lets see pics!

Hi,


I never taught mine to do tricks but they loved riding on my shoulder and chewing on my earing - and if I tickled their bellies they "giggled".



dr del

Here are my 3 simple tubs (I don't need to produce many feeders). I'm using Sterilite 1859 73qt tubs from Walmart. The boxes wrapped in saran wrap on top of the tubs are my DIY carbon filters used to remove any odors out of the tubs, that the rats/mice produce.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...z/_MG_5989.jpg

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Originally Posted by Swingline0.0.1

This is probably a bit of a silly question, but I've never been around rats... Can you play with them and stuff? My fiancee wants to get something she can pet and cuddle with- she loves Milton but said she also wants a furry pet.

I've heard you can teach them tricks and things... so all rat lovers, tell me about your rats and what all they do!

I always figured they would just run away if you let them out of their cages! :)

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Oh rats are the BEST when it comes to a small, furry animal you can pet and carry around with you on your shoulder. 'Cuddling' per say can be a bit hard, but some rats really like it.

I adore reptiles, but every girl needs something cute and furry; for me it's rats since my partner is allergic to cats. I've kept rats before and know what sweeties they can be. A few hints, tho, on getting rats:

1) always get a pair of same sex unless you want to breed. Rats do NOT do well alone long term, even if you give them tons of attention.

2) try to avoid pet store rats with all your might unless you know for a fact that the rats they get are from a good source (most are from mass breeders who never even look at their stock). I always owned pet store rats in past and the ones I got were sweet...but only lived about 1 1/2-2 years max. Case in point: Mint was a pet store rat. Look for breeders if at all possible...they have known bloodlines, are healthy, hand tamed from the start, and live much longer on average. Amber was only a few months younger than Mint and she still acts and looks like she's under a year!

Good luck finding some cuddly companions. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Argentra

1) always get a pair of same sex unless you want to breed. Rats do NOT do well alone long term, even if you give them tons of attention.

2) try to avoid pet store rats with all your might unless you know for a fact that the rats they get are from a good source (most are from mass breeders who never even look at their stock). I always owned pet store rats in past and the ones I got were sweet...but only lived about 1 1/2-2 years max. Case in point: Mint was a pet store rat. Look for breeders if at all possible...they have known bloodlines, are healthy, hand tamed from the start, and live much longer on average. Amber was only a few months younger than Mint and she still acts and looks like she's under a year!

Good luck finding some cuddly companions. :)

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What's a good number to get? Also, do you know of a good way to locate breeders?

How about the stench-factor? She had cats before, and I found them to be quite smelly at times! Perhaps a better question is what the upkeep-to-smelliness ratio is... will she have to work her behind off to have them NOT stink up the house? ;)

Oh no way! I had five cats at one time, so I know the whole smell issue. :)

Rats only smell noticeably if they are overcrowded, sick, or you haven't cleaned in over a week. If you give them good proper food and a good bedding like aspen or that sort (NOT pine or cedar), they will be a pleasant addition to the house with "minimal" effort.

As far as number...that depends on your available cage space. The minimum number is two, and I've heard that there can be issues of dominance when there are over 3 or 4 (wouldn't know personally, only ever kept two at a time), but aside from that it depends on the type of cage. A cage like mine could hold dozens probably, but I wanted to spoil my girls. :) Just make sure you don't get in over your heads as far as a huge cage, cause they require longer to clean them.

For pet rats really two is a nice number and very manageable. Two females or two males of course. Best to get them from a rat breeder or a very good pet shop where they aren't overcrowded or mixed up genders all in one enclosure. Even some of us members here that breed for feeders are quite happy to sell off some as pets so ask around. Try to pick up a nice same gender pair that are recently weaned. They will be the easiest to hand tame and tend to be very, very cute at that age.

