wild rats

Question
I have two wild roof rats, one female and one male, that I rescued from a storm drain.  I have had them since their eyes and ears were closed.  Now they are about 14 weeks old and seem to be doing great.  However, I've read that wild rats, especially roof rats, are hard to keep as pets as they will always be nervous by nature.  The female lets us me hold her, but any sudden noise/movement will send her running into my shirt.  I only let her run around in my room since she tends to run away (she was lost in the house for 4 days once).  The male is calmer and generally lets us handle him with no problem.  Both are wary of visitors and always try to find their way back to me, which shows that they are familiar with me.  Anyway, I've grown somewhat attached to these little ones, but I'm thinking that the best thing for a wild rat is to be free.  Is it too late to release them?  I mean, they are not really that tame, but they haven't been exposed to wildlife as early as they would have if I never stumbled upon them.  I'd appreciate any advice, thanks!!

Answer

Holly my wild girl See the photo of the rat in the corner?  That is my wild rat, Holly, that lived to be nearly 4 years old.  Best rat I ever had.

Lets start with first things first:

Its too late to release them. Rats in the wild die before they see their first birthday, but the truth is, they usually dont make it to 6 months of age due to many factors, from predators to the elements and most of all, due to us humans that insist rats are germ carriers and predators of the night that feed on infant children and eat the flesh of a fresh corpse. Gross, yea, but people forget that even a pet DOG would gnaw on a fresh corpse and sadly, we have heard too many times of dogs mauling children to death.....yet they kill rats and mice with dangerous poisons and inhumane traps.   The rats are too use to humans now and would have a hard time surviving in the wild, not knowing how to forge for food, seek shelter etc...   To be honest there is no reason to get rid of them anyhow.  They WILL settle down to a point.  Female rats, wild or domestic, are very antsy, always wanting to GO GO GO, rarely wanting to sit for a cuddle, while male rats, domestic or wild, as they age, are happy to sit on your lap and munch on a piece of watermelon, maybe curl up and watch a movie with you.  LOL  Seriously....this applies for both wild or domestic rats. If they are wary of strangers, this is not just a trait of the wild rat.  My three boys, who were from a very reputable rat breeder,  are very shy of strangers at first glance and will hide in my shirt, or run into their hidey hours or nest. The reason is because they only see me on a daily basis and nobody  else.  They are terrified of strangers but eventually they will end up letting them pet them etc...but it takes a bit of time.  
If someone would approach them suddenly,  forget it, they freak out.  Holly, my wild girl learned to trust people over time but it takes some extra patience.  All in all they are much like our domestic rats, but they dont seem to like domestics.  You can always  have the male neutered and he can live with the female.  Thats an idea. but do NOT tell the Vet they are wild rats unless the vet is a real bonified exotic vet or they will be dumb enough to think they are different than the domestics.