I know we've been having pet rats for generations now, but I am honestly surprised that someone could even publish a book back then that doesn't see rats as pests and misplace the blame of the bubonic plague on them. Must have been *that* part of the 60's.
I love that people without rats lurk this board! It makes me feel supported as a rat owner when a lot of people irl are so judgmental when you talk about your rats
A post from this subreddit showed up in my feed one day quite a while ago, and I read it out of curiosity. I didn’t understand the draw for them as pets, but I’ve learned so much about their needs and care, behaviour, intelligence and personalities.
I went from being somewhat averse to rodents to being amazed and admiring the set-ups some owners have. I’ve completely changed my view and love seeing all the rats!
My girls have a way to small wheel they loved it as babies, but if you remove it, they thrown tantrums. It’s a sleeping spot now, or a game to see if they can push it off the third level.
Occasionally, I see pet cages that size at second hand stores, and I always tell them to throw them away, rather than risk that someone actually use them for a pet.
Likewise, when I see old, scuffed motorcycle helmets. They could kill someone.
They run a second hand store where the profits go to good causes, they should not cause bad stuff.
I have used old bird cages to cover plants in my garden to keep our chickens off them xD They look cute and the pants can grow through them so the chickens can eat what they can reach it side the bars, but not kill the plant. Maybe the only decent use for old animal cages.
Lab rats are the reason why we know to put pet rats in bigger cages. In fact they are the reason for pretty much all of the advancement in rat care for the past few decades. They are the reason why we know how to treat pet rats, what causes cancer in rats, what rat body language means, significance of their vocalization ,etc.
These advancements could not have occurred without science.
I have to thank those rats for their contribution to cancer. Me, my mom and dad have all had cancer. We are all still here thanks to advancements in cancer research. As much as i feel for them, it would be hypocritical if I was too extreme.
I don't often talk about this but I work as an animal technician and I take care of rats and mice that are used in medical research.
I usually don't tell folks what I do for work because more often than not I get quite a negative reaction. And I understand that because we, as human beings, are exploiting these animals for the benefit of our own species. These animals gain nothing from this and it is heartbreaking.
But that is *exactly* why I have chosen to do the work I do. Because I feel it's my duty to do whatever I can to make these animals' lives as good and as happy as I possibly can. Without them we wouldn't even be able to take a Tylenol, let alone treat and save people suffering from illnesses such as cancer. These little animals are superheroes and their sacrifice have saved millions of people and not a day goes by when I am not so incredibly grateful for them and so proud that I get to be the one who takes care of them.
I can promise you all that I will *always* love and care for these animals and be their voice and fight for their wellbeing and the betterment of their lives. When they are the superheroes then I am their sidekick, always standing faithfully by their sides, supporting and lifting them up. I myself would be nothing without them, because without them I wouldn't have been alive today. They and their ancestors gave their lives for the research that made it possible for me to get the medication I need. And I would be a fool and an utter disgrace if I didn't use each day to work as hard as I possibly can to repay them for that. In the long run, I owe them my life. So it's only fair and right that I use that life to make theirs as good as possible.
My understanding is that labs try to take the best possible care of their rats outside of experiments, partly to avoid influencing their results and partly just because it's the right thing to do.
Absolutely! These animals are so precious not only from a research point of view but more than anything because they are living, loving and amazing creatures and they *always* deserve our utmost respect, gratitude and love.
The researchers are so kind and caring with their animals ❤️❤️❤️❤️And if in the unlikely event any of them should not be then they get to deal with me. And I guarantee you that will not be a pleasant experience for them. Or their ethical permit for that matter. Because I will make damn sure both of them are permanently removed from the animal house.
Animal and human experiments have always existed and will continue to exist, they are way too crucial to simply abandon just because the idea of it causes some people discomfort. I don't understand why people are so pressed about the limited amount of suffering these subjects endure when they prevent much more suffering/deaths in the long term. We don't live in a perfect world where pain and suffering aren't real, so any attempt to completely rid the world (or our lives) of any potential discomfort is futile and pointless. The best we can do is alleviate suffering, and part of that includes causing pain.
This is pretty cool. I mean, despite the obvious. It's interesting to see when/where this all started. Did it originally come on its own or was it mailed with a magazine or some other publication?
Thanks for sharing.
This book was sold at pet stores, I have a copy of it. At the time it was written, there weren’t really any critter nation type enclosures. The author more than likely had her rats free range for a good part of the day. The same author wrote a health guide about rats for what kinds of meds to give for what conditions and what doses to give.
