rats

[bunnylove817]

I just adopted two rats (they were going to be pts). I will be getting a third sometime soon (he is being treated for an Upper respiratory infection and cant be released yet). I have never owned rats before, so I'm a little overwhelmed. I wasnt planning on getting them, but a friend let me know that they didnt have anywhere else to go, so I agreed to take them. They are currently in a small cage (probably 10X20). I am going to be upgrading them to a large rabbit cage (i think its 18X42) that has two levels. Is this big enough for three male dumbo rats? Should I get a three story "deluxe rat cage"? Any advice/ information? I want them to have a good life

 

[EileenH]

Here is a link to an awesome rat forum, several of us on here are there also.
There is a library of information to peruse, caging info..you'll learn anything you need to over there:
www.goosemoose.com

Make sure even after the third one is cleared that you do a good quarantine (info on that at goosemoose as well). Don't jump the gun no matter how badly you want to put the three together.

Thirdly, just like with rabbits here, you will need to find a rat savvy vet - most vets have no idea what rats are like. There is a link at goosemoose to rat savvy vets.

Congratulations, rats are awesome pets!

 

[Siobhan]

Don't get the rabbit cage.. They will chew the plastic and they love to climb, so more vertical space is much better than horizontal space. Martin's cages is your best bet. http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/ Scroll down to the bottom. The R-690 is the perfect cage for three male rats. Make sure you get it powder-coated, so that the rat urine doesn't destroy the cage!

Goosemoose is the best possible site you could go on. Anything you need to know they have the answers to.

 

[Snufflez]

Wow.. they beat me to it... I was going to post for GooseMoose. Anyways that site is awesome for help... Martins Cages are great as well...I hope you post pictures of you ratties.. I think we should all post pictures of our rats

 

[Anaira]

Snufflez wrote:

Wow.. they beat me to it... I was going to post for GooseMoose. Anyways that site is awesome for help... Martins Cages are great as well...I hope you post pictures of you ratties.. I think we should all post pictures of our rats

Ok, you start! Rebekah, I would especially LOVE to see pics of your boys, as we don't get dumbos here.

 

[Snufflez]

Sweet..I can acess photobucket from the school computers..lol... I had 5 originally but now I am down to two..

Here are my girls. I only have two of them now.. but they are Sadie (RIP), Auden, Rufie, Thisbe (Rip)..I will get newer pictures of them soon. I am also hoping to get a boy or two for my girls..

 

[Anaira]

aww Auden has the cutest face marking! Are you going to breed, or get neutered boys?

I only have three now; My cookie monster Corin;

Rilian being healthy, and munching carrot.

And Bree, with his fur all messed up.

 

[LindyS]

I love rats. I use to have one. Albino, years ago.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Never had a rat. When our kids were in school (God that was a long time ago) we had a couple of mice. One was such a great little guy I used to carry him around on my shoulder and he go into my pocket and sleep when we went inside a store. Congrats.

 

[Snufflez]

My girls are actually spayed.. so either is fine.. i will be getting them nuetered anyways...lol.. My vet loves me.. I always bring in the wierd animals

 

[EileenH]

I don't have rats at the moment, but here are my girls that I had:

This is Agatha, my heart rat. She passed away at 3 years 5 months!

Above: Agatha on the right with her new little buddy, Millicent.

Below is me with one of my new girlies, Abigail:

 

[irishbunny]

I love the middle picture! So cute!

 

[plasticbunny]

I have two rats now, and love them. They're both girls. I have mine in a large 2-storey ferret cage by Midwest that I got at Petsmart. Pricey, but worth it, and durable enough to last for many, many rats if you find that you like them enough to get more when they pass on. They LOVE to climb as high as they can, so height is much more important than floorspace.A good rule of thumb is for every rat, have at least 2 square feet. Hope this helps!

 

[Happi Bun]

My roommate has around 17 rattums! :shock: She runs a sanctuary.

I myself currently have one male (trying to get him bonded to one of her boys). I previously had three, Kip and Zee, but sadly they both passed within the past year. Kip was 2 years old when he passed and Zee was 3 years. Kip was also Bear's brother.

Here are some pics I got of Bear last night. Yes, he is a big boy.

 

[EileenH]

Bear is quite handsome! I love hoodeds, they're very special to me.

*bumping 'cause we need more rattie photos!*

 

[Snufflez]

Okay then...Lol.. I am gonna post all my rats I have and have had...

L-R Mouse(RIP) Dumbo Agouti Berkshire Rex, Sadie(RIP) Black Capped Dumbo Hairless, Auden My Agouti Masked, Thisbe(RIP) Champange Capped, Rufus Dumbo Black MismarkedHooded

Cherry(RIP) Beige Dumbo Berkshire

Maci aka MaciBear (RIP) My :heartbeat:Rat... She was a Blue Capped Dumbo. I miss her everyday.

Snufflez... my very first rat. I bought her with her headtilt from PetsMart.... She was the best first rat ever.

 

[dragynflye]

i love rats! the only thing i hated about living in alaska was that i couldn't have rats (they're illegal). i have four girls right now- lock, shock, barrel, and whispe. whispe is hairless. i lost my two dumbo girls, poppet and jack (jack was lock, shock, and barrel's sister) earlier this year. we have a critter nation cage, with an extra shelf, and LOVE it! i've had almost every single cage you can name (including superpets and martin's), and this is by far the easiest cage to clean and customize, and has so very much room. i only have the single story, but i love that i have the option to add another if i want to.

here's some of my favorite pics. i've had rats for a looooong time, and use to do a lot of rescue, so most of these are past rattiebums.

lock investigating goose playing playdough.

DSC_1951 by dragyn_flye, on Flickr

jack poking her nose out of the travel cage after a vet visit.

PA220528 by dragyn_flye, on Flickr

monty, the sweetest little dude ever. he was soooo tiny!

templeton, my heart rat, doing his jaws impression

a baby from a litter i fostered. i've always loved this pic, he looks like he's playing superman!

same baby, with his brother

more babies from that same litter, a little bit older

coen, my pretty blue boy

malcom, coen's brother. he was such a teddybear!