Rats as Pets??
Before you say: "Eww! Rats!" give me a chance to explain what this is all about. We are focusing on the domestic, or "fancy" rat. The first rats that come to mind in people who are unfamiliar with this wonderful pet are usually Norwegian or brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). For some, the black rat (Rattus rattus) comes to mind...but these are wild rats, and not what you'll find here, I promise! While these may be distant cousins of today's domesticated variety, selective breeding of captive rats has brought out a great distinction between these wild varieties and the pets we keep now.[1]

The average life span of a domestic rat is 2-3 years.[2]



Whose Bright Idea Was This?
The domestication of rats began with a man named Jack Black, who served as a rat-catcher to Queen Victoria in the mid-ninteenth century. When he found a rat with unusual markings or colors, he would keep them and breed them with the intention of multiplying those patterns or creating new ones. Queen Victoria herself even kept some of these rats. Many of our domesticated rats today came from these lines.

The National Mouse Club accepted an offer from a woman named Mary Douglas to bring her rats to a show in 1901. One of her rats won Best in Show, there. The club then became the National Mouse and Rat Club, and survived until 1931. The fancy was brought to life once again in 1976, when the National Fancy Rat Society (NFRS) started.[3]

Rats thrive on socialization. At least two (same sex) should always be kept together to provide attention for each other when their owners cannot. Solitary rats are at a higher risk of social and emotional problems.[4]



Types of Rats
Fancy rats come in a wide variety of colors, with numerous types of markings. They can also have different hair textures, patches of hair, or no hair at all! Rats also have a dumbo-eared variety (larger ears, placed lower on the head), a tailless variety, and a dwarf variety. Many standards have become recognized with rat clubs around the world, such as the UK's NFRS[5] and AFRMA[6]. Rats of these varieties are put to the test in rat shows, which run similarly to dog shows around the world.

A group of rats (fittingly) is called a mischief.[7]



General Conformation as Described by the NFRS
The Rat shall be of good size, does long and racy type, bucks being of a bigger build, arched over the loin, firm fleshed with clean, long head, but not too pointed at the nose. The eyes shall be round, bold, clean and of good size. The ears shall be of good size, well formed and widely spaced. The tail shall be cylindrical and as long as the body, thick at the base, tapering to a fine point. The ears, feet and tail shall be covered with fine hair. The coat shall be smooth and glossy (except for the Rex type). Bucks are longer than does and have a harsher coat.[8]

Not just any rat can be a show rat, but that matters little when it comes to pets. We all know this from our experiences with dogs and other show animals. For rat lovers, the most important things are the individual personalities that each of their rats display. I personally have housed dozens of rats in the last nine years; no two have been alike, and none were show quality. There really is nothing quite like being owned by these wonderful creatures!

For many people (including most of the rat owners I have met), owning a rat is similar to owning a dog.[9]



Celebritiy Rats
Even celebrities have warmed up to these adorable critters! Jamie Lee Curtis's son has a rat named Diglett. Angelina Jolie was given her rat, Harry, by Billy Bob Thornton. Pink owns two rats named Thelma and Louise.[10]

Rats have also become famous through film and literature. Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille[11] was just released, featuring the adorable Remy and his friends. The classic Charlotte's Web[12] (Hanna-Barbera released a cartoon in 1973[13], and Paramount released a film in 2006[14]) by E.B. White portrays a rat named Templeton. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien[15] is another classic that has also been released as an animation, The Secret of NIMH, produced and released by Aurora Pictures and United Artists[16]. Most of us also are familiar with the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling[17]. In this series (both book and film), Ron Weasley has a rat named Scabbers.

Books and films like this (and the many, many, many others I could list!) have helped to make the image of the rat a positive one among children and adults alike. Rats are great companions for any age group. They are gentle enough for children to handle them, completely trainable (you can train a rat to come to you when called, amongst other things), playful, and don't need to be worried about when you're at work or school or anywhere else - they enjoy playing with each other as much as they do with you!

Rats are not the dirty pets many believe them to be. They spend a lot of their time cleaning themselves and their cagemates alike.[18]



And if this isn't enough rattie-cuteness for you (which, of course, it isn't!), check out one of our members: *WolvenYoukai!




Citations:
[1] Wikipedia - Brown Rat; Wikipedia - Black Rat
[2] RMCA: Rat FAQ
[3] Wikipedia - Jack Black (rat catcher)
[4] Pet Rat Info
[5] National Fancy Rat Society
[6] American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association
[7] Wererat.net - Rat Facts
[8] NFRS - Varieites
[9] About.com - Rats as Pets
[10] Ratsrule.com - Celebrities with Rats
[11] Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille
[12] Amazon.com - Charlotte's Web
[13] IMDb - Charlotte's Web (1973)
[14] Paramount's Charlotte's Web
[15] Amazon.com - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
[16] IMDb - The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[17] Harry Potter - Official Website
[18] Pet Rats@everything2.com