Rats, the full story, please!

[Italiangreyhound]

Hi, one of my kids is very keen to have two pet rats. I am not so keen. We have had a few pets (hamster and cats, not at the same time).

I am quite keen for my child to get experience of handling rats before we actually buy one, teenagers don't always know what they want.

Any advice about where to get contact with rats, be able to handle them etc before we take the plunge?

No friends have rats! Loads of friends with hamsters and none with rats!

Many thanks.

Does your child know anyone else with rats?
For what it’s worth, I think they are brilliant pets. I have just got 3 adult girls (last month) which are ‘for’ my 10 year old DD. However, DH and I both love rats and had them for years before we had our DC. So if DD loses interest (and she won’t, she’s so in love with them that she cries at their ‘adorableness’ daily), I’m still happy as I have rats!

Sorry, I didn’t answer your questions! I don’t know about where to handle them, except for finding a friend who hasn’t them.
They’re not easy, always. One of ours is a bit bitey. They need a good amount of time out of the cage - ours get a couple of hours each day in DD’s bedroom.

Are you near a city farm or petting zoo which has rats. They often have options for teenagers to do voluntary work looking after the animals?

Thanks all.

Re "Are you near a city farm or petting zoo which has rats. They often have options for teenagers to do voluntary work looking after the animals?".

There is nothing near us at all. I wonder if we can visit a breeder and just look!

If we do this I want to wait until after the summer hols because no idea who will care for rats when we go away.

Just out of interest, if we went to relatives etc could we take the rats by car in the cage? How big does a rat cage for two rats need to be?

@parrotonmyshoulder and @friedeggsandcustard

do you have pet insurance for rats?

Rats are amazing, funny, clever and affectionate. But to be fair to them, they need lots of stimulation, a good amount of free range time out of the cage every day (one hour minimum, but ideally more), lots of toys and enrichment activities, and a good relationship with their main carer.

If you get them, please be very sure that your DC will not get bored and neglect them. It is not at all the same thing as getting a hamster, they are more like mini dogs (though more clever).

Male rats tend to be more cuddly and affectionate, but have a tendency to scent mark a lot. They can be smelly and need a lot of cage cleaning, though can be trained to go to the loo in one place in the cage and you can get rat toilets for this.

I had a pet rat as a teen - lovely pet.
Get the biggest cage you can afford/fit in your house. We only had one rat (they do much prefer company so would recommend 2) and she had a huge cage but also had the run of the house when someone was home (better recall than the dog I had after her!) - she also used to sit on my shoulder on my paper round and I had a smaller cage for when I would take her on sleepovers with me. They travel fine in the car, can sit on your shoulder to be honest or a small cage is fine.
I'm not sure about where you can have a go at handling them. I was a member of a 'fancy rat' club so you may be able to look them up. They also end up in rescues so would be a good idea to look there.

www.nfrs.org there may be some useful
Info here.

Thanks so much.

Tolleshunt more clever than dogs?

GreatBallsOfFlier I did check the local rescue centre, all the rats are taken. I would be happy with a hamster but dd wants rats. We looked into guinee pigs and rabbits a while ago and they do live a lot longer and seemed more hard work than rats.

GreatBallsOfFlier "They travel fine in the car" where did you take them by car? do you mean like on holiday?

I am wondering who can look after them when we go on holiday.

We have a cat, is that an issue?

Thanks so much.

Whereabouts are you?

Hamsters make shitty pets. They bite, they wake up up in the middle of the night and generally don't like being handled.

I've had both rats and hamsters and would, in a heart beat, have rats again.

They are very very clever creatures and will show love in the cutest ways. One of mine would hold onto a finger and lick it and go to sleep or round my neck (and in my cleavage!). Mine could be recalled like a dog (they ran from the floor, up my leg and onto my shoulders) and played fetch and I trained all mine to go in the corner of their cage to wee and poo.

Agree with others they need a nice big cage (with several levels and lots of toys/ ropes/ hammocks) and need interaction for at least an hour a day. They enjoy human company and can get stressed if their main handler suddenly doesn't play with them anymore. You can let them out their cages and can be trained very quickly with food as a recall (I would whistle for mine to come to me) Mine also like to climb up the dog (long haired German shepherd) and sit on her back and ride around the house.

Check out youtube for videos of ppl who have trained their rats, some are amazing. There are also loads of sensible advice on youtube as well.

Do you have a local rat fancier near by or pet store that might let your kids handle them? I have a garden centre with a pet area which allows this under supervision.

Are you freaked out by rats because of their tail? If so don't be. My father was a pest control officer and hated rats but even he came round to my 1st set of pet rats and even bought them treats and made them little cabins from wood for them (the 1st being at xmas)

Cats should not be an issue (or dogs!) if they have been around smaller pets before. My last two were in a house with 5 cats, the only issue I had was one of the cats liked to sleep on top of their cage and would wake up finding their tail being cleaned by the little critters.

I had a plastic carry box for trips to the vets. Regarding holidays, they would just need someone to feed them and change their water, I assume whoever looks after your cat can do this. They don't even have to make contact with the rats (though they will come and have a nose around) at new people. Just make sure they wash their hands before and after feeding them (as any normal person should when handling small furry things)

I would always recommend well bred rats for your first pair, some rescues can have issues and knowing normal rat behaviour makes it much much easier to deal with. We've had a mix of rescues and bred rats and a few with special needs, had we got the rescues first I think we would have not continued with rats as pets as whilst they became very loveable eventually and rewarding, a well bred rat is friendly from the off and you learn a lot about normal behaviour from them, especially regarding nipping/'biting'.

