That’s right, peeps! Cute Overload scoops the competition once again, by bringing you this never-before-seen exclusive video footage of an adorable rat bathing in the sink that you won’t see anywhere else as long as you don’t leave this page!
Via Yahoo! News via CNN via Gawker via The Daily What via Arbroath via YouTube (HD available; Use only as directed; Batteries not included; Assembly required.)
Scrubby-scrubby-scrub!
Geez, I wish my rat would be that easy to bathe! I put her in the tub with about an inch of water, and she just sits there giving me the most awful awful sad eyes ever.
And yay for featuring another rat! They don’t get nearly enough love on this site, expecially when compared to all the puppies and kittens. Yeah, they’re cute and all,. but they’re also everywhere already.
Oh, wow do I wish our ratties took to the water that well!
I’m pretty sure bathing a cat is easier and less painful that bathing my rats.
Isn’t she a little ratty princess.
and so pretty… and as others noted she is taking her bath really well… ours never liked baths that much.
Yours sit there, SuperFoose? Ours go into insta-action-escape mode. They want out and NOW.
Ohhhh…. you come live at my house! Replace the dirty kittehs upstairs….
Well, mine only sit there because they can’t jump out of the tub. Too wet and slippery! Washing them is redonkulous because as soon as I’m within reach, Livvy permanently attaches herself to my arm D:
SO cute!
I would love to have a rat pet if they lived longer. Would break my heart to get so attached only to have it pass away so quickly.
I think my rats would have killed me in my sleep if I put them in a sink. They were very hoity toity and the drowned rat look was a bit beneath them.
Awww!! What a cute li’l bather. I nearly expected him/her to start scrubbing out its little wee ratpits with a scrap of flannel!
Ooh, this makes me want to get a rattie! They are so cool. Could my four cats learn to be friends with a McRattersons, I wonder?
p.s.@occula: “ratpits” hee hee
hee-larious that it washes its face by licking its paws, completely ignoring the fact that its in a giant tub-o-water. somewhere between human-speak and rat-speak, there was a miscommunication.
OMG that was so cute! I have never, ever seen anything rat related that was so cute! Yea for getting over rat phobia! And now I know to call them “ratties” which helps as well.
CUUUTTEEE!!! and sweeet little rattie. if not for their tails, I’d love to have one.
What a good little rattie, she even washes behind her earsies. She does a much better job then I did taking my bath as a kid LOL!
Madame is busy. An important toilet is being made. Pass the Chanel no 5, please.
She could convert me to liking rats, did I hear her being called Tinkerbell?
I feel ratty! Yo, so ratty!
I think that was the cutest thing I’ve EVER seen!!!
Cute rat – perfect definish of an oxymoron
There, I’ve scrubbed my face. Now can I please get out? Thank you *scrambles quickly up arm ladder*
Very, very cute.
luv ALL the little ratties, but i think she’s more of a Amarige girl, mutant tuberose top to bottom.
Dumbo ears!
PS Wet whiskers!
[Insert Jimmy Cagney voice] You clean rat.
Lol! loved the comments as much as the vid! Ratty armpits, indeed!
Cutest (and cleanest) little ratty ever.
“no dude. I don’t want more water. Get me out of here.”
hehe.
Guys speaking cutsie talk to animals is adorable!
Love the mohawk at around :20 – :30.
IlliniJen, my guy sent me a picture this morning of his neighbor’s new beagle puppy licking his face! I squeed!
LOL @wee ratpits and “you clean rat”! I swear the comments on this site are often as funny as the captions! :^)
And what a pretty little rat! I wish their lifespan was longer. Three-four years is just enough time to get attached, and far too soon to lose them.
The little ratties guardian sounds like a wonderful guy!
Real men love ratties!
What a cutie – the rat’s owner was so sweet with her, she really is a rat Princess.
You people crack me up with your comments!
