Would you like flies with that?

Thanks Pac!! A PBS documentary showed rats being fed in India because Ganesh, the god of wealth, is believed to ride in upon them.

I was very friendly with someone who had a white rat for a pet and the little rodent was actually very tame & smart too.

Rats get bad reputations, but are indeed very friendly and smart. My friend in N. Y. had one as a pet. He saved it's life as a young feeding rat from being eaten by a snake by another roomate. He kept it in an aquarium, and I used to come over to pet it. As he saw me coming over, he'd stand up to the edge of the aquarium, and while I was petting it's head, he would close his eyes in pleasure. So cute. The poor thing got some tumor growth later on and died. I was sad because I kind of grew attached to him.

My roomate was the probable cause of his untimely demise. He used to give him a lot of veggies, but also gave him a lot of human food.

Pac, that's a bittersweet story. I've had friends with pet snakes. (something I can't relate to at all) It's too cruel to feed the snakes live food and not necessary either.   It's not the same as in nature where the small rodents get a chance to get away and don't run around a box frightened before they're eaten. Also, when a rat is confined, it will defend itself and often bites the snake, so it's not even good for the pet. People who have snakes can buy frozen food at the pet store. I could never watch an animal go through that horror, natural or not.

Justx, that was a weekly even at the Bonita house. My roomate had a snake which can be seen in a video I posted on Youtube. It was some reticulated python. I hated hearing the squirmy yells of the rats fed to the snake. I agree, an animal has the possibility of escaping, but not in a contrived situation.

A step further, I don't even condole having birds as pets. They were born to fly.

here's the video of a very short glimpse in the video of the snake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCKsz2sxGUw

oops...I meant condone having birds as pets....A typical typo by a typical partier....lol

It seems to me the world doesn't have a food problem, it has distribution & bureaucratic problems. India, in particular, has price controls on food inputs, erratic water availability, and only allows farmers to sell their product to the gov't -- also at fixed prices. Feeding officials to the rats can solve the world food price crisis an many other things.

Justx, was it a white rat your friend had as a pet. If so was told by a vet that lighter colored animals are more susceptible to cancer and other maladies.

Hate to tell you but snakes don't eat food that isn't alive unless force fed. They're simply higher on the food chain than rodents and in nature keep their populations under control most of the time. A day in the life of a rat our mouse.

By the way if populations are unchecked they can carry bubonic plague and hanta virus .... both deadly to humans.