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.