Rat keepers?

[Buspirone]

Lately I've been thinking about maybe getting 2 or 3 male fancy rats and I've been looking at some of the rat boards and the people there seem to clean enclosures almost everyday. Is that really necessary?.....how much stink can a few rats make? I figured a weekly cleaning(change bedding, clean toys) would be necessary with a major cage cleaning every 2 or 3 weeks but the posts I've read make it sound like cleaning the cage and switching out toys everyday is absolutley necessary to keep the smell bearable. Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

[atavuss]

I breed rats..........I keep 1 male with 3 females in 66 quart sterilite brand plastic opaque bins. I use aspen bedding and clean the bins once a week. after about 5 days the smell starts to get noticable. the lids have the middle part cut out and 1/4" mesh pop riveted in for ventilation.
Ed

 

[Mojo Jojo]

I think that 1 week is fine.

I personally recommend using a cage instead of a tank or tub. That allows for more air circulation for the rats and also keeps the smell in check. I think that aspen shavings are a good substrate.

I don't recommend getting more than one male. If your looking to not get babies, then just get all females. Or I think that you can also get the males neutered.

Jon

 

[Weapon-X]

re

can you oder live rats online shipped? if so any links?, Jeff

 

[Ravnos]

I use both bins and cages, depending on age of the rats and escapability - but I've never had much of a problem with replacing substrate weekly and doing full scrub outs every month or so. They are pretty clean animals. Much easier to deal with than my mice.

Rav

 

[Dragoon]

Hello.
I kept two male pet rats for a couple years.
Not all males are compatible, getting two from the same litter or at a very young age is your best bet. I went through two young males before I tried the third, and Rascal accepted the youngster. They learned to love each other very much. Rats really need the company of another rat.

Wire is VERY hard on their feet. Makes them prone to sores. I had a huge plastic rabbit cage that I added shelves and ladders to. I washed it out once a week, and used woodchips.

I also bathed the rats on cleaning day. I was using shampoo in the kitchen sink, but Socrates developed a rash. So instead, I filled the sink to shoulder height with warm water the same temp as their warm bodies, and sat each rat in the sink (one at a time!!). They will try like the dickens to jump out, or cling to your arm. That hurts, so learn to keep your hand behind their shoulders. I would ruffle their fur in the water for a minute, then take out and wrap in a fluffy tea towel.
Fluff your rat up, and set down on the counter while you do the other one. They are so busy trying to lick all the water off, its funny!
And they stay clean and nice smelling for a week.

Male rats dribble pee everywhere, they can't help it. Females generally don't, so might make the better pet. Males are more outgoing, IMO.
D.

 

[Buspirone]

Well I got a book on rats and have been reading through the rat boards. Debbie Ducommun seems to be to rats what Stan Shultz is to tarantulas...at least as far as writing books that are respected by enthusiasts for their accurate information at the time of printing.

I think the sores your referring to is "brumblefoot"? Most of the current stuff I read says that diet, genetics and general health have more to do with it than wire cages but most people still recommend covering the wire ramps/levels with towels, tiles or needlepoint canvas.

I'm still undecided but if I do decide to get a few I'm going to look for 2 or 3 young male rats and I'm going to order a Martin's Cage which appears to be the caging of choice by many enthusiasts on the two forums I've been visiting. Martins is located 90 minutes from me and even with shipping costs the cage is the same price as a lower quality similar cage from a pet store. Thanks for the responses!

 

[Caska]

I have 4 rats, 2 fancy and 2 hairless and the smell isn't too bad. I use Carefresh bedding, it's almost completely dust free and seems to control the odor and absorb really well. I clean their cages once a week and wipe down the inside with Poop-Off (you can find it with bird stuff at most pet stores). It's a natural cleaner/deoderizer so it won't harm the rats at all. I also bathe them all every other time I clean their cages. They have a "critter shampoo" called Squeaky Clean that seems to work well. It smells kind of like baby powder and doesn't irritate their skin at all. The hairless ones are each in their own 10 gallons with wire lids (so they don't catch a draft, they get cold very easily) and my 2 fancy rats share a 20gal long with an additional wire cage topper on it, so it doubles the size of the cage. They don't have any problems with the wire, but they are not forced to be on it all the time since the bottom of the cage is an aquarium. As far as personality goes with the different sexes the males I've been around are much calmer. All of mine are females and they like to run around on me more than males I've held but they never run off. Male or female rats make equally good pets IMO. The pee dribbling is marking, if you're the rats person, it's probably going to try and mark you eventually. Three of my females do this, it isn't very much and doesn't really have a smell to it but it can get annoying.

