Interesting Facts About Rats
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Love them or hate them you have to admit that rats have some of the most interesting quirks and histories. Here are just a few interesting little tidbits to tease the mind.
- The first albino rats to be bred in captivity were born to a single albino rat captured in a graveyard in England by Queen Victoria's royal rat catcher Jack Black.
- Sprague Dewley rats, a strain of laboratory rat, can birth more then twenty pups per litter.
- Fancy rats are a domestic variety of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) who are not originally from Norway but probably first came from Asia.
- Some rat species can grow to enormous sizes like the Gambian Pouch Rat whose largest specimens can reach around eight pounds.
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records the longest lived domestic rat died at seven years and four months of age (which far exceeds the 2-3 year expected lifespan.)
- Domestic female rats and their wild counterparts can successfully breed as early as six weeks of age and produce one litter of 1-20+ offspring a month until they are 1.5-2 years of age.
- The Bubonic Plague was not caused by rats but instead was caused by infected fleas that jumped off dead rats onto humans.
- Rats are routinely worshipped and fed in the Karni Devi, a temple completely devoted to them. These thousands of wild rats never gave any of their worshippers infected Bubonic fleas even during the plague years - scientists suspect this is because being territorial they kept invading rats (and their fleas) out of the area.
- The first astronaut rat launched from France into outer space in 1961.
- A rat's teeth are always yellow upon maturity (a rodent characteristic) and don't stop growing until the animal's death.
- The first recorded sighting of a wild albino rat in the Western world was spotted in Europe in 1553.
- Albino rats in the Karni Devi are considered incarnations of the Goddess Durga. Normal colored rats are believed to be incarnations of deceased followers of Karni Mata.
- The first laboratory rats were bred as far back as 1828 in Europe.
- The first selectively bred strain of laboratory rats was bred in Pennsylvania in the Wistar Institute.
- Inbred laboratory rats are created by breeding brother to sister for at least 300 generations. This produces animals who are more then 99% genetically identical, which is more similar then even current clones are!
- Laboratory rats can survive 17-20 days without sleep before succumbing to death.
- Rats have been proven to make a laughter-like noise (unable to be heard by the human ear alone) when tickled and dream while sleeping.
- Gambian Pouch Rats have been trained to sniff out mines in war torn countries - due to their light weight they are far less likely to explode the mines then sniffer dogs are.
- The ancient Romans didn't distinguish rats and mice but instead called then Rattus Major (big rat) and Rattus Minor (little rat.)
- Furless rats are now being bred in laboratories and in the pet population.
- Rats have terrible eyesight and therefore are rarely seen in the middle of rooms or clearings where their whiskers aren't touching the perimeter of a landmark or wall.
- Rats have been used throughout history as food for people and pets, religious icons, laboratory animals, pets, mine detectors, animals used in sports (such as the now illegal practices of rat baiting with dogs,) and some have even been trained to drag wires through walls making some electricians' jobs go much faster.
- The rat is the first animal on the Chinese Zodiac.
- Rats use their tail to contol their body temperature because they cannot sweat.
- Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit, was one of the first owners of a pet rat - an albino bred by none other than Queen Victoria's royal rat catcher Jack Black.
If you have an interesting or unusual rat fact let me know and I'll add it! All photos were taken by me of rats I've bred over the years at the Oh Rats Rattery.
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Fascinating. I especially was impressed by the lab rats surpassing clones in similarity.
wow u suck
Thank you for that terribly helpful critique kittykat. Care to tell me why I "suck"? Is it just a petty prejudice ageinst rats because I have cat articles here too you know... might be more suitable to your... tastes.
RATS ARE FANTASTIC!!!
I also raised rats for fun. I was astounded how intelligent and social they are. I would still be doing it, except I found out that I am "deathly" allergic to them. If I were to get bitten again, it will most likely kill me. ( I only got bitten once, and that was while I was putting down a very sick rat).Within 1/2 hours, I quit breathing and was rushed to the hospital. I really miss my pet rats. They were great fun to watch and interact with. I hate that they only live 2-3 years.
