Before You Get Rats:
What You Absolutely Need to Be Prepared For!
Now, if you're thinking about rats, this isn't made to deter anyone. This is made to prepare. However, if you are not willing or able to properly care for your animal, you should not have rats. These are some of the basic requirements:
•Money: There is NO such thing as a cheap pet, except perhaps a pet rock. If you are planning on not spending money, or the bare minimum, you should not own rats. You must consider food, caging, bedding, and especially vet bills. You should have a savings already, and a stable job. I have heard of people spending 500 dollars on emergency surgeries on their rats.
•Vet care: That goes along with money. If you are not willing to take rats to the vet, do not get them. No animal deserves to suffer because "they are just a rat" and therefore not worthy of vet care. Vet bills greatly differ between owners. Some only have rats that get the sniffles once and they live a fairly healthy life. Some become regulars at their vet office and have to apply for Care Credit. Either way, this animal is just as likely (if not more) to get an illness as a dog or any other pet. Signs of illness should not be taken lightly. Some things, such as mites, are an easy fix. Other things can be more serious. Rats are very good at hiding pain so the excuse that "they look okay" won't go over well if your rat is sick. It is their natural instinct to hide their illnesses from predators.
Another thing to consider with rats is when the end of their lives are near. Sometimes rat owners will be fortunate enough to have one that goes quickly and peacefully, but other times, rats will suffer for a long and painful time, and it is your decision to put them to sleep. No animal should just be left to suffer because it will "die anyways." Home methods of euthanization are strongly not recommended, as they are very prone to error resulting in worse condition of the animal, and it is best to leave it to the professionals. You should ask your vet their method first. The heart stick method without anesthesia is extremely cruel and painful on such a small animal (and is also illegal). However, the heart stick method with anesthesia beforehand is perfectly acceptable, because the rat will not feel pain. Another way to euthanize a rat is to give it a sedative in its leg muscle, and then put the final injection into the abdomen. There is also a tail vein injection. Ask your vet what is best for you, and if you can be with your rat. No one but you can decide when your animal's time to go is. It is your duty to provide vet care when needed.
•Companionship: Rats are social animals. There are scientific studies that will prove this such as here and articles from experienced pet owners such as this. Rats do not do as well alone, period. Rats should not be kept alone unless there is a serious health issue at hand or you have a very aggressive rat that refuses to get along with others. Often, aggression in rats can even be fixed with a neuter. Differences can be seen 3-4 weeks after the neuter. A single rat cannot live well without a friend. Even if you want to play with your rat a lot, you cannot be with it every hour of the day, nor can you play with it in the same way another rat can. You cannot groom a rat to show affection. A great video to demonstrate why rats need friends can be found here. Just make sure your rat friend is of the same sex or fixed. Rat babies may sound great, but they are costly and can easily develop health problems when coming from parents with unknown backgrounds. Breeding is very time and money consuming, and takes years of research.
•Housing: Adequate housing is extremely important to owning pet rats. This is probably the most common mistake I see. Rats are very active and very intelligent. They need lots to do and lots to mentally engage them. Imagine the entire room you have to live is a closet. Well, that is how a rat in a small cage feels. As a rule of thumb, a cage should have 2 cubic feet per rat. So a cage for 2 rats should be at least 4 cubic feet, but that is the bare minimum. Having a larger cage is definitely welcome. There is a cage calculator here and here.
Aquariums are never acceptable cages. They have poor ventilation and accumulate ammonia very quickly. They also can get very hot. They have no bars to climb on and no shelves. Rats very much love climbing. These cages lack mental stimulation and the ammonia buildup can harm their lungs. They are simply not an option, and few are actually big enough.
Also, when looking for cages, bar spacing should be taken into consideration. Rats can squeeze out of anything they can fit their head through. 1/2'' or smaller is advised. Rabbit and ferret cages wouldn't work unless they were covered in mesh. In some cases, there are adult rats that are big enough to be secure. Martin's Cages and Critter Nations are both great brands.
Craigslist is a great way to find cages for cheap. Also check out the classifieds on GooseMoose and similar sites.
