Lunch?

Vicki · Old Hand

Lunch?

neeroz · Master

Awww rats...........I love rats! (Whats their names?)

Eddie looks like Dexter..........could they be related?! (Am always on the look oot for Dexter's family cos we ken nothing about him (apart from his breeding data) till he arrived at bothwell SSPCA)

-- Edited by neeroz at 15:18, 2006-06-16

Steve · Master

Jings - couldn't let our ones near wee furries.

I knew a guy many moons ago who had a pet rat which used to chase him around, walk to heel more or less, climb up his trousers and pop out of his fly - wee party trick.

JENNY · Big Cheese

Eddie is the double of Vernon!!! Are they related?

Teresa · Enlightened One

Great picture - i couldn't let ours near anything remotely furry either, steve.

As for the party trick - very neat, as long as the rat had been fed !!

Vicki · Old Hand

Lol, there's a window between Eddie and the rats (Dylan and Seamus)..... he'd swallow them whole otherwise, he's a tad obsessed.

I've no idea who Eddie might be related to.

Awww rats...........I love rats!

I don't hear that very often! I love them too.

-- Edited by Vicki at 19:28, 2006-06-16

Fiona · Master

I love that picture too, keep 'em coming Vicki!

Rats are just so curious, they have to investigate everything, don't they, regardless of how big or dangerous it might be! I can't wait until mine see their first greyhound

neeroz · Master

'Rats are just small dogs'

Yup...agree with that, I had a rat Ben who was so placid, calm and cuddley I called him my labrador.

Now I've got ferrets, they are a cross between a dog and cat.............makes a very interesting life!

How old is Eddie? Dexter is 3yrs old (4 in Sept)

-- Edited by neeroz at 11:04, 2006-06-17

Dave · Enlightened One

Eddie is 4 this year sometime, got his tatto details but he's not on the database and haven't called the coursing club about him yet, he is English however so probably a different breed line to Dexter (and Veron) who are Irish....And before you ask Dexter and Vernon don't have much in common, the closest link is 'Greenpark Fox' who's Vernon's grandad and Dexters great-great gandad..

Missy · Master

Here is another SNACK photo !!!

The rat BTW is called Caramel

Vicki · Old Hand

And everyone thought I was nuts having a greyhound with rats...... seems it's rather common.

Jax · Master

That's such an excellent photo! Gorgeous dog...and rat of course.

Gail · Big Cheese

Am i the only one who is terrified of rats?? Mind you if they were all as cute as caramel maybe even i would be converted. What a brilliant photo.

Gail.

Fiona · Master

That is a brilliant photo too!

Gail, why are you terrified of rats?? They don't bite and are very friendly and are all very cute! Maybe you're thinking of sewer/ wild rats, they are worlds apart from the domestic variety.

Missy · Master

Hi Gail we have a total of three rats.... Caramel being the white and tan albino and Cafe au Lait and Cafe Noir being white and brown rats. They all have their own little personalities and are so warm and cuddly. Rats make great pets and in my house they are kept well away from two hungry greyhounds. Will try and get a picture of Zak peeking at a snack later.

Gail · Big Cheese

What lovely exotic names for them all, are they all as cute as caramel?

Years ago my brother had a white one who used to sit on your shoulder with his tail tucked down the back of your neck. I still had my boxer, Cassie, at the time...My brother saw a beautiful pet rat, my boxer just saw LUNCH !!

Fiona · Master

Have a wee look at mine! I love any excuse to show them off!

http://www.davidanderson.org.uk/rats.htm

Teresa · Enlightened One

Fiona, they are so beautiful. I've never had a problem with rats (only had a mouse when I was a small child) but haven't ever lived with one. Looking at yours really makes me want a couple as pets, they're delightful. I cannot imagine dave and daisy living with rats tho , the dogs would be so obsessed, they'd never stop staring at them (hungrily!!).

Missy · Master

Fiona wrote:

Have a wee look at mine! I love any excuse to show them off!
http://www.davidanderson.org.uk/rats.htm

Fiona
Cafe au Lait and Cafe Noir are both like Leo.

Here is a picture of the both of them..... have not got the pic of Zak with them yet. These two love hiding in my son's bedding (don't worry they don't leave any little raisins lying there!). Caramel is definitely a shoulder girl ! All the rats end up poking their tails around our eyes and sometimes the odd stray tail ends up in our mouths. They all love to snuffle our ears also but personally that gives me the goose bumps !!

No this is NOT a two headed rat !

-- Edited by Missy at 21:09, 2006-06-19

Missy · Master

Great photo's Fiona

Gail · Big Cheese

ok, ok I'm converted....they are all absolutely adorable

Think i must have been thinking of wild rats because i have never seen any as cute as this lot, you never know i might even get one someday (well at least that's what my ten year old son is telling me after seeing all the lovely pics!!)

Kathye · Old Hand

Fantastic pictures of rats :) Nice surprise to find them on GAL.