I am so sorry to hear that! I fear that myself as I've developed an allergy to them over the past two years that seems to be getting worse. I really adore the little buggars and would be crushed if I couldn't keep them anymore. I am glad you at least lived with your tango with death though! Geesh! That's harsh!
I've had four rats in my life, and the last two both died less than a month ago. As much as I love them, I don't think I can have any more short-lived pets for a while, at least not until I've recovered emotionally from losing these last few. But seeing this hub just renewed my love of them and gave me a lot of interesting facts to tell my roommate! Thank you!
Great piece. I love pet rats too. They are some of the best animal companions.
Awesome article. Its a shame so many people fear these gentle critters. I've had six rats since 2002-03 and they have quickly replaced a cat or a dog as my favorite pet. Not that I hate either, but the ease of care and loyalty has me really hooked. =)
One of these days I wanna get a Nutria, though.
Nutria aye? Refresh my memory, are those the rodents that they have started to farm for meat? I have always wanted a Gambian Pouch Rat but they were made illegal to sell/buy/adopt during the monkey pox thing (don't get me started on that!) and now that they are again legal to buy/sell/transport/trade the only ones you can find are the ones breeding in the wild in Florida after pet shops dumped them... SIGH. I wish I cold find a breeder! (In the States as theyhave remained illegal to import..)
Yeah, I think the pouched rats are back to being legal. They are awesome! Though as you say, I don't think they're being bred here anymore.
A Nutria is a semiaquatic rodent. Here's a video link to one eating a carrot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBkXljIPsCc
They seem to be just as tame as their rat counterparts. Doesn't even bite when you mess with it eating, as many dogs and cats are apt to do.
Very interesting facts. I have two female rats. A black hood rat named Scythe (she has a rock in her tail and holds it like a scythe) and a light tan hood rat named Sickle.
Great hub :)
i love rats
Awwwe, you mean like get enough of a life to heckle random articles you don't like out of ignorance? If only I could aspire to that! Thank you Jon. You're adorable. I just want to pinch your wee little flame warring cheeks... Have a lovely day!
Hey, By the way awesome hub. just out of curiosity how many rats have you had throughout your life and what were their names.
I have two female rats named daisy and Kiwi they are adorable little creatures.
Oh heavens, I don't know. When I had my most I had a full-fledged moderately-sized rattery with 59 permanent residences who of course all had names. At that time I was breeding two litters a month for sale to the public... so it adds up. I got out of breeding (and wish I didn't now!) and am currently contemplating getting back into it. My first rat was actually a chocolate capped boy the dog officer caught outside. Someone obviously let him "into the wild" thinking he'd be OK in the middle of winter! I guess he had a mate who died in the storm previous to his capture. I named him Nappy. My latest addition to the family are two furless sisters, one a black capped and one a black self, who I have named Story and Soho. You can check out my article on Punderful Furless Names to see more names I've used in the past. :)
Hi. I just wanted to say thanks for the cool rat facts. I didn't know some stuffee that I do now!
No problem! Thanks for stopping by to read my article.
facts about rats are interesting but there is no pic of albino rats.
albino rat are very short in the country , they should be breed so tha the research can be done.
And what country are you in Sumera Raqueeb? I can certainly put a photo of one or two up. I've had a number of them in the past... I just need to find the photos to prove it. :)
i have a rat book that includes facts about jack black the royal rat catcher! well i'm a new rat owner of my baby cherio. one problem - no idea if its a boy or a girl! cherio has no boy or girl parts! it doesn't have nipples but cherio looks pregnant - help!!!!!!!!!
Ah, well... in that case, do you have a picture of Cheerio? (You can send it to the 'contact Theophanes' button at the top of the page if you want reassurance!) When did you get Cheerio? Gestation is only 19-25 days, 21 being average, so if you've had him or her longer than that then you're fine! Also nipples are hard to find on furry rats if you've never looked before but if he really doesn't have any than he's a boy and not pregnant, just fat! Boys tend to get very obese... I actually had a few that topped two pounds at one point.. Though obesity shouldn't really be encouraged it's veeery common in males. Anyway, feel free to send a pic if you have one. I'll gladly check out Cheerio's tail end. :)
i'll send a picture in a bit
THANKS :)
It might be a bit till i send the pics....Cherio says Hi!
is it safe to feed my rat baked cheese
crackers?