•Food: This goes with caging on the top mistakes newbies make. You walk into a store and see so many mixes advertised for rats. You're not sure what to get because this kind says it has this vitamins and this kind is cheaper.
unfortunately, none of those seed mixes are a good diet. With seed mixes, many contain a bunch of fatty ingredients that have no nutritional value. Corn is not okay either. Seed mix corn is dried. Dried corn can collect mold or fungus. The seeds themselves in seed mix are very fatty and way too much is put in these mixes. Also with seed mixes, rats can pick out what they like best, leaving behind things that may be important to their diet.
The acceptable diets for a rat are lab blocks or home made mixes such as Suebee's.
For lab blocks, Harlan Teklad, Mazuri, and Oxbow are recommended. Ones such as Kaytee have high protein levels, high sugar amounts, and questionable ingredients such as ethoxyquin which can contribute to cancers.
Mazuri can be found in stores (Petsmart), however the store brand is usually the 23 percent protein which is only good for baby rats.
oxbow can also be found in stores and is a normal protein level.
More often than not, I hear the excuse "Well, I want to save money." If you want to save money, order HT. HT is cheaper than seed mixes and I can't say this enough. A 1.75lb bag of vita prima is 5 dollars at pet supplies plus. A 15lb bag of HT, ordered online from The Crafty Rat or Mainely Rat Rescue costs about 30 dollars, including shipping, and lasts about 6 months if you have 2-3 rats. that averages 2 dollars per pound. You can also buy in bulk if you have more rats. Amazon has HT (Native Earth is the same thing) for $26 for 40lbs. I would only buy that much if you have a lot of rats, because food should only be kept for around 6 months. It can be preserved in the freezer.
Also, beware of the forbidden foods for rats.
•Bedding: Pine and cedar are not okay. Softwoods are overly dusty and harmful to their respiratory system. Aspen, a hardwood, is okay for rats. It is best to just experiment with beddings and see what you like best. Beddings that are rat safe are: Aspen, Recycled Paper (Fresh News, Petco Paper, etc), Eco Bedding, Soft Sorbent, and Carefresh (Except carefresh basics, which contains softwood). Be on the sneeze and dust watch with bedding. If anything makes you think twice, it doesn't hurt to switch. Also, a good way to prevent the spread of mites is to freeze bedding for 24 hours prior to using it.
•Aquiring a Rat: This is a big one to me, after housing and food. i would not recommend supporting a pet store. For any who may not know, pet store rats basically come from mills, or very poor breeders. This is basically how rats are bred: Video. In small racks where they can never have an enjoyable life, and the mother is constantly bred litter after litter. Pet stores don't care about health or temperment. They care about money. That is all. And by buying an animal from there, you are giving your money to support that, and clearing a spot for more to be bred in its place. Here is a link uncovering the horrors of pet store mills. Look at your own risk.
Now, if you're wondering where TO acquire a rat, there are many good options to put your money into! It depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for a healthy rat, you may want to try to look for breeders in your area. Be warned though, not all breeders are good breeders. Look for these red flags. You may have to go some lengths to find a good breeder.
There is also the rescue route, which can be very rewarding. There are thousands of rats waiting for homes at rescues and shelters. Try searching if there is a rat rescue near you, or use petfinder to see if any are in shelters. Craigslist is also an option. There are often people rehoming rats. Just never buy rats from a breeder that lists on craigslist.
•Playtime: Rats should be played with on a daily basis. That will get them used to you, even if you have a more shy rat. They need to explore areas that are not their cage, just as we need to get out of the house. They shouldn't have to always be cooped up in the cage, and should also have time to bond with you. Bonding with rats is a huge part in getting them to love you. Also, the ratoob is a great way of bonding with the more shy rats. also, trust training by letting them come to you at their own pace and rewarding them with food works best for me.
•Research: You can never do enough research, really. Browse though GooseMoose pet forums. Ask questions. Google things. Check ratguide and dapper rat. Owning rats is a learning experience. There is no such thing as being too prepared. They always seem to surprised us.
If you are not willing to provide the things listed for your animals (correct food, housing, vet care, etc), you should seriously reconsider getting rats, for their sake. An animal should not suffer from a human's laziness or inability to care for them. Even if you love them but don't have the money, you can always wait until later to get rats. They'll be waiting for you. It's better to let them get homes that can give them what they need than to neglect. So please, take all of this in mind.
I felt the need to share this because of the mistakes in the past, with a hope to correct and prevent them in the future!
A special thanks to everyone online who helped me learn proper care.
<3 TGQ
