Rats-do they attract oudoor rats into the home?

[hellymelly]

We always have wild rats about in the garden as we live in the country. DH is right now in "pets at home" looking at rats and we are very tempted......I am worried if we get two females that we might get wild ones in looking for a laydee. Does that happen? Any other rat advice welcome!

why not pets at home? Are they not well looked after ? I had a pet rat years ago and she was from the local little pet shop I think.

oh,and how long did yours live? I'm a bit worried about that as my dds are only 5 and 7.

Both the rats I had were about three when they died. So I guess that is normal then? One had mammary tumours that were operated on a couple of times, the other had a nasty ear infection that just got worse and she had to be pts. They were lovely and I know my dds would like them but we recently lost our dog and dds chicken and I am worried they will find it hard to lose another pet, so am weighing up various small animals. Might just take the plunge and get a puppy but still feel rather heartbroken about our dog.

3 yrs is pretty good innings.

Yes wild ones might come in if you have an easy access point for the wild rats to enter anyway, like a badly covered cat flap. Not males looking for love, just wild ratties curious about whose territory it is.

I see the short lifespan as a bonus.

Pets at home rats come from massive breeding centres - basically eat factory farms. The breeding stock are kept in tiny cages, hugely overcrowded, and are constantly bred from with no respite. The cages are barren with no toys or stimulation for the rats and the babies receive no handling or socialisation. Please don't get your rats from there. Google fancy rat breeders or the fancy rat society and you will find someone near you who gives their rats a much better start in life - and they will be much better pets too.

Rat factory farms, not eat factory farms...

Well he didn't get any, I was waiting to find out more and also the only females were dumbo rats which I don't really know anything about- a member of staff there said they don't live as long, but the pets at home info sheet said they live longer ...?
Thanks for the info lurcherlover. (I'm thinking of maybe a lurcher,as it happens..) I had looked at fancy rat breeders a few months back as in general I would always choose to get an animal from an experienced and trustworthy breeder, so if we get ratties we will go down that route. DH was just right by pets at home ,and had popped in to check out small animals so it was quite tempting.

agree with lucher - dont get rats from pets at home - we did and while they were cute and friendly they were not very playful or lively and they both died young of some sort of brain problem (lost use of one side and were going around and around in circles - very distressing to watch and had to be put to sleep)

i would have rats again but only from a breeder. they make lovely pets but you need a huge cage and lots of stimulation and company.

they do not attract wild rats imo. they need to be kept indoors anyway.

Dumbo rats are EXACTLY the same as normal rats, the only difference being the shape of their ears. Lots of pet shops try to sell dumbo rats as being special in order to raise the price, and they tell all sorts of lies about them living a different lifespan/ can't be kept in same cage as normal rats (known as 'top earred' rats). It's 100% pure unadulterated bs. Akin to saying lop-earred rabbits are different to standard earred rabbits, or grey rats are a different breed to cream rats. Unfortunately pet shop workers are likely to deny this either out of ignorance or because of their sales plan. A momma rat can have a litter of both top earred and dumbos depending on genetic makeup of parents. No difference in personality either.

Sorry for the rant lol, in the12 years I've kept rats I've seen this do often it winds me up! Please don't believe dumbos are different to other rats - top earred rats get seriously abandoned and not bought because dumbos are seen as superior yet both varieties are awesome.

"a member of staff there said they don't live as long"

What absolute bollocks.

As gabeesh says, there is no difference apart from the ears.

Another thing against Pets at Home is that they use sawdust in their cages (or at least the ones I've been in do) which causes respiratory problems in rats, and can cause scarring on their lungs.

I have to confess, 5 of our previous rats were from PAH and they all had respiratory problems from the day we brought them home.

Agreed Empusa. All rats I've had from pet shops have ended up with severe early onset mycoplasmosis (sp?) or tumours. It's rare they're bred for health unless you go to a good breeder. To be fair though, PAH are trying to improve - my local ones use Carefresh now. The forum I belong to worked quite closely to raise various issues and it appears they took suggestions on board. I must say that in terms of character from pet shops my experience had been more positive - it's the health issue that is harder.

Same here. All our PAH girls were wonderfully friendly (the advantage of getting them so young), but had so many health problems. Though one did defy this and live beyond 3 years :)

All our other rats I'm unsure of whether they were from breeders or pet shops though as they were all rescues, so have no way of knowing which group are healthier.

We got our (female) rats from a good breeder and they are the best pets ever! We have top and dumbo eared in different markings (and from the same litter). They have an enormous cage downstairs (I could fit in it several times over) ...and they haven't attracted any wild rats that I know of.

They're a joy - inquisitive, intelligent and sweet. They're affectionate, don't bite (handled regularly by breeder) and one is sitting on my shoulder, grooming my hair as I type . They each know and come when called by their own names and appear to enjoy the mental stimulation of learning tricks. (And they respond enthusiastically in their own language when I mimic it )

Look up breeders in your locality, ensure you buy ones which have been handled and fed appropriately and weaned no earlier than they should be - don't encourage the breeding of battery rats by going to a pet shop - rats have relatively short little lives and every second of it should be the best it can be!

Dammit I miss my rats now! Had to rehome my last one last week and it broke my heart. Everyone should love some rats.

Aww Gabeesh, that's sad. I do rather love my the DC's rats, much to my surprise!

Op, I had meant to add that males are considered more 'cuddly' and females more 'lively' but there are exceptions to every rule and each rat, male or female, has a very different character.

Secondly, I hadn't meant to imply that an enormous cage is a prerequisite, in fact young rats often feel safer and more secure in a smaller space than they would need when fully grown but in time they would need a reasonable amount of space to climb, play, climb and explore (and climb!) in.

Thirdly, if you get a wheel, invest in a silent one!

Fourthly, (joy!) rats can be litter trained .

I miss mine too :( We decided not to get anymore once we found out I was pregnant with DS1 as we wouldn't have the time to devote to them, plus we have nowhere we can put a cage without little fingers having access to it.

One day we'll have rats again! I really want to breed them, not to sell or give away, just because I love them.

My little ones sit with their fingers and toes in the bars of the cage, giggling while they are licked and groomed to perfection

I used to do that with our PAH girls, and two of our rescue boys, couldn't do it with all of them though. Despite the rest being sweethearts and non-bitey outside of the cage, fingers through bars were apparently too tempting!

And as I can't guarantee any new rats would be non-bitey I just don't feel I can risk it. Especially as I know from experience how hard the little troubles can bite!

I know what you mean, we have been lucky we're probably going to breed from one of ours too (the very sweetest) as the breeder we bought from is happy for us to 'borrow' one of her boys as a sire and gender check for us at weaning time!