As a child I had a family of white rats as pets. I kept them in the basement in a cage. After church one Sunday my family came home and as I went to the basement door to go down and feed them, I noticed some of them running past the steps. They had chewed through the wire cage. My dad and I rigged up peach baskets from the ceiling and after placing food out for them, we managed to catch them by lowering the baskets over them and catching them with gloves. That was all mom could take so we took them to the local pet store and donated them. Not sure what they might have done with them. Guinea pigs were my next pets.