....and tell me about rats as pets. DS has almost finished the month of oet care he had to do in order to get his own pet. He wants rats (a pair).
I'm fine with that, but what will we need?
All advice welcomed.
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Small pets
Ratty people, scamper thus way....
31 replies
QueenofLouisiana · 17/04/2015 18:58
OP posts:
MrsTrentReznor ·
24/04/2015 08:51
Feel free to share lots of squishy pictures!
Good luck OP. You'll love them. 
RattieofCatan ·
24/04/2015 08:41
I remember, I didnt use them but we have the details at our parents houses just in case we need them when visiting :) its good to know where we can go if things aren't good whilst we're in Essex!
I love my squishies. They are all lovely its going to be difficult to leave the rat show on Sunday without bringing home another one! Especially if she's got any runts that need homes, Ashi may have issues but I would love another runt, they're so cuddly and sweet.
MrsTrentReznor ·
24/04/2015 08:22
Oh god I miss my boys. 
I spoke to you about rodentologists in Essex ages ago Ratty (probably a different name... )
Did you use them at all?
One day I'm going to get gorgeous squishy boysies again. I shall have a heated room with tubes all over it and several squishes lazing about. 
I can daydream...
RattieofCatan ·
24/04/2015 08:09
The cage is a bitch the first time! Have fun ;)
Ashi really is a poser, he is so easy to photograph. Withte others its luck, but with him you can just get a good photo every time.
It was January last year that Howl got behind the fridge! We'd had him for a few hours and he hadn't even set foot in his cage yet We've finally fixed the spot he got through too, a year later 
and he is still troublesome!
70isaLimitNotaTarget ·
23/04/2015 22:21
Your rattie boy was just born to pose for photographs wasn't he?
"Quick, Camera" the rats chortle "Look cute"
"Okay Dokey"
Seems a long time ago that your two boys escaped behind the fridge (little toads) .
RattieofCatan ·
23/04/2015 19:46
dreaming That sucks :( We had similar issues with our most local breeders which is how we ended up getting our first pair from so far away! It may be worth asking local pet shops where they get theirs from, some are stocked by local breeders who may not be NFRS, but are better than where the pet chains tend to get their rodents from. Then you can go to those breeders directly.
These are my three from my local breeder. I'm very lucky. She's having an open day/Show on Sunday which I'm really looking forward too The two girls, Zhaan and Aeryn (Aeryn is the brown, Zhaan the black) are actually Ashi's big sisters too, the girls are from the same litter and Ashi was born a few months later.
DreamingOfAFullNightsSleep ·
23/04/2015 19:28
rattie, such gorgeous pictures! Im getting rat envy from this thread.
Good luck with your local breeder queen We wanted to venture into rats, maybe. Our locals breeders which I found on the NFRS site don't seem to reply to any form of communication (bar one- I contacted 4) and she won't have any kittens any time soon, maybe late autumn. Sorry to jump into your thread, I am having a day of frustration over trying to choose pets and we have almost given up on rats for not being able to get any and turning to guineas or rabbits We're north west.
QueenofLouisiana ·
23/04/2015 07:17
I've found a local breeder and will contact them- our rural location made me worry about transporting poor ratties for miles, but actually it's only 6 miles or so. The are on the NFRS site so I hope they are good.
DH still not totally sold on the idea- despite looking at all your beautiful photos. However, he wasn't sold on guineas or gerbils before we had those either
OP posts:
RattieofCatan ·
22/04/2015 22:51
70 we gave them boiled eggs last week for the first time. The girls fought over them but three seemed to try to eat the egg without destroying the shell, then Zhaan came and smashed the two eggs to pieces
Ashi wasn't interested in the egg piece I gave him and the big boys just ate what they could between snatching pieces off of each other. None of them were able to break the shell without help though.
It was Oreo who nipped DP, she did it again last night which he's unimpressed with. We are so complacent having had 6 rats who just haven't nipped in ages that we've both "forgotten" how to be wary around a new rat 
It's just getting back into the habit of not constantly touching/playing with her and giving her space until she's settled. The four girls are still working out the heirarchy so it may be a while!
