A woman who owns 50 rats has gone viral after bathing her ‘babies’ in the kitchen sink.

Since receiving her first few rats in 2018, Michele Raybon, from Palmdale, California, has not been able to stop adding to her pack, and now owns  50 of the ‘cuddly’ critters – 25 males and 25 females.

Michele, who is retired, said: ‘They’re my babies, they can do no wrong.

‘They each have their own individual personality so several rats stick out to me more than others.

‘They’re very social and when you feed them, they all come running.”

Along with her 50 rats, Michele owns four dogs, three cats and two pigs.

She adds: ‘Some people are very open, but others not so much.

‘Some people have a predisposed idea about rats, they think that they’re dirty, diseased animals.

‘All my rats have a good temperament, so I’ll introduce somebody to one of them and I usually win them over, or the rats win them over.

‘But some people just can’t get passed the idea of the stigma.

‘A lot of people have changed their minds and they surprisingly want them as pets.’