Hello!

[Camelidae4]

I got my first rats in 2018. My first round of ratties were males that I rescued from a local animal shelter. After they passed, I got a round of females that were about a month old. They are now just over a year old and I love them so much. I have a degree in the biological basis of animal behavior and love, love, love animal enrichment. I did more training with my males because they were more food motivated, but I spend more time on structural enrichment for my females. I love studying sensory systems, inter/intraspecific interactions, hormones, and more. I have experience with camels, zebras, raccoons, dogs, cats, various species of birds, goats, sheep, and more. But I am relatively new to the rat world and looking to learn more!

 

[Big Schpog]

Rats are just like humans in so many ways. That's what I love about them. They get so bonded to their humans and have a rich array of emotions just like humans. For example, last night, my rat Simone was thinking about getting into an ashtray and she kept inching right up to it and I'd move her away and she'd come right back. She was pissed I was moving her away. LOL. Finally I moved the entire ashtray to another location she couldn't get to and out of spite she tried to grab a cigarette out of my pack that was laying right next to her. LOL

All my girls display all the human emotions: jealousy, anger, joy, contentment, frustration, and so forth. They are like little humans!