And I truly adore this video. I love the wee ratty hands scrubbing the wee ratty face, as well as the looks of “Am I clean enough NOW to get out?” that the wee ratty throws out at a couple of points. All in all, one of my favorite posts ever,
Omg, when I had rats they all HATED being bathed. I had one that could jump out of the actual bath tub. I used to wear long sleeves when I bathed them just to avoid getting huge scratches all over my arms from attempts to escape, haha.
@ Peiying Peng – their tails kind of icked me out until I got a pet rattie of my own. Their tails are very soft and they love to wrap them around their people.
Mine never liked baths either but if you want bathing fun – try bathing ferrets!
That’s it. I’m getting a rat.
“Bathing Ferrets!” Wasn’t that a new rock band a few years back?
Yes, guys love ratties too, check out ours at YouTube under user ecbst6
The Scamperstash video, and Dash with the pingpong ball are the two best. She tried like all heck to get that pingpong ball into the house
Hee, thanks – we refer to our cat’s “kitten pits,” and “ratpits” just followed from there.
Love love love this. Don’t know which is cuter, Tinkerbell rattie or the big human softie.
And @occula, “ratpits”, lolllll.
What a bullshit to post this video on here.
Rats are wiping their faces like this when they are stressed of a situation and not feeling good! A certain indication to distinguish between washing and being stressed is that they, when they are stressed, only “wash” their faces and otherwise also wash other parts of their bodies.
I’m unfortunately realizing that this vid is not the only document of… let’s say “incorrect” treatment of animals here! Those should not be published on this website, I think. What a pity!
I love how much love is in the owner’s voice. He’s obviously so smitten with his rattie.
I….I love it! All the rat posts lately (goes into convulsions). Totally makes up for my pain of not being able to have rats due to rodent allergies! I am utterly obsessed with them and my room is filled with rat pictures, and would do anything to switch bodies with this rat ownerrrr!
Yuki, I have the same problem. Have you tried allergy shots? They can include rat allergens in the serum now. I’m six months into the shots and have my fingers crossed.
Oooo!
Somebody dropped the kids off at the pool!
Or mehbay thems raisins..
Tinkerbell, any comments?
awww shes so cute!!!
“Thank you for the ratties….for bring-ing them to meee!”
(But please reassure me that this li’l sweetheart was thoroughly rinsed of soap & that no water got into her leetle ears.)
None of my rats who needed bathing enjoyed their baths – usually. But one day when Bevis needed a bath treatment for dry, itchy skin, a funny thing happened. The bath is a 2-person job, with Hubby on hand to spot the reluctant animal who might otherwise race up my arm to the back of my neck to hide under my hair, clinging, or worse, chuck his slippery self right off the edge of the sink counter. I’d instructed, “Now, just be quiet & laid back – no loud noises, no sudden moves, we don’t want to upset him.”
Bevis Rat was a big fat cutie with a Buddha belly. I lowered him into the water on his back, with my hand supporting him underneath. He fairly floated. I saw (and I am not making this up) the look of terror on his ratty face transform into almost vapid bliss as he realized he was floating effortlessly in cozy-warm water. We nearly choked to keep from laughing out loud & startling him out of his trance. Too bad we had to rub him with the lavender oil & water (very diluted!), then give him a good rat rinse: that he didn’t like. But it worked a charm on his itchy skin!
I had NO idea that rats could be that cute.
That is absolutely adorable. How can anyone not love rats ?
That’s a clean rat
Finally more adorable videos of the cutest pocket pet ever!
teehee. Tninkerbell was probably not happy to get THAT much water on her, but none the less was not frightened by it, as she could very easily get out of that wee sink in an instant if she wanted. It almost seemed routine for her, didn’t it?
Very cute, but a couple of minor quibbles with the rat husbandry displayed herein:
1. Never, ever get a rat’s head wet if you can at all manage it. If they don’t realize it is about to happen, they can’t twist their ear shut to keep the water out and if water gets in, they may develop a life-threatening ear infection. Even if they survive the infection, they may end up with wryneck (also known as “head tilt”) and balance issues for the rest of their life.
