Maximus rattimus (Rats)

Member Name: PyrettaBlaze

Product:	Rats
Date:	17/01/08 (764 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: smart, fun, friendly

Disadvantages: can smell, dont live long.

People tend to be either horrified or delighted by domesticated pet rats. To those who hate them they are smelly, vicious, disease ridden animals with horrid looking tails. To those who love them, intelligent, sweet and amusing little characters that make wonderful pets. Surprise surprise, I'll be arguing for the latter position.


Rats are smelly: Not particularly. We hardly get any smell at all off our rat cage, the ferrets are far more of a problem. Like humans, you do sometimes get a bit of a stinky rat, but it is not difficult to control. Boys tend to smell more than girls.

Rats are vicious: Wild rats will pretty much eat anything, and I can see them being pretty nasty if cornered. Pet rats however, are a totally different species. I have been keeping rats since the age of 9 (I am now 23) and they usually live a couple of years...in total I've had 15 pet rats. The only vicious rat I've ever met belongs to my friend. The rat was raised on its own, and I think this is the source of the problem...rats are incredibly social and should not be kept on their own. Its fair to say that this rat is damned vicious, when she bit me it was pouring blood, but she is the exception to the rule. It is rare for a pet rat to bite unless it is scared or hurt.

Rats carry disease: Like all animals, it is mainly the parasites they CARRY that causes disease. So your dog gets fleas, swallows one and gets a tapeworm which can be passed out into the environment and eventually blind a child (its rare but it can happen if a child gets a tapeworm). Nobody blames the cute pooch, do they? Likewise, it was not the rats that spread the plague, but the beasties on them, and seeing as rats stole away in the ships, technically it was our fault they spread in the first place.


The domesticated rat came from the wild brown rat which is common in Britain, and is displacing the rarer black ship rat in the same way the grey squirrel is displacing the red (you dont hear about this because nobody cares about rats, do they? Domesticated rats evolved into lab rats which were usually white, which evolved into todays fancy rat which comes in an amazing array of colours...you can also get tailless rats, long haired rats, dumbo rats (with big ears) and hairless rats...which look damned freaky. Rats can be black, white, champagne or blue or lots of other colours, and have lots of different coat combinations.


Choosing a rat

Like all animals, buying from a breeder is better than a shop, as they tend to know more about the animals they are selling, and will be able to answer any questions you have. A good breeder will ask you questions as well.

When you are looking for a pet rat, choose one with a shiny, smooth coat, bright eyes and all toes intact, with no discharge around the mouth, nose, eyes or bum. A rat should be friendly when picked up, rats seldom bite and generally show no fear of being handled. If the rat is scared or tries to bite it reflects badly on the breeder, given how gentle they normally are. The breeders cage should be clean and not smell too bad.

With regards to which sex you get, its entirely up to you. Male rats tend to smell a little bit stronger and grow much bigger, but they also tend to be cuddlier than female rats, and they are more likely to pick one spot in the cage to go to the toilets. Female rats are more playful and poo everywhere! Both make lovely pets, but never keep an opposite sex pair together. Even if you plan to breed, a pair should be kept apart (with others of their sex) except when you plan on breeding, as two rats can turn into hundreds in an extremely short space of time.

And as I've already mentioned, rats should not live alone. They live in colonies in the wild, and unless you can lavish your ratty with hours of attention daily, they will suffer mentally...some rats do developed psychological problems from being kept alone. Male rats can be kept in pairs or trios...occasionally they may fight but providing them with enough space, food and nest boxes should keep this to a minimum. Female rats generally get along well and can be kept in groups of as many as you like.


Rat food

Rats will eat anything...and when I say anything, I mean ANYTHING. Eating a rat's favourite pastime. A good quality dry mix designed for rats and mice will be fine for them. Its a good idea to measure and record how much they are given and how much they eat as rats can get fat, and not eating is a first sign when a rat is ill.

As for treats, steer clear of chocolate, caffeine, sugar and dairy, other than that you can give them anything. Hay, A little bit of cooked pasta, a small amount of boiled egg, a small piece of dried dog food, small amounts of fruit and veg, and wee bits of lean chicken or turkey are all things that rats will love to eat. If you keep any animals that eat mealworms (such as birds or reptiles), offer one to a rat now and then as they enjoy them greatly. Only offer small amounts of foods at a time to see if the rat has any reaction to any particular foods, and to prevent sore tummies and fat rats!

Of course rats should always have a source of clean, fresh water, and a water bottle is the easiest way to provide this.


A home for a rat

Rats need lots of space to move about...I'd recommend a minimum of 2X3X2 foot for a single pair of rats...the more space you can provide them with the better, and I'd add an extra 2 foot of floor space for each rat. Cages of the size designed for chinchillas, ferrets or chipmunks (although too small for their intended animals) are a good size for these animals. Wire cages with horizontal bars are best as they allow maximum ventilation and ready made climbing frames...beware of ones with wire floors and pull-out trays however as these can hurt little ratty feet. Converted aquariums are not ideal for rats as they are not well ventilated, and this is essential to ratty health. Soft wood is not a good material for a cage either, if you are making a homemade cage use hardwood. Always use secure cages of strong material for rats are they are good at getting out of cages. You may find you need an extra fixture on cage doors, as many a pet rat has learned to open its cage door!

