Awesome! Rats are such a great pet, very social and loving and they love to interact with humans. Males tend to be more lazy then females, grow slightly bigger, will mark their territory more and will probably sleep all day, lol. But i hear they're great for cuddling on your lap. Your fiance might not like this part, but rats need a companion. They live in social structures. It really makes the difference. My 2 girls rats never leave eachothers side. They groom eachother, eat side by side and sleep together, not to mention entertain each other while I'm at work. A lone rat will be very depressed unless you can devote ALOT of interaction and time with it, but even still no guarentees. 2 rats is not harder to take care of at all.
As for rat info and advice here is what i can tell you:
- Rats regulate temperatures through their feet and tail. In the summer if it gets hot, you can give them a little tub to dampen their feet in(or give them ice cubes, my girls liked that). In the winter, put old towels or clothes for bedding for warmth but they'll also cuddle close together for warmth too.
- Food: AVOID those nasty seed mixes(for all rodents for that matter), it's like feeding a human mcdonalds every day. Seeds are very fattening and will cause your rats skin to itch and they'll get scabs from scratching. They need a diet with protein(no more then 19%) so i feed my rats high quality dog food and very little wet cat food, along with plain oats, raw pasta(wears down their teeth plus they enjoy the crunch), plain rice cakes or puffed rice and lab blocks which are a must imo. Then every so often they get fresh veggies(romaine, cucumber, carrots) and some fruit(grapes, apples) for treats and they will also love rodent yogurt drops. Just beware of acidic fruit(no oranges)or seeds in foods as rats don't have a gag reflex and cannot throw up so they could choke to death.
- Entertainment and cheap toys: They love to chew on cardboard(toliet paper rolls, kleenex boxes are a favorite b/c they're like another den!) and my one girl LOVES to shread up newspaper(but i help her tear it up
) and use it for her den. I went to Dollarma and got dog rope toy and attached it across the cage for something to climb on. They also have a hammock, shelf, ladders and large plastic piping to run on and through. I can post a picture of their large bunny cage if you want. Running wheels are a waste of $$, especially ones with only parallel bars that could easy trap a little rattie foot or tail.
-Bedding: Avoid cedar and pine. I use Care fresh for my girls litter box or another absorbing pellet. My girls are very good at doing their "business" in one spot of the cage. For bedding i bought cheap face/hand towels which i change out every 2 days since they tend to like to urinate in their bedding.
There is also a very common disease found in the majority of rats called myco. My vet told me its rare to find a rat without it, just some have little to no symptons and some have severe effects. Here's a link to learn more about it:
http
/raisinrats.com/medical/myco.html .
Anything else you need to know just ask. I'm sure you're gonna love owning rats.
PS: I forgot to mention I belong to this forum and it's very good for rat advice if you wanted to check it out aswell:
http/www.ratpalace.com/modules.php?op=mo...pBB2&file=index
) I would love to see pictures. Finding him a buddy should be very easy. Unforunately there's MANY unwanted rats in shelters(even spca) and i would check classfieds too. Avoid getting one from a pet store or you're just promoting feeder rats.
