Blackstaff Rats

articles about rat care

Pet Rat Information Sheet
Detailed online guide to keeping rats as pets. Subjects covered include social needs, health, housing, training, breeding, enviromemntal enrichment and selecting pet rats. You may wish to print this as it is over 12 pages long. Last updated 4th March 2005.

Would disease-free lab-rats make good pets?
This article was written in response to a growing interest in specially bred pathogen-free laboratory rats as pets. As SPF rats have no natural immunity, I feel strongly that they do not make ideal pets. This article first appeared in the now defunct rat-related webzine Squeak! in 1998. Links to Squeak! are courtesy of the Web Archive at www.archive.org.

Is an artificially extended lifespan a good thing for pet rats?
This article was written in response to research showing that rats' lives can be extended by certain "extreme" means such as feeding only every other day. It originally appeared on usenet, and this version appeared in the now defunct rat-related webzine Squeak! in 1998. Links to Squeak! are courtesy of the Web Archive at www.archive.org.

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