Temperament
Rats are social animals who live in stable groups in which each animal has a well-defined relationship with each member of the group. When kept in single-cages, rats suffer from isolation stress, which, in turn, affects their growth, behavior, physiological condition, impairs their behavioral health as reflected in a higher incidence of stereotypical behavior patterns, and reduces their survival rate when compared with group-housed animals. The presence of another rat also has a protective effect in fear-provoking and stressful situations.
Meet Lilith, a Momma cat who let her best friend SiSi (A Pet Rat) visit her kits.
She even let SiSi suckle from her.
Lilith also let SiSi wash her kits faces.
Her kits grew up to love rats as well and visited them inside their cage just as their momma did.
(NO THE CATS DO NOT LIVE IN CAGES)
Rat bites: Rat bites will never occur from a healthy pet rat treated properly.
The only rat who will bite is one who bites out of fear because they were abused, or bites out of pain because they are sick (mentally or physically).
Photo Of: Lei and Luca
Photo Credit To: Jeptha Eddy, Jr. @ photobyjeptha.com
Housing
DO NOT EVER use hamster cages, habitrails, plastic storage bins with lids, or aquariums as permanent housing for your rats.
Cages
"THE LARGER THE HOME THE BETTER"
Until your rats reach adulthood and cannot squeeze their heads out of 1" x 2" bar spacing DO NOT put them in any cage unless the bar spacing is at least 1/2" apart. Do not use cages with wire floor unless they have lots of space with no wire, or they will get Bumble foot, wire levels are ok.
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A single rat needs a cage at least a MINIMUM of 24"H x 18"L x 11"W with four levels. That same cage may house up to 4 adult rats or 6 babies.
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A cage of 30"H x 30"L x 18"W with four levels will house up to 6 adult rats or 10 babies.
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"THE BEST CAGES"
Martins Cages
http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/
or
http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/ferret/
Travel Cages
Bedding
DO NOT EVER USE any pine, cedar, aspen, or wood chip bedding for they cause severe respiratory illnesses which usually lead to a horrifically long suffering death.
Bedding such as corn cobs is also a no, for rats will eat it and #1: They get enough corn in their diets, and #2: the corn will be used as litter so they will indigest their feces.
We recommend using CareFresh, it is safe recycled newspaper, absorbs liquid and odors very well, plus it comes in different colors so it mentally stimulates your rats precious brain and pleases your eyes.
Cleaning
Cleanliness is a must for rat housing. Providing a litter box will help to keep the cage cleaner and most rats learn quickly how to use them. If you can smell that the cage is dirty then it is past time for a cleaning. Ammonia buildup can cause damage to their delicate respiratory systems and is easily controlled with a proper cleaning schedule.
Make sure you use a non-toxic cleaner like this Clean Cage or Vinegar.
Just sprinkle these pure zeolite minerals under your pet's bedding to absorb and trap strong odors.
Litter Training
Enrichment
DO NOT EVER USE wire wheels as rats tails and feet could get caught in them.
Wodent Wheel
Flying Saucer Wheel
Bird Toys
Super Pet Feathered Fun Desktop Activity Center
Bird Jungle Gyms make wonderful toys when you let your rats out to play. Or if you have a big enough cage to put one inside then that's even better!
Bodacious Bites Large Bird Toy
Rats love rummaging through rope, bead, wood, and what ever you give them! So make sure everything is safe as they will taste it all haha.
Toy Box by Jungle Talk
Rats teeth keep growing and they love chewing so make sure you provide hem with lots of fresh clean toys to chew on. Pet safe colored wood is an excellent choice as the colors enrich their brains, the natural fruit flavors keep them chewing and the wood keeps their teeth short and healthy.
Nature's Instinct Snack Rack Bird Foraging Toy
Satisfy your rat's natural instinct to search for food with this clever toy. Hide your rat's favorite treats inside the Snack Rack and you'll be mystified as you observe him solve the cleverly designed foraging puzzle. These types of bird toys are highly recommend as they make the rats use their brain to get to a treat.
Diet
Your "Lab Block" rat food should look something like this;
Ingredients: dehulled soybean meal, ground corn, ground wheat, wheat middlings, soybean oil, cane molasses, fish meal, ground oats, porcine meat meal, dehydrated alfalfa meal, dried beet pulp, wheat germ, brewers dried yeast, calcium carbonate, salt, dried whey, dicalcium phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium propionate (a preservative), ground soybean hulls, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (vitamin K), animal fat preserved with BHA, choline chloride, corn gluten meal, dried yucca shidigera extract, DL-methionine, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), vitamin A acetate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (natural source vitamin E), thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, nicotinic acid, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate.
Guaranteed analysis: crude protein (min.) 23%, crude fat (min.) 6.5%, crude fiber (max.) 4%, ash (max.) 8%, vitamin E (min.) 25 IU/lb.
Rats also need a little fresh raw fruits, vegetables and nuts daily with gently cooked meat weekly (fish,bird, or egg, not beef). Also a teaspoon of plain all natural low fat yogurt twice weekly is good too.
Food Dish
Rats need a chew proof food dish that cannot be knocked over.
Water Bottle
Rats need a chew proof water bottle to keep the water clean and off the cage floor where it could mold. Make sure to clean your water bottles out weekly with vinegar and a bottle brush.
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