Rat questions........?

Question

i have managed to buy the gerbils and hamster by myself. are they averagely more than $25??? can the live in a ten gallon aquarium?? what is the best bedding for them?? do they require different foods than hamsters and gerbils?? do they need anything else different from hamsters and gerbils????? anything else you could add would be greatly appreciated also!

Answer 1

orange flow you know i love you but dont you have enough pets and i thought your parents wouldnt let you have anymore if i read a question right.

for a god rat cage expect to pay $100 and they are around $25 have a totally different diet. and No they cant live in a 10 gallon aquarim,

Pce

Answer 2

your rats shouldn't live in an aquarium because it has poor air circulation.  you should get them a wire cage, preferably galvanized or powder coated.  www.martinscages.com is a good resource for cages, although they can get pretty expensive.  (i keep my 3 boys in a Rat Tower)  you should also check craigslist and other sites like that if you want to find a cheaper cage.  also, rats are very intelligent animals and they don't like to live in a boring house.  they need a tall cage with levels for them to climb on, and plenty of toys.

i adopted my rats from the humane society and they cost $10 each.  it's much better to adopt your rats from a breeder or rescue rather than getting them at a pet store, because pet store rats are often kept with males and females together, which means you are pretty likely to buy a rat that is already pregnant.  pet store rats are also likely to be sick, and since many pet stores sell feeder rats for snakes, they probably haven't been handled enough for them to be properly socialized, so they might be a little aggressive.  of course, this isn't true of every pet store, but it seems to be the most widely held opinion.

as for bedding, i use pieces of fleece on the bottom of their cage, and fill their litterboxes with yesterday's news.  it's pretty good at keeping the odor under control, and you can find it in the cat litter section.  carefresh is also supposed to be good, although it can be a little dusty and make your rats sneeze.  aspen shavings are also okay, but stay away from pine and cedar bedding, as these are bad for your rats' respiratory systems.

rats' nutritional requirements are similar to humans, so you can feed them a variety of things.  i use Suebees mix, which consists of part low-protein dog food (16-18% protein, usually mature or senior dog food) and part mix that you make yourself.  it's mostly cereal, dry pasta, a few seeds, and dried fruit.  it's really easy to mix, and should be easy to find online if you google it.  some people prefer to feed their rats lab blocks like Harlan-Teklad, and those are really good for the rats too, although they can be hard to find.  this website has a list of foods to avoid:

http://ratfanclub.org/diet.html

make sure you don't use a commercial "rat feed" that you find at the pet store, though, because that can contain some harmful ingredients, like dried corn and alfalfa pellets.

another thing that your rat really needs is a friend.  rats are very social animals and they need a lot of attention -- when you can't spend time with them, they need a rat buddy to hang out with, help groom them, etc.  if your rat doesn't have a friend, he or she will be really lonely.

i hope this helps!  there are a lot of rat resources on the internet, so you should have no trouble finding out everything you need to know.  good luck and enjoy your rats!

Answer 3

A rat can be had for around $10, and should live with another rat.  A 10 gal aquarium will only work if you get a tall wire aquarium topper for it.  They'll need rat food, and I like carefresh for bedding.

Answer 4

a ten gallon tank would be be perfect i personally would use wood shavings they can pretty much eat the same kind of foods hamsters like alfafa and love wheels and balls to run in gerbils like toilet paper roles but do not like balls or wheels I hope this helps