Rats should have a nestbox filled with soft material like hay, ideally there should be a couple of large ones so the rats can choose if they want to pile intogether or sleep on their tod. A wheel to provide exercise is a good idea in a rat cage...however, it must be large enough so that the rats back doesnt rub against the central spoke, and it must be solid, not made of bars, so that no tails or feet can get caught and injured...Wodent Wheels are ideal for rats, and you can buy special rough bits that sand the rats nails down as they run, as an added bonus. Rats love climing through tube, so cheap piping from DIY stores will go down well in their cages, as will the "hammocks" you can buy in pet shops. Multiple levels, ladders and shelves will also add interest for ratties.

Most people use shaving on the floor of the rats cage, and this is ideal, as its easy to clean out and cheap. Avoid pine or cedar shavings as the oils can be bad for ratty respiration. Other choices include plain newspaper (easy to clean but dont allow the rats opportunity to dig) shredded paper (can stain white coats and gets soppy and stinky when wet) or straw or hay (hay will be eaten but straw would be OK).

General rat care

In terms of cleaning out and feeding rats are low maintenance pets...scoop the wet patches and poo daily and change them out once a week, breaking down the cage and sterilising it once a month. Dry and clean bedding can be reused as there is no point wasting it and it will smell like home to the rats. Clean and wash out the food bowl daily and use bottle brushes and spout brushes on the water bottle...simple as that really.

The real chore in keeping rats is keeping them amused. You cannot just shove them in a cage and leave them there. Believe it or not, rats are highly intelligent animals. They need at least an hour of your attention daily (besides cleaning and feeding), so you can handle them, play with them and let them run about. Create little pipes and mazes for them. You can also train your rats...lots of rats can do tricks and most of them learn to recognise their names. Training your rat, just like training your dog, will keep it occupied and happy.


Why rats make cool pets

Rats are more fun than other small rodent pets...they are friendly and very much enjoy being handled, and they are more intelligent by far. They need more space than a hamster or gerbil, but the rewards of keeping them are far greater too.

Your rat will amaze you with how smart they are...ever hear about the psychology experiment with the buttons for the rats to press in order to get a treat? Rats have pretty high problem solving skills for animals, as you might expect from a species which has essentially colonised the entire globe. Many of my rats have learned their names without me going out of my way to teach them, and they learn to come when called, to sit up for a treat, and lots of other little tricks with no problems whatsoever.

Rats love to cuddle and play, they are very interactive pets, more so than hamsters, gerbils and mice. Once they are used to you they will come up to their cage bars when you come home so you can let them out and play with them. They will happily climb all over you, take treats from your fingers and curl up in your lap for a sleep. The closest animal I could compare them to is a dog...they are just like little rodenty dogs.

Rats are also fun to watch in their cages, they are constantly sniffing, exploring and playing with each other...watching how they interact is very enjoyable, as is watching them exhaustively exploring anything new you put in their cage. Usually a pet is either fun to handle or fun to watch, but the rat ticks both boxes.

Rats are small and clean enough to be kept in any type of accomodation from country houses to flats. They dont take up much space, and obviously dont make any noise, so they make great urban pets.

Rats are one of the few pets I can recommend to children. They are gentle and seldom bite and children tend to love their friendly, sweet natures. Of course, like any pet there should be careful consideration before buying one for a child.


On the other hand...

The biggest problem with the rat as a pet is its short lifespan. Rats tend to live until the age of two or three. Sadly there are many problems they tend to be very susceptible to...tumours and respiratory illnesses are the main ones. Because rats quickly become part of the family, saying goodbye to them after such a short period of time is tortuous...its akin to the family dog dying, to tell you the truth (this may sound mad to you, but if you ever get pet rats, you will know what I mean). They are such sweet, lovely creatures, its a shame they dont live longer.

Rats are higher maintenance than other small rodents. A rat confined to its cage all the time, and/or kept on its own, will soon develop behavioural difficulties and may become vicious. They are not demanding in terms of money or keeping them well fed and clean, but they ARE demanding in terms of your time...they need a considerably amount of it to be kept happy. They should be considered less a cage pet and more a companion like a dog or cat...a hamster, given enough space, wont mind if you play with it every day, but a rat certainly will.

Some rats can be a wee bit smelly. Most of them are fine and if smell is an issue going for a female rat will prevent these problems, but just like some humans are smellier than others, some rats are smellier than others. Its not the kind of smell that would take over your house, but think twice before letting a rat live in bedrooms.

Obviously if you have cats, ferrets or dogs with high prey drives, you might want to think twice before buying rats!

A lot of people are scared of or hate rats and will look at you very strangely when you say you keep them!


Other types of rat people keep as pets

Black (ship) rats: The other species of rat we often hear about, and the one that spread the fleas that spread the plague, this guy is becoming quite rare in the wild. Some people are now keeping these as pets. Apparently they are much wilder than the brown rat and much less handleable and willing to bite, however they can be very interesting to watch.

Pouched rats: Any rat-phobics will squeal when they hear this. The African Giant Pouched Rat is over TWO FEET in length. They also live about three times as long as a normal rat, so are clearly a much bigger responsibility and require much more space. I hear some can make gentle and affectionate pets but others can be absolute horrors to have around.

The Kangaroo rat: This used to be more popular as a pet than it is now, they are somewhat like giant gerbils with kangaroo like back legs and tufted tails. From what I've heard, these guys are very active and need a lot of space. I'm not sure if they are true members of the rat family or not.


You may be shuddering as you are reading this, but believe it or not the rat is one of the nicest small fluffy things to keep as a pet. It might not be the cutest, and those long wormy tails might be enough to make you shudder, but rats are lovely, friendly and intelligent pets, among the best small pets for children and adults alike...I swear they are just tiny dogs in a rodent fur coat.

Summary: Batty for ratties.