Maddie volunteered to rat-sit for her class pets over spring break. She told me this on Thursday, the Friday before we had to go pick them up. I honestly didn’t mind, because I remember being in 6th grade and bringing home a plethora of pets from our zoo of a classroom, including snakes and guinea pigs.
Here are some surprising things I have learned about our house guests Clementine, Petunia, and Beatrice.:
- They love kids. They get excited when they hear kids’ voices coming near to their cage
- They will eat anything that comes near to their cage, including beaded lamp shades.
- Rats are very self-sufficient. I’m used to my toddler-like-dogs needing attention every minute of the day. It’s nice to have pets that are independent minded.
- They push and shove each other out of the way for their turn in line at the water bottle. This is very funny.
- If you insert a finger into the cage to pet them, they will bite you.
- They are surprisingly affectionate.
All in all, I highly recommend rats as pets. Really. They are cute if you don’t look at their tales.