I adore rats, they are my main pets and have kept them for years. Daz is very good around them, they tend to share the same 'room'; our central landing most of the day. The rats have always lived in a huge cage at the top of the stairs as they love to be able to see us coming and going and interact with us as we pass by. For the same reason Daz's favourite sleeping mat is the one on the landing. After the first night or two of training with him he has left them firmly alone and even if a fight amongst my youngsters breaks out and there are two squawking balls of fluff charging from one end of the cage to another all he does is make a resigned sigh as if to say 'keep the noise down folks, I'm trying to sleep'.

Daz is a hunting dog though and shows a high interest in squirrels, will chase a rabbit (we muzzle him when he's loose so don't know if he would catch) and we think he'd chase a cat if it ran though we've only introduced him on lead to cats so used to greyhounds they just look back at him and hiss if he gets too impertinent. I think it shows great testimony to his desire to please us and follow our rules that he completely ignores the rats.

A few days ago we did test him when the rats were running loose on the bed and Peter brought him up to stand at the door on his lead. THAT was much more interesting to him but he followed the 'leave it' command just fine and simply watched with his ears up.

What surprises me even more is that that rats themselves tolerate him and his hurtling around. He will sometimes run the length of the house, brake to a halt three feet from the end of the landing which just happens to mean he skids and turns right in front of their cage. Even if they're sitting at the front drinking the most he gets is a snooty stare and they carry on about their business.

I'm very relieved we turned out to have been allocated a dog who was so trainable with rats. I can't imagine life without them, kept them since 1988.

Fiona · Master

Katrina, your rats are gorgeous. I'm surprised to see that biscuit still sitting there though, my lot would have snaffled that in seconds! They are huge big bucks, the does are tiny in comparision.

Cosmo and Mister are rescues and are almost 2 years old, Isaac and Riley are from a breeder in the Scottish Rat Club and are 9 months. The four of them live fairly happily together, although Cosmo is rather independent, having spent his early days on his own, but he does occasionally cuddle up with the others. Sadly, Leo and Bailey died before Xmas at 2 years old.

Kathy, show us some pics of your rats, it would be lovely to see and hear all about them. It's great to know that greyhounds and rodents can live together.

PeterE · Old Hand

Fiona wrote:

Kathy, show us some pics of your rats, it would be lovely to see and hear all about them. It's great to know that greyhounds and rodents can live together.

There are some pictures of our rats hereKathys Rats

Our current rats are Smudge, Firby, Meeko and Carrie, their pics are not up yet but hopefully will be soon.

On the montage of pictures from a rat show you'll see some rats doing rat-agility!! They really are like tiny dogs. We had one who could un-screw the lid of a jar to get treats!

Peter.

Missy · Master

It's great to see so many rats living with the gru's!

We have to be very careful with Zak he's already pulled a cage over but at least now he's not looking for the rats when he goes to bed now so time will tell if he will leave the poor wee mites alone. Missy will still try and nibble if a rat gets too close so we still have to watch her also. The other two dogs just don't care!

We all have some wonderful rats.

Our Caramel is about 18mths, Cafe au Lait and Cafe Noir are just coming up to a year old in August. All our rats are female and are a lot smaller than the male rats.
Cheers
Katrina.

emma · Guru

They never give up when small and furry is there do they! Chad even tries to catch the pigeons in the park but he is just too slow lol Em, Tig and Chad x

Fiona · Master

Kathy and Peter, your rats are gorgeous! Very adventurous too. Do you take them to any of the SRC shows?

Kathye · Old Hand

Thanks Fiona :)

We took Erin and Orinoco to the first NFRS show that was held in Bearsden a few years ago before the SRC got going. Erin got herself 'Best Pet' which I was stunned by. The judge said 'I could see she was very well prepared' but she'd done all the preparation herself, my only contribution was taking them to the show I've not been to any other shows yet, the trip to the NERS show was to collect Shimmer and Pooky who had travelled all the way up from Southampton by 'Rat Train' (a series of rat lovers across the country who were travelling to shows and passed them from one to another).

Kathy

Anyanka · Master

Gail, you're not alone - wild rats give me the creeps, and although I enjoy the photos on here and on the links (love the two-headed rat! Great shot), I could not have any rat in the house. It's the tail. I can't explain it and it doesn't make sense, especially when you consider that we have 6 guinea pigs (had 8 at peak times), a rabbit and a snake... Most of my female friends are freaked by the snake (my daughter's pet), but I think she's beautiful.

Piper has learnt to ignore the guinea pigs (they hide when she approaches) but poor Bosley the rabbit now has to have his run draped in sheets. If she can't see him, she leaves him alone. My family's first setter lived with a free-running rabbit for a while; he would walk on her body when she was sleeping, sniff her mouth and ears... not something you could ever get a lurcher or a grey to accept!

Fiona · Master

I used to be a bit freaked out by the tails before I had rats, but once I saw they used them for balance I stopped noticing. Although, sometimes it can look a bit creepy to see a row of tails sticking out from underneath the throw on the couch!

Well done Kathy, for Erin winning her prize! I go to the shows, but haven't entered any of my lot in them.

Anyanka, the snake is beautiful, but I do prefer furry pets! Cosmo's first home was alone and with a snake, so he is terrified of a lot of things and it took a great deal of time and patience to gain his trust.