DD wants a rat

[tenbygirl]

Its her 6th birthday next month and she wants a rat. From what I understand if she has one, she'll actually have to have 2 as they're happier in pairs.

My main concern is do they smell?

Closely followed by how tame, friendly are they likely to be? I remember having gerbils and hamsters as a child and been too scared to pick them up as they used to nip, or jump out your hands and disapear for days.

Also - is the novelty of having a rat likely to wear off for a 6yo quite soon? I know that I will have to be responsible for supervising feeding and cleaning out. But I also don't want to be the only person who ever gives them any attention.

hi, i had a pet mouse and i must admit he did stink

they need changing veryyy regularly

my mouse was very friendly, BUT he pee'd on my hand if i held him

when he died i didnt get another

i got a snake

Hiya - We got 2 rats for dd (5) and we've had them for about a year now. I was a bit wary at first but they are brilliant!! They are unbelievably clean animals. You can put litter in their cage and toilet train them to use a specific corner. They have never been smelly - I get dd to clean them out on a Saturday - even if we miss a week they still don't smell.

They are very very friendly. They are social animals and love to be handled and heave never bitten or been jumpy like hamsters are. They know they names and will come to greet you when you call them

I'd never get anything else now.

maybe its just mice that are stinky then??

Forgot - yes, get two - they are v social and can get depressed if alone!

Also I don't think the novelty will wear off because they are so manageable and can be picked up and carried around by dd with no probs.... when I was little with hamsters I always had to sit still and be handed them in fear of being bitten!! Our 2 year old picks up the rats and they love him!

We had a wonderful pet rat at school for years, Rattus. He would sit on our shoulders for science lessons (he belonged to the lab technician) and would come when called etc.
Clean, clever, friendly - pet rats are great. They live longer too.

Boys smell more than girls. I have 5...boys...I am used to the smell nowadays...but girls do smell less!
And yes, get 2 or 3...hairless ones are lovely.

yes, get girls!

Yes, I've read that girl rats smell less. But also that girl rats are more lively, don't know if thats good or not. Don't want hyper rats

Also we have cats so am concerned about how much we could have the rats out. I suppose we could only have the rats out in the front room with door shut to keep cats out the way.

But the cage will have to go in the open plan dining room - I can't keep the cats out of there. Are the cats likely to terrorise the rats through the cage. I have a small chest about 2ft high I was planning to put the cage on.

thanks

Or they could go in dd's bedroom I suppose. But are they likely to be noisy at night and keep her awake?

Mine are up high out the way of the cat...they smell so bad the cat doesnt bother with them anyway... You need a biiggggg cage for them, we are talking 100 quids worth, maybe. Or if you have a handy DH then 30 quids worth of materials from B n Q.
We have had various homemade cages like these The wee tends to get into the wood after a while and we make another.
I also have a HUGGEEE big cage outside...think tardis size for in the summer so they can be outside in the fresh air.
I am a rat fanatic though
I would worry that the cats could pull the cage down....could you get a big glass tank? Maybe ask of freecycle?

I have one of these that you can get on ebay for under £70 delivered. It called a critter 3.
Rats are not meant to have mesh under thier feet though, so I cover the mesh in newspaper or offcuts of lino. And ive replaced the mesh ladders with wooden ones.

I was thinking of gettign the Jenny Rat cage - someone said they were big enough for 2 rats.

Also, with the cage, don't let them sell you a wire-bottom cage, the kind used for chinchillas etc... some people will tell you that they are fine for rats but they aren't, it can give them a horrid thing called bumblefoot and make their feet bleed

2 female rats yeah, its not huge though so you will need to get them out a lot! 2 male rats would outgrow it.

I like rats but they are smellier than hamsters and gerbils. My 6yo has a hamster, she's had it for 10 months now and is still devotedly caring for it, she does most of the feeding and cleaning and exercising it herself. I'm quite impressed.

whichever sort of rodent you get, get a well-handled one from a good source. preferably a private home where the little animal has been handled a lot. it makes all the difference in how tame they are. our hamster wasn't a baby, she was 16 weeks when we got her, but the shop told us she was the tamest, friendliest one. and she has been terribly tolerant of constant handling by small children.

rats are lvoely, I'd lov0e to get one again for the kids, but dp wouldnt hear of it. good luck with them.

I would avoid keeping them in a childs room, can be noisy at night and not that hygenic as bedding etc falls out the cage. Unless a huge room and there is plenty of space to keep it out of the way.

They need large cages as they get very big and are very active, they like tubes and runs etc.

Agree avoid metal cage base, hurts feet and goes rusty plus it is hard to clean.

The smell I would say comes from the cage not them, so just regular cleaning.

Go for females, I had 2 males as they were brothers but they fought. You really need to handle them a lot the less they are handle the less tame they are. Can become very tame and will play on the floor out of cage and sit on your shoulder etc. (but keep the door to the room shut .

Keep curtains and other things away from the cage as the pull them in and shread them for bedding, my curtains were wrecked.