Did you know that rats can be kept as pets? You may think that it seems strange, or that rats are gross and unclean. However, rats actually make fantastic pets, and have many incredible traits. In this article, I will be talking about some of the most amazing facts about these rodents.
1. Rats can control their bladders
Many people assume that rats have no control over where they pee, but rats are actually very fussy about where they pee. Pet rats will often use a specific corner to pee and they can even be toilet trained! Rats will also often pee to mark their territory.
2. Rats are exceptionally clean
Rats are often associated with garbage bins and are not thought of as very clean animals, however, they are actually very clean. They spend several hours a day cleaning themselves, and cleaning is a social bonding experience, and will sometimes go into extreme cleaning mode as a way of exerting dominance on a family member. If you have a clip - on water dish (like the kind used for birds) you may see your rats using it to clean themselves.
3. Rats have an incredible sense of smell (and they can save lives!)
Research carried out by the University of Tokyo has shown that they have 1207 olfactory receptor genes, which is slightly smaller than the amount that elephants have (1948) but far greater than the amount that humans (396) and dogs (811) have. This is likely because rats evolved a very good sense of smell so that they could sniff out food in the undergrowth, while our ancestors relied more on their vision so that they could pick out ripe fruits from the trees. In fact, their sense of smell has helped to clear Mozambique of landmines, and they are now helping to clear landmines in Cambodia, Zimbabwe and Angola. You may ask: well isn’t that dangerous? And the answer is no, rats are too small to set off the landmines, so they simply indicate where the explosives are so they can be detonated. Rats are also helping to sniff out tuberculosis. Microscope tests for tuberculosis are only 20 % effective in patients with HIV, while rats can pick up 70 % of cases. In the Netherlands, rats are being used to sniff out drugs, explosives and counterfeit cigarettes.
4. They are highly intelligent
Rats are incredibly intelligent creatures. A Ph.D study by Dr Ben Vermaercke and his colleagues at KU Leuven University in Belgium found that while the brains of rats are smaller than those of humans, they are very similar in both structure and function. Both consist of many highly connected neurons that are constantly talking to each other. Additionally, rats have a very advanced memory. Once they learn a navigation route, they never forget it.
5. Rats are empathetic
Erin Stromberg, a keeper at Think Tank, an exhibit that showcases animal cognition at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C points to some research that demonstrates that rats have an incredible capacity to be empathetic towards others, qualities not often associated with animals other than humans. When given the choice, rats chose to free caged animals instead of accepting a food reward.
After reading this article, I hope that you have learned more about rats, and have come to a greater appreciation of their unique and wonderful qualities.
References:
12 facts about rats you might not know. Saga. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/home-garden/pets/facts-about-rats
Burgess Pet Care. (2020, December 3). How intelligent are rats? Burgess Pet Care. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.burgesspetcare.com/blog/rats/how-intelligent-are-rats/
Hidden lives of rats and mice. PETA. (2021, May 18). Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.peta.org/features/hidden-lives-rats-mice/#:~:text=Rats%20and%20mice%20are%20highly,them%20out%20as%20dogs%20are!
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