Rats are popular family pets that can be enjoyed by all ages. Small children should be supervised, as is true of all pets, but pet rats rarely bite and are easy to care.
If you have decided to get a pet rat I've outlined what you will need to properly care for your new pet.
Choosing a Rat:
When choosing a rat you'll want to pick one with zero signs of upper respiratory disease, that means avoid rats with drainage around the eyes and nose, noisy breathing, and odor from the mouth or ears.
Make sure the rat you choose has nice thick fur without hair loss and scabs on the skin, that could indicate parasites. Also look at the temperament when choosing a new rat. Avoid rats that are skittish or aggressive. Take time to handle the rats before deciding.
Male rats are generally larger and more laid back and females tend to be smaller and more active. If you get two rats they'll make great companions for each other but get two of the same sex other wise you may end up with babies in 19 - 23 days, and to give you a fair warning a litter can have as many as 6 - 12 babies. Rats are very difficult to properly sex when they are young, I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in the pet store.
Cage:
You will obviously need a cage for your rat to live in. A small rodent cage with an exercise wheel works fine but it needs to be a minimum of 12" x 24" (15 gallons). Rats like to climb so add some ladders but avoid the tubes you might see in some cages, they are hard to clean. Rats do like to burrow so add some hiding places and bedding. I would avoid cedar or pine bedding; rats can have an allergic reaction to it and it can carry mites. The cage should be cleaned as needed but a minimum of once a week is best.
Food:
Rats are pretty easy when it comes to their diet because they can eat what we eat. There are rodent pellets available but if that is all they get they can become vitamin deficient - they tend to pick out what they like therefore their diet becomes incomplete if they are only fed the rodent pellets.
There are some foods to avoid due to toxicity, those include:
chocolate,
raw beans,
carbonated drinks,
raw sweet potato,
blue cheese,
raw red cabbage,
raw brussel sprouts,
raw artichokes,
orange juice,
green bananas,
green potato skin and eyes,
rhubarb,
dried corn,
cucumber,
radishes,
spinach,
collards,
turnip greens,
beets,
almonds and,
Swiss chard
Rats do like treats, just like all pets, some good ones include:
Rice Krispies, Cheerios, Total, strawberries, grapes, watermelon, apple, carrots, peanuts - unsalted, if you buy peanuts in the shell it's neat to watch them eat them. Rats are intelligent, you can use the treats to teach them tricks.
Water:
Rats need water, of course, use a water bottle attached to the cage. You should give fresh water daily. Rats also like to wash themselves and their food so adding a small bowl of water in the cage might make them happy.
F.Y.I.:
Rats like baths, just like a dog. They also need to have their nails trimmed - you can learn to do this yourself or take it to a veterinary clinic and ask them to do it.
Rats should be handled a lot for socialization purposes. A new pet rat might urinate and defecate on you at first but this is due to nerves and will stop when the rat gets more used to you and to being handled.
A rats teeth are consistently growing so it will need special chews to help keep them ground down. You can get these at a pet store.
The sad truth is that these special pets don't live nearly long enough. Their life expectancy is about 2 - 3 years. Rats can suffer from obesity, mammary tumors, and chronic respiratory disease. Don't think you can't take your pet to a veterinarian for care, many doctors see pet rats on a regular basis and can treat many of these ailments.
The copyright of the article Pet Rat Care in Pet Care is owned by Charla Dawson. Permission to republish Pet Rat Care must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
May 23, 2006 6:59 PM
Chrissy Dolezal
:
I have to admit as an adult having a pet rat completely grosses me out. But I remember as a kid a friend of mine had a pet rat and I loved it. I thought it was so cute. It would crawl through my long hair and ride on my shoulder when I was at her house. I remember bringing him to my house one day and begging my mom if I could get a pet rat too. Needless to say she wasn't happy and I never got one. Now, I understand...I don't think I would want my kids to have one either...what can I say, I'm a dog-person
May 24, 2006 8:12 PM
Joy Butler
:
I think it's a learned stigma. I'm a dog person too and I've never had a pet rat but really they're not any different than any other little animal and I've had just about everything else at one time or another. :)
May 25, 2006 5:13 PM
Charla Dawson
:
I've never had a pet rat but from my personal experiences with them I definitely would own one. They really are cool pets. I prefer them over gerbils and hamsters.
