They look like a lot of fun
My daughter is getting a pair of females for Christmas. So, any tips you may have.....
Hmm... my advice would be;
a. Get as big a cage as you can afford/fit in your home- the cage my rats are in is about 2ft long b 1ft wide and 3ft high- personally i wouldn't opt for a cage any shorter or narrower than the measurements of the one i have. A large cage helps create a more stress free environment for the rats to live in with each other if their have more space to themselves
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b. Some rodent beddings can cause flu like symptoms in rats, i think sawdust bedding with pine wood in it does this- so be careful about what sort of bedding you get for the rats. I have found corn cob and shredded paper to be the best bedding for rats in my experience
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c. When you decorate the cage, because you are getting 2 rats, its best to have at least 3houses for them since they may not always want to sleep in the same house together, and by having 3houses it will may them feel happier having more choices to spend the night in. Get some wood or tough carboard too for them to chew on, rats teeth are always growing and if they don't have anything tough to chew on their teeth may become overgrown.
d. Always keep their food bowls and water bottles topped up with fresh food and water- there are many brands of rat food, the ones which don't contain dried fruit are the best, since this way you can moniter the amount of sugar the rats get into their diet a lot easier.
Feeding them fruit and veg every now and then is good for the rats- rats can eat almost about anything, however try and avoid giving them stuff which is high in sugar or fat or has salt in it if you can or just feed such foods very sparingly.
Extra foods my rats enjoy include stuff like;
Plain noodles (cooked or dry)
Plain pasta (cooked or dry)
carrots
spring onions
cabbage
lettuce
button mushrooms
chinese cabbage
raw pak choi (also known as bok choy)
tomatoes
cucumber
bread
onion
cooked potato
cooked sweet potato
pea's (cooked or raw)
And as treats;
canned sweetcorn
pears
pizza crusts
apples
banana's (no skin)
etc...All of these foods are feed in relatively small quantities (for example, with pears and apples i only give them the core of the apple/pear, or with cucumber i just give them the chopped off ends of the cucumber which i don't eat myself etc). I feed my rats a lot of veg in comparison to what a lot of other owners probably bother to, but that is mainly because their cage is located in my kitchen and they are always getting scraps of food when i do my cooking
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e. When you introduce the rats for the first time to each other, it is best to do it in an area where they wouldn't usually go i.e. not their cage, this way they will not have any personal space/territory to squabble over. Watch the rats very carefully as they interact with each other for the first time for at least half an hour- it is also good if you put vanilla essence on the rats, since the strong smell makes them smell like each other so the rats are more likely to accept each other as relatives and not suspicious smelling strangers (plus they love licking off the essence
). Once you are content that the rats are happy with each other, you can put them in their cage.
f. Don't bother with getting an excercise wheel the for rats- not just because they will almost definately outgrow it (most excercise wheels sold for rats in petshops are only adequate for hamsters), but also because they don't seem to like them much because of their tails, so the wheel just ends up taking up valuable space in the cage. What is far better is to take the rats out for about 30mins or more each day to let them have a run around to help them get their excercise, and also so you can help get used to handling them and help bond with them.
You have to be confident with the rats when handling them- if they seem scared, just handle them even more, as this is the only way you to get them used to you. I remember reading an article way back on a guy who was very knowledgeable on rats who managed to tame an almost completely wild rat within 20mins of "forced" handling- apparently this is because after 20mins, the rat realise that you are probably not intending to eat it, and so it relaxes its guard around you and starts to become tame
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Rats are very intelligent animals and thrive off regular contact and an interesting large cage to live in, so take them out to excercise and play with them and try and keep their cage interesting as much as you can
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You should clean out their cage once a week, giving it a thorough scrub and a complete change of bedding and clean out the food bowls and water bottles etc and put completely fresh new food and water in them. Cages where the bottom tray of the cage is separated by a tray of bars are the best since the rat poop falls into the tray while keeping the rats off it, so they don't have to live with their own waste so directly.
Keep a close eye on the rats health too- any odd symptoms like heavy breathing, runnny nose, lots of crud around the eyes etc and you should take the rats to a vet ASAP. Moving from a petshop into a new cage can be a stressful time for rats and they may get ill during the process, so you should keep a close eye on them and try to handle them with lots of care and give them a good diet to help reduce their stress levels etc
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