When feeder rats become pets

So I decided to pick up a pair of rats today to see if I can successfully breed them and to determine how much time they will take up. I know keeping rats is time consuming, but I'm having trouble understanding how much worse it could be than my dog or my cat or even my geckos. I did recently take on a lot more responsibility to my local herp society as I became co-vice president but I thought I would give it a shot. So far I love the little guys. I got small rats so I had time to adjust to them and them to me before they started having babies. They're so cute and fuzzy, I just wish they would stop pooping on me. :P

So for starters here is the cage I picked up. I think the bars are close enough together that the babies won't be able to get out.
http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_4195.jpg

And here are the rats. :D
The darker one is the male and light one is the female. They were raised as feeders but they are super friendly thanks the to the store owner's little girl. She takes them out and plays with them all the time. I let her name them and she decided to call them Chocolate and Vanilla which is just so cute. ^_^
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Chocolate is a calmer than Vanilla when held but they are both so cute. :love:

I do have a question that maybe someone can help me out with. They were raised in a rack and aren't used to the multi-level open cage so they don't seem to know what to do. If I put them up top near the food they will still be up there an hour later when I got to check on them. I get that they are scared and it's a new place (the bath I gave them as soon as we got home didn't help any either), but will they eventually realize that the food and water are on different levels? I tried to show them how to go up and down the ramps, but they don't seem inclined to do it on their own. :(

They'll get the hang of it...they seem to be pretty young yet, so I'd guess they need to grow into confidence a little as well.

Have fun with them! I raise my own feeders, and every once in a while I'll get attached to a particular rat and find them a home. They can make excellent pets.

I have feeder-turned-pet rats as well. They're also my breeders. And I've gotten the 1 story version of your cage.

I would just leave them be for a little bit. It's a new place away from other rats. They just need time to adjust. They can smell the food and water. If they're hungry enough, they'll go up and get food. To make it easier for them, I would move the food bowl to the second level w/ the water. And when they get the hang of if, then you could move the food back up to the top. Taking little steps are the key when introducing new animals to a new home.

Turning off the lights or covering their cage will help as well. Since rats are nocturnal, they'll feel more comfortable in the dark. It will help them relax.

And they'll stop pooping on you when they become more comfortable. Pooping continuously during handling is a sign of stress.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

I have feeder-turned-pet rats as well. They're also my breeders. And I've gotten the 1 story version of your cage.

I would just leave them be for a little bit. It's a new place away from other rats. They just need time to adjust. They can smell the food and water. If they're hungry enough, they'll go up and get food. To make it easier for them, I would move the food bowl to the second level w/ the water. And when they get the hang of if, then you could move the food back up to the top. Taking little steps are the key when introducing new animals to a new home.

Turning off the lights or covering their cage will help as well. Since rats are nocturnal, they'll feel more comfortable in the dark. It will help them relax.

And they'll stop pooping on you when they become more comfortable. Pooping continuously during handling is a sign of stress.

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Thanks. :)

I've been trying to leave them alone, they are in the living room which is currently dark. I will move the food dish down to the second level for them. I hadn't considered doing small steps. All I saw was a gaping hole in the floor and figured if they were silly enough to fall through it was better that they did it on the second level instead of the top. :P

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Originally Posted by Kinra

Thanks. :)

I've been trying to leave them alone, they are in the living room which is currently dark. I will move the food dish down to the second level for them. I hadn't considered doing small steps. All I saw was a gaping hole in the floor and figured if they were silly enough to fall through it was better that they did it on the second level instead of the top. :P

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If you're worried about the hole, perhaps find something to plug it up or remove the top level and ramp until they're able to use the second level? Maybe even putting a ferret hammock under the hole. Rats love hammocks.

My girls were pet store feeder rats a friend of mine got and decided he didn't care for them. I have to agree with the hammock, my girls are always sleeping in it :D I'd also look into a accessory called "lava ledges" they help with their nails and teeth and also give them a place to climb and perch. And they LOVE Yogies ;)

Cute pair you got there in those two. Males tend to be lazier and more lethargic than the females so that might be why he's a little calmer or takes to being handled more. The males also secrete urine onto their testicles (scent marking) when they walk so if you handle him, you might want to wash up before shoving your hand in the chip bag, lol! Could also just be their personalities. Depending on their age/weight, you might not want to keep them together quite yet. If the female isn't old "enough", per se, or up to weight (5 months/250 grams or thereabouts) she might not throw a very good litter in terms of size and health of the kits. Not trying to dash your plans, just something to consider. Regardless, they're good looking animals and I hope they turn out for you. Good luck!

Can't tell from the pics, but are the ramps slick? Can they get easy purchase on it to climb up and down? If not, they might not want to use them. If they do climb up and down occasionally, it's just going to take time.

