To think that a couple of rats

[SmileEachDay]

Would make great pets. I hear good things about them: intelligent, friendly, loyal, cheap.....
Then there are people who do this > or or even < not envy...

AIBU? Mainly for 6 year old, but I accept I’ll be the one doing the majority of the hard labour.

[MyCarHasBrokenDownAgain]

I'm another one who's come on to say rats make great pets! These are my latest boys, I lost the brown one a couple of weeks ago. The loved to sit and watch TV with me . As everyone else says, get a pair, and from a breeder (about £30) and the biggest cage you can. They love to play and need lots of toys and stimulation.

And just a word of warning - they need vet care the same as any other pet - my boy cost me close to £100 in vet bills before he died - they're not a disposable pet just because they're cheap to purchase.

[whoami24601]

Been reading this thread to DH as I'm desperate for a pet rat and have been for years! He's still not convinced though Help me!

[Clem7]

whoami24601 - you need at least two.

[TheKitchenWitch]

DS1 has three, and we got them having read loads and really looked into what would be the best pet for him.

They are lovely and great fun to watch. HOWEVER, they most certainly do bite: this was a real shock, as according to all my research rats were the least likely of rodent pets to bite. Two of ours have bitten both ds and myself, and this is despite lots of careful handling and asking for help and advice from various rat forums. They were proper, hard, bleed-like-fuck bites, and since then we're both very wary of handling them at all :(

But they have a huge cage, with lots of places to hide and play. The cage needs cleaning every single day, they make an astonishing mess every night and they (all males) piss absolutely everywhere. They do, however, use the toilet for poos, which they didn't at first, so that at least is good :)

I still think they are lovely little animals - they are so intelligent, and watching how they interact with each other is so sweet - but must admit that our experience has put me off having this type of pet again.

[strawberrypenguin]

Rats are brilliant pets! They are intelligent and love human company. Mine used to ride round on my shoulder! Girls smell less than boys and tend to be a bit more active.

[RandomUsernameHere]

@MyCarHasBrokenDownAgain they are gorgeous!
Really want some but don't really have the space unfortunately, not sure DH would want a massive cage in the sitting room!

[strawberrypenguin]

Rats do not dribble piss. Mice do but rats do not.

[MyCarHasBrokenDownAgain]

@Random Thank you! I used to have lots as a kid, got back into them a few years ago after a colleague was getting rid of some. Have now had large cage in lounge for years

I've had boys that both dribble wee and don't - my last few haven't. With regards to bitey rats - I've found it's rare, although my black boy can be a bit temperamental sometimes (tbh he's a bit of a cunt!), BUT he's very much the exception, and having had rats for years I can deal with his 'quirks'! It's all about working out what mood he's in ...

[whoami24601]

clem7 of course! I'm working on the basis of one, then I'll throw in the fact that they have to be a pair

[LadyDeadpool]

@Thekitchenwitch with your bitey boys I don't know if you've tried these tips but if not - hands clean every time you go to touch them, with plain hand sanitiser, hold your hand in front for them to sniff first and if they do bite squeal loudly so they realise they're hurting you. If you're wary try wearing thick gloves but doing the squeal again if they bite they do learn that they're hurting you as it's what other rats will do too. It might take some time but they'll get there. Give them lots of treats when they're calm and not biting so they learn to associate your hands with good things.

[beepthemeep]

Rat wee:

aboutpetrats.com/pet-rat-urine-marking-litter-box-training.html

[TheKitchenWitch]

Ah thanks LadyDeadpool, we have indeed tried all that. I screamed very loudly indeed when I was bitten as it really, really hurt - it was not just a little "nip".
They are incredibly shy and usually hide when ds does the cage / feeds them. One is slightly bolder though (oddly enough he's never bitten) and will sit waiting for dinner, but the other two scamper into their house. DS will only do cleaning and feeding wearing special gloves now as he's just too scared of getting bitten again.
I do realise that we are very unlucky that they are like this - we still enjoy having them, and they are very well looked after, but it's not what either of us was hoping for, and certainly not what everyone else here is describing their rats like.

[Gide]

Get dumbo rats, they are so incredibly cute! Id love some, but the dog would eat it and I can’t bear things in cages these days.

[Clem7]

KitchenWitch - how much out of cage time do they get per day? They sound like they’ve become very territorial.

[Welshmaenad]

They make fab pets! Very friendly and intelligent and clean - they can be litter trained. They're brilliant pets for children. You should have at least two and they need a large cage with vertical bars and lots of toys/things to climb.

[Clem7]

And, at a bare minimums, 30 mins play time outside the cage every day.

[Welshmaenad]

This was our cage setup for four girls. We used dog toys attached to the cage with small karabiner clips.

[frasier]

DP use to have one as a child but did say it could be smelly! I think there is a lot of cleaning maintenance.

[Clem7]

They do smell, like all animals, but not as bad as a dog, or a cat that uses a litter tray. They do require lots of maintenance and attention though.

[SmileEachDay]

How do you litter train them? That’s amazing!!

[Clem7]

They tend to pick one corner to poop in. You put their litter in that corner to start, then move it we’re you want it. Only works for poops though!

You can train them to do tricks too

[Clem7]

[BouncyFlouncy]

Not read the full thread yet so not sure if it's been said but I'm a long term (25years+) rat keeper and whilst they are fab pets they certainly aren't a cheap option. If you get females they are prone to rumours and they will need removing and lots of other issues (males too) that may need vet treatment. For example my last bill for a tumour removal in December just gone was £130.

They also need an extremely large cage, much bigger than you would think and again they don't come cheap.

Please make sure you do your research first, there are some great articles on the NFRS website (national fancy rat society).

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I had mice years ago . I can't say they dribbled pee (well certainly the females didn't) but male mice STINK.

One of the females was already pg and they were so tidy with the little babies, they (2 females) took the dirty litter out and replaced with fresh so we could take it away.

Our guineas are messy, pee/pooh everywhere but oddly the boars are cleaner than sows IME