Do Wild Rats Make Good Pets?

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Wild rats and pet rats are two very different things. The rats that you see in pet stores and cages are usually one of the many breeds of "fancy rat" as noted by the American/National Fancy Rat Society. Wild rats, on the other hand, are usually the Norway Rat or Brown Rat (same rat, different name), or, if you live close to sea ports, the Black Rat.



Pet rats are bred differently to wild rats. They are tamer, to start with, and instantly have the advantage of being bred so that they don't come with a vast array of disease threats. The same can't be said for normal rats which come with a number of disease threats ranging in severity from a-touch-of-the-flu to absolutely fatal. To keep a wild rat as a pet you could need to get it checked over at the vet, and very few of them would agree to check over and/or give treatment to a wild rat that you intended to keep as a pet. They would almost certainly suggest that you destroy the animal, without letting it come into contact with any other people or animals.

Pet rats bite and nibble and a wild rat will do the same thing, but harder. This is an animal that has absolutely no clue how to be tamed and taken care of. It doesn't even want to be tamed and taken care of. It will try to escape from every enclosure you keep it in, and it'll probably do a pretty good job of managing to get away too. The conflict could result in a physical injury as well as the spread of disease, and this could spread out to your pets and other family members too.

Wild rats have fleas and other parasites that are going to be introduced into your home, and these bugs will stick around if you have pets too. Although it is highly unlikely that you will experience a small outbreak of bubonic plague in your home, it must be remembered that wild rats carried fleas that were responsible for wiping out millions of people not that many years ago. Bubonic plague might not be a problem in our slightly more developed country, but there are plenty of other diseases that can do just as much damage if not treated correctly.

Wild rats do not make for good pets, even if you were to find orphaned baby rats and rear them yourself. It has taken many hundreds of years for us to successfully domesticate animals like cat and dogs, and some cat owners especially might argue that they still aren't actually that domesticated at all. To grab a baby rat from the outside world and expect it to be tame in a matter of weeks would be a super unrealistic goal, and a decision that you are likely to regret.

A final point that you must remember before handling baby rats that have been seemingly orphaned; baby rats will be left to die in the wild if the mother knows the youngster is sick, injured, or has no chance of survival. Finding a rat that looks ab it sick in the outside world, baby or otherwise, is probably going to be a sick or injured one, giving you even more reason to keep your distance.

This is a wild animal, remember?

Wild pets can't be tamed in the same way that rats can from pet stores. The latter are specifically bred to be calmer and tamer around people and, therefore, safe to be handled. Whether you keep this rat from a baby or otherwise, it will always bite when it feels threatened and it will probably always see you for what you actually are - a much bigger predator. The relationship will be strained to say the least. Do yourself a favor - do not consider inviting wild rats into your home under ANY circumstances.

Go back to the Rat Removal page, or learn tips to do it yourself with my How to Get Rid of Rats guide.

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