Help with pet rats please?

Question

We plan on getting a pet rat sometime this weekend. I plan on getting it at a petsmart becase the only shelter thats closest 2 me is 100 miles away (trust me i checked on petfinder) I was wondering about the cost range. Also the cage we plan 2 get them. Along with toys and vegtables they might like.So here are the cages we decided on. http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/ the cage at the very bottom on the martinscage page thats the $170 one, so those are the cages. We also plan to get them a cople of toys to start off so we want to know about how much thats gonna be. And were not really sure how much 2 rats at petsmart cost so we need an estimate on that it wud really help. Plus any good websites for new pet parents wud help 2. So can anyone tell us about how musch this is ganna cost us? and which cage looks better for 2 rats and any suggestions on names wud help us a lot. Thank You for your help :)

Answer 1

I am assuming you live in the states, But in Australia prices for a rat range from $5-$10 (AUS). They are very cheap. Also, if you are looking to buy a cage, You need to buy one that doesn't have a wire bottom, The bottom should usually be flat, and any walking surfaces should be flat also, This is because rats feet can not only get stuck in between the cage, but it cause arthritis in their feet.

Just be careful with toys if they contain any small detachable eyes or anything that can be chewed off and choked on, and stuffing, the stuffing in stuffed toys can be harmful to your pet. I find that my rats love jingly balls (This is preferred if your not keeping them in a bedroom). Majority of toys for cats are great for rats, All my rats each have a little furry mouse, and they treat them like their little babies.

They eat anything humans eat basically, If you are purchasing male rats be sure to never give them orange juice, as it is bad for their kidneys, No soft drinks as rats cannot burp (or spew), Your best bet is to stick to vegetables and chicken, dont give your rats any sort of red meat as this can make them very vicious, Fish and Chicken are a great sorce of protein and omega. I find my rats love corn (in moderation) as it can upset their stomachs if they eat too much, Apples, Oranges (in moderation), Strawberries, Nuts (leave them in the shell if you can, as rats love to get the nut out by themselves, stay away from any sort of salted nuts) Alf-Alfa, and majority of lentils, Cabbage, Peppers (known in Australia as Capsicum) (they are not hot), also Indoor cat food (it will reduce odor and they love it) You can normally purchase a rat mix specially designed for rats, If you have access to fresh molassis thats great to mix into food. Oats and Wheat are great too, My boys love bread crusts where as my girls dont, Of course there are things they will and wont eat, they're like humans in that sense, you'll know what they'll like after a week.

As for being a new rat owner here are some Top Tips: http://www.petratscanada.com/tips.htm. and this is a great site created by some real rat lovers. www.dapper.com.au

I have six rats 2x Male and 4x Female There names are

Beens Pork Gravey and Vegemite (Girls)

& Rocky and Oskarr (Boys, My boyfriend named the boys so they are a lot less creative) Here is a website that has a whole heap of names:

http://rodenthq.com/pet-rat-and-mouse-na...

Personal preferences:

Female rats: Are very excitable, and love to play they wont like to be held unless they are really sleepy or very young, they are also very adventurous, they smell less then boys.

Male rats: Are still excitable and adventurous but generally speaking they are more likely to enjoy cuddles, The let down for males is that they like to mark their territory, this means urine and lots of it, This is why they smell worse.

Cageing: I have a cage and I have an aquarium, They're both great, The cage has all flat surfaces (for reasons stated above). The aquarium is great and the lid was made by hand with some chicken wire and wood, this is so air can get in, some people will say aquariums are bad for ventilation, but I doubt it, if you have a lid which supplies your rats with ventilation they will be fine.

Bedding: Make sure you have some sort of hide-away, Rats like there privacy you can purchase igloo's which are great. For bedding, make sure you dont purchase sawdust (it is very dusty and can cause respritory problems) your best bet is kitty little made from recyled paper, try and get an odor reducing kitty little, Kitty litter is great for soaking up any liquid (water or urine). You can also use old shirts, and any sort of material.

Bathing and Cleaning: Rats are very hygenic and can generally clean themselves it is always nice to give them a helping hand, you can do this by purchasing a small animal shampoo (no tears) and do so in a basin or bath tub. Also even putting a container of water in their tank will ensure a good 'self-bathing system'.

Sickness: Rats are born with respiratory problems so to ensure your rat stays healthy at all times regularly clean their cage/tank once a week, and if you have any concerns take them straight to the vet, If you cant afford the vet, then you dont deserve the pet. (Vets usually charge $30 for a consultation but should allow you to bring more then one rat along)

If you havent got 3hours free in your day to play with your rat, it is best to get him/her a friend, preferably the same s*x if you dont want any accidents.

Make sure when your purchasing your rats that they have been seperated by gender, there is nothing more unexpected then when your new pet rat produces 6-15 more rats.

Good luck and I am sure it will be one of the best decisions you have ever made. They are a great pet for all ages! Sorry for the length, but I wanted to be as informative as possible.

