around her own cage, she is blind and deaf but still lives a happy rat life despite her troubles.

In this I read it mainly gave me interesting facts about rats, and some tips on owning a rat. First thing I learned was rats normally come from around Europe. Also something very cool I learned was all rats are descended from the brown rat even though you find different colored rats like black a sliver blue and white.

And when taking care of a rat for your first time its low for experience needed unlike hoarse and ponies. But before you even start taking care of the rat you need to pick out a healthy rat. Some signs of a healthy rat are clean ears, bright eyes, a clean tail area, a smooth glossy coat, a strong solid-feeling body, a nose that isn’t runny or stuffy, and an alert appearance. This book also gives tips as what to put in a rats housing. This is something I haven’t mention but no much about. You can put in milk carnets, have cut open soda bottles, toilet paper rolls, ect. Anything your rat can hide away in really. Like for my rat I normally use a shoe box. But that’s the basic for a rat that this book stated something’s I didn’t know and something’s I new much about.

RATS- and their unserstanding of cause and effect!

Did you know way back when people thought rats couldn’t grasp the concept of cause and effect. Not many animals can. But thanks to a researcher by the name of Aaron Blaisdell found out rats can very well, and easily learn to find the effect of there cause. Aaron said "But the gist is that rats can distinguish cause from coincidence," http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0216_060216_rats_2.html

Blaisdell, the study leader, gives the rats even more credit.

See Aaron Blaisdell tested the rats in a unique way. First there was a lever and light. The rats had to press the lever and a light would flash. Each time that light flashed they were rewarded food. But if the lever was pushed and no light flashed there was no food for the rats. The rats had two levers to pick from, one with a flashing light and one with out. The rats had to find the lever with the flashing light in order to get there food.

So basically the rats realized if I press this lever and the light doesn’t flash then I am rewarded no food. But if I go over here and press this lever the light flashes and I am rewarded food! Trial and error in other words is what the rats did. Rats may not be smarted than humans but they grasp the concept like humans and learn quick likes humans. Its nothing but another reminder on how rats are truly like humans. In my own opinion id have to say a rat can beat a toddler maybe even a young kid in some lever pulling contest to test there smarts. Rats but yet again have impressed researchers with there wits, and smarts.

How-To-Teach-A-How-To-Beg!

How to train your rat to beg! “Rats can be easily trained to do simple task.” –Whitney. http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Train-Pet-Rats . If you ever tried to train a dog or cat a trick or simple task you found it took some work and patents. You’ve got to be repeated. Well teaching a rat something to do, it takes all the things a dog and cat needs to learn a task or trick, rats do it in have the time. There fast learners!

If you’ve ever seen a rat beg it looks something like in the picture below. They stand on their back legs and balance with their arms in a lower case “n” formation. Then they stick their nose real high in the air. So that way they look up at you as if there begging.

First things first with teaching a rat how to beg. You have to put your rat on a steady platform so they can stand. This can be a text book, table, anything steady! After your rat is well balance on a platform you find their favorite treat. Like Dasie’s favorite treat would be strawberries. So in my case with Dasie id take a little slice of strawberry put it in front of her nose then drag almost in a “J” formation up in the air so she stand on her two back legs. Once your rat is stand high up you reward her with the treat. Repeat these steps for five minutes or so. Then try again the next day with your rat. By then she or he should be getting really good at standing on their back feet for food.

Next you want the rat to follow you finger in the “J” formation. When he or she completes this its time reward her with a treat. By the third day of this your rat should have already gotten the hang of this. It was fast and easy. All in three days and fifteen minutes in all.

Rats are a wonderful pet and easy to take care of! “rats are amazing intelligent, interactive, loyal and affectionate!” –Bill (didn’t have a last name) http://www.fancypets.com/  I want to teach a little about what it is like taking care of a rat and the responsibilities. First things first, the living arrangements. Its typical for the rats cage to be living in your room. Also the cage type. The most popular cages out there are: cage/bars and aquarium tank. I personally prefer cage/bars. But it doesn’t stop there with the cages, you also have nest box, rabbitt hutches, cavy cage, and cabinet cage. But never ever use a hamster cage for your rat!

The latest research has shown that since rats have the same insides as human (heart, liver, kidney, bladder, ect.) they can eat just as well as humans! The only real difference with rats and human insides are a rats rib cage is made out of cartilage and humans are bone, and rats are unable to throw up so this means don’t give a rat to much alcohol or it could kill your furry little friend. instead of keeping your rat on a steady diet you could just give your rat plain rat food. That’s healthy for them too.

Something else I have learned from resent research it is now necessary to physically clean your rat. But this is needed till the end of your rats days. Which means when you rats bowels start getting loose and there too old to bend over and clean there bottom or struggle to reach there bottom you must come in with a tooth brush and warm water in the sink. Make sure no one else uses this tooth brush after your rat! But its not just the rat you want to clean it’s the cage to! Make sure to scrub your rats cage clean of any pee and poop. This should be done once a week.

Now a rat doesn’t just need a well balanced diet but exercise to! A rat just can’t stay in its cage all day, the rat should exercise an hour a day out of its cage free to run where he/she pleases. But if there’s ever a day you miss of taking out your rat just make sure there’s a wheel in the cage to entertain your rat when you’re not around. Or you could even put a rope in the cage for your rat to climb. They enjoy hanging around.

So now that you’ve had the total update on how to take care of a rat I hope this helps in anyway shape or form.

learning a little more about rats and Dasie her self.

Let me tell you a little about Miss Dasie, my rat. Once a pond a time she had a sister. But when her sister had died I did see Dasie starting to experience depression. I was afraid she would be a goner like pearl. But to my pleasant surprise she got on with her life like I did. Rats have human qualities and are smart. “rats are extremely intelligent in case you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing their smarts for your self.” –Adrienne Kruzer. http://exoticpets.about.com/b/2010/02/17/how-smart-are-rats.htm There mostly friendly, but like a rat they always have to be on the lookout for food. When it comes to food and rats there not picky. In fact they’ll eat anything that’s edible to non-edible. I kid you not my rat coco latterly ate part of my homework. She ate the whole corner of the page. Bu rats aren’t limited to food. They can eat what you eat and won’t get sick like a dog or cat. A rat can even have chocolate, (but only a little!) just like humans if you feed a rat to many sweets they’ll get fat. Feed them a well balance diet like protein, veggies, fruits, and whet, and they’ll live a long life. (and when I say long I mean 4 to 5 years long) in fact my ray doesn’t just get her own rat food; she gets my left over’s from dinner as well.

Dasie lives the life I my view. She plays in the garden, listens to me chit-chat or play guitar, runs around in my room, and she’ll even play with my cat (black jack). But now that Dasie is ageing she’s finally running into some problems. See Dasie has neurological problems. Somewhere along the line Dasie had a stroke and she now has the head tilt. All that means is the signal in the brain isn’t reaching her legs. There four Dasie can’t walk well nor climb like she used to. But each day I see progress in her legs. If you see what I’m saying then you’ll understand that rats are like me and you just in another form. They can’t talk and live in a cage but they’ll love anyone who loves them back.