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Im about to keep a rat or two

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  • 18-03-2010 4:22pm
    #1
    CraZyLaurie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13 ✭


    so yeah i about to get a rat or two and i want to know more about them from people with experiance :cool:

    what are the most important things to know about rats?
    is it okay to keep only one rat or is it better to keep two?
    what should i do and not to do?
    what are their favourite foods and what do they usually eat?
    whats their behavour like?
    what kind of enviroment do they like? (i like to keep my room cool most of the time is that gonna be a problem?) :confused:

    and any other thoughts you have about rats incase i left out some important questions please tell me

    thank you in advance for your time :D
    Tagged:


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    #2
    Crazy_marble
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19 ✭Crazy_marble


    It's best to keep them in single sex pairs (or more if you have the space) as they're very social animals and like to have company. They can eat the regular nut mixes you can buy in most petshops but their diet needs to be supplemented with fresh veg/fruit to keep them healthy. To be honest though they'll eat almost anything that you put in their cage...mine love yoghurt and chicken!

    They need a fairly large cage...think along the lines of something that would fit a guinea pig/chinchilla rather than gerbil/hamster cage. Unfortunately, these are expensive and often not available in shops in Ireland (though you can order them off the internet). A good alternative is a bird cage (as long as you get one with appropriate bar spacing and fit it out well, many levels/tubes/things to climb on/hammocks etc. It's also better to go for one that's high rather than wide as they love to climb so with a high cage you can buy lots of things to hang off the top of it.

    One thing I should probably mention if you're going to keep them in your room is their cage tends to smell a bit, even if very regularly cleaned...they themselves are very clean and don't smell at all but their cage is a different story! After a while you tend not to notice it though (not sure if that's a good or a bad thing!)...

    All in all, they're great pets...they get very attached to you and are quite inquisitive, much smarter than most other rodents...kind of like having a teeny dog that likes to lick your hand and run up your arm :)

    Good luck with it anyway!!


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    #3
    Zoundz
    Registered Users Posts: 80 ✭✭Zoundz


    Some good advice above :) I would recomment the Irish Rat Club Forum http://irishrat.proboards.com/index.cgi for more advice :)

    They really are the best pets, and I couldn't be without them. I'm also more than happy to answer any questions by e-mail or PM too :) Have been breeding Fancy Rats since 2006, for show and pet, and am active within the fancy, and run the Irish side of things, so if you do need some advice give me a yell! :)

    xx


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