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Old 08-24-2013, 11:00 AM   #1
arymanth
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Default Pet rats anyone???

Soooo, my 22yo son calls me and asks me if I would be interested in adopting a few baby rats. Apparently he was given a couple of young rats (by two different people) and told they were both males... and of course, they weren't.... so now he is the proud owner of 16 baby Dumbo rats. LOL Of course, my kids fell in love with them instantly, so guess who is going to be learning how to be a good rat momma?

Anyone else have pet rats? What should I know about them? So far we have decided on females (I've been told the males have a very strong odor) and we're still trying to decide how many we want. (the kids want FIVE... I'm leaning towards 3)

I located a good sized cage on Craigslist (which hopefully will still be there when I go pick it up)

What else do I need to know?

What am I getting myself into?????

---------- Post added at 06:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:56 PM ----------

Uh oh.... well, apparently one of my son's friends decided to take most of the females.... there are only 2 girls and the momma left.

Do I want boys? Is that really going to stink up my house?????

HELP!!!
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Old 08-24-2013, 11:10 AM   #2
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

The boys are not that smelly. Bbl
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Old 08-24-2013, 11:27 AM   #3
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

We're about to get two girl rats so to see what your experience is like! Opinions vary greatly about the smell of boy rats, some people barely notice it. What I have found out is that the boys make better pets in the sense that they tend to be more cuddly - the girls are more inquisitive and like to explore, so they don't want to sit on a lap and be petted. The boys LOVE that
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Old 08-24-2013, 11:57 AM   #4
arymanth
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

Hmmm, ok then... so 3 boy rats shouldn't be too much to handle? How often am I supposed to clean their cage? Do you feed them at a certain time, or leave food out all the time in a dish? I feel so clueless right now. LOL
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Old 08-24-2013, 12:43 PM   #5
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

I always kept 3 boys. I did a super quick wipe down every other day when I filled food, and a good cleaning once a week. Never had stink issues really.

A roomy cage helps a ton, and using fleece as bedding as well.
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Old 08-24-2013, 09:55 PM   #6
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

I have one female (her buddy died recently). Aspen shavings and she gets regular food, not rat chowder. Zero odorous. Clean as a kitten and so sweet.

If you don't want boys, tats are cheap enough to buy females... it is the cage that is so spendy!
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Old 08-24-2013, 11:27 PM   #7
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

We decided on females for three reasons: 1) less odor, 2) smaller, and 3) the big deciding factor... my daughter wanted pink hammocks for the cage.

We've had our ratty-girls for almost 18mo now and they're absolutely delightful. Definitely get the biggest high-quality cage you can afford. We love fleece bedding and litter pans; our girlies still pee around their cage but they're 100% poop-trained. I sew all their hammocks; let me know if you'd like some links to tutorials.

I recommend Debbie Ducommun's rat care book; otherwise most of the books out there are garbage. You'll get better information online at one of the many rat forums.

We feed our rats Harlan Teklad lab blocks as the main staple of their diet (#2018 until they're 6mo, then switch to #2016) and supplement with about 25% fresh foods. The biggest thing to remember with fresh food is NO CITRUS; it can be fatal to rats.

I'm totally biased, but I think rats make wonderful pets. I didn't want rats at all, and when I really think about it I'm still kinda creeped out by the whole rodent thing... but they're soooooo sweet and loving and adorable they just stole my heart.

Some pictures in the spoiler:

Keep asking questions; someone here will know the answer to just about anything!
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Old 08-25-2013, 04:39 PM   #8
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

Thank you!!! My daughter just made her first rat hammock today. I had no idea you could use fleece for litter, it's like cloth diapering. LOL We are totally going to find some cheap fleece blankets at the thrift store to cut up for that. My son said that all of the rats but 2 females have been claimed, so I guess our choice was made for us. I'm good with that... I don't think our new cage would really be big enough for anything else. Now to come up with good names for them....

Loooove the pictures!!!

If anyone else has any thoughts or advice, I'd love to hear it!
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:24 PM   #9
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

It's exactly like cloth diapering, except even easier.

To be clear, the fleece is used as bedding to line the cage instead of the wood or paper shavings most people use. Litter is different; it's what goes inside the litter pan(s) in the cage - if you look at the cage photo I posted, the litter pans are the turquoise and gray pans in the corners of the two levels of the cage. We put down about an inch of Fresh News litter in each pan, replacing the litter each time the cage gets cleaned. If you leave a bit of messy litter in each time you clean the cage in the early going, the ratties are more likely to recognize the litter pan as the potty and use it accordingly. We did that for about four weeks and our girlies had no problem litter-training. And if you find them pottying in a particular corner of the cage, put the litter pan there.
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:27 PM   #10
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

Thank you, I was wondering how that worked. I'm starting to get excited about our new babies. I'll post pics when we get them.
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Old 08-29-2013, 06:55 PM   #11
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

I've owned 2 sets of female rats in the past. In my experience, boys smell a lot, and are often lazy and prone to being overweight. Females on the other hand, often get mammary tumors as they get older, and are sometimes more skiddish originally, but far more loyal in the long run.
There are pros and cons to both, it's just what you'd prefer.
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Old 08-29-2013, 08:17 PM   #12
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

Got our new cage today! WOOOHOOO!!!! We had originally bought a very small (hamster size) cage for transporting them, and we are thinking about cutting an opening in top of the big cage and attaching the smaller one as a "penthouse". LOL My 14yo DD is making rat hammocks and we are going out tomorrow to buy food and litter. I'm so excited! Only 2 more days!!!

I still don't know what gender we are going to get, apparently they still have a few boys, so I will just have to see which ones I gravitate towards when I get there. We have been doing lots of research, and I'm looking forward to watching what my kids come up with to decorate the cage. I have challenged them to change it up and add something new every weekend.

I'll post pics when we get them home.
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Old 08-29-2013, 08:20 PM   #13
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

Yay for new cage! I might not go cutting holes; it's good to have a smaller second cage for many reasons. We use ours for transport (vet, etc.), to put the ratties in while we clean the big cage, and to separate them if necessary (our Molly had surgery and we had to separate them for six weeks to keep Lily from chewing on Molly's sutures).
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Old 08-29-2013, 08:43 PM   #14
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

What? Citrus is poisonous to rats? I was told that citrus trees attract urban rats. :shudder
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Old 08-29-2013, 08:51 PM   #15
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Default Re: Pet rats anyone???

We sparkly heart love ours. Big cage well ventilated is a must to keep stink under control. http://www.dapper.com.au/cagebuild.htm I was condisering, but found an awesome deal on one of the FB sale groups so didn't have to bust out the power tools.
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