Rats can be taught simple routines/tricks. We aren't talking fancy stuff here LOL but things like homemade mazes are fun and keep a rat's agile mind working. They can learn to stand up fully upright to receive a treat (all our breeder males know this one). They can learn simple discipline. All our colony rats know what a loud handclap and BAD RAT means (basically..."knock it off guys, Queen Rat Lady is ticked at us again!" LOL)

When they are out for handling keep them in view at all times. They can and will chew lamp cords and electrocute themselves. They have amazing sharp teeth. They can and will get into furniture or in places that make it nearly impossible to retreive them. As they mature into adults they can be fitted with a small ferret harness and lead. Our kids used to take their pet rats into either the enclosed front porch or the bathroom to let them roam free. They'd just sit and read while their rats played around and crawled all over them. We used to save some old Fisher-Price toys to let the rats play with and of course, Kracker loved to ride in that big plastic dump truck (he really was a huge and silly male LOL).

With rats, everything is food driven so use that to teach them simple things or make them your best buddy. If they only receive a certain favored treat from your hands, you become very special to them. Watch for certain things that indicate your rat is happy with you....bruxing (when they rub their teeth together loudly) and boogling (when their eyes sort of bulge out) are happy rat behaviours. :)

Remember though with pet rats, a happy rat is not a fat rat. Many, many pet rats are allowed to become obese and this shortens their life significantly.

I know carbon helps with odor, but how well does it work in your setup, thats really ingenious.

Ok, without further ado... (drumroll please)....

I present Homer, the pet rat... :)

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...GAL-Homer1.JPG

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...GAL-Homer2.JPG

This all started as a puppy search today... as I was saying, she wants something cuddly, so after searching all the Wal-Mart parking lots I could handle, she wanted to go to a local pet store. They didn't have any puppies, but after holding Homer for a few minutes she wanted to get him.

Pluses for Aaron:

1. We already have a 10 gallon tank (Milton's old one)... I know he'll need something bigger/cooler before too long, but it works for now.

2. It gives me a chance to try out some aspen substrate for Milton since we already got it for Homer's setup. :)

3. No implied vet bill (shots, etc. for a puppy). Of course if he has a health problem we'll take care of it, but there's no need to neuter, etc.

So, good weekend... he is kind of fun, but today he was a little annoyed at being handled by giants. :) I can't believe how vocal he's already been- probably four different sounds for levels of annoyance. No biting, thank god!

Thanks for all the input, ladies, and any tips are welcome! I just read the response about having at least 2, so I'm thinking of getting him a playmate.

Uuuuuuummmmmmm, is there a SCREEN / lid for that tank???? lol He'll jump out. (Even our adults <esp. the females> are great jumpers!)



Just remember, Homer will need a Zeus or Hercules...not an Aphrodite. :) Oh, and with the tank, it's not an issue, but I wasn't taught...don't feed him thru the "bars" of a cage. It encourages them the bad habit of biting.


With a tank you'll want to clean it on time. Ventilation is the key and tanks are pretty airtight vs. a wire cage. 50* or warmer, he's going to drink (and piddle) more, so the boys' tank can get sort of smelly in the summertime.

Scabbers, Stewie, Robin Hood and Butterscotch were all big lugs, but Scabbers and Stewie were the lap rats. :)

Rats are really coooool pets. Now that we've had a few, I'll probably always have a rat for a pet now. :rolleyes:

Nice little Black Hooded. He looks in good shape and fairly young. He does need a buddy however, so another nice small male rat about his size would be perfect. Rats are very social creatures. They learn nice behaviour like no biting from each other (if one rat nips the other too strongly during play the other rat squeels and won't play...so the nipper learns nipping is not nice...much as puppies do). Rats kept alone tend to be nervous, nippy and don't make the best pets in my opinion.

You'll need bigger caging fairly quickly with two male rats. Check out your local garage sales/craigslist. I've seen big used enclosures for next to nothing (ferret, rabbit, etc.). Make sure the bars/wire isn't bigger than 1/2" so the rats can't get out. You can also just add 1/2" hardware cloth to an enclosure to rat proof it.

You can give him things to chew on and play with. Empty toilet paper or papertowel rolls, a handful of strips ripped from an old phone book, cotton rope to climb (must be cotton not synthetic). You can offer your rats lots of different human foods too as treats or to suppliment their diet. Great way toi use up your kitchen scraps. Here's some great links for rat care....

http://www.ratguide.com/

http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Red%20D...0and/or%20Nose:

http://www.ratnutrition.com/suppleme...forbiddenfoods

http://www.afrma.org/