I had not updated my spreadsheet before the board went down.  My last update was on 02/17/03, and these are the last few rats I recorded:

Pearl   F   28
Latka   M   33
Ruben   M   25
Sylvester   M   28
Petey   M   23
Punkin   M   26
Baby   F   24
Christopher   M   24
Homie   M   21
Hope   F   35
Topher Alan Piglet   M   11
Irving   M   3
Lily   F   24
Mousie   F   23
Ric   M   27
Floyd   M   30

If you're not sure if I recorded your rats, please PM me, and we can figure it out.  If you've had a loss, or haven't recorded your rats' information, post here.  

The goal of this is to get a feel for how long pet rats live.  I've seen 2-4 years, but the average seems to be far closer to 2, than 3 or 4.  

Redds 37 months [tumor]

Barney - 2 months , suspected brain tumour.

My rats's lifespans, with cause of death, and I've tried to note where rats were related, as well as breeds and where they were acquired.  I've also noted my still-living rats, with medical conditions.

Samantha - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store(ships rats in), sister to Hannah - 31m (ruptured tumour, hemorrhage)

Hannah - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store(ships rats in), sister to Samantha - 39m (multiple causes, including cancer, multiple benign mammory tumours, ruptured tumour/cyst on neck (was healed at time of death))

Vivianne - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store (ships rats in - same store as Sammy and Hanny) - 10m (sudden acute resp. distress, cause unknown - possible acute myco flair-up.)

Mira - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store (extremely poor conditions, reported to SPCA.  Bred rats on-site) - 24m (unspecified neurologic disorder - involved seizures)

Moiraine - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store (breeds rats on-site) - 18m (systemic infection secondary to cyst on neck, also had a benign mammary tumour)

Joan - female, standard coat, chain pet store - 10m (suspected brain tumour - became progressively more aggressive over several months prior to death)

Isabelle - female, standard coat, novice breeder, sister to Raizel - 18m (cause of death undetermined, possibly intentional starvation, refused food after death of sister.  also had benign mammary tumour.)

Raizel - female, standard coat, novice breeder, sister to Isabelle - 18m (suspected cranial tumour (possibly in sinus)).

Phoebe - female, velour, privately owned pet store(acquired rats from reptile show), mother to Elf, April, Random, and Chance - 26m (suspected lymphatic cancer.  also had benign mammary tumours.)

Elf - female, rex, mother was pregnant from pet store, daughter to Phoebe, sister to April, Random, and Chance - 26m (uterine hemorrhage, suspected pyometra/uterine mycoplasmosis.  had a benign mammary tumour removed at 18m of age.)

April - female, rex, mother was pregnant from pet store, daughter to Phoebe, sister to Elf, Random, and Chance - 27m (euthanised due to severe necrosis of benign mammary tumour, which measured 4"x5" at her death.  Tumour was not removed due to obesity/risk of anesthesia.)

Chance - male, rex, mother was pregnant from pet store, son to Phoebe, brother to Elf, April, and Random - 14m (died under anesthesia while undergoing removal of 3"x3" mass from neck/jaw - composition of tumour unknown, suspected lymphatic cancer.)

Random - male, rex, mother was pregnant from pet store, son to Phoebe, brother to Elf, April, and Chance- 10m (sudden, accute resp. distress, cause unknown - possible insect sting.)

Abigail - female, hairless, privately owned pet store(bred rats on-site) - 24m (suspected heart failure secondary to severe active mycoplasma infection.  Survived 7m on antibiotics w/ steroids after initial onset of active myco infection.)

Kayah - female, rex, privately owned pet store (bred rats on-site - indescriminate breeding, poor conditions), cousin to Kia - 7m (euthanized due to squamous cell carcinoma of the brain/ear canal, which was discovered, upon removal, to have ruptured her skull.  Had benign polyp previously removed from same ear canal at 5m of age, recurred.)

Kia - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store (bred rats on-site - indescriminate breeding, poor conditions), cousin to Kayah - living at 18m.  Obese, possible borderline diabetic.  Recurrent porphorin discharge from eyes, resistant to antibiotic treatment.  

Fern - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store (acquired by store from breeder), sister to Ivy - living at 7m.  Had possible myco flair-up following Abby's death, porphorin staining of nose.  Responded to Baytril, very occassional recurrence of porphorin staining w/ stress.  Otherwise very healthy.  

Ivy - female, standard coat, privately owned pet store (acquired by store from breeder), sister to Fern - living at 7m.  Possible myco flair-up following Abby's death, porphorin staining of nose.  Initially responded to Baytril but still very sensitive to stress/environmental changes, porphorin staining of nose recurring.  Otherwise healthy.  

Emma - female, standard coat, SPCA - living at 12 weeks.  No known health problems; was malnourished in infancy due to being abandoned (acquired at 3.5 weeks).

Lizette - female, velour/hairless?, privately owned pet store (bred rats on-site) - living at 6 weeks.  No known health problems; had lice when acquired.

-Sonya

Loki...18 months...stroke.

BA... 27 months...pnumonia following neurological problems and a fall.

Honey...Approx 12 months (rescue) Sudden onset of pnumonia. PTS.

Christopher, M, 27 months (myco)

Bob- 5 months approx, cause of death unknown.
Randy- 7 months approx, cause of death unknown( Bob and Randy were brothers from the same litter, 2 months before Bob died the breeder I got them off lost nearly her entire rat colony due to unknown causes )
Bacardi- 12 months, died during surgery to remove a tumor.

Snarf male, 18 mos - natural
Spooky   male, 25 mos - natural
Miko   male, 18 mos - fast growing tumor in abdomen and allergic to carrots ( :huh: )
Argo   male, 21 mos - had a small benign tumor on back, but I do not believe it affected his quality of life

Fred - 13 - myco

Anubis - 21 - pts due to complications from myco

This is my first addition...

Moe 3 mths 1 day  Breeder bred rat.

Cause of death:  Heart Attack after surgery to remove a throat tumor.

Marley - PetSmart rat - 26 mos. - respiratory distress of unknown cause (opacities observed in lungs on radiographs)

Cashew - from a seedy pet store - 34 mos. - lung abscess caused by a highly antibiotic-resistant bacterium (Pseudomonas species)

Jimmy - PetSmart rat - 3 mos. - complications (cause unknown, very fast heart rate) during anesthesia while being neutered

Oreo - 25 months (died hours after surgery for a cancerous tumor - too attached which resulted in a lot of blood loss, and we didn't expect her to get much more time without it being removed anyway)

Puff - 24 months (sister of Oreo, she'd never gotten over the death of Snow White 7 months earlier and eventually just wasted away)

Snow White - 20 months, CHF and asthma ending up with a burst vessel in her lungs or heart and her dying in a panic in under a minute (her death made me resolve to never go to Petsmart again in my life)

Marshmellow - 20 months (1 week exactly after her sister SW died) of cancer throughout her body which we assume shut down her kidneys in the end

Monchichi - 30 months, natural causes (born in 1998)

Rose - 15 months, myco (born in 1999, only rat I've owned to actually show symptoms of myco)

Angel -- Female 24 mos  Pituitary tumor, pts.
Patches -- Female 23 mos -- Pituitary tumor, heart and lung problems, pts.
Ditto -- Male 4 mos respiratory problems

It's been awhile since I've posted here, good to see everyone is still here

My Sprague-Dahley lab rats lived for quite a long time.

Duffy- 29 months

Itty Bitty- ( I swear this is the truth) 39 months,
she eventually passed on from cancer.

Both my boys now, Larry and Moe are going on 22 months.