Some kids are weird, where some ask for kittens and puppies, a parent
reading this now is bound to have a child a bit stranger than the
average child, and this child wants a pet rat, or maybe a mouse. There
is NOTHING wrong with that though. I was this child. I grew up hardy
hard fine man.
At the age of 7 my interest was in small little hand held pets like
hamsters and gerbils. However hamsters always looked like they just
slept all day, and they did. Every time I went looking at hamsters in
stores they were always burrowed under their cedar in balls. The rats
and mice though in tanks right next to these boring fluffy critters were
always up, and active. I also knew that if I got one, I would perhaps
save it from becoming some nasty snakes dinner.
I begged, and I begged, and finally my mom gave in. I brought home
with me a nice big ol' female rat. What a cutie. (Her name was rat).
She was very friendly, and not the flesh eating creature so many
horror movies portray them as. She liked being held, she liked being
pet, and she liked other people as well. She to me was just as wonderful
as having a kitten or a puppy, and best of all, she liked me. Not many
rats or mice actually show care towards a person, but this rat was
something special.
As time went on though, she got fat. I figured I had been over feeding
her, and giving her french fries, potato chips, and cookies as snacks
certainly wasn't helping. So I cut back her fast food intake and began
feeding her healthy foods such as cheese, carrots, and other fruits and
vegetables.
However even with her new diet, as the days passed she got even bigger
and bigger, until realized my Rat had come with a few secrets I had not
noticed in the store. Rat's secret was out; she was pregnant.
As I child I thought this was a miracle. My mom barely let me have
her, and now...now I was going to have a whole bunch of itty bitty
little babies. What more could a kid ask for.
It was not long till she gave birth. She had 4 little babies, all
naked and adorable. I made sure not to touch them because a lot of folks
say that if you handle a mothers baby mouse/rat she may eat them after.
So I made sure the babies were not touched.
My mom was sickened. She hated them, however they sure were cute, and
were raised being handled by human hands. They grew up fast, and in no
time were mating with one another. Before I knew it I had my 5
originals, followed by 4 more.
I should have divided them up when they were still young, however as
young rats they seemed to like to play and romp around with one another,
and the males showed no signs of growing their big wieners yet. My plan
was to divide them once the males 'dropped'. (Yes, I was a smart 7 year
old, believe it or not.)
Before I knew it though I was in over my head with rats! I ended up
giving 3 of them away to friends, but I myself was still left with more
rats that I could take care of.
Think...
If you are considering buying your kid a mouse or a rat, ask the store
if the females have ever been in tanks with males. It is my opinion
though to just buy a male, at least that way you know he's not going to
multiply. (The wieners on the males though can really discourage a child
from wanting one), so if you are going to get a female, make sure she
has not been in a tank with a male.
Odds are if she has been in a tank with males, she is most likely 99% knocked up and waiting to give birth.
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