Most things are safe for rats in moderations, cheese crackers included. :) Just avoid pits and seeds from fruits, and things that could melt and choke them like marshmallows and whatnot. Oh and a lot of household plants can be really bad if gnawed on so keep them away from that! My boogers LOVE boiled eggs and fruits. Healthy diets are good for rats too!
thanks! Is it true that they can't have junk-food?
Well, junkfood's not good for them because of the sugar and caffeine. They have a sweet tooth too and sometimes will refuse regular food until you feed them something they want... so you might be creating a monster there! But eh, a little treat no and then shouldn't hurt them.
I've heard that albino rats have shorter life spans and poorer health, is that true?
That really depends Lynny. As a whole albino rats aren't that much different from regular rats (though their eye sight is worse than darker eye colors.) You might have gotten that idea from people buying feeder rats for pets... A lot of people use albino rats to feed their reptiles because you can't really tell the difference between them at first glance... and of course if you're breeding rats for food you're not going to be concerned about health or the diversity of the gene pool so a lot of white rats you find at pet stores are severely inbred, which could indeed cause them to have significantly shorter lifespans (if there's already a flaw in the family genes inbreeding will intensify it and the rats will have shorter and shorter lifespans over successive generations.) Hope that answered you question!
Thanks! My bro had one and it died quickly. :(. The dude working there didn't even know the diff between sexes. He was cleary a male.
I was thinking about getting one from petco, their cages are always clean and they have plenty of toys and the sexes are seperated. I tried lookig for breeders but can't find any here in Tx.
Really? There's four listed in Ratster... http://www.ratster.com/breederlinks.html
I only had one PetCo rat. Sweet as pie until one day he snapped and became one of my most difficult animals. I'll never get it! PetCo gets their rats from rat farms... same problems really. Hope you can find a breeder, it's really the best way to go and don't forget to check your loacl shelters, you might be surprised! :)
Thanks for your help! Checked out the site before, and all were way too far. :(. I don't think my dad would drive that far anyway.
You seem to know alot about rats! Thanks for the info
Do you have any advice on rat leashes?
I have tried all sorts of rat harnesses... I have tried ferret harnesses, kitten harnesses, home-made harnesses, and parrot harnesses as well as vests. I haven't had any luck really, since a rat can easily squeaze out of anything that it can get it's head through... Depends on the rat too. I had a few that just didn't care and would wear them like perfect gentlemen. I never was daft enough to try this with a female. :) The ferret and kitten harnesses deffinately were better than the bird harness. The vests had differing success rates...
Okay, cool! It'll be nice to try to leash her instead of worrying about my sweetie breaking through my barriers while free roaming.
I have one rat, but spend hours with her daily, she has lots of toys and fabric in her cage, do you think she will be fine without a "sister"?
Hey, I'm trying to decide to get a hairless rat or a regular one.
What could you add?
Rose, I've had a lot of lone males over the years who just didn't get along with anyone (usually rescues and inbred feeders and whatnot... you don't see this too often with breeder bred rats like in the old days.) Females though... I really do like to see them have friends, they seem more social on a whole. In the wild rats can distinguish between up to 500 other individual rats, friends, per se. It's something to think about.
Lynny, check out my article on furless, it may help you decide. They're wonderful little boogers but they do require a little (not a lot) of extra care.
I have bred Rats for 7 years and these are interesting facts! Thanks for sharing.
I have an albino male named Keenan. he was a rescue from being snake food which he shouldn't have been in the first place. he is going on 3 and doing good other than he is a fatty mc fatty. my fault for spoiling him rotten, he eats mostly all healthy food he just loves food too much, that and he has always refused a wheel and ball i try to make him work for his food by putting it farther away and changing the place its at. but he just loves to sleep and eat and be loved, and i can say he's had a way better life then being let out into the wild to die at 3 months old. i just wish he would stop gaining weight so he could live longer... i never would have bought one as a pet, but adopting him has been one of the great things in my life. he's such a love bug and thinks everyone is his buddy.
very interesting article. I had no idea there were so many interesting facts about rats.
