Creatures Caves

Rats!

So, first off, if you came here thinking "Aren't rats gross?" then this'll help you!

Rats are domesticated, which means that they crave human attention, and even if they escaped, they'd die if not found.

Rats clean themselves just as much as your cat, and you can teach them things, such as:

-Potty training
-Coming to their name
-Fetching
-Rolling over
-Jumping through a hoop
-Walking
-Doing specific tasks
And so much more!

If you want to compare the personality of a rat to another animal, it'd be a dog. They just love you and want your attention.

Ratty funfacts!

-Male rats are like lapdogs, while female rats are more active and more willing to do more extreme tricks
-Rats are almost guaranteed to not bite you! The only time they'd bite is if they're extremely scared or you're putting them in alot of pain
-You cat and dog are more likely to carry rat bite fever then a rat would!
-Rats are less likely to get diseases then your cat and dog
-Your more likely to get Cat Scratch Fever then Rat Bite Fever
-If your rat escapes it's cage, it'll either go for a walk and then go back to it's cage, go to you, or just go exploring and end up getting lost. If you think they got lost, put out some food and water for them. They're likely to go to the food and water, since they'd be dehydrated and hungry.
-Rats will not smell as long as you take care of them properly. Litter training them and then changing what you use for bedding (If you litter trained them, use fleece) around once a week. If you change their bedding too early, they'll pee all over their cage to make it smell like 'home' again, and if you change it too late, the cage will stink and their health will be in danger.

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Rat varieties and looks!

The kind of rats you've most likely seen are either albinos, or black and white rats. However, there are so many other variations and colours. I'm going to post some pictures of the most liked/ common colours and variations, and then name the others and describe them.

Rat ear types!

Top-eared rat: The most common ear type you'd probably see.

Dumbo eared rat: A mutation of the rat's ears, making them lower and slightly bigger. No one knows the origin of the mutation.

Rat body types!

Dwarf vs. Standard rat:
Dwarf rats have, as you guessed it, the dwarfism gene. They're around 2x smaller then the average rat, but have no differences otherwise. Here is a good image comparing them.

Rat coat types!

Standard coat: The most common coat on a rat you'll encounter. It's smooth, soft but firm.

Rex coat: A mutation causing the rat's coat to twist and curl, resulting in a very soft, silky coat.

Double rex coat: A coat caused by having two strands of the rex gene. The rats have very soft fur, but their fur falls off, but doesn't harm the rat.

Velveteen coat: A similar coat to the rex, except instead of a curly coat they have a wavy coat.

Harley Coat: A coat type that gives rats greasy-looking fur as babies, and then long, whispy looking fur as adults.

Hairless coat: A variety of coat that makes a rat have peach fuzz with their eyelashes and whiskers still, or completely nothing.

Satin coat: A silky, smooth wavy coat that shimmers. Can be indentified easily as a pup if it has droopy whiskers.

Will continue in next post!