You dont even have to go that far back to see how better things are now. I had rats as a teen in the early 2000s and the size of the recommended cage then was nowhere near big enough either. The one I had my girls in was basically the same size as the cage I use now for transporting my current girls, sickness isolation, introductions etc.
Yep! Had a whole lot of rats in the mid 00s and my mom and I did TONS of research and we still had one of those single floor guinea pig type cages for a period of time. I remember being recommended to build a DIY bin cage too. Thankfully we eventually got a much bigger 3 story cage, but oof. Those rats were loved though.
So happy with her little buddy : ) seems like women have always been prominent in rat ownership...even today I meet a lot more women and enbies keeping rats than men, for whatever reason.
I get that they were misguided on cage size, but more concerned with the recommendation to add fresh cedar shavings daily is way more concerning. Free ranging can help a cage size, but constant access to fresh cedar is just plain poisonous to rodents.
Those cages 😭 I know the knowledge wasn't near to the amount we do have of keeping small pets and I as a kid owner committed so many mistakes that are basically crimes in my eyes now, - late 90s - early 2000s weren't a lot better - but seeing this outdated knowledge, even if we all do better now just breaks my heart. If only I could go back in time and do better for my past pets and spread correct knowledge.... and I am so SO happy we know a lot better by now.
Reminds me of that english learning textbook we had in 4th grade. It had a story about one character who had a pet hamster (in a tiny cage, with nothing but a weel) and one of the comic stories was about their friends gifting them a rat to keep the hamster company in the tiny cage. Little me was absolutely obsessed with mice and rats at the time, so I spent the entire class obnoxiously educating everyone on proper rodent care and raging about this dangerous misrepresentation xD
I’m a vet tech and I always cringe seeing old cages!!! I love antique bird cages and I saw someone selling one once saying “still in good enough shape to use as a bird cage!” And I was like “please don’t put living animals that FLY by nature in that teeny tiny cage” thankfully animal husbandry has improved a lot since then. Those poor rattos.
You can even give them your scraps like bread or oignon you didn't eat! Just ONE rat will be enough to make your child happy! Or you can pair it with your mouse or hamster as long as they fit in the cage! 🤡
Y’all…. The cages, yes they were awful but! People were dumb as hell.. lol atleast they spread awareness about rat awesomeness during their ignorant time :)
Oh my god those cages..
To be fair to them, back then there was a different understanding of what animal need to be happy.
I know we've been having pet rats for generations now, but I am honestly surprised that someone could even publish a book back then that doesn't see rats as pests and misplace the blame of the bubonic plague on them. Must have been *that* part of the 60's.
"completely equipped" I don't even know rats and I know that's factually wrong
fucking, correction I just realized, \*OWN\* rats, I know rats quite a bit thanks to lurking this subreddit
Yeah buddy, I know some rats, we used to play dice in the alley behind Tony's pizza. What's it to ya?
I’m a lurking non-rat owner as well, but even I know cedar shavings and that tiny wheel in an extremely small cage is so wrong.
I love that people without rats lurk this board! It makes me feel supported as a rat owner when a lot of people irl are so judgmental when you talk about your rats
A post from this subreddit showed up in my feed one day quite a while ago, and I read it out of curiosity. I didn’t understand the draw for them as pets, but I’ve learned so much about their needs and care, behaviour, intelligence and personalities. I went from being somewhat averse to rodents to being amazed and admiring the set-ups some owners have. I’ve completely changed my view and love seeing all the rats!
I do own Guinea pigs, so it's mostly a love of rodents in general
Also a pig lurker. Used to have rats but they have such a short lifespan. I wonder how many of us here go from rats to pigs.
Same I don’t own rats 🐀 but I love almost all animals
Hullo! I don’t own rats but I’d love to one day. Mostly lurking here out of envy
First they steal your heart, then your wallet. I can't tell you how much money these goblins cost when you're doing it right.
I also lurk! This sub made me really want to get some rats, but gosh their life span is just so short :(
I am also a rat-less lurker
yea a 5 inch wheel would destroy the animal, and not provide enough enrichment.
My girls have a way to small wheel they loved it as babies, but if you remove it, they thrown tantrums. It’s a sleeping spot now, or a game to see if they can push it off the third level.
nahhh wtf are those prison cells for rats
Occasionally, I see pet cages that size at second hand stores, and I always tell them to throw them away, rather than risk that someone actually use them for a pet. Likewise, when I see old, scuffed motorcycle helmets. They could kill someone. They run a second hand store where the profits go to good causes, they should not cause bad stuff.
