Julia Zichello

Yeah. So I inherited rats from a family member who moved to a building that could no longer have pets. The rats were already, I believe, 18 months old. I felt the same way most people would feel, the like, oh, no way kind of thing. Like, oh, my gosh, their tails. Everyone's so upset about their tails because they're so gross. But, you know, then I warmed to them over time.

Eventually, because you're feeding it, because it's a little bit lovely, then you end up feeling some warmth towards it. What kind of rats were your pet rats? They were two different breeds. One was agouti, and that was sort of silver-colored. The other was a hooded rat, which was white with just a little bit of black on their head and striped down their back.

Eventually, because you're feeding it, because it's a little bit lovely, then you end up feeling some warmth towards it. What kind of rats were your pet rats? They were two different breeds. One was agouti, and that was sort of silver-colored. The other was a hooded rat, which was white with just a little bit of black on their head and striped down their back.

Eventually, because you're feeding it, because it's a little bit lovely, then you end up feeling some warmth towards it. What kind of rats were your pet rats? They were two different breeds. One was agouti, and that was sort of silver-colored. The other was a hooded rat, which was white with just a little bit of black on their head and striped down their back.

One was named Sylvie and the other was Pele. They were both males.

One was named Sylvie and the other was Pele. They were both males.

One was named Sylvie and the other was Pele. They were both males.

Correct. No offspring. You know, they were fun to watch. They were interactive. They eat a lot of different things. We had some fun feeding them the circular corn chips. They would take the corn chip like you would a steering wheel of a car and turn it around and eat it around the edges. One thing I noticed about the two pet rats is that they had different personalities from one another.

Correct. No offspring. You know, they were fun to watch. They were interactive. They eat a lot of different things. We had some fun feeding them the circular corn chips. They would take the corn chip like you would a steering wheel of a car and turn it around and eat it around the edges. One thing I noticed about the two pet rats is that they had different personalities from one another.

Correct. No offspring. You know, they were fun to watch. They were interactive. They eat a lot of different things. We had some fun feeding them the circular corn chips. They would take the corn chip like you would a steering wheel of a car and turn it around and eat it around the edges. One thing I noticed about the two pet rats is that they had different personalities from one another.

Sylvie was much more bold and Pele was much more cryptic. They ate food in different ways. Peli would take the food and go into this little hidey box and Sylvie would just unabashedly eat the food out there in front of you. Do they vocalize? They did. Not a lot. Technically, rats do vocalize.

Sylvie was much more bold and Pele was much more cryptic. They ate food in different ways. Peli would take the food and go into this little hidey box and Sylvie would just unabashedly eat the food out there in front of you. Do they vocalize? They did. Not a lot. Technically, rats do vocalize.

Sylvie was much more bold and Pele was much more cryptic. They ate food in different ways. Peli would take the food and go into this little hidey box and Sylvie would just unabashedly eat the food out there in front of you. Do they vocalize? They did. Not a lot. Technically, rats do vocalize.

Only when we were socializing with each other. They were not super vocal that I heard. And I think there are sounds we can't hear.

Only when we were socializing with each other. They were not super vocal that I heard. And I think there are sounds we can't hear.

Only when we were socializing with each other. They were not super vocal that I heard. And I think there are sounds we can't hear.

I don't know about that. Is it like a squeaking kind of thing? Yes, very, very light squeaking. Not like long vocalizations. They were not singing. There's been some research showing that rats can laugh when they're tickled. Those are things that you can't hear with the human ear, though there were special recordings that were showing that.

I don't know about that. Is it like a squeaking kind of thing? Yes, very, very light squeaking. Not like long vocalizations. They were not singing. There's been some research showing that rats can laugh when they're tickled. Those are things that you can't hear with the human ear, though there were special recordings that were showing that.

I don't know about that. Is it like a squeaking kind of thing? Yes, very, very light squeaking. Not like long vocalizations. They were not singing. There's been some research showing that rats can laugh when they're tickled. Those are things that you can't hear with the human ear, though there were special recordings that were showing that.

They also were very responsive to all of the sounds in the environment in the apartment. Things like the coffee grinder. I was noticing that the hooded rat was really stressed out when I was grinding coffee.