Hi Theophanes...
It's so interesting that I have stumbled upon this site, I have two Rats myself and one (Zoe, Himilayan) is sitting on my shoulder as we speak. I just bought her a baby friend, and she is taking care of him like it was her own... I have noticed a very interesting fact about rats, when they are little, they are very playful, and will actually play with your hand and chase it around like a cat. It is the sweetest thing, but as they get older, unfortunately, they become lazy. I must say, the little one is giving Zoe a hard time, chasing her around and always jumping on top of her. Also, if they are taught they will come to you when you call them, like Zoe, if she is playing around on the couch and I call her, she comes to me, don't know if she thinks I've got a sweaty for her ( she loves chocolate) or if she really loves me, but she definitely knows me very well!!! We love our rats, they are such good pets!! Was good to read the other comments, I love them even more now....
rats r ok
thanks for helping me with my homework!
(PS.I know what plagiarism is)
rats are AWESOME
I have been watching a family (1 female and 5 juveniles) of wild rats every day where I work. I saw the mother nip the backside of a pheasant and chase a rabbit! This family is so cute, all this goes on 2 mtr from a window. Awesome. x
Hello. I have heard this before and wanted to know if you could confirm it. I have heard that if you have a rat in your home, as pet or otherwise, a mouse will not enter. Is that true?
hi i have a rat fact for you. Rats tails are sensitive. rubbing a rats tail is like some one rubbing the bottom of your foot.
i have a rat named splinter her nails are long like her sister do you have any tips on how to cut them. i also notised the older she gets the lazyershe get,when she was a baby she was crazynow not so much
i might be getting a rat soon and i know a bit about them one fact i know is that a boy and a girl ratcan make babies in two seconds! another one is that a female rat goes into heat every four to five days! rats reach pubity at six to eight months. rats can eat chocolate but they try to avoid it so dont force them to eat chocolate.
This Article was very helpful because it helped me do some of my homework for Girl Scouts. Thanks a Bunch!!! :)
I have had two rats and I have two more there so lovly
my rats eat anything (apart from chewing gum of course)
and they are perfectly healthy :D they eat whatever i eat, chocolate, burgers, even toffee. i put it in the fridge first though so that its really hard and harder to chew :) makes their work harder XD i read somewhere that if a rat chatters its teeth it means theyre happy, mine do it alot so i hope they really are happy with me :)
thanx i got an a+ on my projects about rats
good to known
Did you know that rats can't throw up so you have to be careful what you feet them. I've had rats for a number of years and find them to be sweet, gentle, pets
My current rat is still skittish with me. I've tried feeding him with my fingers and petting him before I pick him up. Does anybody have a new way that they used to get a timid pet comfortable with them? By the way his name is squinch and he is a black hooded.
Hey Mcawesome, I don't think what you said was nice. that makes you less than awesome in my book!
rats rule
humans have the same genes to grow a tail as rats the gene is just switched off in humans!!
My pet rat, Irene, was a dear little thing. Like any pet owner, the list is long on her attributes. Great article, and it tipped me over the edge in my musing to get another!Thank you!
Kim, you need to clean up your language!! Some of us really like rats and don't appreciate nasty comments. This site is dedicated to those of us who like rats! If you don't like rats stay off the site!
2 nights ago i witnessed a rat glide or fly from a tree to a light pole, climb to the top of the light pole and then glide to another tree. My question is there such a thing as a flying rat? or is there another type of rodent that flies but looks like a rat. Unfortunately i don't remember much about the tail, but it definitely looked like a rat. If you don't know or haven't heard of such a thing could you tell me where i might find out? I live in central Florida.
Please respond via email ameans73@yahoo.com. Thank you.
there IS such thing as fllying squirrels...
It might be one...
:D
I have to be away from squinch for a week. What can I do to make sure he is going to be happy and well while I'm gone?
i have sixteen rat babys any takers i have sixteen to come i live in nh anyone want
neddd have you thought of taking them to your local pet store. They will usually be glad to take any healthy rats.
