Fun Rat Facts!

• Rats can swim (and have been observed holding their breath for up to 3 minutes!)

• Rats can’t throw up

 

• They talk to each other with such high-pitched squeaks that we can’t hear a lot of their sounds, but they can also learn to “talk” to us humans with squeaks that we are able to hear.

 

• They use their tails to hold on, balance, talk to each other, and regulate their body temperatures.

 

• Rats can’t sweat like humans or pant like dogs – their tails are for this!

 

• They’re naturally nocturnal, but they’ll purposely adjust their schedules to spend time with us humans when we are awake during the day.

 

• Rats live 1-3 years on average, but the oldest living rat recorded was named Rodney and he lived to be 8 years old!

 

• Rats come in a wide variety: they come with regular fur, hairless, with just some patches of fur, long-haired and even with curly fur! They also come in different sizes. My biggest rat weighs in at just under 2-lbs and my smallest is only 185 grams!

 

• Dwarf rats were originally discovered in a laboratory – and as adults are only 1/3 the size of regular rats.

 

• The Karni Mata Temple in India is home to over 20,000 rats and nobody is allowed to harm them! You can find more info on this, here. 

 

• Some of the first animals to space were rats, launched in 1961 from France.

 

• Queen Victoria is rumored to have kept rats as pets.

 

• Ancient Romans believed that a white rat crossing your path was good luck, but a black one (much like the superstition of black cats, here) was a bad omen.

 

• A group of rats is called a mischief (such as a pack of dogs, a flock of birds, etc)

 

• You can teach rats tricks such a hide-and-seek and tag. They can also learn to find scents – in fact, the Giant Gambian Pouched rats are often trained and work as bomb-detection animals – saving human lives every year. Their slight weight doesn’t detonate bombs, so they don’t get hurt during these missions – even though they are much bigger than domestic pet rats (weighing in at up to 15-lbs – so the size of a large housecat cat!)

 

• Rats can be litter-box trained and can even be taught to walk on a leash!

 

• Rats can jump 2 feet in the air – 3 feet if they have a running start. That’s like a human jumping onto a garage roof!

 

• Rats’ teeth never stop growing; which is one of the reasons they are such avid chewers.

 

• Rats are only pregnant for 21 days  - and can get pregnant again the day after giving birth (but usually do not choose to do so). Speaking of which, female rats CAN choose whether to become pregnant or not. She can also choose to end a pregnancy early, if she feels that she is in danger or that her pups might be in danger at birth.

 

• Baby rats are called pups or kittens – but lots of rat people loving refer to them as rittens or bRats.

 

• Rats are very clean animals – even cleaner than cats!

 

• Rats take care of sick or injured members of their mischief.

 

• Rats get lonely very easily – so you should never keep them alone. Both male and female rats require a buddy to be happy.

 

• Just like deer – male rats are called bucks and females are called does.