Getting rat need to know evreything

Question

im getting 2 female girl rats idk names please feel free to say names i need to know how to feed how to cleen outhow to look after how to introduce to me and family evreything!!

Answer 1

Knowing everything is a tall order but here are a few things to think about.

When buying a cage make sure that it is big enough. Hamster cages are too small.  Your rats will need 2 Square feet per rat. So for 2 they need 4 square feet of space.  The best cages have multiple levels.  Generally fish tanks are a bad idea because the ventilation is not  particularly good.

Don’t use sawdust for litter as the dust can cause breathing problems, the best litter I’ve come across so far is CareFresh.  

Toilet training your rats will help to keep the cage clean and it’s a easy thing to teach them.  You need a flat tray or container which you should fill with kitty litter.  Your rats will tend to go to the toilet in one corner of their cage. see if you can identify which corner they are using and put their litter tray in this corner,  collect all their dropping from inside the cage and put them in the litter tray.  keep the cage clean and keep adding their drooping to the litter tray. they will quickly get the idea that the litter tray is where they should go to the toilet.

I do a spot check of my rats cage every day, change there litter tray and remove any soiled bedding,  I do a full clean twice a week and once a month or so scrub the cage to keep it clean.

Your rat’s diet should be divided in to two sections fresh food and dry food.  Pet shops often sell generic small rodent food.  This food is not always the best for your rats as it contains a lot of stuff that’s not good for them and other stuff that they simply will not eat.  You can get a number of alternatives, you can also get dedicated rat foods, these are better then the generic rodent food but still contain things that your rats will not eat.   You can get lab blocks which contain all the nutrients that your rat needs.  I’ve never seen this food sold in pet shops but it can be bought over the internet. You can also get recipes off the internet for mixing your own rats diet.

As well as the dry foods you should also give your rats a selection of fresh foods.  Rats are omnivores and will eat almost anything you eat.  Generally you should avoid giving them anything with a high sugar, fat or salt content, dairy products should be only given to them in very small quantities. Citrus fruits should be avoided.  A healthy rat diet could include any vegetables, fruit, beans or pulses.  My rats love chickpeas and sweet corn for instance.  

Your rats will need fresh water every day.  

Rats are very social animals and they will benefit from interaction with you.  You should try to handle your rats for at least an hour a day.

Answer 2

Rats are very socialable, and very clever! Ensure you use their names to call them, as they will respond to them in time. They will need a basic clean out every day, and a proper clean out (i.e. removing all sawdust/bedding etc and replace) each week. They can get bored easily, so make sure they have toys and things to entertain them, and ensure the cage is big enough, as they grow pretty big! Ask the pet shop for advice there.

Clean water every day obviously and 'Reggie Rat' food is great dried food for them. Mine also used to love sweetcorn, and sweet things (chocolate/biscuits etc) but only feed 'goodies' in moderation.

Keep getting them out the cage each day and handing them, they will be more affectionate in the long run - they will probably like to sit on your shoulder too!

And one thing to look out for is their teeth - they constantly grow, so need something to gnaw on in the cage - again, can purchase things for this from pet shops.

Good luck - they are lovable little things!  

Answer 3

Wow, well even though you haven't cared for rats beofre you've already made a good decision going for two females.

Female rats are much less agresive than their male counterparts and are much easier to handle.

Well since you need to know absolutley everything about your new pet I'm going to start with the very basics [=...

When choosing your rats cage you need to take in to account the rats natural desire to make friends with their owner and ease of cleaning so you will want to invest in a thick plastic or prefferably glass bottomed cage, with a multi-layered wire "hood" wooden nesting boxes are also a great addition to their homes.

You'll of course want the best for your rat so to keep them interested in their surroundings and keep them healthy make sure you get them pleanty of chewable wooden toys to keep their teeth (which in some cases are known to over grow and cause very bad pain, both in the rat and in your pocket when you have to pay for the dental costs!)  and plastic push arounds and tubes to hide in and gnaw..

Also It's probably better to buy two seperate bowls for food to stop your girls from fighting over their food, but one waterbottle should be sufficient.

Special rat food needs to be used as other rodants foods can be to low in the correct nuetrients, but you can also feed them "scraps" of your food such as carrot shavings and lumps of cheese or chocolate drops (remember only to feed these calcium filled foods as treats as rats can become obese!).

As soon as you get your rat home it is importnant to begin bonding with it and showing it as many new experiences as possible arround the home, also as soon as you have thought of suitable names start using them as they are similar to dogs and will learn their names quikly and respond to them well. When handeling them remember not to grab them buy the tail as this can cause them stress and distrust you. Handle them daily to get them to become used to you, start of with small doses of this (1-3 minutes) and build up to longer petting sesions (10 minutes roughly).

Instead of paying for expensive fibre bedding, only buy wood shavings and make your own "nest bedding" by placing empty toilet role tubes, and other carboars and paper items into their nests which they will chew into soft comfy bedding.

Good luck with your new friends, they'll be a handfull but well worth the effort :D

Answer 4

i feed dead rats to my owl ::P

ko  

Answer 5

You get special food to feed them, veg is good as well. Sawdust for bed plus a ball of paper string so they can make a nest and hide. Water. Need to be handled regulary by all members of the family and gently, never grab them by the tail. They get infections quite easily so clean out every day. I had two abot ten years ago called smokey and the bandit. They used to chase my two cats.

Answer 6

Hi,  I have three female rats and they are great pets.  

First of all you have to remember that you cannot use sawdust in their cage as it can make them ill, use bio diegradable cat litter or special bedding that you can get from pet stores.  For the food you can get a rat mix (like reggie rat food) but mine love rat blocks (from pets at home) but be warned if you use the rat blocks they probably won't go back to eating regular rat mix!  They need a big cage, I have a Jenny cage, with tubes and different levels so they have plenty to do when they are left alone.  They are very intelligent and will learn their names in time, use small treats like yoghurt drops if you want to train them to come when you call.

My rats are called Koko, Megatron and Pippin, but I think other good names are Ben and Jerry, Sugar and Spice and Jack and Daniel but it depends if you like names as a pair (and they all seem like masculine names)!

Answer 7

Buy a terrier as a playmate for them !

Answer 8

i use bio let cat litter for my rats, never use sawdust. you can buy them toys to play with, mine have 4 parrot toy. you will need a big cage, hammocks, food (lab blocks if you can get them), water bottle, let them settle into their new home for a day or two, then gradually start getting closer to them and start stroking them and giving them treats.

dont listen to the people who say male rats are agressive. i have 2 7 month old male rats and they are not agressive. you can put your hand in their cage and they wont go for you, and as alot of people say that they stink alot, im sorry but male rats dont stink