Thursday, April 23, 2009
Houseguests: Hans and Frans
These are Steve's adorable rats named Hans and Frans. I am babysitting while Steve is away for work. I cleaned the cage and changed the bedding today; and proceeded to be mesmerized by Frans' nest building while Hans sat eating. Frans is the skinny one anyway, so it makes sense that he would be working hard while his brother pigs out on the fresh food.
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Rats? Eeyou. Rats are not adorable. How big are they? I can hardly see them. Are they more like gerbils or hamsters or more like guinea pigs, size-wise?
ReplyDeleteGuinea Pigs size-wise. However, as I tell all people when they first meet a rat, they are like 2 and a half pound puppies. Rats you see are HIGHLY intelligent, they are also VERY clean animals by nature. If the rats live in a clean environment (pets) they are very sanitary. They learn their names, and who their people are. They will adjust their sleep scheudules to accomodate when you are home so they can have play time ,and sleep during the day. They can be taught to fetch, and to sit obediently for rides on your shoulders etc. They will give kisses like dogs, and will sleep with you at night. Every pet professional you ask will recommend them as pets for kids over other rodents like Gerbils and hamsters and mice. The other rodents are not nearly as smart and are far more likely to bite a child. I have owned over 20 rats in my life and have never had a bite that broke the skin. They are small, take up very little space and are great apartment pets. Their life span is around 2-3 years max, so they are not a 15 year commitment like a dog, and they are very adorable. I am sure laurie can back me up on that.
ReplyDeleteThey are very adorable! I love how their dark eyes bug out of their tiny little faces. Frans worked very hard yesterday ripping up the paper in order to make the new material comfy. I found them this morning curled up in little paper pods! So adorable!
ReplyDeleteYou can see better photos of them on Flickr. This video is mostly to show how hard Frans was working!
ReplyDeleteOK, so they are cute and don't bite like I thought they might if given the right opportunity. I still think rats looks like rats and the thought of rats is, well, eeyou. And I like the big cuddliness of a medium size dog and the fact that you can enjoy them longer than a couple of years. If Molly had only lived a couple years, it would have been so very sad. She is so sweet. Laurie can attest to that. So, as I've said before, but Laurie doesn't like it, to each his own. Everyone is different and that's what makes the world go round.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thank you for mentioning it was a video. I hadn't realized that and thought it only a still picture.
ReplyDeleteOh indeed, do not misunderstand me. I have never met an animal I didnt like or at least try to like. I dont like things that sting or are poisonous (scorpions, spiders etc.) and birds never take to me for some reason. I just find it frustrating that poeple give rats a bad reputation from the outset. It isnt their fault of course because we are taught very young to demonize rats (they are the bad guys or the "dirty" creature). It IS sad they do not live longer, thats true. I find however that after a certain point you can rationalize that as long as you made them as happy as you could while they were here, isn't that all anyone can really ask for? As Laurie's quote on her blog says "life, if well lived, is long enough."
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