Rats for pets

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Tell me everything you can about owning rats, thinking of 2 females.

Current pets:
Dog - she won't pay any attention
cats - they will be curious for sure. they were very interested in our fish but lost interest.

How often do I need to change their bedding (shavings or whatever)
what kind of shavings do you use?
what type of food? Pet store food, then extra people food as treats?
I've heard you can potty train them, how do you do this?

 

[Magic Mom]

We've had rats. They make good pets. They are smart and playful and can learn to come when you call their name. None of ours ever bit us, but they did nip at each other occasionally.

We changed the bedding twice a week. They can't have pine shaving bedding. It irritates their respiratory system. We bought the shredded cardboard type bedding. We fed rat food and supplemented with certain people foods.

 

[FINFAN]

We've had rats. They make good pets. They are smart and playful and can learn to come when you call their name. None of ours ever bit us, but they did nip at each other occasionally.

We changed the bedding twice a week. They can't have pine shaving bedding. It irritates their respiratory system. We bought the shredded cardboard type bedding. We fed rat food and supplemented with certain people foods.

same here, we had Dumbo rats for years...used a litter called *Yesterdays News*..was not the cheapest thing out there, but effective. Cages needed cleaning weekly, they are clean, quiet for the most part. LOVED to ride around on my kids shoulders or in their hoodies front pockets or actual hoods. Life span for us was about 4.5 -5 years. You will want to learn how to clip their nails, they can be sharp. They are very intelligent, can be litter trained, we didn't accomplish that but the breeder we purchased from accomplished it. They can be prone to tumors so be prepared for that. We vought pet store rat food, best for full viatamin coverage, ours loved carrots, celery, crackers, even grapes pieces. Enjoy, they are very fun.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

same here, we had Dumbo rats for years...used a litter called *Yesterdays News*..was not the cheapest thing out there, but effective. Cages needed cleaning weekly, they are clean, quiet for the most part. LOVED to ride around on my kids shoulders or in their hoodies front pockets or actual hoods. Life span for us was about 4.5 -5 years. You will want to learn how to clip their nails, they can be sharp. They are very intelligent, can be litter trained, we didn't accomplish that but the breeder we purchased from accomplished it. They can be prone to tumors so be prepared for that. We vought pet store rat food, best for full viatamin coverage, ours loved carrots, celery, crackers, even grapes pieces. Enjoy, they are very fun.

So you put Yesterday's News all in the bottom of the cage and just dumped it out a couple of times per week, or you put yesterdays news in a litter box?

Are the bottom trays easy to slide in and out.

Did you ever find that the rates peed on the other levels of the cage?

 

[mjkacmom]

I want to start out by saying our rats were our best pets. They were friendly, tame, and fun. We didn't housebreak them, but besides the occassional pee accident when they were out of their cage for a long time, they "bathroomed" in their cage only. We used soft fluffy bedding from the pet store, and my dd14 would make their food from a recipe she found online (chex cereal, wheat puffs, dog food, soy nuts - bunch of stuff). We cleaned the cage once a week (3 level tower, you took the cage off of the base and cleaned the base). We went through a few hamocks a year.

If we were to do it again, we'd get 2 male rats, and have them altered. Our rat sisters were prone to mammory tumors, and after 1 of them had 2 surgeries (we're talking $700 - this is how much we loved them), we ended up having to have them put down, because the tumors were so large and uncomfortable. It was so sad! The reason we'd get males is because I've heard they are calmer (and our girls were very calm and sweet), and because it's cheaper to alter males, I believe.

As pets, they are like a cross between dogs and cats, and are many steps above hamsters - I couldn't go back to a hamster.