I Have grown up with rats and i hated the smell
Nicole, You can buy a bottle of scent remover from your local pet store that will get rid of the smell. Just add three drop[s to your rat's water bottle. you should notice a difference in a few days. You can also mix baking soda in with their litter. two or three table spoons should help.
hello i have 5 pet rats and i love them
i have a 4 week old rat and she is so cute.
rats are epic im going to make one the main charactor of my next performance. red bull gives you wings
random fish are related to elephants and rats
i am getting two rats i don't know about the diet can you tell me any ideas of what i need?
The rats with red eyes are so yuck.The facts were interesting
I agree with Emilie. No offense but red eyes or not they are yuck. Sorry though, this is just my opinion.
:) these facts ROCK! i was thinkin about getting a pet rat but my mom hates em and i want her to see how awesome they are
OMG i love rats and this article has helped me soooo much. at the moment im trying to teach my pet rat tricks!!!!! it would be sooo cool if you could put videos of more rats doing tricks because at the moment my rat isnt learning that well. Anyway does anyone know why rats bleed when they sneeze or is that just my rat??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
The stuff they sneeze isn't blood it's just the colour of their mucus. Same for their eyes too. So relax he's a normal rat
the red stuf is called porphyrin which is caused by stress
my old male rat cheesey puts his paw out the cage and then up to his mouth and asks me for treats hes so clever.i have also just got three hairless girls they are stunning.
Wow its amazing tosee how many people love Rats, I thought I was told I was wierd for raising Rats, but thier quit smart and fun to watch, if you build them a large enviroment to live in,but never let them get lose, they will enjoy all your boxes of paper and getting into the box springs.
wow this is very cool and my rats think so to they are climding all over my cp
rats are awsome
I know that rats can't burp.
rats are cool
i like to eat ratatoui, hmmmmmmmmmm nice rats
This is a Wonderful Article! All the facts are interesting, an i have a few other facts about rats, rats can have chocolate But Not oranges, Their Teeth never stop growing, they are great pets, they hate hamster balls because of their tail's, Their Closterphobic, (Even tho they squeeze through tight spaces), an they move they heads back an forth to detect motion (somehow idk)
Hey I'm not following you yet but I have two pet rats and your hub is probably the most useful hub on here for me even though they are just interesting facts.
My rat had ten babies last week... Now she only has three.... They are in a cage and there is no way they got out... Did she eat them?
A rat, similar to a cat, has the ability to fit its body through any opening its head will fit through.
A rat can tread water for two days before drowning.
A rate can swim for several miles before tiring and drowning.
A rat can chew through materials such as copper and concrete. While it takes a considerable amount of time, and puts an enormous amount of wear on their teeth, the rat will usually accomplish their goal, as their teeth continually grow.
A rat has the ability to "shed" the skin from its tail in times of duress, such as when the tail gets caught in an opening, under a fallen or heavy object, or when in the jaws of a predator. The skin will grow back, but the rat is particularly prone to infection during this time.
When facing an opponent, a rat will stay very close to the target. Due to their poor eyesight, they will fan their whiskers forward and attempt to keep in contact with their foe.
i love rats
i love rats i got a ret his name i larry and he licks and he does loads of tricks!!!!
rats breed so fast that in 18 months 2 rats can have 1 million descendants.. fact
hay i have seen a rat with red eyes
Hi I need some help my neighbor has a garden with bird feeders, nut feeders flowers and more. I have seen mice run in and out of her garden. She has reported me to our home owners ass. Saying that I'm attracting rats by not picking up after my cog every day and rats eat dog poop is that true? Please let me know and how to prove it. Thanks Tim
What is the best way to choose a rat from the pet store? Shouls I let the rat come to me? What are foods that rats like and what foods should they stay away from?
Absolutelyly facinating I mean like im twelve ok and I am scared of rats but... they have the most facinating history EVER!!!
i think rats are gross..but i found out they are not that bad. they seem really cool and very intersting to check out about. see i have to do this anatomy research for my class and i choose a rat after i could not find any thing else on other animals. overall, rats are pretty cool and again very intersting.
rats are awsome like miss hokie
Rats are really good pets. All people, who hate rats just have no experience of close interaction with them and also just afraid of it. I may agree that wild rats may be unpleasant, but pet rats are the different. I guess, that any mammal animal have it's own charm, and pet rats not the the worst of them.