Have a look at breeders Facebook pages before choosing to go with them, expect to travel and be put on a waiting list for some of the better ones too! I'd suggest a trio as well as if you have an unexpected accident it saves you trying to find a breeder with some available asap!

You may find that the nfrs has a rat show near you where you may be able to handle a few and ask questions. I'd contact breeders near to you and see if they'd be willing to let you pop over, when I lived down south our local breeder was always happy to let people come round and chat about set up, handle the rats and so on, though some prefer not to as well.

A second small single level cage is handy to keep for emergencies and also for when cleaning them out, if they have an accident then preventing them from climbing as they heal is beneficial.

We've never had pet insurance for our rats, we always have a reserve of about £150 ready for emergencies though (we've had a few emergencies and a few who needed regular vet visits!). Girls are prone to tumours, one of ours is very lumpy at the moment sadly, she's my toddler's favourite as well so not looking forward to the day where we have to make a decision about her respiratory issues are common with rats too but they are rarely expensive to treat, you'll have to contact your local vet and find out their prices for common rat issues but we always found that insurance would be much more expensive than treatment, even for those who saw a vet every month to six weeks, and also ask if they have an exotics vet as unspecialised vets can be a bit hit and miss and having a good vet helps a lot if you have any prone to illness or issues. Saying that though, regular vet trips are not the norm. Only one of our 15 without special needs needed regular trips for a bad respiratory system. This is another reason why I'd recommend well bred rats first as we've found rescues often are a bit snuffly, so it's worth knowing what is normal, what is something you need to keep an eye on and what needs vet treatment as rats can go downhill very quickly. We've had a good handful of accidents that have needed painkillers too, and a few emergency ops, but half of ours never saw a vet until the end when we were either getting them things to make their last few weeks more comfortable or having them put to sleep.

Badcat666 thanks for the very in-depth answers. We did not have the cat and hamster at the same time. Pur car is a hunter and kills mice and birds!

Yes, the tails freak me out and I am just not keen. The thought of a rat in a cleavage is freaking me out!

I was not desperately keen on the hamster but I did have a hamster as a child. We got a rescue hamster ad he was fabulous. He had a lovely personality and when he died me and dd were heart broken.

I think rats just scare me. My child hasn't even handled a rat!

Maybe put a post on a local fb group? I’d have no problem with a mum and teen coming round to hold our rats. They’re lovely pets and you do get a bit used to the tails. They say males scent mark but ours don’t too badly, I haven’t noticed it when they’re out and I think I’ve only been weed on once! You do need to clean out regularly, I wash hammocks etc with a bit of white vinegar (helps wee smell) once a week at very minimum. It’s easy enough to do though. They’re mostly litter trained which helps with cleaning them out. My ds is only 7 but really loves them, they’re so intelligent and he loves making up little bowls of fruit/veg for them. They only live for 2 years on average (although I have seen some who live for 3-4) so a bit less than hamsters which is worth thinking about.

QueenOfCatan I don't think I can cope with three! But we will try and find reputable breeder. The local rescue centre only has degu and exotic things like chinchillas.

"Only one of our 15 without special needs needes..." You have 15! What sort of special needs?

I have contacted nfrs for advice.

Thank you all. I'd still rather have a dog but dh is set against it and I think I'll only get a dog if I outlive him!

You are a good ambassadors for rats and make them sound wonderful.

@Italiangreyhound rats really can be like very teeny weeny small dogs.. Think tiny yorkshire terrier but less chance of them crapping on the carpet and biting you to need stitches :)

Don't worry about a cleavage snooze attack, my mum trained them just to sit in her lap as she didn't want them near her hair!

You can protect the rats from a hunter cat pretty easy. I ended up having a plastic box on 3 sides and the top (from rigid plastic sheets from the DIY shop that my brother built for me) and my mums cats got the hint from me shouting at them rather a lot.

I think finding a proper rat fancier/ breeder so you can sit and get used to them is such an excellent idea, you can get over your fear somewhere you and the rats feel safe. Plus any decent rat fancier/ breeder will be able to tell you all the pros and cons to your dc.

@Italiangreyhound

Have a look at Firesev rats on Facebook. They're a bit of a drive from you, but worth it. Would recommend boys for a first timer too. Easier and more dog-like. The girls can be quite a lot more active (esp the Firesev ones).

3 is a good idea as well. No more work really, and if something happened to one of them (it's sad, but theyre small rodents and it does happen), then you won't have a lone rat on their own.

I used to keep rats. Fabulous pets. None of the noisy nocturnalness of hamsters. Such characters. One of mine came when called but was a devil for trying to steal your drinks. Baileys a real favourite.

Nothing to add as your questions seem to have been well answered other than we had two lovely girl rats years ago and I loved them to bits. Such amazing little characters, much more sociable than hamsters IMO.

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Our hamster was a treasure. I was put off having another because of horrible pecking other hamsters and I thought we were unlikely to get another one as nice as him. He was a rescue pet.

You are doing a good job of making rats sound good! Really THREE, must I!?