found baby/young orphaned rat

Question
I'll try to make a long story short...first, came home an was picking up our cat's toys that were all over the house, reached down in our upstairs bedroom to grab a little mouse toy, and it was a baby rat, still alive. I'll call him a "he" for now, has no bite marks or punture wounds but seems very slow moving and could be injured...he has a full set of soft greyish black fur, so I know he isn't a baby baby, but is about an inch long so very very houng...Now, I know he is wild, and we are planning on having the house exterminated, but this little guy...I can't bear to kill him or let him go in the wild, I grew up having pet rats and I love them...so my first question, if he lives, (he made it through the night) 1) can he be raised as a pet 2)how good of a pet will he be 3.)what are the risks associated with disease/etc..I am 5 months pregnant so I know I have to be extra careful anyways, (wear gloves, etc) but he is so cute, and rats are such amazing pets...any advice you have would be great. He made it through the night, I have him in a covered cage and he ate a little peanut butter and some baby corn, not sure he drank anything yet...thank you!!!

Answer
 Wild rats can be raised as pets, but they are generally nowhere near as tame as their domestic counterparts.  In fact, wild rats have been bred with domestic rats and the hybrid babies are still much less tame than normal domestic rats.  Wild rat can carry several diseases that can harm humans, though I'm not too familiar with them.  I know they can't get rabies, but there are at least a few others they may carry.

 My advice would be to call a wildlife rehabilitator and either turn the rat over to them if they will raise it or ask them for tips and what possible risks there may be.  If you are wanting a rat as a pet I would recommend you adopt one from a reputable breeder that will be tame and healthy and not cause any risk to your health.

 If you have no choice but to raise the baby yourself, here is a good website that will give you some tips if he is still quite young: http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm .  If he is old enough to eat and eliminate on his own you can probably just give him laboratory blocks (found in most pet stores specifically for rats / mice), maybe soaked with water or soy milk if he doesn't want to gnaw.  I hope everything turns out, good luck!