Rat-tirement: Labs Rats Find Forever Homes

Five Long-Evans lab rats retired and found their forever homes, thanks to Millersville University's psychology department.

The five-month-old unspayed female rats were subjects in a behavioral study on basic positive reinforcement in a psychology class. "They were group-housed in a large, enriched cage for about 12 hours a day throughout the semester, so they were all friendly with one another and are highly active," notes Dr. Kelly Banna, associate professor in the psychology department.

The new adopters came prepared to care for the animals for up to three years and provide them with adequate care, which included adopting the animals in pairs or as a trio. "Rats are VERY social creatures," explains Banna.

11 students in the advanced lab class that trained the rats served as lab assistants, a change from previous years. "This allowed me to make the class much more "hands-on" than in typical years," she says. "Rather than basing grades on exams or papers, the students learned by doing, getting to apply the principles they learned in previous, prerequisite classes to actual work in the lab. We also expanded our enrichment efforts this year by getting a new, huge, fancy cage so that the rats could be comfortably group-housed about 50% of the time."

You can find more information about specific types of care these rats require and approximate costs associated with pet ownership here.