Woman brings home a rat and discovers he's just like a puppy

I was given a couple of rats as a gift once. I'd never considered them as pets, but they won me over with their charm and intelligence. Mine even took great care of each other. One of them got a bit sick, and the other one brought her food and kept her clean and comfortable until she got better.

To those not in the know, Edgar recently passed away. He went in his sleep, and was found by his family in the morning. Rats, unfortunately, do not live very long lives. Most typically only live for about 2 years, 3 if you're really lucky. Edgar made it to a good 2 or so, despite some heart problems. Rest well squish man. EDIT: for clarity, I am not Edgar's owner, just a follower of his family's Instagram account.

To everyone who may not know, Fergus has now passed away as well (Edgar passed unexpectedly in February 2023). Fergus was almost 3 years old, which is elderly for a rat. I followed their owner on Instagram, and it gave me so much joy to watch these sweet babies grow. Rest in peace, sweet chaos potatoes ❤

I used to have rats and my mother always said they are gross and disgusting. When she visited us and i showed her how my two girls were sitting on my shoulder she just melted. She was genuinely surprised at how tame and clean they were. She always thought of them like the little critters running around in cities or in barns. Her face when she picked up one of them for the first time and my rat just held her finger and started to clean her. That's such a beautiful memory.

In high school a friend's sister gave me the rat they had recently got and couldn't care for anymore.. His name was George, and he turned into my best friend. They're so sweet and so smart. He knew his name, never used the bathroom outside of his cage, and was always clean. I had no idea they had such short lifespans. I had him for almost 3 years. He's still the best pet I've ever had.

My father brought my mom a rat as an insulting gift but it backfired because we all fell in love with her. She was a wonderful pet that we allowed to run free in the house. 50 years later and we still remember her fondly and share our memories of her adorable antics.

My daughter, Heather had a rat. She brought it home from school. Ruby had brilliant red eyes. Heather had her for quite some length of time, and Ruby became a member of the family when Ruby passed the whole family mourned. She was a very precious creature. And after 50 years, I still think about how special she was in our family

I had an albino rat as a child. Absolutely snow-white with red eyes. He was incredibly smart and affectionate, responded to his name and climbed up my leg to my shoulder, where he could sit for hours. He also loved running around in a wheel like a hamster.

I had a “feeder rat” (usually fed to snakes) I bought for a couple bucks at the pet store and named him Frances. He somehow lived almost 6 years. I didn’t know you were supposed to get rats in pairs but he was very bonded with me. I had a harness for him, taught him tricks, he would sleep in bed with me (he was huge so I wasn’t worried about crushing him). I miss my little furry albino buddy. Such a sweet soul and the first pet I was ever trusted to care for 100%. I learned responsibility from an early age because of him. I love you Frances. I hope you’re eating endless berries and yogurt bites in Heaven! ❤️ Edit: Wow, thanks for all the likes! Glad to know there are other rat fans out there!

Rats deserve to live longer

So sweet! I wish ALL humans treated ALL animals with this much love and respect! We need more peeps like you. Thanks!

There’s really no better feeling in the world than when someone or something runs to you unafraid to embrace you. Something about gaining the trust of an animal or child to where they love you and know you’d never do them harm and seeing you is the happiest part of their day is just everything.

For folks interested in a rat as a pet; GET TWO. NEVER have a lone rat. They are social animals and they do best with at minimum, one packmate.

Rats are super smart and really great pets. It’s their lifespan that keeps me from wanting to have them again. It breaks my heart

My mom was an anti rat person. Then she stayed at my house for a vacation. After watching them interact with me, their obvious joy as I entered the room and their desire for my attention 💖. Mom changed her mind, she eventually even held them and accepted their affection.

Rats are incredibly intelligent little critters! Never understood how people are so repulsed by them. Domestic rats are quite clean. They’re inexpensive, fairly easy to care for, and very smart. They can even learn tricks and solve puzzles!

I’ve only had pet rats because an ex of mine wanted them. I was pleasantly surprised with how amazing they are as pets. They’re affectionate, smart, clean, and have huge personalities. I would totally consider getting some more but their lifespans are so short that I don’t want to go through that heartache again so soon.

Rest in Peace, Edgar and Fergus. They are now romping and playing on the Other Side; secure in the knowledge that they both had a good 2-3 years of a loving home with a loving human.

I love the fact that no matter what the animal is there's always a human out there who loves and appreciates them.

Back in college, almost everyone in my dorm had a pet. Sometimes it was a dog or cat but it was often something less common. Since I remained in the dorm during holidays I had the dubious joy of taking care of many of them while their owners went home on break. I learned to appreciate and even love all sorts of pets: mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, birds and even Deeny the Chinchilla. Rats are quite loveable and incredibly smart.