Jun 12, 2006 1:44 PM
Jennifer W. Miner
:
Charla, we don't have a rat (none INSIDE anyway, LOL), but my daughter got a hamster for her birthday. It's a rodent too, so I'm wondering if the care is essentially the same. It used to be very curious and affectionate -- well, not affectionate, but at least not grouchy -- and lately it's been biting and not being curious or "sniffy." Could it be sick? Thanks. Jen M. http://luxuryresorttravel.suite101.com
Jun 12, 2006 5:33 PM
Charla Dawson
:
Hi Jen. For the most part cage care is the same but you should do some research for diet requirements. If the hamster is biting humans it may have been startled but some hamsters will bite when restrained. A new hamster may not be tame. They are not as people friendly as rats. Hamsters should be kept single because they will fight with other hamsters and they are notorious escape artists. I would do some research to check out any helpful hints for keeping hamsters. http://www.hamstercare.co.uk/# This is a link to a hamster care website. Have fun with your new pet, hamsters can be fun and rewarding pets.
Jul 2, 2006 1:49 PM
Neville howard
:
Ok Funny but scary story.
Up to a few months ago, I was the proud owner of 6 Snakes. 2 Burmese Pythons, 1 Red Tail Boa, 2 Cal King Snakes, and 1 Eastern King Snake.
I used to buy my food dead from the petshop. Our local petshop owner was in hospital following a heart attack, and his shop assistant knew little else than to work the cash register. Soooo Instead of my batch of dead mice and rats, he gave me live ones.
Ok, it was like the worst experience to feed live mice and rats to my snakes. Snakes had to eat though. 31mice and rats later, I was left with one rat-pup. The python took it, and then, for some reason rejected it. The Rat put, wet and shivering was in the cage for an hour or so, until we couldn't take it anymore.
Now 8months later, we're the proud owners of a rat! Looked after it from when if was a few days/week old. And I got rid of all my snakes (I miss them, I do!)
Anyway, This rat quickly showed signs of being a wee bit less than 'normal' (I've had a few pet rats/mice in my life), it started twitching, sneasing, and jumping spontaniously. I few weeks later, it developed small white sores on it's ears and nose, and a few more weeks later, it looked like the rat grew two horns on it's nose (And ears)! The white spots all turned browm, and created scab like sores on it's nose and ears. Two weeks later, they broke off, and where gone, but it was just a question of time between they started regrowing! Really weird. I've searched all over the internet to try and find out what the cause may be, but can't find anything. Besides the fact that it's got this 'infection' it's perfectly happy and normal!?
Needless to say we seldom to ever handle the ratty because of it, and when we do, it's with welding gloves. It's totally tame etc, but we dunno what's wrong with it. The Vet's in South Africa (Where I live) would probably just put it down, and we're hoping for an alternative to it??
ANY HELP??? :)
Jul 3, 2006 7:36 PM
Charla Dawson
:
I have never seen what you are describing but my first thought is a parasite or an allergy. From what you said about the twitching I wonder if the skin isn't itchy. The scabs could be from scratching. I would have to recommend a veterinarian and just tell them you are not interested in euthatnasia, that you want to treat the problem. A vet should be able to treat allergies or parasites (if that is the problem). Good luck, I hope you find a vet that can help. I wish I had some more information for you but I'm at a loss.
Charla Dawson
Jul 4, 2006 1:37 PM
Neville howard
:
I'll take a photo, and load it onto my reply (If the posts allow images!) Just for interest sake. Thanks. I don't think it's scabs by they way, some of the groths are like 5mm ling, and as they fall off new ones appear!
