What do I need to do to take good care of my new pet rat?

Question

I might get a fancy rat and i can't wait! Since I'm a beginner, Can anyone tell me how rats are with humans and what i need to do to take good care of them? Also, please tell me what i need to feed my rats and how to train them to kinda use a litter box, and if they smell or not? Just in general, tell me about your pet rat! And I'm only getting one, even though i know getting two will be better, i just really cant get two becI'mse im not allowed Thanksankss

Answer 1

They love snakes. I have a pet rat and I bought her a snake to play with, they have a ball together.

Answer 2

Oh, rats are the greatest! They're one of the sweetest pets with humans and i love mine to death! (I have 13) They don't smell as long as you clean their cage regularly. I personally think females smell like grapes and males smell like bread, but then i'm weird.

I'm going to replicate some of my previous posts because i'm lazy and i don't want to type it again. :P

What you'll need:

A big cage, basic rule of thumb is around 2.5 square feet per rat. Also, they'd be most happy with a cagemate of the same s*x, rats are extremely social and love company.

You'll need a water bottle,

rat food,

a bowl,

a salt wheel is good to have,

some toys (some parrot toys work great, like chew block shish-kebabs and ladders),

something to chew on like wood pieces (from a store Not outside),

mine love ferret hammocks,

treats like yogies (mine love the small berry ones),

if you have a lot of wire that they'll be stepping on, it's good to have some grass mats or wood or something like that to put on it to keep them from hurting their feet.

Bedding: NOT pine or cedar, it can hurt their respiratory system, i love carefresh but things like yesterday's news and aspen are good too.

Toilet paper tubes and other things like that make great toys.

Some great ideas for toys and games are here: http://www.ratsauce.com/toys_games/index...

Treats:

Apples, Lettuce (Better to get romaine, iceberg has a lot of water and can cause diarrhea), Carrots, Sweet potatoes (COOKED, raw can be toxic!), peas, green beans, corn, strawberries, melons, blueberries, raspberries, plums, bananas, grapes, broccoli, squash, cucumber in moderation, and zucchini are all great! I also love to give mine dandelion leaves as long as they're free of pesticide and have been rinsed.

But, BEWARE of:

raw peanuts, roasted are OK (i know, not a fruit or vegetable, but it's a treat)

raw red cabbage or brussel sprouts

raw artichokes

green bananas

green potatoes

rhubarb

tofu

orange juice

and, as already mentioned, onion, it can lead to anemia

Be wary of these and only give in moderation:

beets

celery

eggplant

radishes

spinach

collards

turnip greens

almonds

One thing to add: If you give them a red berry like raspberries, be prepared to have your heart leap out of your chest! :P i gave mine some once and came back to rats covered in red! I thought it was blood and they had murdered one of their cagemates! lol!

Bonding:

Hold them on a daily basis and they'll learn to trust you, feed them treats out of your hand (mine LOVE berry yogies), tickle them as others have said, i usually hold them on my lap and scratch their back gently, they generally love that. talk to them, kiss them (sounds weird, but hey), let them climb around you as much as they like. Soon they'll grow to love you and trust you. Rats are extremely social and love human contact (pet rats anyway) they're not like hamsters like that. :P

One way to tell that they are really enjoying spending time with you is when they'll sit on your shoulder and brux in your ear. Bruxing is a low tooth chattering noise usually accompanied by their eyes bulging a bit, that means pleasure.

Have fun with your new rat!

Answer 3

Rats are incredibly social animals. If you really truly 100% definitely can't get more than one, then you will need to spend a lot of time hanging out with, cuddling, and playing with your ratty. It'll get incredibly lonely otherwise. If you regularly clean out your ratty's cage, then there's no reason for it to smell. They're very very clean animals. You can buy rat food from pet shops, but if you don't mind putting in some time and effort, the Suebee's diet is highly recommended for rats (see link). You can feed them snippets of your own food; they'll thank you for meat, and occasional small pieces of fruit are awesome as well. Don't let them have dairy, chocolate, or anything too sugary. Carrots are good, right? But yeah, just spend a lot of time with your ratty and love it. My rats were the best pets I ever had, so I'm very jealous of you getting to start a brand-new rat experience.