Queen I'd actually say it's better to have non-rescues first, rescues can have issues and it can put you off of rats for life trying to deal with a nippy, stressed and scared creature who seems to be terrified of you!
Where in the country are you? There will likely be an NFRS breeder near you. All fancy rats are the same breed, they just have different varieties (colours and patterns). You'll get more standard varieties with breeders and mismarked rats from hobby breeders/pet shops usually, but the opposite can happen depending on the parentage of the babies!
A pet shop rat is (theoretically) more likely to get ill and more likely to have behavioural issues, purely because of their upbringing.
However, saying that, one of my pet shop rescues (Nibbles, the one I've had for a year) has never had to see the vet and whilst she was nippy when we got her, after a few months of work she's now the sweetest girl! I know people who have gotten pet shop rats who are lovely from the beginning, and my two oldest boys are from a breeder who is supposedly one of the best in the country, but both are quite stand-offish behaviour-wise. I would always advise NFRS breeders if possible, but with time and effort all rats can be lovely companions :)
70isaLimitNotaTarget ·
22/04/2015 22:10
Queen we used to have a really good local Petshop, they handled the animals regularly.
The owner let my DS cuddle one of their rats (they recommended boys as they're lardier)
We ^don't6 have rats but I think with most rodenty types the boys are cuddlier if a bit stinkier, though that depends alot on their cage hygiene too.
Whenever we see male rats in Petshops, they're always sleeping like Ratties boys photo. The girls are swinging round like Total Wipeout
QueenofLouisiana ·
22/04/2015 22:02
No rescue ratties to be found locally, which is a shame as we'd prefer to be a forever home, just as we have been for Mutty Dog.
It looks as though these ones will be pet shop ratties, perhaps branching out to specialist types later if DS gets the rat bug.
We got them Mambles cage as it came within budget and gives space to put toys in. We have hammocks, tubs and an igloo- oh and a wheel. These rats will have a more comfy life than me
OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget ·
22/04/2015 22:01
Awww they are so sweet, their cute little paws all tucked in .
Do your rats eat boiled eggs Rattie - I've ben told they peel them and eat them.
You could take a photo of them doing this (if they do) and post it.
Guinea pigs don't do holding or peeling
RattieofCatan ·
22/04/2015 21:33
Great! What did you go for in the end?
& have you managed to find a breeder or are you buying the ratties from a shop? Males or females? Are they babies or rescues?
My two big boys in the photos, Howl and Haku hammocking together and Howl with his bone
QueenofLouisiana ·
22/04/2015 21:09
Ratty house arrives tomorrow.
Ratties will settle in at the weekend. Yay!!
OP posts:
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RattieofCatan ·
20/04/2015 07:27
Funny how we were talking about nipping last night too, our new rescue gave DP a nice nip on the palm of his hand last night. His fault, she'd just had a dominance scuffle with our old girl, he was stroking her and then decided to tickle her belly Bearing in mind that this girl has only just started letting us handle her and even then it's only really him allowed to, she doesn't like me! He's a twod. He also pokes his fingers through the bars at our old lady rescue, who was obviously fed through the bars before we got her as she grabs on very quickly when you poke her through the bars!
RattieofCatan ·
20/04/2015 07:23
That's similar to the one my boys go in when they stay with the rat sitter. It's a decent size, not ideal for height but the floor space is good! Height is difficult to get without going upwards of £60.
Cons of it would be that your son will need help cleaning it out most likely, the roof going back on can be a little fiddly (I had a cage with a similar roof, we'd get one side down and the other would dislodge!) but it's not too much of an issue. The rats may be able to figure out how to open the doors if they're clever enough. My boys can't because they're idiots a bit dumb 
I've only known of one rat to open doors like that and considering my breeder uses cages with similar doors for her babies and breeding pairs it's not a huge thing to worry about! Just something to bear in mind (adding a paperclip or binder clip will stop it opening if it becomes an issue).
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