 

[Katy]

dont put two males in the same cage together, they fight, i've never had more than one at a time, but my friend has two and they both ended up with cuts and sores on their faces and ears from fighting. other than that, they're great pets, each one has a differents personality, and they're always happy to see you! a cage is best, easy to clean, allows for circulation and they can look around at whatever's going on in the room, mine has his own place on top of a counter and we leave his cage open and he runs around on his little space and gets closed up at night. give them some plactic or cardboard tubes to run around in and chew up, a cracker box the sleep in (change that every time you change the cage), and maybe a salt lick (mine doesnt care about his, but some other rats might...) and make sure to hold them at least once a day, they're really affectionate, just set them on your shoulder and they'll stay there while you talk on the phone or watch tv or whatever. the best food is the pellets that pretty much have all the food blended into one, as opposed to the mixed seeds where they can pick out only the ones they want. ours has his cage cleaned about once a week or more.

 

[Beardo]

All of my rats are in the freezer. =D

 

[Code Monkey]

The information about males is false in terms of their compatibility. I've kept groups of females and I've kept groups of males. The only catch is that it works best when you start with juveniles and raise them together but even that is not saying you can't introduce them later in life. Of course, being males, if fights do break out it will probably be more violent than with females (but the women have their pecking orders as well).

Also, whoever thinks that females don't urine mark as much as males has probably never owned a bunch of "lady" rats - both sexes mark with urine, it's just what they do. If a little rat pee freaks you out, don't get rats of either sex. I think the misconception regarding males is because they are more conspicuous when the do it - gotta drag that belly where their weiner is

Pet speaking, I think males work best - their personalites are just more "dog like" than females. I've had males that would literally sit in my lab and lick my arm while I worked on the computer. I've also had some females that were like that, but it seems to be more typical with the boys.

As for cleaning, get some sort of open wire cage for the sides and a bottom you can wash out. Aspen bedding or carefresh works fine and doesn't need changed more than once a week or so, they really are clean animals that don't smell much at all.

 

[Immortal_sin]

we've kept rats for about 5 years now. I usually clean oncer per week. I use Carefresh bedding. A couple male rats I had awhile back learned to use a little container in their cage as a toilet, and it was super easy to keep them clean! Both sexes scent mark, and get at least 2, since they need company.
I've found females to be more hyper and energetic, and males to be more laid back. Also, I've found dumbos to be more energetic then the regular eared ones.
I'd get them small, and littermates if you can do that.
Yes, Debbie is the 'rat lady' and has very good advice.
The biggest downside is the short life span, and the disease they carry (which I can't for the life of me remember the name) that makes them sneeze..it's some sort of respitory problem. They all carry the gene, and only some ( a fairly large percentage I think) are symptomatic.
Keeping them clean, and well ventilated, with the dust to a minimum will help them live a more healthy life.
I never feed them commercial foods either. We feed them nuts, seeds, fruit, veggies, meat, etc. Almost the same things we eat. I just don't feed them alot of chips, sweets, etc.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Immortal_sin
The biggest downside is the short life span, and the disease they carry (which I can't for the life of me remember the name) that makes them sneeze..it's some sort of respitory problem. They all carry the gene, and only some ( a fairly large percentage I think) are symptomatic.

You're thinking of mycoplasmosis and it's a bacterium, not a genetic disorder. Since it's so contagious, though, almost every sizeable rattery has it to some degree. Kept well ventilated, they usually grow out of it.

 

[Immortal_sin]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
You're thinking of mycoplasmosis and it's a bacterium, not a genetic disorder. Since it's so contagious, though, almost every sizeable rattery has it to some degree. Kept well ventilated, they usually grow out of it.

thanks..I knew if I screwed up, you'd correct it!