alright, i’m getting a lot of replies to an older text post i made in which i said that i love rats, telling me that my beloved pets i’ve kept for most of my life are “diseased” and “nasty”, which are totally necessary additions that i totally asked for. /s

so here’s a post debunking some somehow STILL widespread misconceptions about rats, specifically domesticated pet rats.

• people who own pet rats did not reach into the sewers of manhattan and pick up a nice fat boy to take home. pet rats are DOMESTICATED, often referred to as “fancy” rats. comparing sewer rats to fancy rats is like comparing a coyote to a labrador.
  
• wild rats did in fact contract and spread the black plague, through the fault of diseased fleas, not the rats themselves. other flea-carrying creatures were just as capable of spreading the plague, rats were just more numerous.
• and like i said above, domesticated rats are NOT wild rats, so what is the plague argument even for. are you kicking fluffy out because a puma mauled a guy once?
• rats are, by nature, NOT dirty. they are actually extremely clean creatures, like most rodents. rats clean themselves just like cats.
• speaking of cat-like behavior, rats are so smart they can actually be trained to use a litter pan.
• they can also be trained to come when called, perform tricks, solve puzzles, and recognize written symbols.
• rats are more sweet-tempered than hamsters. unless they were abused or mishandled, a healthy fancy rat who is used to being handled has a friendly personality and enjoys sitting in a human’s sweatshirt pocket or in their lap, receiving head scritches, and generally being gently snuggled. boy rats tend to be more lazy than female rats, who while equally sweet, skew more hyperactive personalities. (and unlike hamsters, which irc often murder each other if kept together, rats are highly social and become lethargic if kept without a friend.)
• RAT TAILS ARE NOT SEGMENTED LIKE A WORM, WHAT THE HELL. rat tails have a fine and light colored but very stiff layer of hair on their tails. it’s very soft, but if stroked backwards it can feel prickly. (pls don’t do this, it causes discomfort to the rat.) the way the hair is layered causes it to appear like there are lines. that’s all it is, they do not have segmented worms for tails. i can’t believe i even have to address this.
• a well-socialized fancy rat is a gentle, clean, loving pet, whose only downfall is their incredibly short lifespans. no one’s forcing you to not be scared of rodents, but please stop telling me my pets deserve to die because you refuse to learn anything about them.