My toddler and my nephew put their mouth on our new pets water bottle.

Question
My sister and I are extremely worried about this situation considering we can't find anyone to give us the straight forward answer we are looking for. We recently purchased a female dumbo rat for our children as a pet, and we absolutely love her by the way! Well I had to purchase a new water bottle for her cage b/c the other one was just pouring water out too fast and we noticed it was frustrating her to the point of not even attempting at the water bottle. Well the old bottle was sitting on the dresser and before i could even catch them the boys were sharing it and putting it in their mouths! I need to find out if there are any diseases or illnesses that the children can catch from rat saliva? The vet told me there are many things that pet rats carry and to call the pediatrician and she called and said to watch them and see if they act differently. Well my sister has noted that her son has been overly sleepy lately, and not himself, just very drowsy. Could this be an effect from something caught from the rat?? Please answer soon! We're freaking out a little bit. Thank you!

Answer


Rest easy!  There is NOTHING in the rats saliva that can cause disease in humans. Rats are not a natural carrier of rabies and of course since they are domesticated  they have not been out in the wild to be in contact with any animals that could be wild. Even if they were, if a rat was bitten by a rabid animal the small rat would die before it had a chance to incubate the disease and pass it on to anyone. There has never been a single documented case of rats passing rabies on to humans in the entire country.

As for any other illness, there is nothing to worry about.

Your vet obviously is not an exotitc specialist and therefore he is not up to par on rat disease or he would have put your mind at ease and told you that all was well and not to worry. Rats may carry certain viruses that are species specific ONLY and are known to cause respiratory infection etc...in other rodents but humans are immune from these viruses.

This sounds gross (it is, I dont do this...LOL) Some people laugh and think its funny for rats to take food from their mouths and even worse, other people let their rat lick their teeth playfully referring to the rat as a "rodendentis" and I am guilty as charge, I have let my rats lick from my spoon (ice cream)

Rats are CLEANER than dogs. Dogs carry more germs in their mouths than rats do. I would be freaking if a puppy licked my childs mouth more than worrying about a rat. To be honest, a child carries more germs on their own hands than a rat does in their mouth.

I promise you that all will be well and nobody will get sick from this and for me to put myself on the line (my reputation or whatever the heck it is that I have built up to be pretty solid) this means I am 110% positive!

Cross my heart!!