My dad has two white rats with red eyes People think that rats r awful but they can be great pets.
Rats are so cool. My rat presses his nose against the screen whenever he sees a picture of a rat.
rats are wonderful
Rats also excreate a blood like supstance from pores around their eyes when stressed. This happened with my PEW named Blood(coincidently), about a year after I've had him, and this was shocking. So I looked to see why that happened and it turns out its nothing to worry about.
what is the diff between dumbo rats and fancy rats? which one has better health
im gonna get a rat i dont know if i should get a boy or a girl
HELP!!
Very2x wonderful hub, I really2x love it.
I am fostering 13 rats (2 moms had babies at the shelter). The females have weaned the babies and they're bored of their cage. How do you entertain an energetic female rat, while making sure she doesn't get into some small area and get lost??? I'm a male rat person and the females are just so energetic and fast, they make me nervous because I don't want to lose one! Please Help!
I have a pet rat and it is cute :)
Also an Albino rat that did need some taming at the start but got used to me very fast.
I like your destination....
Its a pure work of good research....thanks for such wonderful information.
I have tried to write something on Rats... hope you like it
i love rats
rats are cool.
Rats really are amazing creatures! I have two. One I got about 6 months ago now and the newest one about a week ago. and when I got her I had a feeling something was up because the size of her belly but i wasn't to sure if she was pregnant or if she was just fat. And today I walk into my room to find little pinkies all over the cage! It's very cool to watch her nurse her babies and i'm definetley adding one to the family! for the rest, (6 others) I have already found wonderful homes for. THE ONLY thing I have against rats is them tearing up my furniture! I cant let my eyes of them without them getting themselves into trouble. perhaps a male rat is more for me!
Lab rats is great, Thanks for the information.
my pet rats died
im so sad
sierra im so sorry hope you feel better
hi i have 2 rats named pepsi and coc
i love rats but some people go all silly coz thier tails
i hav 4 1 is pretty big they are all meals and then 3 med, they are realy smart i let the big one run on my bed he sleeps on my pillow and the outhers love to play in ther play pin they have lots of toys they are the love of me and joy of my boyfriends life we love are rats and would be deavastated if they died on use we have had the big one for 3 years and the other3 four 7 nouthes ther grate pets,
rats are kindof cute but they get in stuff to much
Rats are amazing little creatures! By the way did u know that: There is is just about always a rat within about 10 feet from you.
:)
cool facts LOL
thouse are really intresting facts
I am on here because i got a project about rats in elementary the project is called rat island so bye hope u get to read this.
rats are funny
Yah I've got a pet rat I love and well it didn't tell wat I need but now I think its more interesting
Hopefully the info about the Bubonic plague will help convince my parent to get 2 rats.
I love my pet rat
I just saw a wild albino rat in greenfield,ma. I was walking. With mt girlfriend and she spotted it walking along the sidewalk towards us. It then jumped Down into a sewer grate. We watched it for a bit then it jumped farther down. It was really exciting n never seen a wild rat especially an albino one where I live. 4/15/12
I HATE RATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why thank you for that pointless trolling comment "Rat ruler." Why are you still up? Isn't it past your bed time? Do your parents know you're up antagonizing random people online? TSK TSK.
Hi, I would live to have a rat :) I've researched them now for over 2 months and I've never neglected my pet that I have now which is a bird that I bought out of my own money. They sound like amazingly fun lol critters.
I've talked to my mother and she just says "no they are disgusting dirty creatures!" I've tried sharing some interesting facts about them like intelligence and cleanliness and traits, but she still hates them.
I have saved up more than enough money to buy a cage 2 female rats, toys, food etc but I haven't come straight out an told her I want a rat yet, because too soon could ruin my chances altogether. Please if ANYONE has any tip on how to make her at least not mind rats I would be extremely grateful!!!
I have a pet rat, they are very playful nice and CUTE!!!! when i told my friends about my new pet they all made fun of me... i still have her, too :)
Woody Marx Level 2 Commenter 3 years ago
Glad to see your original hubs back and running! :)