Answer 2

Well i don't really care for the smaller one but the one for the ferret cage may do better although you may want to check with the pet shop thay usually have well trained staff. also maybe you may consider adopting from a shelter or a rescue center thay always have rats along in the mix and sometimes rats have a harder times finding the loving  home thay deserve. I wouldn't imagine the rats costing more than 25.00 or so.

Toys are east throw,thim a toilet paper tube with tissue paper inside maybe a treet and thay will have a ball. But get creative thay love to rummage around and play with new textures. you would be surprised at how much you can find laying around the house for them to play with. Good luck.

PS Myspace.com classifieds has lots of rats.  

Answer 3

To be honest, it depends on what type of rat you are getting. There re different sizes of rats. I had a large rat. The link for the cage at petsmart is too much for two rats. Yes, it would probably be a rats dream but they really don't need that much. The second link you posted there is one called The Rat Carriage House is perfect for too little roommates. My rat with a med. sized cage cost near $100. Toys aren't very expensive. Most of them you could actually make yourself. My rat personally LOVED those small carrots. I named him Deek by the way. Short for D*CON. Ya, I know, it sounds cruel but it fit the little bugger. Make sure you clean the cage VERY frequently because you will have two in the same cage. They will constantly clean themselves because believe it or not they are very anal about keeping clean. If you do not keep up with this they can/will develop a resp. infection. It can be very fatal to their heath and may result in death. I will tell you this tho, pet stores like petsmart are not always, how do I put this, knowledgeable when it comes to sexing their animals. I would say before you decide to put them together, make sure they are of the same s*x so you don't have millions of baby rats!! I really hope this helped.  

Answer 4

I't depends on the rat itself on how much it costs. I always recieved mine free so I'm not sure about that. I garuntee your rats will love the last cage on martins page, my rat always loved to climb up and down. Just make sure you get a big cage because they become very depressed if not given enough room. Also make sure to use non scented wood chips. Cedar will make them sick and if not given enough ventilation they may die. Rats love to play, give them balls or something that dangles from inside the cage. They also love something to curl up inside so also check out little rat homes that will fit in the cage you choose. As far as food, very easy. They will eat anything and I mean anything. Most scrap food is accually safe to feed them, but they will also eat fruits, vegitables, and defiatly nuts. I always went and got a big container of parot food, (make sure it has more big nuts they don't really like the small ones). And if you want to be there absolute best friend get them a rolling ball. You put them in it and set them free on the floor and they will explore for hours and not be hard to find. Thats about all I can think of for now.

Answer 5

Okay first of all, please don't get one rat, rats are highly social and it is unfair and cruel to keep them on their own. Rats should be kept in at least pairs and always make sure that they are the same s*x, or you will end up with more rats than you bargained for!

I would not recommend you get your rats from Petsmart - These rats usually come from profit-hunting mass breeders and are often runty and unhealthy due to bad breeding. Pet store workers seem completely incapable of sexing animals, even when it's obvious, so you could end up with a pregnant female or a male and female which you really don't want! Pet store rats are often not socialized and won't be very friendly and may have behavioral problems. You may also get confused by pet store advisers who often unknowingly recommend hamster cages for rats, hamster food for rats, or tell you pet care advice that is completely wrong! Places like pet smart are usually very cruel to animals so you would be supporting a vile industry. Please search around for a decent rat breeder as there is likely to be one in your area. If not, seriously consider making the drive to the rescue centre - it could turn out cheaper than all the money you'll have to spend on sickly rats vets bills.

Any wire cage is fine along as it provides at least 2 cubic feet per rat - or 4 cubic feet for the pair. Wire ferret/rat cages with plastic bases are the most suitable cages and are usually good quality and easy to clean. Mesh chinchilla cages can also be used but make sure you cover the mesh floors with wipable lino or they will hurt your rats feet. Some bird aviaries are often suitable too. Tanks, aquariums and gerbilariums, no matter how large are NEVER suitable for rats - they are badly ventilated and will lead to damp, mold and respiratory problems. The easy build up of ammonia will also make your rats smell. For a pair of rats, I would recommend the Savic Freddy 2 cage. It is good quality, easily cleaned, and although it usually retails for about £80, you can usually buy them online for cheaper. I just bought a brand new one on Ebay for only £20!

Both of those cages are suitably sized, but as they are both mesh you may find that the rats will throw bedding out of the sides and bottom making your rat room very messy. You will have to put lino on the mesh floors as well or it will hurt their sensitive feet.

Cleaning - carefresh is a brilliant litter and suitable for rats, as is eco-pet bed cardboard squares and back-2-nature ferret litter. If in a suitably sized cage, your rats will only need a full clean out once a week. However, to stop them from smelling you should spot clean every day, taking out poos and wet patches and mopping up urine on platforms. This will not take long and can be done in the morning whilst you feed them. Rats sometimes wet their beds as well so you should change your rats paper wool bedding every 2-3 days.

