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Rats are a common food item for snakes, both in the wild, and as pets. Adult rat snakes and ball pythons, for example, are fed a diet of mostly rats in captivity. Rats are readily available (live or frozen) to individual snake owners, as well as to pet shops and reptile zoos, from many suppliers.
The fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus domestica) is the domesticated form of Rattus norvegicus, the brown rat, [1] and the most common species of rat kept as a pet.The name fancy rat derives from the use of the adjective fancy for a hobby, also seen in "animal fancy", a hobby involving the appreciation, promotion, or breeding of pet or domestic animals.
Pet rats do not pose any more of a risk of zoonotic diseases than pets such as cats or dogs. [21] Tamed rats are generally friendly and can be taught to perform selected behaviors. Selective breeding has brought about different color and marking varieties in rats. Genetic mutations have also created different fur types, such as rex and hairless.
Regardless of the color on the rest of the body, however, the animal's underparts and feet are always white, while the otherwise pale fur on the throat region is gray at its base. The tail is distinctly bicolored, and has more hair, and fewer visible scales, than the tails of brown rats. Desert woodrats have a narrow snout, long whiskers, and ...
The latter subspecies is generally white (alba means white in Latin), with a sparse scattering of black hairs; it appears totally white from a distance. Those from western Borneo tend to have a greater proportion of black hairs than those from the east, but animals from Brunei appear intermediate. [ 4 ]
The best-known Rattus species are the black rat (R. rattus) and the brown rat (R. norvegicus). The group is generally known as the Old World rats or true rats and originated in Asia . Rats are bigger than most Old World mice , which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over 500 grams (1.1 lb) in the wild.
The white-tailed rat (Mystromys albicaudatus) also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae.This species is sometimes placed in the subfamily Cricetinae due to similarities in appearance between the white-tailed rat and hamsters, but molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that the two groups are not closely related.
Globally, more than 1,000 animal species are estimated to be affected by hunting for bushmeat. [1] Bushmeat hunters use mostly leg-hold snare traps to catch any wildlife, but prefer to kill large species, as these provide a greater amount of meat than small species.