Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A white and black rat approached us as we were barbequing, is it possible the rat might be domesticated?

We fed it a piece of tomato and had it to come to us. It did come to smell us then it would run and hide .. What to do? Its soo cute!
Answers:
Keep it in a good sized cage or a thick lined box for a bit and ask around to see if anyone lost a pet. Put up a note at a local store or two and give it a bit to see if anyone contacts you. Could be someone's pet that got free and you could make their day by returning it.
If you can't find the owner, I might suggest keeping it. Rats can make great pets if treated properly and they do not require much time or effort compared to other pets. I ended up in a situation where either I adopted a couple of them or they would be put down. I never intended on owning a rat as a pet, but in the end it turned out to be a great choice.
If neither of those options works out, ask if anyone around you might like it for a pet.
On the other hand, if it turns out to not be domesticated, you can always just find a field or creek to let it go in. It will stand a better chance living in the wild than in a home if that's truly what it is used to.
is it possible he just came for the barbecue? and why the heck would ya let a rat around your food? very unsanitary
Gotta be a domesticated one. Try to catch it if you can. Rats actually make really nice pets.
its domesticated. wild rats are totally brown or totally black (depending on where you are)
to the answerer below - those mice are cross breeds with wild and escaped domesticated.
.
I know someone who has bad mice problems in her barn. We would see spotted ones, colored ones, and bigger ones. My bro says it might be inbreeding. But, mabey one of your neighbors could have lost their pet rat.
most likely domesticated. they make wonderful pets too.. try to catch it and give it a nice home..
They carry disease either way! KILL IT!
It could be a pet rat that got away from its owner. Or it could be a rat that is wild so be careful
sounds domestic, definitely. Wild rats don't usually have coloring like that, and wouldn't come to you. Put a bit of food inside a box on it's side, so it can easily get inside. Tip the box upright once the rat's in it -- and close the box so he can't get out. Then check with your neighbors and see if you can find the owner. Be careful-- he's probably harmless, but there's always the possibility that he could be sick, so don't let yourself be bitten.
Judging by the color, its probably a pet. Ask around and see if anyone's pet rat got loose. if you can catch it, take it to the vet, and he would probably be a better judge. If it is domesticated, it was probably just scared being outside, cant find its way home.
Sounds like you are describing a domestic rat that either escaped it's home or someone intentionally let it loose to try and fend for itself. A wild rat would NEVER come as close as this one did. Wild rats would rather avoid us humans like the plague.
This rat will never survive on it's own. That's why it has trusted you enough to approach you for food. Left alone it will die a slow, painful death because rats that have been domesticated have lost many of their survival instincts. Because it has white in it's coat, it can't hide from predators. The natural coat color of a wild Norway Rat is agouti to black. This coat color helps them to hide in the underbrush.
Do the right thing and take it in. Either keep it as a pet or turn it in to the Humane Society so it can find a loving home.
http://spazrats.tripod.com/wildcousins.h...
http://spazrats.tripod.com/domesticpets.
Wild versus domestic rats
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=wi...
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
This is not a wild one... it was someone's pet and got lose or was let lose. See if you can capture it and have it checked at the vet. If it's all healthy then keep it for a pet. They make awesome pets!

No comments:

Post a Comment