Rat Profile

1. Latin Name: Rattus norvegicus (Brown or Norwegian Rat)
2. Female: Doe
3. Male: Buck
4. Young: Pups
5. Life span: 2-4 years
6. Litter Size: 6-16 pups
7. Birth weight: 5-7gms
8. Eyes open: 10-16 days
9. Gestation period: 20-22 days
10. Average weight: Male 400-800gms
11. Female 400-800gms
12. Sexual maturity: Male 6-10 weeks
13. Female 6-10 weeks
14. Weaning age: 3 weeks
15. Diet: Omnivorous

Rats belong to the rodent family. There are over 80 different species of rat throughout the world. The most common, Black and Brown rats, are thought to have originated from Asia and managed to stow away in merchant ships and other means of transport, which carried them across the world.

It is thought that the Black Rat reached Europe in the 4th Century and caused outbreaks of the Plague in the 6th and 7th Centuries. The famous spread of the Black Death (or Bubonic Plague) in the 1300s earned the rat its unsavoury reputation. However, the rats were merely the hosts of the fleas that actually spread the disease.

The Latin name Rattus Norvegicus means Norwegian Rat (now known as the Brown Rat).