 

[FINFAN]

we used a cage similar to this, but larger and added shelving
http://www.westcoastpetsupply.com/2/Super-Pet-My-First-Home-Large/

you can line the bottom with special plastic liners made for small pets, sometmes we did, but more oftem we just used newpaper down first then Yesterdays News. I agree with the hammocks, you can go thru those fairly quickly, look on line for them, you will probably find ones that are of higher quality than at the pet stores. Overall advice, go for the quality stuff for your rats, they need to chew, you want items that can withstand it. Sure, the rats can pee on other levels of the cage...we cleaned the entire cage every time, wiping down the bars as well, they kick up disy, etc, hair can shed...we just prefered to keep the cages clean and hammocks, ledges too.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Get a gerbil. Similar body type, slightly cleaner to keep. Rat cages can stink quickly if not tended to regularly.

 

[KCK]

My daughter who is interning out of town has a roommate who has two pet rats. At first we were really alarmed, as although we had heard of them being pets had never really thought it would be an issue in our lives. Yes we had preconceived notions... to me 'rats' conjures up an image of those large things in the NY subway that are bigger than cats. Or '1984'...
(see: http://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/1984-23.html)

We are going to visit her this weekend and will see the rats, which will surely put our concerns to rest. Of course we're not concerned about size etc, which she has described to us, but of diseases. And of course they are fully treated, shots, etc.

But I might as well ask... are there ANY risks with these AT ALL? I suspect from the foregoing posts that the answers will be overwhelmingly negative, and no I am NOT trying to troll or instigate anything. Thanks!

 

[KLAIT]

I would not compare a rat to a gerbil. We have both and there is a mile of difference between the 2. We love them all, but the rat is much smarter and a lot more fun. They actually "play" with you. The gerbils do resemble rats in the looks dept, but they are not similiar in my opinion.

 

[mjkacmom]

My daughter who is interning out of town has a roommate who has two pet rats. At first we were really alarmed, as although we had heard of them being pets had never really thought it would be an issue in our lives. Yes we had preconceived notions... to me 'rats' conjures up an image of those large things in the NY subway that are bigger than cats. Or '1984'...
(see: http://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/1984-23.html)

We are going to visit her this weekend and will see the rats, which will surely put our concerns to rest. Of course we're not concerned about size etc, which she has described to us, but of diseases. And of course they are fully treated, shots, etc.

But I might as well ask... are there ANY risks with these AT ALL? I suspect from the foregoing posts that the answers will be overwhelmingly negative, and no I am NOT trying to troll or instigate anything. Thanks!

I can't imagine any risks - rats are very clean (almost OCD clean), don't bite, and are super friendly. The only risk are allergies - I'm allergic to them (but kept them anyway).

 

[pixiewings71]

We've had rats, multiple times actually. Make sure they are both the same sex, otherwise you will have babies and you will have them fast! lol Rats are very prolific. Our most recent rats we lost in our house fire and we simply decided not to get more, we have 2 cats and 2 dogs and that's plenty. Our rats were not potty trained but they rarely made any messes outside the cage. The litter we changed weekly, if we didn't it started to stink and rat pee is very strong and very stinky. We made homemade food and gave them fresh fruits and veggies as well, they loved carrots and the center vein of romaine lettuce. We also made sure they had things to chew on in the cage, otherwise their teeth grow too long. If they ran out of chew sticks they would chew on the cage so we made sure they had sticks. They make sticks for birds, we would buy those and the rats loved them! They were very easy to take care of, affectionate (they loved to sit on our shoulders and they would "nest" in our hair when we had them there with our hair down), smart and funny. They have actual personalities were other rodent pets do not. As for biting, we were rarely bitten and when we were it was our fault, for instance we had some nacho cheese and I scooped some out on my finger and fed it to them, well they didn't realize it was not a solid piece of cheese and I got bit, but that was it.....so make sure you don't try to get them to lick something off your finger that actually hides your finger. LOL Other times they would lick from my finger with no problems, they would actually hold my finger in their paws and lick my finger off.

I've had mice and hamsters and my ex-SIL had rabbits and guinea pigs and I thought the rats were much better pets then any of those.

 

[Micca]

I've never owned a rat but had hamsters, gerbils, and a guinea pig. I have only ever seen postitive comments about rats as pets here on the Dis. Sound like they would be a fun pet.