Questions about keeping ratties

alright so this evening after 2 of my snakes did not eat their meal, i decided it's time for me to put an end to killing rats, wasting money, and all that other bla bla bla bla

I have 2 rats in a little rubbermaid with a screened top, aspen, a water supply, some dog food (not sure what kind...the guy i buy my rats from gave it to me) annnnnd that's pretty much it

I'll probably be writing down Becky's list of rat foods and heading to the grocery store to buy some goodies for them.

so..to the questions:
I think i asked this before, but i can't remember if i got an answer. My roommates are worried about the smell. I recall reading rats don't stink near as bad as mice...i hope that's the case. In the event that they do smell too bad to even walk into my room, what's a good way to keep the odor down? I don't want my room to be the pets room. i want it to be my room without the smell.

Next, I bought some dried fruit i thought i might enjoy. I meant to grab the dried bananas...but the label was the same color for dried Pineapples..not a fan. Can the rats eat the dried pinapples? what about dried apples?

also, i hope it's a common occurrence for rats to play fight. they've been wrestling around for a little bit, apparently trying to stay entertained.

edit: oh yeah...i did a quick search but i didn't find a caresheet for the basic care of rats.... i thought there was one here? or is it just so simple that it's really not necessary?

Rats wrastle like crazy, as long as they dont cut each other up I wouldnt worry. How old are these rats, is one male and female? If so the male is probably trying to get lucky, but if the female is determined enough she can refuse his advances for weeks until they get to be friends :)

Get some lab blocks, +becky's mix is a good idea. Im sure they can eat apples, and I don't see why they couldnt eat pineapples but Im not sure

I would say use low-dust pine. It helps mask the odor better IMO. Someone made a post about using stall dry, but barring that I would say use a small layer of baking soda. After much trial and error I've not been able to link the baking soda as a health hazard, and it helps a TON in absorbing and neutralizing urine.

Also, if you have to, just change everything twice a week. If you use pine/baking soda and change twice a week, I don't see how 2 rats would even come close to smelling.

Check out stickies in this section for Q and A, not sure about a caresheet.

well i've got no intentions on breeding them. they're very young, smaller than i normally get. size wise, i would say between weaned and small (according to RodentPro). Next monday evening, they will more than likely be fed. do i still need to worry about them doing the dirty?

Rats are easy to take care of but they do stink. I keep my colonies outside in a greenhouse but when I brimg some inside I found that there is a non toxic kitty litter called Good News which is recycled newspaper with carbon or something but it helps ALOT with the smell as opposed to aspen. I feed mine rodent chow and they are always getting veggies, pasta, fruit and other treats (my wife spoils them). Some shreded newspaper for nesting, hide box and always plenty of water (I read they can become canabalistic if they are extremely thirsty). The more full you keep your water bottle the less it will drip. Rats will breed easier than mice and can take more extreme temps and still breed, as low as 50 degress and no higher than 90. They do play alot when their youger and you can have as many as 3 females to 1 male if you have a big enough tub. Big Apple herp has the best price on lab rat tub set ups that I have found. Hope that helps you get started.

I heard care fresh bedding works good for smell. I am about to steal some of my brother's to use in my rat cage whenever i get another.

It certainly does. Thank you Raul

something else you can do to reduce the urine smell is add a couple drops of vanilla to the water bottle . the rats seem to like it and it does seem to work to some extent .

A few rats aren't too bad for smell, my son kept a pair in his room for years and as long as you keep them clean they aren't too bad. I have my rat colony set up in a room in my basement that has a heavy duty exhaust fan in the ceiling that is vented to the outside. I have air intake from the outside for that room as well. The door to the room is magnetically sealed and very tight. I've got over a hundred adult rats in a 6' X 5' room and you can't smell a thing in the rest of the house.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

A few rats aren't too bad for smell, my son kept a pair in his room for years and as long as you keep them clean they aren't too bad. I have my rat colony set up in a room in my basement that has a heavy duty exhaust fan in the ceiling that is vented to the outside. I have air intake from the outside for that room as well. The door to the room is magnetically sealed and very tight. I've got over a hundred adult rats in a 6' X 5' room and you can't smell a thing in the rest of the house.

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that's pretty awesome! that's an idea for my future plans :D

As long as you clean the cage regularly they won't smell bad. I always know when I've been slacking on my rat bin cleaning.
Give them whatever leftovers you want. There are a couple things you aren't supposed to feed them, like avacodo I believe. Otherwise, my guys eat nearly anything. Stale cookies, the last bit of meatloaf, spam that I won't eat bc I can't rem when I opened it.. lol. They are not picky. Dried fruit is a real goodie. Mine have loved everything I offered, but live crickets drive them WILD. Try that and watch the fun.
Wolfy

Here's a fantastic link on what is good and not so good to feed rats.....

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

As far as them breeding Nate, they will breed anytime after 5 weeks of age. Should they breed that young, nope...but they will, so if you don't want breeding to occur, keep them seperated by gender. Even with our feeders that will be fed off well before any pregnancy would even show we keep them apart. Why have them wasting energy running around jumping each other when that time could be better spent eating and lazing about putting on weight more efficiently.

Rats will wrestle and play a lot. They also do a lot of fussing about and squeeking while breeding (especially if the male is being rejected....what a big old whiner they can be about that LOL). As long as nobody's getting bit up it's fine really.

Rats kept in a clean environment really have little smell. Even with our colony of about 50 or 60 in a smallish room, unless it's the day before cage cleaning day you'd never know they are in the house (we live in a 3 bedroom duplex and they are in a spare room in the main part of the house...not in the basement). I do a full clean every Sunday, on Wednesday I do a half-tank changeout (just pull out half the bedding and dump in a bit more) just to freshen them up a bit. Seems to work very well. Always make sure if they've had fresh treats or bones you remove the uneaten scraps as they will stink up the place.

Add vanilla to the water if you like. Male rats tends to smell a bit more than the females so that helps as well as not having the male enclosures overcrowded (they will mark more if they are all vying for space and dominance). Make sure the enclosures are well ventilated and you should be fine.

I clean my cage's twice a week I use pine , baking soda , and vanilla extract and you won't even know their there. Smell is not a problem for me any more......I love BREEDING RAT'S:rockon:

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Originally Posted by Emilio

I clean my cage's twice a week I use pine , baking soda , and vanilla extract and you won't even know their there. Smell is not a problem for me any more......I love BREEDING RAT'S:rockon:

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Knew ya would! :)