Well, two rats really since they like company. Initially I wanted to get mice, but it seems that rats are cleaner, less smelly and more intelligent pets. I’ve done a little preliminary research and it looks like they might be just the right pets for me. Our local pet store does a decent “rat starter pack” with a large split-level wire cage (plastic flooring), wood chippings, a wheel, a bowl and a water bottle. I would of course add all sorts of other things - ropes and tubes and nesting boxes and fun stuff.
I do have a cat but the rats would live in the upstairs office which is out of bounds for the cat (and the door is kept closed), and on a ledge which is pretty much inaccessible for her anyway. The room is draft-free and I spend a lot of my time in that room (it’s where my computer is ;))
I am not sure what type of rat to get, and it has been recommended that I get them from a breeder rather than a store since they will then have been handled plenty already.
But is there anything I should know? Any advice fellow dopers can give me before I go out and get my very own rats? Also, name advice welcome
Your reasons for getting a rat instead of a mouse are correct on every count. I had rats as pets in the classroom for three years, and now I have…er…a snake that eats rats. But–I can speak of the mice my picky Henry refuses: they STANK.
Speaking of stink, male rats are exponentially stinkier than females. I always had females because of this reason.
Some tips I gathered in my pet rat days:
Rats are incredibly clever. If there is any way to get out of a cage shy of picking a lock, they will find it. I’ve had to clean up more than my share of messes from the escapee rat. So–be sure the cage is completely rat-proof.
Rats are very social and require attention and interaction. Getting 2 rats is a very good idea–but unless you want hundreds of rats, be sure they’re 2 females or 2 males. (I recommend females for both the odor issue, and that, IME, male rats tend to be nippier and jumpier than females.)
Get the rat when it’s a weanling, and handle them as much as you can to get them accustomed to it. Watch how the rat reacts to being held. I can tell you that there are distinct personality differences, even in such young rats. Sorry if this gets a bit dark, but Henry regularly eats weanling rats, and they range from obnoxiously hyper to mellow to timid to too cute to feed to a snake. (I always ask for the least cute and least friendly little bugger.)
Rats like to chew. Dear GOD they love to chew. Be sure they have plenty of appropriate chew toys, and watch them verrrrrrrrry carefully when they’re out and about. I’ve had rats chew Beanie Babies, books, flashcards, fish food lids, name tags, and–BAD BAD BAD–the electrical cords to my aquarium and desk lamp. This is bad for everyone. (All of that chewing took place on a weekend when a rat learned how to escape and ran amuck for a weekend until recovered.) This 4th point underscores the 1st–be sure they have an escape-proof cage.
Hey, contact Wonko the Sane!! He just had a litter of rats. Well, he didn’t personally, but his rat did. He’s got baby rats. Maybe he could FedEx a couple to ya.
I used to keep rats, and I too endorse them as pets. They’re amazingly intelligent, you can teach them to do tricks, and they’re really affectionate. My favourite, Lucretia, used to sit on my shoulder as I walked around the house, and I taught her to ring a bell whenever she was hungry. Rattus Rattus was the breed (brown rat). The males stank, so we only ever had females. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice, especially Ruffian. I was thinking I’ll probably get two female rats, so that’s okay. I’m looking forward to getting them now - I just have to get the money together for the good cage! I think my dad would enjoy building them a maze, so maybe I’ll set him that task. heh.
And DAVEW0071 - think the littluns would mind the trip to England?
Just so you remember that wooden mazes can be climbed out of, and chewed upon. My sister’s rats, Ratan and Kayane, could chew an escape-sized hole through 1/4" plywood in less than an half hour.
Ditto to everything already said, and may I recommend Eco Bedding? My rats (a girl and a neutered boy) like it better than pine, and you get less dust around the cage.
Also, if your split-level cage has platforms that are made out of wire (like the cage), you might want to get some needlepoint canvas to attach to them (I use twist-ties) so that the rats can lie and walk on them more comfortably.
If possible, try to get the needlepoint canvas from the dowdiest craft store possible, so that when the cashier asks you what you’re making, and recommends a pattern she’s tried (a picture of Jesus with a daisy border) you can tell her no, thanks, you’re actually buying the stuff for your PET RATS, who are agnostics, anyway.
I also line the walls at the lowest level of their cages (they have two, connected by a tube) with the needlepoint canvas, to prevent them from kicking their bedding and poo out of the cage. They chew the crap out of it, though, so keep plenty handy for replacements!
Ok: No pine or cedar chips! Bad Bad Bad! They give the little dears respiratory problems. Also, No mailing rats! Bad again! It would be really hard on the poor little buggers. When I was looking for rats a year ago I found about a hundred breeders in England online. I’m sure you’ll be able to hunt one down near you.
Also, I’ve always heard that the boy rats are the mellow ones and the girls are the frisky jumpers. That’s the way it was with the litter my boys came from.
And! My boys all came from feeder bins. I bought them when they were a week old (hadn’t even opened their eyes the little dears! Email me for pics!) and then visited them every day. By the time they were able to go home with me the whole litter was socialized and most had homes waiting for them. My guys are about as cute and friendly as you could get, so keep that in mind if you can’t find a breeder close enough for you. J
Good luck and great choice in pets!
(I’m gonna go feed my boys some milk bones.)
Rats make awesome pets, but I cannot stress enough that you must HOLD THEM OFTEN.
Btw, if you feed them nothing but carrots for a day, they poop orange
Then they eat the orange poop
Also make sure they have enough room to really play, and take them out and let them run around often. I kept mine in a cage that was about 24" x 24" by 12" high at first, then increased that to about 3’ high.
Make sure that if you put tubes in there for them, they are larger than the rats. Rats have been known to squeeze into them and get stuck and die.
I got a cage at http://www.martinscages.com/ and compared to the things at the petstore, it’s a hell of a lot nicer, and cheaper. It has secure doors (easy to open if you have an opposable thumb though), and it’s powder-coated so it’s easy on the rat’s feet, -and- the crusty rat-wizz washes off easily. You have to partially assemble it, but it’s easy.
I don’t think the rats would survive a trip to England, and I’m not spending the cash for a Concorde ticket. Sorry.
My rats also love carrots, but I haven’t tried to feed them carrots and only carrots yet. I’m tempted now…
We had a pet rat named Fleetwood many years ago. It lived in a wire cage in one corner of the dining room. (Why not? It was a member of the family, just like the dog.)
We had serious small critter problems in that house, and on occasion, a cockroach would make the mistake of climbing the wall next to the cage. Fleetwood would reach out and grab them . . . and eat them.
Yum.
I have a vague memory of having told this story before on this board, but if so, it was one of the Lost Postssup[/sup].
Take a soup can and wash it out really well
Take a tube sock and put it over the open end of the can and pull it down so the whole can is covered. This should leave a big floppy part like a condom’s reservoir tip (hehe) at the top. Poke that part inside the can. Now ou have the can covered inside and out and the rat will have a nice cozy home.
You need to replace the sock about every two weeks.
I had three pet rats for several years: hairless, naked rats that looked, for all the world, like three uncircumcised penises (when they slept together heaped in a pile it was like watching a really boring European porno shot at near scientific range). I loved them dearly. When I came home they would jump up and hang on the top of the cage (thick wire mesh), waiting for me to take them out and hold them. They loved the yogurt drops from the pet store, and I gave them all sorts of veggies and things in addition to the rat pellets. They were also fun to bathe, with a warmly damp towel and they liked the vigorous rubdown after so they wouldn’t catch cold.
Sadly, they are no longer with me.
But good luck with your rat search!!
