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Great caged pets

25 years ago my son brought home your basic grey rat from his science class. Long rat tail, basic gray rat to take care of through the Christmas holidays, we called him Fatso, he became a permit member of our family. He was very sociable, he was also an escape artist, a regular Houdini. He would take regular trips outside of his home (his long finger like claws could pick any lock). He always returned, usually at night, he would nibble on my sons ear, he wanted to be feed & watered. He was content for a few days and would escape again. We had Gerbils & Hamsters they never had Fatso's personality, nor were they as clean. I remember one evening when we had a few friends over, Fatso escaped from his home and came meandering across the great-room floor, I reached down picked him up and put him on my shoulder, he nestled in, my guests were shocked to say the least. If you want a sociable caged criteria, one who doesn't bite, is clean (he was a lot cleaner that the Hamster or Gerbil) I suggest you get a basic gray rat. They love people, are independent & they know where home is.

Posted by Cindy Saling on 04/23/2008 07:47 PM

Comments (12)

Post is included in group: Pet Friendly Real Estate
Post is included in group: PETS ARE PEOPLE TOO

12 Comments on Great caged pets

Cindy: Very interesting post. I can only imagine the look on the face of your friends. LOL

04/23/2008 09:06 PM

by Donna Yates, Georgia Realtor North Georgia Blue Ridge Real Estate (Mountain Investments of North Georgia)

Donna - yes, they were more than suprised. They did all hold him and love on him after the initials stunned response. He really was a great pet.

04/23/2008 09:15 PM

by Cindy Saling (Award Realty)

Cindy - we had a guinea pig once and absolutely adored him! He was a wonderful little pet and loved cooked spaghetti noodles. I've never thought about having a rat, but I've heard they're great pets.

04/23/2008 09:32 PM

by Linda Scanlan (A Fan of AR)

Linda,

We have had some great pets, I've always believed that pets are great for kids, they learn how to care for them, clean up after them etc. We have had a lot of different pets. Fatso was the greatest, most interesting, entertaining caged pet we ever had. If you have kids, I recommend the basic grey rat. We also had a white rat, he didn't have Fatso's personality. Probably because we bought him from a pet store and he had been destined for snake food. Don't know for sure.

04/23/2008 09:42 PM

by Cindy Saling (Award Realty)

Cindy, We had guinea pigs but I was the one who got stuck cleaning their cage and it was not a loving relationship between me and them. I have heard rats are smart; our guinea pigs were not. After the guinea pigs and the fish I said "No more caged animals".

04/23/2008 10:44 PM

by Marchel Peterson Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro ABR (Results Realty)

Cindy, I never had any rat-like critter except for the one time that my oldest son decided to mouse-sit his friend's mouse. He tried keeping it in his nightstand drawer so that I didn't find out about it, but my dog Sparky, sniffed it out! I was freaked! Now, I laugh about it but I was really upset at the time. :)

04/24/2008 12:12 AM

by Roberta LaRocca - REALTOR® Las Vegas (Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace)

Marchel - Fatso was are last caged animal, sort of caged animal, rats are smart. My oldest daughter & my son were very good at taking care of their pets, my middle daughter always wanted pets but the care a feeding always fell to the oldest.

Roberta - cute story. Finding rats & mice in the house, friendly or not, would freak anyone out.

04/24/2008 07:49 AM

by Cindy Saling (Award Realty)

Cindy: I worked with a lady that had a grey rat. Was freaked out initially, but Leona (the rat's name) was great. She even picked up on the animosity her owner had for a few of the office mates and would snip at them if they tried to pet her. It was really something. Never thought I'd be sad to hear of a rat dying, but I was.

04/24/2008 10:44 AM

by Chris Ann Cleland, GRI (Long & Foster)

We were all very sad when Fatso passed. He is gone but not forgotten. He brought a lot of humor to our lives.

04/24/2008 01:27 PM

by Cindy Saling (Award Realty)

I DON'T THINK SO! I don't want to get used to having a rat in the house!... and have to teach the dog and cat NOT to kill mice and rats?

04/27/2008 05:49 AM

by Georgina M. Hunter R(S) e-Pro Maui Real Estate Sales (Jim Sanders Realty Inc. - Maui)

Hi Georgina - We had both a dog & cat, they seemed to know that Fatso was part of the family & left him alone. The cat still caught other rodents & would bring them to me to show me what a great hunter he was.

04/27/2008 10:38 AM

by Cindy Saling (Award Realty)

That's interesting - funny how they know who's OK and who isn't!

04/28/2008 02:49 AM

by Georgina M. Hunter R(S) e-Pro Maui Real Estate Sales (Jim Sanders Realty Inc. - Maui)

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