Rats can be litter trained, which does making daily cleaning easier - you just empty the tray into the bin each morning! However, be aware that you still need to clean the whole cage once a week. To litter train  rats, keep placing their poos or damp patches into the tray and if you ever catch them about to pee/p**p, pop them into the tray. Rats are both clean and intelligent animals so they should quickly get the hang of it. Using the litter tray out of the cage when free-ranging speeds up the process of learning.

Here is price breakdown, judging on English prices. I've tried to convert them to Dollars if you're American.

Initial cost:

Cage - an average brand new rat cage is £80-£120 but can be found cheaper online ($160-$200)

Rats - usually rats are about £5-£8 each or £16 a pair - ($10-$16, $32)

Toys - you should buy your rats a range of platforms, ladders, shelters, kongs and hammocks - you can make your own houses out of cardboard boxes and hammocks out of jeans legs or flannels - these will need replacing regularly though. Cost varies.

General care:

Bedding - a 10 litre packet of Carefresh will fill the average cage base once a week - £3 ($6)

Paperwool Bedding - used inside shelters and houses. Small bag lasts a week - £1 ($2)

Cleaner - A spray for disinfecting - £2-£3 ($4-$6) last about a month

Rat food - the bags of complete mix I buy cost £2 and last about a week ($4). You must get a COMPLETE rat mix or lab blocks because rats need a specialist diet to stay healthy.

Treats - this varies and they last for weeks - £1-£3 ($2-$6)

You also need to put money aside for vets bills, a carrier for taking them to the vets or traveling and anything else you want to buy such as mineral blocks or vitamin drops.

Search around - cages and general upkeep items will vary greatly in price. I have 6 rats and spend a fair bit a week, but when I had two it was about £15-£30 a month.

If you are unsure about the size of your rats cage, put the measurements into this website and will tell you how many rats a certain cage can hold - http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.sht...  -

I would suggest to talk to some other rat owners and read some good books before you commit yourself. Feel free to ask questions on my page - www.bebo.com/ratsxrock. Good luck with getting your new pets! But PLEASE don't get just one rat, it's really unfair.

Hope this helps!

EDIT : About  what you added, all pet rats are *Fancy* rats. that's just the name of the pet species. However that doesn't mean that the rats aren't Dumbo, because Dumbo rats are a TYPE of Fancy rat if you see what I mean? They have large, round ears on the side of the head, unlike Top Ear Fancy Rats who have normal ears on the top of the head. When you buy a fancy rat he will have an ear type - top ear or dumbo - a fur type - Standard, Rex, Velveteen, Harley, Satin, Hairless e.t.c - A coat colour - black, agouti, white, topaz, blue e.t.c - an eye colour - pink (red), ruby or black - and a set of markings - self, hooded, Siamese, Himalayan, Berkshire, variegated e.t.c.  There are however a handful of rats who just have a type name, i.e Pink eyed White (white rat, pink eyes) or Husky rat (Black eyed white with grey roan markings). Hope this helps!

Answer 6

The first cage is much better. However, if you are buying baby rats you may have to wrap the whole cage in chicken wire until they are unable to fit thru the bars. I bought all 5 of my rats for 13.99 each canadian currency.

I usually name my rats after I get to know them for a couple days. Usually I name them after some part of their personality.

Good luck with the potty training lolL!!

Dumbos have ears that are level with their eyes and often a fold in them.

Fancies have ears on top of their heads and are generally all one color.

Hoodeds have heads that are different color then their body and usually a strip down their backs.

Answer 7

I think the first cage looks better so they have more room to be on, they will need bedding, somewhere to hide (toys) they will need sticks that they sell in petsmart, don't make the mistake to buy a male and a female belive me they reproduce like crazy!!!,  

Answer 8

well i can see that your rats will be much loved!

i used to have rats n i loved them more that anything! they loved playing with feathers, ribbon and wooden logs. we also bought them a pot plant coz they LOVE digging through soil!

Just make sure that feathers are mite free, logs and soils arent poisonous and that the ribbon isnt plastic!

I like unusual pet names, my first girl was named ixi, off neopets, they have lots more interesting names.

Go to http://www.prrr.org/index.html they have lots of useful tips and forums!

hope this helps

Answer 9

The bigger the better...

I got my two girls on the fall equinox and named them Summer and Autumn.

Answer 10

Everything about pet rats can be anwered at this website. Check it out. http://bryanrainespetservices.com/Pet_Ra...

Answer 11

What are you spending so much for a cage for? You don't want your rats to develope clastrophobia??  When we had rats we only had a cage (my mom made) 2 ft by 1 ft. Later we used an old aquarium so we could watch from the top. They do not need special food. We fed them what ever we had. Carrots, cheese, celery and lettuce. I think we even had a runner so they could feel like they were going somewhere.

As we had two males and three females, they multiplied! That was why we got the aquarium. Names you have to choose. Fred and Wilma,

Tom and Betty, who cares, your pets. They are not that hard to take care of. If you don't get them young and they are not use to you, they will bite!