Need some rat care advice!

[liv]

Hey guys,

Yesterday, one of my balls decided not to eat his two live small rats yesterday (he won't eat bigger ones), and now I have two adorable new pets for the week. They were struck at a few times yesterday by my spider and normal (both in blue and missed), but seem to be uninjured.

I want to make sure they're comfortable and properly cared for until next week when they'll be fed off, so I want to run their setup by you. I put them in a 28qt bin on my rack with about an inch and a half of aspen bedding. They have a couple of hides, two paper towel rolls (for fun), a water bowl, and a food dish. All I have on hand is Extrusion hamster food (http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Living-E.../dp/B003TTY7C6) and hamster seeds, so I gave them a mix of both. They ate the Extrusion. Will that be a suitable diet for the week?

Is there anything I should change/add/remove? I really want to give them a nice little home for the time being. I feel absolutely terrible about their ordeal yesterday.

[dillan2020]

Sounds like it will be fine for a week to me. the only issue will be that water bowl. your probably gonna have to change it daily cause they will fill it with garbage.

[liv]

Ya, they got some bedding in it over night, but I don't mind changing it.

I just added some extra Habitrail tubing I had from my hamsters, as well as some kleenex for nesting material. Hopefully they like it!

[youbeyouibei]

Sounds like it will be fine for a week to me. the only issue will be that water bowl. your probably gonna have to change it daily cause they will fill it with garbage.

x2 to this. If you use a water bowl, they can get downright nasty. Not sure what it is about them but they'll pack the bedding in there and then poop in it as well for good measure. Brewing their version of jail house hooch, maybe?! Other than keeping the water bowl cleaned out, that should be just fine as far as a setup goes for a week or so...provided you don't end up keeping them as pets, lol! Good luck with them and take care.

[sissysnakes]

On your rack? or in your rack? if they are in your rack just be careful because they overheat easy, and if you change out their water bowl daily it shouldnt be a problem.

[rperry03]

You can also feed them leafy veggies, they seem to enjoy what the dragon doesn't eat