About how much time does it take to care for pet rats?

Question

I would like an experienced rat owner to tell me an approximate time range of how much time it takes to care for rats.

Also, what is the monthly expense?

Answer 1

My monthly expenses for  9 rats are as follows:

Bedding-$20 i use yesterdays news

Food-$40 i use nutro natural light dog food

Treats- anywhere from $20-$40 depending on the treats i buy

Toys-$20

Hammocks-$30 i make my own so i only have to pay for material

My 3 cages cost me about $500.

My rats each get a 1/2 hour one on one time and then they get 2 hours of free range time in the morning and afternoon per s*x.

Answer 2

It depends on how many rats you have.

I usually buy my food in bulk- so it lasts for months. I went from rat food to rabbit and guinea pig food when i realised it was the same thing just in a different box- then I started them on high qualtiy horse food, which was recommendsd by several rat owners, breeders and rescuers. One $30 bag of horse food would last... well, a long time. It might feed one rat for a year.

Then you want to add in treats and fresh produce.

The most expensive part of rat keeping is the kitty litter- you really need to use a paper based kitty litter because rats can have a tonne of breathing problems and clay based kitty litters will only make the problem worse. If you buy in bulk you will usually save as well.

You should clean the rat cage when it is dirty- but again how many rats you have will determine how much it will need to be cleaned. I would say weekly or fortnightly cleaning is appropriate, but there are people out there that clean cages daily.

And the time you spend with them? As much time as you can- you will be rewarded with much happier, friendlier pets! I used tto let my girls out for runs on my bed- they had a great time! I would keep them out until one started behaving badly... then the others would follow suit lol- mischief makers!

Good luck! rats are fantastic pets to have!

Answer 3

Please, if you get rats, get atleast 2. They are very socail animals and need a companion no matter how much time you spend with it. If you keep one alone, thats like your mom saying to you, you cant have a friend/

Answer 4

Bare minimum, at LEAST 45 minutes to an hour of free-time (out of the cage) play, and ideally more then that of cuddle/hands on interaction.  Depending on the cage, it may take little time to clean, or more time.  Spot cleaning during the week can reduce the overall weekly time needed to clean.

Expense depends on what food you choose, how many rats you have, and things like that.

For me, I have a large amount of rats because 1- I can take care of them and 2- there are many in my area needing homes, and I can provide that.  I have 2 ferret nation cages and 2 other medium/large cages, though some don't have many rats in them as not everyone will get along.

Anyway, the FN's take about 20 minutes to clean fully, the other cages take a bit longer.  

Food, toys, bedding costs for me are usually around 50 a month, but I feed high-quality food, and go through a lot of it. :P  However, I save costs in that I sew my own hammocks and things like that, and I make many toys for them.  (Though, that's mostly because I enjoy doing it, not to save money.)

Of course, that doesn't count vet visits.  A basic vet visit + cheap medication (like antibiotics, for example) for me doesn't usually cost over 50 bucks, but I have a great exotics vet.  Surgeries can often be in the 100's+.

I spend most of my free time with my rats.  I'm home all day, so my time is split up between the cleaning/feeding/etc daily stuff, and the rest of the time is spent either with my rats, or with my other pets, or with my child.  If time and expense are your top concerns, you may want to rethink if rats are a good pet for you, as they can become quite expensive, and require a good amount of time if you want them to be the sweet and social creatures they can be.

Answer 5

that depends on how many rats you intend on owning...the monthly expense can be very low..you can use old newspaper and shred it and use it as bedding and feed them fruits and vegetables from your kitchen...or you can buy bedding from the store (whatever you do do not get pine or ceder they can be very harmful to the rats lungs)..and by a food mix from the pet stores...look for lab blocks their teeth keep growing and they need hard food to gnaw them down...a single rat needs at least 2 hours of attention daily more if you have the spare time...if you have two rats then you should only have to spend an hour with them daily..if you do this before bed..they are away and ready to play and you are not so busy...with only one rat the cage should only need to be cleaned weekly with two you should clean it 2 times a week hope i helped

Answer 6

there is no way to answer that..   to take care of them well, you take them out and play with them a LOT.. (especially if they are alone) ..      How much time it takes depends on the number of rats, how long you play with them..  if you plan to train them in any way..  etc..  

Just plan on spending as much time as you can with them.

As for the cage cleaning, that is minimal.. it takes at most 10 minutes..  daily feeding is done once or twice a day, and treats during the day..

Expense, once again depends on how many you get.  Vet visits can add a LOT of money on, so health of the rats also plays a part.

You can plan on about $30 a month for bedding (get good bedding, not wood shavings as rats are well known for suffering from breathing problems with it)  

Food depends on what you give it..  SueBee's Rat Diet costs about $15 to make and lasted me about 50 days with one rat..  

nail trimmers for small animals are about $5 ..  

Vet visits vary by location, and need..

aside from Vet visits the biggets expense is the cage..  get a BIG cage (just make sure the bars are close enough that the rats can't get through them)..   online they tell you how to make your own..  which will help on the money (as you can pick up an old dresser someone dumps on the street that is missing drawers and make a great set up.. )