I didn't know snakes were the only things fed live rodents...I didn't necessarly mean snakes. I read the post, don't worry

Yes that is very true.

I recently had a litter.
Pet store rat, pregnant in the box, going to be fed to a snake situation.
I never got to know the mother rat and she was very agressive to me because when i got her she was VERY pregnant.
She is still agressive, although 4 weeks later she is doing alittle better. But the mother has taught her babies to bite, well nibble at the moment.
Some don't do it as much as other but as soon as you put your hand in the cage they go straight for the fingers and I have done nothing but socialize them ALL day EVERYDAY and tried to raise them the best I can, I even ended up ignoring my b/f over the rats!

I think that they learn from the mother and if your mother rat is very well behaved then you may have little problems, she will teach them top be sweet rats, but being half wild, there is a good chance they could be agressive.
There is a 50, 50 chance of it going either way or mixing. They could be sweet most of the time and be aggressive everynow and then. Or they could be agressive most of the time and be sweet every now and then.

I suggest you GO FIND recources on caring for a pregnant rat, treating the babies etc. You especially will need to know as much as you can about raising them to become the best of their ability.

Good Luck and for your sake, I hope she isnt preggers.

[
Large lizards, like the large types of monitors, and very large frogs, like Budgett's frogs and Argentinian horned frogs. The frogs can't eat adult rats, but they can eat young rats. Also, apparently some idiots (go look in Random Chatter) like to feed their iguanas (who are strict vegetarians!) rats.  

Also, and this would be a worry of mine if any rats went to pet stores, even in NZ, people train dogs to fight, race, and hunt and kill rats using rats as a lure, e.g. dogfighting, lure coursing, and "ratting".

Hope this is coherent, must sleep.

Jessi

Yes they huff and it can look funny but that means the rat is actually scared to death.  I dont like when my ratties huff........I am afraid they will go into shock from being so scared. My friend had a rat die from shock when the cats were allowed to roam around the cages.  

I would think that would be fairly normal behavior for babies, or atleast any babies that I ever raised. I would be more concerned with the babies that didn't immediately come over to my hand and start nibbling my fingers or fingernails. Some of them would chomp down a little hard at first, not deliberately...just out of curiousity, but they would grow out of it. Once baby rats realize they've got teeth and a whole world outside of the nest they were raised in, all they seem to want to do is taste-test and nibble on everything.

Granted, I realize a pet shop rat is still different from a wild rat as far as personality, but I had a pet shop girl who delivered a few days after I got her. She wasn't friendly then, didn't have a chance to get to know me before she delivered...and even 2 years later when she died, she was a friendly girl but never really got used to being pet or picked up. But her babies were a delight...they grew into nosy, happy, friendly adults that didn't show any of their mother's caution or nervousness.

"As long as the girls are unspayed they will attract the wild boys.  Where there's one there have to be more.  And wild rats can give your pets and you parasites.  So you may have to take steps to rid the house of them."

wow like with human men to....lol

I might be reading this wrong but do your rats live outside in their cage or does the wild daddy make his way into your home?  Just curious.
Congrats on your new babies

Congrats on the new babies, but be very careful of dad rat.  Momma rats come into heat again within 24 hours after giving birth.  Chances are that he was there to get her pregnant again.  I would really find a way to keep him away from your females.

the male will probably have a quick hump through the cage wires. I think you should go get that man and take away his man hood all together!

if you catch the wild rat and he doesn't mind cage life you have to name him Cassanova.

Hi all
Our rats live inside our house in a cage made out of an old chest of drawers (bottom drawer to catch the poop, other drawers gone. Wire on the front). It is an old 150 year old frame house. The wild rat comes in through a rat hole somewhere. I have heard him banging around in the walls now and then over the last two years- but never worried about it as I'm not afraid of rats and I've never set eyes on him. That is what is so extraordinary- I never see wild rats- they are so private and now I have one sitting in my hallway! I definately need to move him away from my girl rats! I never considered the fact that he could be bonking them through the wire!  That would be a disaster!
regards

It's non-American English.

...sure it's not "boink"?  I've heard of boinking before...

it was a joke hehe but still should be nammed cassanova.....

why do I keep pictureing lady and teh tramp with rats lol

Hi everybody
Last night my twelve year old son caught the wild rat (we call him Jeremy) in an empty travel cage. We just put elastic on the cage door with a prop that had a long string. I put some tuna fish in the cage and waited about one hour. We were watching him with a mirror. After we caught Jeremy we drove him ten miles away and let him lo