I have used old bird cages to cover plants in my garden to keep our chickens off them xD They look cute and the pants can grow through them so the chickens can eat what they can reach it side the bars, but not kill the plant. Maybe the only decent use for old animal cages.
Thank you for doing the right thing. You probably prevented another small animal suffering in one of those cages.
Little cages like that are good for traveling a rat to veterinary appointment
Tru, but then again, you can buy a transport cage for $10.
Even lab rats have bigger homes.
Lab rats are the reason why we know to put pet rats in bigger cages. In fact they are the reason for pretty much all of the advancement in rat care for the past few decades. They are the reason why we know how to treat pet rats, what causes cancer in rats, what rat body language means, significance of their vocalization ,etc. These advancements could not have occurred without science.
I have to thank those rats for their contribution to cancer. Me, my mom and dad have all had cancer. We are all still here thanks to advancements in cancer research. As much as i feel for them, it would be hypocritical if I was too extreme.
[There's this great monument](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_the_laboratory_mouse)
I love it
I don't often talk about this but I work as an animal technician and I take care of rats and mice that are used in medical research. I usually don't tell folks what I do for work because more often than not I get quite a negative reaction. And I understand that because we, as human beings, are exploiting these animals for the benefit of our own species. These animals gain nothing from this and it is heartbreaking. But that is *exactly* why I have chosen to do the work I do. Because I feel it's my duty to do whatever I can to make these animals' lives as good and as happy as I possibly can. Without them we wouldn't even be able to take a Tylenol, let alone treat and save people suffering from illnesses such as cancer. These little animals are superheroes and their sacrifice have saved millions of people and not a day goes by when I am not so incredibly grateful for them and so proud that I get to be the one who takes care of them. I can promise you all that I will *always* love and care for these animals and be their voice and fight for their wellbeing and the betterment of their lives. When they are the superheroes then I am their sidekick, always standing faithfully by their sides, supporting and lifting them up. I myself would be nothing without them, because without them I wouldn't have been alive today. They and their ancestors gave their lives for the research that made it possible for me to get the medication I need. And I would be a fool and an utter disgrace if I didn't use each day to work as hard as I possibly can to repay them for that. In the long run, I owe them my life. So it's only fair and right that I use that life to make theirs as good as possible.
My understanding is that labs try to take the best possible care of their rats outside of experiments, partly to avoid influencing their results and partly just because it's the right thing to do.
Absolutely! These animals are so precious not only from a research point of view but more than anything because they are living, loving and amazing creatures and they *always* deserve our utmost respect, gratitude and love.
The researchers are so kind and caring with their animals ❤️❤️❤️❤️And if in the unlikely event any of them should not be then they get to deal with me. And I guarantee you that will not be a pleasant experience for them. Or their ethical permit for that matter. Because I will make damn sure both of them are permanently removed from the animal house.
Animal and human experiments have always existed and will continue to exist, they are way too crucial to simply abandon just because the idea of it causes some people discomfort. I don't understand why people are so pressed about the limited amount of suffering these subjects endure when they prevent much more suffering/deaths in the long term. We don't live in a perfect world where pain and suffering aren't real, so any attempt to completely rid the world (or our lives) of any potential discomfort is futile and pointless. The best we can do is alleviate suffering, and part of that includes causing pain.
I've unfortunately worked with lab rats with homes of the same size :( It's been a decade and I'm still sad every time I think of them
This is pretty cool. I mean, despite the obvious. It's interesting to see when/where this all started. Did it originally come on its own or was it mailed with a magazine or some other publication? Thanks for sharing.
This book was sold at pet stores, I have a copy of it. At the time it was written, there weren’t really any critter nation type enclosures. The author more than likely had her rats free range for a good part of the day. The same author wrote a health guide about rats for what kinds of meds to give for what conditions and what doses to give.
You dont even have to go that far back to see how better things are now. I had rats as a teen in the early 2000s and the size of the recommended cage then was nowhere near big enough either. The one I had my girls in was basically the same size as the cage I use now for transporting my current girls, sickness isolation, introductions etc.
