Two Questions

[magcpen]

Okay, I don't have pets yet, but I want one, so I'm asking, are rats good pets? And will rats cut too much into family time? Do they bite. Also, for my next science fair I'm considering doing an experiment where I'd shine a flashlight on a caterpillar's cocoon and see if the morphing process was affected, and I wanted to know, that's not inhumane, is it? Thanks.

[binka_nugget]

Welcome to pet talk

From what I've heard, rats make wonderful pets. That is, if you're willing to commit to cleaning the house/cage and willing to spend lots of time playing with them. After a bit of reading, I think they're not as easy to care for as it seems. Of course, I don't have any but I'd love to have ratties one day soon. Wolfsoul has two wonderful handsome little rattie boys....just wait till she sees this thread. I'm sure she'll tell you more about rats...

[luckies4me]

YES RATS MAKE GREAT PETS!!!!!


I am currently a hobby breeder of pedigree fancy rats, you can view my site by clicking the WWW in my profile. Rats are fun, intelligent, clean critters. They rarely biteunless provoked (tortured basically, like stabbing through the bars etc. yes people do do this. )


Even rats who have never been handled rarely bite. They do require a friend of the same sex, as they are very social. They live about 3 years, and some longer if you take really good care of them. They are very social and a few hours a day at least needs to be spent with them, and this is another reason why friends are so special. They do need a spacious cage, at least a 30 gallon tank sized space for two rats, and of course, more is better. They also enjoy little hidey areas, hammocks, and bird toys. I can take a pic of my cages if you like and it can give you some ideas.

They need to be housed on a safe bedding such as Carefresh, aspen pellets or similar beddings. Pine and cedar are not safe as they contain toxic phenols which build up in the respiratory tract and can cause severe irritation.


As far as feeding is concerned, rats require both meat and veggies/fruits. I feed my rats a homemade mix which contains pumpkin seends, dried spiral pasta, Innova senior dog food, Harlan Teklad lab blocks, dried fruit such as papaya, mango and apple, dried bananna, sunflower seeds, oat groats, almonds and other nuts, soy nuts, millet and other things. Things to avoid should be corn (dried as it can contain mold and fungus...grose!), raw sweet potatoe, blue cheese dressing, oranges (bad for boy ratties), and some others. I can send you a link to my feeding article if you wish. They also get fresh fruit and veggies everyday and the occasional very yummy treat, such as leftover pizza, stir fry, yogies, chicken bones or pork bones, and cake.

Browse my site a little, and you will find out how cute and cuddly they are!

P.S. You can see one of my baby ratties (all grown now) in my avitar and my dumno merle doe in my sig, who is due tomorrow with her first litter.

[wolfsoul]

Rats make wonderful pets!! I have some ratty boys

But they are very hard to take care of if you want them to live a good and healthy life. They need tons of out-of-cage time, and their diet requires alot more than seed mix. If you want an animal with a convenient diet and that will not mind staying in it's cage, then I'd get a hamster or a gerbil. Unless you want only one pet --- in that case I'd just get a syrian hamster (teddy bear, black bear, golden), as rats need to be in social groups to be happy (unless you rescue a rat that has been alone most it's life and does not like other rats).

[CathyBogart]

Keep in mind also that you have to be prepared to spend money on vet bills. Sometimes a LOT of money.

[magcpen]

Thank you, everyone, first of all, but it just occured to me to ask can rats use plastic balls that roll around? And now do I prove to my family that rats aren't vermin, lol?

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by magcpen
Thank you, everyone, first of all, but it just occured to me to ask can rats use plastic balls that roll around? And now do I prove to my family that rats aren't vermin, lol?

They can, but I haven't known any that will do it willingly. Mine just sit in the ball screaming at me, trying to get out. So I gave up on that...Keep in mind that they would need a pretty big ball.

Most don't like wheels either.

EDIT: I find that with my rats, a ball really stresses them out. The last time I tried, I found that afterwards the balls inside was soaked with porphyrin (red dishcarge). Rats like to choose their own small spaces, and a rolling ball doesn't seem to be one of them...

[luckies4me]

Originally posted by WolfChan
Keep in mind also that you have to be prepared to spend money on vet bills. Sometimes a LOT of money.

I second that!!! I have spent literally thousands of dollars already, it can be expensive, so you also have to consider that aspect. Although I have more rats than most people do.


As far as balls go, my experience has been if you lock them in there they hate it, if you disconnect it and leave it open in the cage it can provide a sort of nesting area, that my ratties like.

As far as disease is concerned, you can't catch much from a pet rat, and you cannot get rabies from them neither.