So, rats eh?

[YunoYurbubson]

I have never been the first person to post in a topic before.

Sadly I have nothing to say.

But I do own two rats.

But, still, nothing much to say about them.

I am thinking of getting two rats for the kids. Are they difficult to keep?

And perhaps more importantly do they smell?

ta!

Rats dont smell as much as mice.
No more difficult to keep than any other small animal

If you do look for some try to get a pair, they love company
A cage big enough for them , preferably one you can add shelves to, hammocks , tubes -things for them to explore.They're inquisitive.

My son has two boys who were used to being handled from very young, they're always so pleased to see us and have no fear
Some pets shop rats may not be as good being handled

I had to have my beloved rat put to sleep earlier this week. He'd been suffering from spinal problems and was unable to use his back legs
We'd adapted his cage with ramps and angled hammocks so he could pull himself about and still curl up
But he developed a tumour which our vet may have been able to remove but was doubtful if Albert would survive the op, so sadly it was the best thing to put him to sleep

I had rats years ago, and to be honest they were brilliant!

We had 5 in total as 1 of each pair kept outliving the other one and I felt bad keeping 1 on its own.

We used to let them have free reign of the living room (obv only when we were in there!) and they were great. Although terrible for pinching things off the top of the fire... money, jewellry etc etc.

At 1 point we had an alastian as well, and they all got on fine once we had taught the dog not to put them in his mouth...seriously 1 day we found the dog sat on the sofa with the rats tail hanging out of his mouth! But Patsy was fine...

Also they are really easy to train...we used to have obstacle courses in the living room!

Sorry went on a bit there...!

I've got two rats and I love them soooo much! They are great pets but if you're getting them for younger children (or disinterested older ones) be aware you might have to do a lot of the work. They are not like hamsters, they needs a lot of love and attention. Cages needs to be well cleaned out at least once a week, more if you have more than 2 rats. They cannot be kept singularly as they can get depressed! They need a really big cage and lots of toys to keep them entertained so can be expensive to set up. There's loads of great info here

We've currently got 6 girls (1 is huge and vicious, 2 are small and daft, 3 are dumbo rats)

In total we have owned 12 rats (4 huge boys, and 2 girls)

There are pictures of our girls in my profile [hgrin]

Hello :) I am a ratty mum of 8 (have had 14). I adopt them from my local rodent shelter and have done for the last 3 years. Most I have only had for literally months. No one wants the biters, the specials or the oldies. They are my favourites :) I have my special needs boys, one of which was put to sleep recently (pituitary tumour amongst other things). The other 2 special boys have seizures.

I have 3 rats who are still getting used to me, all 20 months. Then there are my 3 babies (7 months) who I dote on. So I usually take in oldies... with the occasional young ones. I love rats and think they are so under rated! They are intelligent, clean and friendly. As I say when people ask, they are as clean as the owner makes them. They need a nice big cage with lots to do and regular cleaning as they are prone to respiratory infections.

If anyone has any questions about rats please feel free to ask me.

I was a ratty mum until recently, 20 over the years. I love boys the best - much mellowed, and snuggly. They need loads of room and time out of the cage everyday to play. Good website is fancy-rats.co.UK
Tons of information and a friendly forum.