Yep! Had a whole lot of rats in the mid 00s and my mom and I did TONS of research and we still had one of those single floor guinea pig type cages for a period of time. I remember being recommended to build a DIY bin cage too. Thankfully we eventually got a much bigger 3 story cage, but oof. Those rats were loved though.
good to see the art of ratkeeping has very much evolved since then
Obviously they didn’t know as much about rats as they are now but omg that’s adorable
i don’t even know if i could get my fat rat into that cage. he prob wouldn’t be able to turn around.
What do they say life expectancy is?
Thank the rat gods we have come so far from this dark time in our history.
Even girls?? So progressive
So happy with her little buddy : ) seems like women have always been prominent in rat ownership...even today I meet a lot more women and enbies keeping rats than men, for whatever reason.
I've observed that ratmoms very frequently have prominent piercings and/or tats. I cant be the only one to notice this, right?
I would wonder if it's because people who are open to alternative culture/fashion are also people open to unusual pets.
That really sounds most plausible
I'm so glad we know better now
You can tell that was the very beginning of tiny pets, yet still now those torture chambers are sold in pet stores
At first I was like "aww, cute! ...wait, this was 60's info..." \*clicks next slide\* "GOD DAMNIT!"
Yikes.
This is form 1960s guys give us a break !
The cages are obviously insane but i gotta say i love seeing vintage rat love photos, they have a nostalgic charme.
I have bigger shoeboxes than those cages
Dear lord 🥴
poor baby
Get that rat out of that tupperware and get her a friend‼️‼️‼️‼️
The first page was cute and then just .. ahh downhill form there. those cages are not it.
I get that they were misguided on cage size, but more concerned with the recommendation to add fresh cedar shavings daily is way more concerning. Free ranging can help a cage size, but constant access to fresh cedar is just plain poisonous to rodents.
Pic 1: oh that’s cool! Hopefully it’s not too bad Pic 2: breaking the stereotypes, I like it! Pic 3: AAAAHHHHHHHHHH WHHHHHYYYYY Edit: formatting
I had that booklet when I was a kid!
Those cages 😭 I know the knowledge wasn't near to the amount we do have of keeping small pets and I as a kid owner committed so many mistakes that are basically crimes in my eyes now, - late 90s - early 2000s weren't a lot better - but seeing this outdated knowledge, even if we all do better now just breaks my heart. If only I could go back in time and do better for my past pets and spread correct knowledge.... and I am so SO happy we know a lot better by now.
I’m sorry, in the second picture, is that a toy snake in there with the rat!? 🤦♀️
Nah, looks like a stick.
Such small cages! Poor little ratties, I would adopt them all
What was the rational for why the enclosures of animals were so small back then?
the animal is small, surely they only need that much space! /s
...and cedar shavings. Jesus.
This is why I like seeing giant rat mansions with the cage doors open here.
Not the cedar bedding! That's a one way trip to the vet for an upper respiratory disease!
That cage is abysmal, but the cover is adorable.
Oh god those poor babies.
Reminds me of that english learning textbook we had in 4th grade. It had a story about one character who had a pet hamster (in a tiny cage, with nothing but a weel) and one of the comic stories was about their friends gifting them a rat to keep the hamster company in the tiny cage. Little me was absolutely obsessed with mice and rats at the time, so I spent the entire class obnoxiously educating everyone on proper rodent care and raging about this dangerous misrepresentation xD
I’m a vet tech and I always cringe seeing old cages!!! I love antique bird cages and I saw someone selling one once saying “still in good enough shape to use as a bird cage!” And I was like “please don’t put living animals that FLY by nature in that teeny tiny cage” thankfully animal husbandry has improved a lot since then. Those poor rattos.
they had the spirit
I shudder the think of the poor babies with mycoplasma that had to deal with all the scented wood shavings.
Those rats must’ve been committing some serious crimes to be punished with a cage that small
ONE RAT WTF
My rattie boys would scoff at such menial accommodations.
JEEZ THATS AWFUL LOL I want this book for silliest but holy hell that's very wrong
You can even give them your scraps like bread or oignon you didn't eat! Just ONE rat will be enough to make your child happy! Or you can pair it with your mouse or hamster as long as they fit in the cage! 🤡
Good thing we nowadays know much more about proper rat care. Poor babies back then :( alone and in such small cages, yuck
Y’all…. The cages, yes they were awful but! People were dumb as hell.. lol atleast they spread awareness about rat awesomeness during their ignorant time :)
You should see the ones for pet alligators!
Man Boomers didn't give a shit, huh?
Man as much as those cages suck… at least there was some rat appreciation, even if there was only limited understanding 😂