2. Rats should generally not be allowed to ingest soap, even in small quantities, even if it’s super-gentle kitten shampoo. Their body lacks the ability to vomit, so they can’t purge toxins that they swallow, and it is up to their kidneys and liver to filter out anything bad that they swallow.
Other than this, it’s an adorable video. I love watching our rats grooming and this little lady seems to be an expert at the task. The owners made the rookie error of wearing short sleeves, which renders their arm vulnerable to frantic scratchings and clawings as the rats attempt to escape the horror that is “bafftime.”
Poor Rat. Where are Mole and Badger when you need them?
?? The sink was easy to jump out of, if she was really in that much distress she would have hopped out. She seems calm and happy.
So. cute. I love rats, they’re adorable. What a princess.
Lucy Loup-Garou: I loved your sweet story. Glad your rattie felt all better. I also concur with those charmed by the obvious love and sweetness in the guy’s voice. I nominate him for the “guys of CO” calendar…sight unseen!
@shadowtiger: never get a rat’s head wet? Their bodies can’t cope with the toxins in soap?…is it me, or do rats in the wild live down SEWERS? and breed prolifically down there?
He heard the term “You dirty rat!” one too many times and decided to do something about it.
Want your ratties to take a bath, too? Make sure their water is warm, warm, warm. Almost hot! But not hot enough to hurt them, obviously. They will love you for it!
@felicityanne about shadowtigers post..rats in the wild live about 9 months average. They condition themselves to whatever their environment gives them(i.e rotten food, dirty water and less than desireable breeding grounds). Pet rats, however, we would prefer to last 2 years average, so we try not to cause them any undue stress or discomfort, especially if we arent allowing them to breed prolifically in our homes. Plus vet bills for exotics can be obnoxious!!! : )
Oh, and this video made my day cuz I watched it just as I was leaving for work. A co-worker mentioned how my hapyt additude made his day and I mentioned it was this video. I hope to have another person ‘hooked on the QTE’!!!!
Felicityanne :
The wild rats in the sewers live for six months, on average. We rat fans want our little buddies around as long as possible, and take care of them accordingly !
Heck, there’s a rat colony which survived nuclear testing. (http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/3382/1/v23n3-265-275.pdf )
This doesn’t mean radiation is good for them !
my FAVORITE post- I’ve never seen such a calm little rattie at bath time, no matter how shallow the water or how quiet and calm we were, our boys always tried to jet out of the tub and up our arms. You can tell she is so enjoying this as she doesn’t try to scramble out and only toward the end climbs up his arm. The soapy water did bother me though, I hope he rinsed her off after this clip was over. So much love for CO for featuring more rats!
They did rinse her: I read the blurb on YouTube.
Pet rats are as different from wild rats as pet bunnies are from Eastern Cottontails (here in Central New York).
All rats can close their ears against water, but only when they are expecting to get wet, as has been pointed out. Some domestic rats enjoy water, others are terrified of it. Never, ever should they be forced to swim for the enjoyment of humans. Check out oPuPo’s awesome rattie vids on YouTube.
This little girlie in the vid is clearly (to me) nervous, but her owners are right there for her to leap up on – which she does. And they obviously love her. So, thumbs up overall.
Kibblenibble, thanks! glad you liked that.
Well a quick google of “should you bathe a rat” shows that it’s not total BS to post this video. It sounds like bathing a rat is a lot like bathing a cat: you should only do it when they absolutely need it, since generally they can clean themselves. Maybe this little girl needed a bath?
Aww bless!! She’s adorable!! Our two ratties would scream blue murder if they could, if they come anywhere near bath water!
And, yes, it’s true about rats not being able to burp or vomit. Weird, I know. After all the crap they eat, live in and breed in, in sewers and stuff, you wouldn’t think they would be finiky pets, would you?!
oh and not too sure about the being stressed thing, as our ratties are perfectly happy and are often washing themselves and cleaning their faces. Too cute to watch!!!
