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Ratties Rats!?

SnowFlower

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I have noticed alot of rats being rehomed/sold as "feeders" in my area on craigslist, as well as in the shelters. I know a couple of you at least have rats in addition to your beloved piggies. I was curious if your daily tasks change drastically when you have rats and piggies? I have the room, no problem, and can get all the rat supplies quite easily. I spend approx 6 hours per day on piggie care (have 6 piggies so I guess that breaks down to an hour per pig a day lol) but can increase my time in my rescue as much as 4 hours to accomadate more cleaning, loving, playing, feeding, etc. I also dedicate a whole Saturday to complete cage cleaning, restocking my container of pellets, buying a weeks supply of fresh food, extra outdoor and free range time, etc.

Do you think I would be over my head by expanding?! My capacity for guinea pigs, I have decided, is about 10 right now. Rats.....maybe 5 to 10 for now.

I guess my main questions is if the routine could remain the same with rats: 2 hours of feeding/individual loves/free range/spot cleaning in the morning and 4-5 hours of the same in the evening. Maybe adding an hour to each? (I figure free time could be balls with rats, right? And a covered playpen with new and exciting things to see/do?)
 

Skeetersmom

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Rats require a lot of time and attention. They love being out and exploring. Every time I walk past my cage, they are climbing the bars to get out and roam. The good thing is, they can be out playing on a table or your bed and don't normally jump down. They have bad eyesight and don't jump cause they can't see the floor.

They need large cages (there are rat cage calculators to check how many can go in a cage) Rats should never go in a ball. They usually will not use them at all. A covered playpen would work as long as they can't get out of the bar spacing. 1 inch bar spacing is usually too large for smaller females but ok for adult males. Most ferret playpens are 1 inch spacing.

I think they require more 1 on 1 care and attention than the guinea pigs do. Rats crave the attention and don't do well if they do get it. They also have to be kept in pairs.
 

Paula

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I think what I would do is focus on pigs at the moment, particularly if you're also somewhat new to pigs.

They're different animals with different nutritional needs, different health concerns, etc., and I think what I'd do is learn as much as I could about one before expanding to another or you may very well end up way over your head.

Rats do require a lot more in the way of one on one interaction, as Skeetersmom pointed out, and that can't really be done by putting them in a ball and calling it good. They genuinely want to spend time with YOU as much as possible. While they don't absolutely have to be kept in pairs or groups, they are social animals, like pigs, that thrive with companions of like kind.
 

suzilovespiggie

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Wow, 10 rats and 10 piggies would be alot to take care of.
Rats are fun creatures. They are very affectionate and very intelligent. There is a good website for rats (broken link removed)
When my daughter had rats, those were hers as the GP"s were mine. So each, got the attention they needed. Rats like piggies do better in pairs. Their diet is abit differnet than pigs. Ratsrule has a wonderful mixture you make up for the rats diet. They love junk food (though not always good for them) It is fun to watch them hide their food or treats. I find rats more personable than pigs. Pigs could live without us and wouldn't mind. Rats love our attention. They love to be out with you and love to explore. You can train rats with mazes and some tricks. Rats to not use balls or wheels for exercise. They are not skittish (unless mishandled) have great personalities. They are great fun critters.
Rats do not live long lives. Average is about 3 years. They can be prone to resperitory infections and tumors. My daughter loved her rats, but had trouble with the short life span. When one died she was heartbroken.
I think if you had a couple of each, rats and GP's you could spilt your time and be ok. but much more than that I believe you would get overwealmed as each have time requirements.
 

Shadow1

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It Sounds to me like your okay. If you buy rats though you can place then in a room and they will run around. Gerbiel food and rat food mixed is better for them. They need a small cage with lots of toy and a small nesting area. You shouldn't buy 2 males (they fight) and you shouldn't buy a male and female(they mate). You should get two females.
Hoped I hepled!
 

