Ten interesting facts about brown rats

1. That brown rats are social rodents and love and look for the closeness of not only other brown rats but also their owners is a well-known fact. They feel lonely and sad without any interaction.

2. But they are also very intelligent, some compare their intelligence to that of dogs. They also have very good memory – when they learn a journey once, e.g. to a bookshelf where my brown rat goes to sleep, they don’t forget it.

3. For example, did you know that rodents take care of each other when one gets hurt or is sick?

4. Or that they make happy noises when they are playing and are satisfied? And when they are really happy, you can see their teeth snapping. But at the same time, they are really shy animals who usually run into their shelter when they get into contact with any stranger. And they won’t get out for quite some time.

5. A brown rat individual imitates the actions of a whole group, no matter its personal experience. It can happen also during feeding. If your brown rat happens to be in a group in which every rat eats what it usually doesn’t like, it would probably ape the others and eat it anyway.

6. Brown rats are also very cleanly animals, despite what is said and thought about them. Then it’s no surprise when you see a brown rat to carefully lick its fur for a couple of hours within a day. Brown rats living in a group then take care of each other.

7. Brown rats use their tails not only to balance but also to communicate and to control their body temperature.

8. So, similarly to dogs, brown rats don’t sweat. It cools down using its tail where its blood vessel contract and stretch.

9. Brown rat’s front teeth grow for the average of 11 centimetres every year. That’s why they are known for nibbling everything around. From cables, shoes and books to bricks, concrete, wood and many other things and materials. The best thing to do will be to give your brown rat regularly some wood or hard bread heel.

10. A female brown rat can become pregnant up to 15 times a year. Theoretically, it can give birth to two thousand small brown rats every year. The reason for such fertility is mainly the fact that brow rats are mature very early, between their third and fourth month.

Not only for these interesting facts, brown rats are very popular pets but also holy animals. In India, there is Karmi Mata Temple in Deshnok dedicated to them (but it is not precise, it’s called the Temple of Rats). You can meet up to twenty thousand small furry friends people from around the world come to visit here.

What do you like most about brow rats?