Rats are great pets. I've had two over the years, not together though, one after the other. *Kenneth Williams.jpeg*
The first one was a female albino and was really clever and agile, the second one was a male, also white, but not albino, and he was really stupid and clumsy and had enormnous baws that kind of trailed along behind him. As they were domestic pets and fed regularly they grew quite large, particularly the male, who by the end must have been around 2 feet long, body and tail of equal 12" length. After about two years for the female and three years for the male they became reclusive and their behaviour changed, which is a clear sign something is wrong. A quick trip to the vet and a wee jag and goodnight vienna. Vets reckon that as rats are inbred as f**k they probably have a genetic disposition towards cancerous tumours. When the female's behaviour changed I was bitten by her whilst cleaning her cage, a c**t of a bite that caused blood to shoot like a water pistol from my finger where her wee needle teeth had punctured me. Totally out of character for her as she loved to be handled and played with and to run around on me. With the male he just stopped moving about very much and stayed within the lower level of his cage and particularly inside his wee sleeping hut thing. He had been accustomed to being free range so that was a clear sign. We had set up two separate cages with a walkway linking them at the top on top of a table inside an alcove and the two cages were left open and he just wandered back and forth between them doing his own thing. Once he stopped moving about it was clear he was gubbed. Never replaced him after that, couldn't be arsed cleaning the cages anymore.
#RatTales