Decided on Rats

alright well i asked a question about ferrets about a week ago and did some reserach and decided for my current situation rats would be a better decision for a pet. I don't really have enough money to spend on an elaborate setup for ferrets and they seem to need a lot of attention, so i guess i'll hold off on them til im done with school and have my own place. (I'd really like some more snakes but my mom won't have that for sure) Anyways rats seem like they will fit my lifestyle so i bought a cage setup and everything and im getting a pair of rats next week! im excited of course! just thought i'd share

lol, gonna just keep them as pets? or do some breeding for feeders? either way rats are fun, congrats!!! :D

just as pets for now, since i only have one snake. But in the future as my snake collection grows id definantly like to breed some ratties! :)

Just remember then, Cassandra, that the pair will need to be same sex...or you'll have babies whether you want them or not! ;) And ratties love friends, so onlys in a cage isn't very healthy for the rat.


Glad to hear! I wuuuub my ratties!! Personally, I think they're much nicer pets than smelly, icky ferrets! :D

You'll be pleased I'm sure. Rats make excellent pets. When you go to pick them up, choose a nice same gender pair and just judge them much like any young animal. Clean, bright eyes, clean, dry butt, no scabby or patchy coat, no sores on the bottom of their feet or tails, shiny coat, no sneezing or red discharge from eyes or nose. Make sure the rats in the enclosure they are coming out of are healthy and active as well.

They may be scared and squirmy but should not be actively trying to chew your finger off. Try to pick nice healthy young rats that have just recently been weaned (so are about 5 or 6 weeks of age). Often a pair from the same litter is a good choice. Personally I think male rats make slightly better pets as they mature into big, lazy lap rats but lots of females are just big sweeties too.

Oh forgot my two most favorite links to pass on to you. Becky's homemade dry mix is a sure winner hon. Most of the crap the pet stores sell you as a "rat mix" is waste product and a waste of your hard earned cash. Becky's mix is cost effective to do, for two rats you can just make up a big bucket of it, cover it and you are good for quite awhile (great place to toss in those last two handfulls of your dry cereal, the bit of uncooked pasta left in the box, etc.). Your rats will be way healthier and you won't see so much wasted dry food.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=28391

Rats are omnivores so love some kitchen scraps and fresh food treats. Our rat colony LOVES pizza crust, the bones from chicken wing night, left over cooked pasta, etc. Great way to use up what would have just filled your garbage can and the rats get a more varied diet. They also enjoy some fresh fruit and veggies so I haunt the area of the grocery store where marked down stuff is put (it's just fine, maybe a bit bruised or something and heck the rats could care less). You can use these treats to help handtame your new rats.

Here's a wonderful link on what's good and not so good as far as "human" food is concerned.

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

Thanks you guys for all the advice! yea im planning on getting two, havent decided on males or females yet. Also i was going to go shopping for all the stuff to make beckys rat food mixture this monday. I think the only place i can go to get rats though is Petco or Petsmart, i checked them both out and their rats looked healthy but i can't seem to find any breeders in my area. Would getting rats from a petstore beokay if they sem healthy and well taken care of?

Oh and i'll definantly pot pics when i get them! ;)

Sure Cassandra, some of my nicest rats came out of good, clean pet stores. Just be picky, make sure the pet store is keeping them nice and not overcrowed and MOST importantly seperated by gender. Take your time and pick out a couple of nice, healthy, recently weaned and good tempered small ones and I'm sure you'll have a blast having a pair of pet rats.

Where do you guys buy rats that don't sneeze? I've looked around and every single pet store in this area the rats in the store sneeze at least some. Only one or two stores even have rats for pets and not feeders

Keep in mind that males get bigger than females, and tend to have a "rougher" coat as adults. Females tend to keep their silky hair better.

Either are good pets. I love all my breeders!

I am really excited i almost can't wait to go buy them, but i have to wait til i get paid and be responsible. Im just so glad my fiance still doesn't think im strange with all the animals i talk about collecting. He isn't quite into animals as much as me, but he tries to understand haha

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Snikt228

Where do you guys buy rats that don't sneeze? I've looked around and every single pet store in this area the rats in the store sneeze at least some. Only one or two stores even have rats for pets and not feeders

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All rats sneeze...they have very sensitive respritory systems. Usually they sneeze more when you change their bedding or when you first get them as they get used to the new smells. A really dusty bedding (carefresh, cheap pine, etc.) will make it worse.

It is OK to buy a sneezing rat just make sure that is all it is...look for discharge around the nose and eyes (usually red) this is a sign of a resp. infection. But I wouldn't worry about a little sneezing. :)

I thought it might be helpful to see some various rats from my colony Cassandra so you know basically what to look for in a healthy young rat and the sizes and so forth of mature rats versus younger ones.

Typical small, young rat (a husky with some variegation I guess you'd call it)...see the tail up in alarm...
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...yFeederRat.jpg

Young male with his father, one of our old, now retired breeder males (daddy is Casanova, the boy is SuperNova whose now busy fathering many litters himself), old Nova's coat is poor as he's very old now......
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...Supernova2.jpg

Here's Casanova when he was a prime adult male.....

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...reederMale.jpg

This is Charlie. He's a young male, recently weaned to give you an idea of size....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...lishIrish1.jpg

An adult female with a younger female (HoneyChild and Jet)....Jet, the black one, is a great example of a wonderful coat, she's extremely shiny and pure black....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...s/HCandJet.jpg

Squeekers (a female) as a young rat...note the nice clean coat, bright clean eyes, clean ears....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Sqeekers2.jpg

Hope this helped for when you got rattie shopping. :)

Thanks for all your help! Those pics will help me to find a younger rat so i guess i'll start looking on Monday!

Can't wait to see the two you choose. Don't let some employee talk you into medium or large rats though. They are much older and if they haven't been already hand tamed they don't make great pets.