Does having a rat pet seem weird to you? Do you believe that rats are rather wild than domestic animals? Well, they say that a dog differs from a wolf as much as the domesticated rat differs from its wild fellows.

People commonly think of a rat as of a bloodthirsty rodent, with a quite reasonable reputation of an aggressive, biting, dirty and contagious animal. However, many others consider rats to be funny, affectionate, curious and intelligent, ensuring that rats are clean and safe – if properly looked after.

A domestic rat pet or a laboratory one mostly belongs to a single species, the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus). The much less popular species is the Black rat (Rattus rattus), which is rather rare, but still may be kept as pets.

Yet in the wild we come across different species referred to as “rats,” e.g. pack rats, kangaroo rats, naked mole rats or wood rats. All of them are though rodents, but may not be phylogenetically related to either domestic rats, or even to each other.

Behaviorally, rat pets are more used to humans and thus tend to be tamer than those in the wild, since domestic rats are selectively bred for looks and temperament. The appearance of fancy rats has a number of specifications, including coat and eye-color, fur, marking and body-type. Besides, a rat pet has a relatively long lifespan – domestic rats live an easy life of two-three years while the wild ones hardly live a year.

Rats are regarded as domesticated rodents only for some hundred years, while the commonly kept dogs and cats have been accompanying people throughout the history. Maybe, none of the pets is perfect, but all of them can be treated adequately. Maybe, rats just came into fashion for a while and soon this fashion will pass. This way or that way – only the time will show if rats and people may be reliable partners and caring friends.

Photo © Klara Kim

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