Would it be a bad or good idea to let my fancy rat run around in the back yard?

Question

hes not getting very much exercise and my mom HATES it when he poops in the house.

i'll watch him and stuff so im not gonna just LEAVE him alone.

Answer 1

Don't listen to Law L. A ball can't "catch" and "break" a rat's tail... there's nothing for the tail to get caught on. Only an exercise wheel inside the cage would do that. If you can get a ball, that would work very well, but don't let the rat run around anywhere where the ball might fall, because if it falls the impact could cause the door to pop off (think what happened in the "Indian in the Cupboard" movie). That happened to one of my gerbils once. Scary. We were lucky to get her back.

Of course, you can't let your rat run loose in the back yard. Even if it is fenced, rodents are experts at finding and squeezing into all kinds of odd places. He could easily escape your yard, get into the space under the house, etc. A hawk might simply swoop down and grab him, or a cat might sneak up without you even seeing it. There are also all kinds of parasites that can be found in the grass, including (but not limited to) fleas and worms.

The safest thing you can do would be to buy a ball and let him roll around in the ball. As long as you're there watching him, he will get plenty of exercise and be perfectly safe doing it. It may even be okay for you to let him be in the ball indoors, too, because if he does "go" the poops will all stay in the ball and you can clean it out later.

Answer 2

bad idea. rats can be FAST. even if he normaly doesnt wander too far, its possible that he may just bolt and you may not find him. if he is in a strange environment he might not know what to do and run as fast as he can.

also the grass contains lots of bugs and things like that. your rat could easily get fleas, ticks or even maggots.

Answer 3

i'm not sure if this would be a good idea.

you don't know what animal or insect has crawled around your back yard and left diseases he could nibble on something or brush against it and get it on his fur.

I'd invest in one of those balls they have where you can put the animal in it and they can run around.

this way he can run around in the house and poo cant get on the floor it simply stays at the bottom of the ball.

theyre like 4 dollars at walmart

Answer 4

I would say no because there are way too many predators that can be faster than you/ your fancy rat.. Like birds (never be able to get him back after he gets carried away), cats, dogs, etc. Plus they can run / jump really fast and scurry under a fence and what not, I say no..

My advice is maybe you should buy one of those excercise balls and then put him in your backyard and watch him roll around.

Answer 5

Bad idea to let him run around loose.

They can catch diseases from wild rats- even if you can't see them- and also get bugs/mites in their fur.

They can also be quick and you could lose him if you looked away for a second.

A ball also wouldn't be suitable because they can catch their tails in them and break them.

Invest in a rat harness. Then you can 'walk' him outside- once you've got him securely in there so he can't slip out- and be constantly aware of where he is and what he's doing. But he could still get bugs on him and still catch wild rodent diseases.

Answer 6

I think It's a great idea! It's good for him to get exercise, and as long as you don't live in the desert where there's hawks and stuff he should be totally fine, just make sure you watch him closely