When I put my hairless boy in the 55g tank with the tank girls, he hid for a few days. Now he's always roaming around like he's always lived there. I gave mine a hammock but they tore it up(twice). I'll probably look on ebay for cheap one to try again because they loved climbing on it.

Do they have a hide spot? I made "houses" for my tank out of plastic bowls/tupperware by cutting a doorway and turning them upside down.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

Can't tell from the pics, but are the ramps slick? Can they get easy purchase on it to climb up and down? If not, they might not want to use them. If they do climb up and down occasionally, it's just going to take time.

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From my experiences with rats and ramps, most would rather climb the sides of the cage to get to another level. And the ramps in the photo do seem gripless and steep. Maybe try lowering the levels to decrease the steepness or you can use bird ladders and ropes for them to climb.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

Thanks everyone. I ordered a hammock online and it should be here Wednesday.

I will look into getting another cage setup for the male. I've already been thinking about looking for a couple of blues or siameses soon. These guys are awesome and I wish I had some as a kid, hamsters and gerbils have nothing on these guys. :D

The ramps do have some small gripes but I move the levels down so they weren't as steep. There is also an igloo in there that I took out for the picture. If you look at the first picture you can see it at the bottom. I also took out the very large wheel that was in there, should I put it back in or will they get enough exercise running up and down the ramps and when I take them out?

I'm also going to pick up some single level cages soon as maternity cages so the babies won't get trampled.

Edit:
Also does anyone know what they would be called? I was told they were dumbo rats and if I understand color/pattern names they are also call hooded right?

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Originally Posted by Kinra

Thanks everyone. I ordered a hammock online and it should be here Wednesday.

I will look into getting another cage setup for the male. I've already been thinking about looking for a couple of blues or siameses soon. These guys are awesome and I wish I had some as a kid, hamsters and gerbils have nothing on these guys. :D

The ramps do have some small gripes but I move the levels down so they weren't as steep. There is also an igloo in there that I took out for the picture. If you look at the first picture you can see it at the bottom. I also took out the very large wheel that was in there, should I put it back in or will they get enough exercise running up and down the ramps and when I take them out?

I'm also going to pick up some single level cages soon as maternity cages so the babies won't get trampled.

Edit:
Also does anyone know what they would be called? I was told they were dumbo rats and if I understand color/pattern names they are also call hooded right?

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I love blues and siamese. My best breeding pair are siamese.

Keeping the wheel in the cage won't hurt. Your rats will probably appreciate it. Mine are in theirs constantly. Just make sure it's the right size for them.

Picking up a single level maternity cage is a good idea. Wouldn't want babies falling off the levels. haha

Chocolate is an agouti hooded dumbo. Vanilla may be champagne/fawn variegated dumbo. (variegated is like hooded, but instead of a linear marking along the spine, will have patches)

That's awesome that you're enjoying them that much! They are pretty neat to interact with and they each have their own personalities. They're kind of like snakes in that you can't have just one, lol! I bought mine to raise just as feeders and then got more interested in the coat types, patterns, colors, etc. It's addictive, lol!

I could never feed live because I am a sap. I'm totally fine with feeding frozen, humanely killed feeders, but I could never do it myself! I think they're too cute!!! :P

Chocolate is so adorable!

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Originally Posted by Kamille Kirkendoll

I could never feed live because I am a sap. I'm totally fine with feeding frozen, humanely killed feeders, but I could never do it myself! I think they're too cute!!! :P

Chocolate is so adorable!

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I have trouble feeding live too, but the snake has to eat too. It's easier with mice because I really hate them, but I would rather have my snakes eating rats.

They've both been getting better about being handled (I don't get pooped on any more), but they're still not completely sure about me. :P

I did get them both to take a Yogi from my hand last night. :banana:

They're so much fun. :D

try litter training them, it makes the bedding last longer and cleaner. then they can play out of the cage and when they have to go , they will go in the cage to the litter box.all of mine are litter trained and it took only a day or two.

have fun with them

They are cute. Just watch that they don't chew the plastic cage bottom. I have a similar cage made by the same company and within days my rats chewed a hole in the side. I had to make a new bottom out of coroplast, the cage sits inside of the coroplast so it is shorter now, but works.

So how are your rats settling in? I am a big fan of feeder pet rats, we currently have 0.8 rats, 2 were CL, 2 were pedigree breeder and 4 were feeder breeder. You couldn't tell the difference in personality and where they came from if you ever met my tribe of rats. All 8 of them will come running to the cage door as soon as anyone goes walking by. Over the last 20 years or so of owning snakes we've almost exclusively kept feeder rats as pets and never have I regretted this choice.

We used to raise nice feeder mice by the hundreds when we had full collection of nearly 100 snakes, always had pet rats at the same time but never fed rats, I was thankful that even my largest females over 6 foot still did quite well with 2-3 jumbo mice at a time for meals. I could raise feeder rats but am just glad I never had to :D