Er, that is, the little girlie in the rattie bath vid looks nervous, I mean. But she knows she can get out when she wants to.
These big boys in the Bubbles vid were introduced very gradually to water & allowed to choose whether to play in it or leave it alone – totally different purpose, of course, from a bath. Both experiences can be very positive as long as rats are supervised for safety and playtime in water is never forced. As for those necessary baths, any “forcing” must be done with a very patient, gentle hand – preferably two pairs.
Very cute, and I’m glad to read she got rinsed off properly!
@Felicityanne: yes, rats do sometimes live in sewers, and they do indeed breed prolifically. If they’re expecting the water, they can close off their ear canals using muscles humans don’t have, preventing water from getting in…but when you surprise them by, say, dumping a handful of water on their head, they may not be able to twist it shut and once it gets in the water is difficult to get back out. For a human, this means you get a case of “swimmer’s ear” but for a rat this means a really nasty infection that can result in an abcess and eventually death.
And it isn’t so much the toxins in the soap as it is the toxins in the soap IN THEIR TUMMY. They can eat just about anything we can (they’re among the rare animals that can eat chocolate without becoming violently ill), but their inability to vomit up stuff that is too rotten or otherwise poisonous (apple seeds, peach pits, etc) makes them extremely vulnerable to ingested toxins. A rat can be surrounded by stuff poisonous enough to kill a human by contact, but will often be fine (if distressed) unless they eat it.
The prolific breeding you mention is a standard of life. Some animals evolved larger bodies or natural weapons as a survival strategy, but rats (and most other rodents) developed a tactic I usually refer to as “victory through reproduction.” A mommy rat can kick out a litter of anywhere from six to eighteen babies every three weeks like clockwork, and can begin doing so at the ripe old age of five weeks. Each of those babies can leave mom at four weeks of age, and will themselves be ready to breed at five weeks. Without natural deaths, with no predators, and assuming average litters and optimal breeding conditions, a male and female rat can churn out over 10,000 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. in a single year. They will do this whether they’re living in a sewer, in your garage, or in luxury high-rise rat cages maintained by a loving staff of human servants.
Hope this helps to clarify!
Come on! If that isn’t the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! Washing her little face. Gah! I totally want one now.
Yeah, thumbs up for ratties on CO, I hope there’s more where that came from.
And for you who worry about the rats: don’t… A nervous rat doesn’t stay and suffer. A nervous rat flees and yells and fights like there’s no tomorrow. Bubble rat wouldn’t have played with bubbles if nervous or uncomfortable in any way, Bubble rat would have run away. And Soapy rat would’ve too.
Trust me, there’s no forcing a rat to do what rat doesn’t want to do… If rat stays, rat enjoys. <3
I swear that thing looks like it was designed by the Henson Studios. Must be getting warshed for his audition for the new “Dark Crystal” movie.
Super-duper cute! Love the name. I’m with Lisa — I’d get a rat in a heartbeat except that they live such a short time. But they are really adorable. Love they guy’s narration. Very sweet pet owner.
my boys would never tolerate a bath. its hard enough to clean their tails with a baby wipe. i am lucky they never seem to get too messy.
This rat is a precious, dainty lady. Having been owned by several rats in my lifetime, any rat who does NOT want to be in the bath will not STAY in the bath.
Adorable little guy! I have 2. They both hate it. They jump right out.
So sweet!
As soon as this little ratty shows signs of wanting to get out, her human reaches in and she jumps out onto his hand. She doesn’t stay in the water one second longer than she wants to – she’s perfectly capable of jumping out of that basin!
Gah! Rat bathing seems to simple here. I have to hold mine down and scrub them and dip them in the tub. They LOVE it… not. Haha. But they DO, however, absolutely love the blow dryer afterwards and towel cuddling. It’s really funny.
Reminds me of an animation from a brazilian tv show for kids:
Cute! Kinda makes me want to get a rat!