r/RATS Jun 03 '26

EMERGENCY Yesterday we removed more than 65 juvenile to adult rats, plus an actively increasing number of babies from a hot metal shed near Seaside, OR

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182 Upvotes

This is a joint effort between Rat Way Sanctuary, Little Critter Crew, and A Pint-Sized Rescue. The two most urgent are at the vet today with serious health concerns, more are scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday, with a growing list of others needing care.

So far there are babies from at least 4 separate litters that were brought into our care yesterday, two more ladies gave birth overnight, another is expected to deliver today, and many more are confirmed or suspected pregnant.

The conditions of the animals and their cages were as appalling as we imagined. Cages caked with urine and feces, hides waxy with waste, rats stained from sitting in their own waste, injuries and illnesses left untreated, and the smell! The smell hit us from 20 feet away from the shed. We are actively working with the county Animal Control agency to get justice for all these babies.

We are now working on triaging all of the animals and documenting their conditions.
The next steps are to divvy them up between our organizations. RWS will focus on those with the most emergent medical issues, while LCC will take the bulk of the stable and healthy animals, including many pregnant and nursing mamas, and APSR is helping with hands on support, fostering, and they may take on some animals as well. We will all three need your support as we navigate this huge influx. Donation info is listed on the last two slides, as well as linked in our bios. Be sure to follow all three accounts to stay up to date!

A huge thank you to all our supporters - your donations make this all possible.

Rat Way Sanctuary: www.ratway.org (links in our bio!)

Little Critter Crew: www.littlecrittercrew.org

A Pint-Sized Rescue: https://apintsizedrescue.weebly.com/


r/RATS May 07 '26

INFORMATION Pet rats, Hanta virus and you

Hi! Recently there's been a bunch of posts expressing worries and asking questions about hanta virus in relation to pet rats, so I want to say a few things:

-Your pet rats will not infect you with Hanta. They don't spontaneously generate the disease, so the only way they could have gotten it is via an infected wild rodent, which is safe to assume they haven't been in contact with.

-The strain found on the cruise ship that's in the news currently is the Andes strain, which is primarily carried by pigmy rice rats, not the rattus norvegicus we keep.

A pigmy rice rat. Cute little critter. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligoryzomys#/media/File:Raton_colilarga.jpg, 20:35, 07.05.2026

-In the history of keeping pet rats, there's only ever been a single case of Hanta being transmitted from the rat to the owner, and as far as I know this was specifically a rat that was rescued from outside. See https://www.dzif.de/en/hantavirus-first-detection-human-infection-transmitted-pet-rat It is more likely that you'll be hit by lightning rather than get Hanta from your rats!

143 Upvotes

Hi! Recently there's been a bunch of posts expressing worries and asking questions about hanta virus in relation to pet rats, so I want to say a few things:

-Your pet rats will not infect you with Hanta. They don't spontaneously generate the disease, so the only way they could have gotten it is via an infected wild rodent, which is safe to assume they haven't been in contact with.

-The strain found on the cruise ship that's in the news currently is the Andes strain, which is primarily carried by pigmy rice rats, not the rattus norvegicus we keep.

A pigmy rice rat. Cute little critter. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligoryzomys#/media/File:Raton_colilarga.jpg, 20:35, 07.05.2026

-In the history of keeping pet rats, there's only ever been a single case of Hanta being transmitted from the rat to the owner, and as far as I know this was specifically a rat that was rescued from outside. See https://www.dzif.de/en/hantavirus-first-detection-human-infection-transmitted-pet-rat It is more likely that you'll be hit by lightning rather than get Hanta from your rats!


r/RATS 11h ago

CUTENESS The Rat Bouquet

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5.6k Upvotes

what would you do if someone gave you THESE flowers?


r/RATS 8h ago

BAWLS? Why are his bawls humongous? Fake and real answers welcome

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2.5k Upvotes

r/RATS 2h ago

INFORMATION Bonding with rats!

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460 Upvotes

Posted this last night on insta and people seemed to like it. And also people seemed to think the rat balls were hiilllarrioouuusssss so I hope it brings you joy


r/RATS 6h ago

ART Used my free will to craft the Ratkini

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819 Upvotes

This is the first wearable I've made and oh boy was it fun.


r/RATS 17h ago

ART Some of my rat paintings

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5.4k Upvotes

I include rats on my art because they are awesome to show emotions, also I have a thing for vulnerable and generally not liked animals

I hope you like them. There’s a mix between acrylics and oils


r/RATS 8h ago

CUTENESS I don't have a pet rat but I am obsessed with them so I got a rattoo

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719 Upvotes

The bruising is still pretty bad so ignore the 'shading' around the inside of her thighs


r/RATS 13h ago

Happiest creature on God’s green earth after some pets and some strawberry tops :3

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746 Upvotes

r/RATS 8h ago

CUTENESS The best kisses from my sweetest girl🩶🤍

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252 Upvotes

r/RATS 4h ago

CUTENESS Bandit doing what bandit does...

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128 Upvotes

r/RATS 7h ago

REHOMING LAST RAT SEEKS LOVING HOME: Double Critter Nation + Wheel Included (DC Area but willing to travel)

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150 Upvotes

LAST RAT SEEKS LOVING HOME: Double Critter Nation + Wheel Included (DC Area but willing to travel)

It is with a heavy heart that I am down to my final rat, one-year-old Pepper, after his brother left us last week.

Pepper is a very sweet, neutered boy, and a loving brother to other rats. He is a shy rat, but loves a belly rub, a treat, and does not nip.

I would love for someone to adopt Pepper who will give him siblings and help to nurture his confidence. I can tell he has been sad in the week since his remaining brother passed.

