Casey
Well-Known Member
I thought I would put in my two cents. 
Even though my experience is very limited and was awhile ago...
I had a rat when I was in college, Winston.
Winston was a feeder rat. He was a sweet soft baby albino when I brought him home at about 4 weeks old.
There was a tank full of little ones and the clerk just grabbed one and put it in a box for me.
I was told he had never been handled.
This was about 15 years ago.
I now realize the petstore I got him from was really not a good place. They kept all the small critters in small aquariums and it smelled so bad.
The staff also had no idea what they were doing and convinced me that I should only get one rat or it would not be friendly.
(I still think about Winston never having another rattie friend, I am sure he would have been such a great buddy)
But it was the only one in our small town and it did not really occur to me at the time how wrong it was. :sad3:
It was actually closed down a few years later b/c of complaints
Anyway Winston was an amazing rat. He was never scared or shy. He walked right out of his box when we got home, a tiny little thing.
He was an adventurous, curios and cuddly boy. he just loved life and made everybody (that wasn't scared of him) happy. :giggle:
He loved people and was so smart. We pretty much kept his cage open when we were home and he would come and go as he pleased.
He mostly took "treasures" back to his cage and cuddled with us, then would go back into his cage on his own for bedtime.
He lived to be about 2 and a half years old with no health problems. He went to sleep one night and just did not wake up.
I am adopting two little boys from a breeder in the next couple of weeks and I can only hope that they will have a personality similar to Winston's.
So although I would not get another rat from a petstore, I do agree that a lot of it has to do with the rats own personality.
Even though my experience is very limited and was awhile ago...
I had a rat when I was in college, Winston.
Winston was a feeder rat. He was a sweet soft baby albino when I brought him home at about 4 weeks old.
There was a tank full of little ones and the clerk just grabbed one and put it in a box for me.
I was told he had never been handled.
This was about 15 years ago.
I now realize the petstore I got him from was really not a good place. They kept all the small critters in small aquariums and it smelled so bad.
The staff also had no idea what they were doing and convinced me that I should only get one rat or it would not be friendly.
(I still think about Winston never having another rattie friend, I am sure he would have been such a great buddy)
But it was the only one in our small town and it did not really occur to me at the time how wrong it was. :sad3:
It was actually closed down a few years later b/c of complaints
Anyway Winston was an amazing rat. He was never scared or shy. He walked right out of his box when we got home, a tiny little thing.
He was an adventurous, curios and cuddly boy. he just loved life and made everybody (that wasn't scared of him) happy. :giggle:
He loved people and was so smart. We pretty much kept his cage open when we were home and he would come and go as he pleased.
He mostly took "treasures" back to his cage and cuddled with us, then would go back into his cage on his own for bedtime.
He lived to be about 2 and a half years old with no health problems. He went to sleep one night and just did not wake up.
I am adopting two little boys from a breeder in the next couple of weeks and I can only hope that they will have a personality similar to Winston's.
So although I would not get another rat from a petstore, I do agree that a lot of it has to do with the rats own personality.
