Afew Questions Reguading Rats

[Sensor Girl]

Okay, where do I start? I have a rat named Splinter who seems to hate commming out of his cage. He's fine being picked up and handled, but the second I take him out he wants to jump right back in. Is this normal? Is there any way I can help him get used to staying out of the cage? Also, he tends to think everything is food, and i'm a little scared he's gonna bite someone. Is there a way to curb that behavior as well?

Aside from that, I have two more questions. Do rats do better in groups like pigs do? And also, he's in a rather small cage now, is there any reason he can't move in to my guinea pigs old cage ? (I'm building a C&C cage for her and the two companions i'm getting this week! Very excited about that!)

Any help is appreciated!

[Percy's Mom]

OK, I know little or nothing about rats, so I'm going to leave that to the ratty experts. I do hope to be one of them someday though. Looking at the pictures of some people's ratty family members has seriously softened my heart in their direction. The one thing I absolutely have to comment on though, is that I LOVE the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference! I'll attribute it to having a little brother born in the mid-80's, but I think I was more into his little action figures than he was, and the Turtle's rat sensei Splinter was always my favorite.

Don't everyone go calling me a dork at once.

[fadedcoat]

Rats are social like guinea pigs and like companionship (same-sex of course). I have 7 rats now in 2 big cages. One of them is coroplast, posted earlier in this forum (The Rat Mansion), and one is a Super Pet ferret cage. The bars of your guinea pig cage can't be more than 7/8" (really should be 1/2") or the rat will be able to squeeze out.

One of my rats doesn't seem to like playtime, either. I'll let all the rats out and she'll stay in her cage for a long time. It might just be a personality thing. Maybe some rats are homebodies. But boy rats tend to be lazier than girls, too. More like lap rats. There is an excellent rat site called RattyRat that has tons of information and recomendations for you, including how to introduce new rats to your resident one.

[Slap Maxwell]

He's fine being picked up and handled, but the second I take him out he wants to jump right back in. Is this normal?

It is. Right when you get him out of the cage and you want to cuddle with him, walk away from the cage and let him settle down. This happens with my boys.

Also, he tends to think everything is food, and i'm a little scared he's gonna bite someone. Is there a way to curb that behavior as well?

Don't hand feed him treats, esp. through the bars. When you pet him or put your fingers near him, say "FINGERS!" so he learns it is not food, again, my boys know the difference between a Yogie and "fingers".

Do rats do better in groups like pigs do?

Absolutely. Get him a same sex buddy from a rescue or shelter. He will be much happier.

You can find great cages at www.martinscages.com. I suggest ordering one if you can afford it, the bigger the better! Also see the cage calculator. This will help determine how many rats can fit in a cage. My cage is 14''x28''x82''. It houses three boys. If you want to know how I built it (I used cubes and coro) PM me.

Good luck!

[suzilovespiggie]

I too have rats. I started out with 5, now down to 1. My cage is a Martin 4 stories high. 3ft wide, 5ft high and 2ft in depth. My lone guy stays on the first 2 levels. Rats are very social. They eat together, play together, sleep together. Your rat would love a same sex friend. I too think it depends on the rat wether they come out of the cage or stay in. The majority of mine would come out, several stayed in. Three of the rats were litter mates and very abused. I have had to be careful as they came as biters and I was never quite able to break them of it. I had to approach them from behind and above. If you tried to come face first they would bite. Slap is right about giving food with your fingers. Even the biters would know food from fingers. I have a special place in the cage just for treats. I put all the treats there.
Good luck on finding a friend for your rat. The shelter here calls them pocket pets. I have seen many on Petfinder.com: Adopt a pet and help an animal shelter rescue a puppy or kitten. If you put your zipcode in along with the animal you want they will bring up rats in your area that need adoption.