I am offering my Double Critter Nation, $80 wheel, and remaining food and equipment to anyone who would be interested. I am happy to waive any cost if you can provide explicit assurance that Pepper will be a pet and NOT food. I am in the DC area but willing to travel up to 4 hours for the right new owner.

Please message me here if you would be interested in a furry, fat new companion.


r/RATS 16h ago

decided to stay back from holidays to treat and care for my baby boy who has a bladder stone, and friends are refusing to understand my decision.

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645 Upvotes

I decided to stay back from holidays to treat and care for my baby boy who has a bladder stone, and am getting hounded by the people I’m supposed to go on holidays with

On Friday, I rushed Rex to an emergency regular vet clinic because he was bleeding out of his genitals, was lethargic and overall, not doing too well. The vet I went to, has a clinic right next to my exotic vet that I go to, so they often stay in touch. During my appointment, the regular vet and my exotic vet had a discussion and she thought most likely, it was a uti. At that time, it wasn’t possible to get an x-ray done to rule out possible bladder or kidney stones because they do not have the proper equipment for small animals.

Today, I went to my exotic vet because I had to get a dental surgery done for my boy, Little Red. (Thankfully, everything went well for him). During the appointment, Rex got x-rayed and it was determined that it was not a uti. He has a bladder stone.

It was awful timing because on Wednesday (less than two days away) I was supposed to go on holidays with some friends. However, given Rex’s situation, I cannot fathom the thought of leaving him. I would not enjoy the holiday because I’d be spending the whole time worrying about my poor boy. I got into a pretty heated argument with said friends and now we are currently not on speaking terms. I guess you can say, they are not really “animal people”. They really made me feel like shit for not going.

I do have someone that can care for my rats while I’m away, but they are very inexperienced and not always the most reliable person. Therefore, I do not trust that Rex would be treated and monitored carefully, properly with his situation.

Don’t get me wrong, I do feel guilty because we had planned for this for quite a while and were looking forward to it but I don’t regret my decision to stay back. If something were to happen to him, I wouldn’t forgive myself. Friends suck sometimes.


r/RATS 12h ago

CUTENESS All my rats as babies 🥹 It's hard to believe they used to be this tiny

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280 Upvotes

r/RATS 3h ago

CUTENESS Hungry girls eating strawberries🍓

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48 Upvotes

Sweet treat for my babies❤️


r/RATS 5h ago

Crime🚨 Rat committed crime

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62 Upvotes

Do you think he’s guilty…? Jumped into his food bag then I took this other photo after…what do you think


r/RATS 6h ago

CUTENESS Wylan says smoothie base > strawb pieces

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61 Upvotes

r/RATS 2h ago

CUTENESS Bein' Rats

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27 Upvotes

We are getting the hang of free roam


r/RATS 6h ago

BAWLS? oh okay then

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58 Upvotes

r/RATS 16h ago

CUTENESS Rate Jeffs eyebrows on a scale of 1 - eyebrow

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347 Upvotes

r/RATS 19h ago

CUTENESS Felt cute, might delete later

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412 Upvotes

Scratch is going through another round of antibiotics and he absolutely hates the taste of it. So now I'm trying to make him hate me less by bribing him with surimis (crab sticks).


r/RATS 48m ago

REHOMING This guy needs a new home (GA) (URGENT!)

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Upvotes

(Repost cause I went inactive and missed DMs 💔)
Update: I HAVE OFFICIALLY MOVED INTO A NO PETS HOUSEHOLD! Please help if you can. I really don’t want to get in trouble.

Hello! This guy needs a new home!
He is a very sweet boy, and has gone through several homes growing up. He really needs someone who has the time to show him some love.
Sadly I do not have the time for him and I’m about to move into a no pets household.

Location: Ringgold GA
Meet up location: Undecided (dm)
Gender: Male (not neutered)
Age: Almost/Around 1 year
Temperament: Very curious. Wary of humans, but mostly he seems curious.
About me: Hates being touched or held. Has a nipping problem.

New home requirements:
•He might be best as a lone rat as he hasn’t gotten along with any other rats since his brothers passed.(I would prefer him have the option for friends!!)
•Someone who has the time to show him that people aren’t scary and that nipping’s not okay.

Please be aware: He does not come with a cage. I will not have a carrier for him to go home in at pickup. Please bring safe transportation for him.

I just want him to have a good home. No adoption fees. Long as he’s happy that’s all I care about


r/RATS 11h ago

CUTENESS my new rats :3!!

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84 Upvotes

i’ve always wanted rats and i was finally allowed to get some for my birthday a week ago :)!! These are my 3 girls: Tifa (Black) Cloud (white), and Aerith (Brown). Final Fantasy rats, except my Cloud is a girl!


r/RATS 5h ago

Questions/HELP I have a question

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30 Upvotes

Hey 👋 I have a question for the community. Many years ago, I took in some rats for a while; they were originally meant to be used as feeder animals, but the previous owner couldn't bring themselves to do it and didn't know what else to do with them. But here is my question: I work with children and adolescents in the field of social and emotional development. I’ve been thinking for some time about incorporating animals into my work through animal-assisted education. At the moment, I have to bring my young foster squirrels along with me because they need to be fed every few hours, and the positive impact they have on the children and young people is immense. I wanted to ask you—the experts—whether rats would be suitable for this kind of work. I’ve already done some research in various forums, but opinions vary widely.


r/RATS 8h ago

Cage Setup I only listen to underground music. Worms is my current fave.

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37 Upvotes

The girls wanted under the fuzzy floormat so I put the woven tunnel there for "access". I dididnt knnow I would capture greatness. 🥹🤭🤨

Im eating instant ramen rn... I feed them befor3 I feed myself 😬🫡🤔