A lot of us know the feeling of our mischief starting out with two or three rats, then one or two pass away, and you buy a new ratty (or two) family member, so your rat doesn’t get lonely, and before you know it, the size of your rat family has grown more than planned.
What’s even more surprising is how quickly it can happen. But soon enough, we find ourselves pondering whether we could give even more rats a happy home.
Well, Michelle Raybon’s brood REALLY grew! An impressive 50 rats, to be exact. 25 of them male and 25 of them female.
What Made This Rat Mum Go Viral?
It all started in 2018, when Michelle, 51, from Palmdale California, received her first four rats. Two naked rats called Elvis and Chuck, as well as two hooded rats called Lucy and Ethel. Since then, her love of rats has grown, as has her brood!
Michelle went viral after posting this video of her adorable rats bathing in her kitchen sink.
The video received over 350,000 views and likes on Facebook.
How Did Michelle’s Mischief of Rats Grow so Big?
Michelle is a retired mum-of-two and speaks fondly of her rats, declaring, “they’re my babies, they can do no wrong. They each have their own individual personality, so several rats stick out to me more than others.”
Rat-lover Michelle goes on to express how great her rats and their personalities are, saying, “they’re very social and when you feed them, they all come running. Some you’ll know if they’re not as friendly, and some other ones are a lot more friendly.”
Like many experienced rat parents, Michelle understands the importance of her rats coming from good quality breeders. But when her local breeders didn’t meet her standards, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
“I got them from a breeder in Texas, [but] when I moved to California, there were no rat breeders out here. So that’s why I have so many, because I bred them for temperament, just so I could sell them to other people who love rats.
“Then I stopped selling them and now they’re my pets, that’s why I have so many. There are a lot of them.”
Fifty rats require a lot of love! But Michelle’s big heart has even more love to give, with two pigs, three cats, and four dogs, Michelle certainly keeps busy!
“The pigs live in a barn, which is their little area. I feed the cats when I feed the dogs, so it isn’t a lot of work.
“I love animals; I wanted to be a Vet when I was growing up, but it never happened.
“I wouldn’t call it an obsession, but because I do love animals, I rescue a lot of animals.“
Because the kind-hearted Michelle rescues so many animals, she chuckles, “my ex-husband calls me Dr Doolittle.”
Michelle goes on to say, “I have a heart for animals, so right now I have four German Shepherds – two I bought as puppies, and two were rescue dogs. I take care of them, [and] take them to the vet.
After asking Michelle if she’s always had so many animals, she says, “before, I had two sheep, two goats, twenty-five chickens, and about 15 ducks and geese.
“[but] I was in the US Army and became disabled, so I was taking care of them by myself, and it became a lot so I gave them to new homes.”
Michelle continues, “I used to rescue cats, feral cats, I took care of them and rehoused them. I really do have a heart for animals.”
But back to her mischief of pet rats!
Visitors to Michelle’s house are almost always shocked by the amount of pet rats they see! But it doesn’t take long for her fancy rat babies to win her visitors’ hearts.
Michelle describes her experience with her guests’ reactions, saying, “some people are very open, but others – not so much. Some people have a predisposed idea about rats; they think that they’re dirty, diseased animals.
“All [of] my rats have a good temperament, so I’ll introduce somebody to one of them and I usually win them over, or the rats win them over.
“Some people just can’t get past the idea of the stigma. A lot of people have changed their minds and they surprisingly want them as pets.”
