Talk to me about rats

[Flippetydip]

We have, in theory, agreed to DD (aged 7) having her "own" pet. We currently have a guinea pig (he did have a brother) who she dotes on but who is getting on in years and I suspect may not see out another winter. However, he is very much a family pet (shared with DS - who is really not very interested in animals), as is the greyhound (kept very separately!). DD is desperate for her own pet and assures me she is old enough and sensible enough to keep one in her bedroom. She is animal obsessed and I honestly think she will look after something very carefully.

We have agreed that she can spend birthday money (in December when she will turn 8) on a small caged animal on the condition that she looks after it properly (obviously I will be helping her and will not let anything get neglected so please don't imagine for a minute I will just leave this to her and not keep any eye).

We originally thought gerbils but as a first step on the way we went to one of the Pets@Home "small furries" workshops yesterday and she is now absolutely adamant she wants rats. I'm a bit "meh" about any caged creature (I do not consider our GP as a caged animal as he pretty much free-range!) and was particularly "meh" about rats but am willing to be converted. DH was bitten by a pet rat when he was a teenager and is very anti them but again, will probably come round. DS gives not a toss.

Tell me what I need to know please - good and bad.

Thanks :)

I looked into rats when our dd (5 at the time) asked for gerbils, what put me off was everyone I spoke to said that yes they are very friendly but they are very messy & very smelly as the wee a lot. We ended up getting 2 gerbils who are lovely, they do make a bit of a mess when they dig around but they aren't smelly & because they are diurnal they are up & about most of the time. DD 6 gets them out each day, we actually bought a pop up ball pool (without the balls obv) and they go in that as she can sit in there with them & interact without worrying they will do a runner. I do still like rats though but the smell thing really put me off....

Oh I also bulk buy the bedding from a place called finacard too rather than pets at home, its a fraction of the price and is all dust extracted.

Oh that's interesting. The lady who did the "small furries" workshop has 8 rats (I feel there may have been some unwarranted bias!) and she said they're the cleanest of all small rodents because they can be litter trained so you change the litter tray each day and the entire cage doesn't stink.

I love my pet rats and I don't find they smell alot. I'm down to one at the moment as his elderly friend died and as he's not in the best of health I keep putting off introducing another. I second getting finacard it lasts forever and doesn't smell anywhere near as bad as the shop stuff. I don't make mine toys out of old fleeces platted into ropes and he loves old boxes to chew and hide in. He comes to his name and loves human interaction. Rats are the best pets I've owned.

We buy all our bedding for GP from our local independent. I just used and abused Pets at Home yesterday for their workshop - which actually turned out to be just me and DD cuddling lots of small creatures - what's not to like?!

Don'thugme - excellent, a rat owner - thank you!

Are they a lot of work? What sort of age do they live to? How big a cage do they need? Do they make a lot of noise at night? (Just thinking if they live in DD's bedroom, she is a very light sleeper).

Anything you can tell me I will be very grateful for.

I love ratties. We always had them at home. Sadly I don't have space for them anymore.
My brother had one who used to curl up and sleep in his breast pocket. He'd forget she was in there and take her to the shop

My brother had rats they absolutely stink even when kept very clean, hamsters are lovely 😊

I'm not to sure how loud they are at night as I have them in my living room. He is quite active in the evening. He loves to sit on my shoulder while I do stuff round the house ad well. I spot clean everyday and clean the cage once a week. Other than that they are pretty easy.

Tara I had hamsters as a child, never again. They are bitey, escapologist nightmares who did nothing but keep us awake chewing the cage bars all night and then escaped and died (despite an extremely secure cage - apparently, that is a very common occurrence with them!) It was very traumatic as a 10-year old!

I gather male rats have the tendency to be more stinky than females. I love the idea that they are so tamable and friendly.

I absolutely love rats, they make the best pets. They need to live in pairs as a minimum and like a fairly big cage, in height as they love climbing.

Mine didn’t make much noise at night, because they’re so social they tend to learn the routine and be awake at the times you are. They live to 2-3.

I would suggest if you can, finding someone that breeds rats rather than pets at home, but if that’s a must, make sure you pick the ones that are interested in you when you go to the cage. Not timid ones as they won’t work for new owners! I’ve had 13 rats and never been bitten. Didn’t find they smell much (I’ve had boys and girls) as long as the cage is kept clean. You can “litter train” then to make for easier cleaning. They do pee over everything in their cage but I found mine never peed out of the cage!

I'v had rats too when younger. About 8 over the years. I never found them to smell any more then any other rodent pet. I had a rat that was always on my shoulder or pocket. They are very intelligent and make great pets. Easy to clean out too.

Walking thank you, that's useful to know. Yes, I'm always slightly off-put by Pets at Home actual pets. How does one go about finding a rat-breeder?

Rats make great pets. We have two, one is mine and one is DD's. They are mostly active during the day, very friendly and will happily sit on our shoulders as we potter about. My girl is quite lazy and likes a lap to curl up on whereas DD's girl likes to play. They are lots of fun.

As for the smell factor they actually do use one corner of the cage as a toilet. Keep that clean and smells are minimal. If they are out of their cage and need to go they tend to go back to the cage. The bigger the cage the better, they like to climb.

I agree with PP, they are the best pets!

I'm not sure how much we could let them ride around on our shoulders - do they ever kamikaze off? I'm just thinking of the greyhound factor!

I goggled rat breeders in my area, made some calls and visited the breeder we purchased from. I personally wouldn't buy from Pets at Home.

No, neither have ever done that! I don't have any other pets so they do tend to free range. Maybe your DD could close her bedroom door if she has her potential rats roaming

When my DD was little we had a pouch that she could wear, almost like handbag. Rat would ride along in there. I think I found it on ebay...

www.nfrs.org/docs/NFRS_Breeders_List.pdf

That’s the fancy rat breeders list but googling as 21 works too! As long as they’re handled from young, you’ll be fine. I don’t think you’ll regret it!

Rats are fabulous creatures, highly intelligent and can be great as pets, BUT:
They need companions, so at least two.
Obviously don't mix sexes or you'll have lots of babies.
They are essentially clean animal who will quickly learn to poo in one place, so large jar on it's side/tray with litter in. Male rats do smell more than female and grow much bigger, and IME are fatter and lazier than girls.
They only live 2-3 years which is a great shame.
Females are prone to breast cancer, some boys can be 'fighty' and can damage each other and may be neutering, so vet bills can escalate.
They need to be socialised and love to play, come when they are called, sit on shoulders etc, so you have to be sure that your child is old enough to maintain their responsibility to look after them.
They need a lot of room, so big cages and frequent changes of toys to stop them become bored.
They will try to escape if you are not careful to make their environment secure, like all rodents.
Hope I haven't put you off, but I love pet rats and hate to see them not properly cared for.
There are some rat forums - worth a browse.

faded - that is exactly the sort of info I need. Not putting me off at all, but I do like to have all the facts before we take the plunge. Thank you.

That's true about boys and girls. The boys I have had are much more likely to sit and be stroked where the girls like to run about and explore. I second not getting them from p@h either as my first girls were from there and they were so hard to take as they had never been handled. The guy who got them out the cage for me was scared to even touch them.