Skeetersmom

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It Sounds to me like your okay. If you buy rats though you can place then in a room and they will run around. Gerbiel food and rat food mixed is better for them. They need a small cage with lots of toy and a small nesting area. You shouldn't buy 2 males (they fight) and you shouldn't buy a male and female(they mate). You should get two females.
Hoped I hepled!


Males get along fine most of the time. I had 3 males not related without issues. They also need the biggest cage you can afford to get. Not a small cage. Many people use Ferret Nations for males or the new Midwest Critter Nation. Martin's cages are also one of the best cages for rats. They have there own website store. They are only sold online.

The best food for them is HT lab blocks or Mazuri blocks. They should have frest fruits and veggies daily. I also used Suebee's mix for treats along with their lab block.

Check out goosemoose.com rats rule. It's a good forum for information.
 

Ly&Pigs

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No gerbil food for rats.

Rats can live in huge same sex colonies. As long as you have the cage space for them all to live together, there's no problem. If not, then they could be split into smaller groups. Rats are probably more social than pigs and do well in colonies. I had 4 males living together in the top half of an FN 142 at one time and they all got on well.

It's a myth that two males will fight.
 

Mattt

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It Sounds to me like your okay. If you buy rats though you can place then in a room and they will run around. Gerbiel food and rat food mixed is better for them. They need a small cage with lots of toy and a small nesting area. You shouldn't buy 2 males (they fight) and you shouldn't buy a male and female(they mate). You should get two females.
Hoped I hepled!

Sorry but no. No Gerbil Food.

I have TONS of Rats. More then I can count. I have always had Large Groups of Males and they only Play fight. They are perfectly fine if they are raised together, and do quite well with introductions to other males.


However, Males tend to scent everything they walk over so they to smell a bit more. But they are more calm then females. Females prefer to play play play where as males will fall asleep on your lap.
 

wigglesgiggles1

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Well if you can't even count all of them, I can't imagine that you are giving them each one on one attention every day if you don't even know how many you have.
 

Mattt

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Well if you can't even count all of them, I can't imagine that you are giving them each one on one attention every day if you don't even know how many you have.

I wasn't serious about that. I was just saying I have quite a few furry friends. (some non furry too lol)

There is 23 of them. 15 Males, 8 Females. They have 2 huge Custom cages. Each being 5ft Tall x 4ft Wide x 3ft Deep

(rattycorner.com says each cage can hold 30 rats btw.)

Anyways, when I wake up the males get to come out and play. They can free Roam the entire room since its dedicated to rats. I take each rat out and play with each one before putting them down for free roam time then I also play with them while and after I at. They get to free roam for about an hour, then I do some work around the house and what not. Then the females I do the same for. Again for an hour. Then once Im done with work and stuff they come out again for a few more hours of play time each.

Crazy? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Most definitely.
 

wigglesgiggles1

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Ok. I thought you were serious about that (was a bit scared there for a moment). Well I am glad you give a nice home to that many rats. And take good care of them.
 

suzilovespiggie

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My daughter had her rats in a huge Martin rat cage condo. It was 5ft high, 4 stories, 3-4 feet wide. The thing was huge. I still have the cage at my house. but no rats and no daughter. (she got married and moved out). Each story had hammocks, and various tunnels to play and sleep in. The bottom floor had the litter boxes, as all the rats did very well in using the boxes. She had 6 rats in there. All got along well. She was given a skinny rat, named Harry, who got along with eveyone else but got scratched more often than the others. As others have said, the bigger the cage the better.
We fed the lab blocks, along with the mixture that was on rats rule, fruits, veggies, and treats. A special treat was cheetos. They all loved cheetos.
Her room like Matt, was rat proofed and all roamed from cage to bed to room when she was home. She had ferrets at the time also. (She had 4 and they all lived in a huge ferret condo in another room.) We had to keep a very close I on the ferrets as they will hurt/kill the rats. They would also go after my GP's. (just a waringing if you want ferrets along with rats and GP's)
Anyway let us know what you decide.
 
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