Calling All Rat Lovers/Owners!

[hello1234lol]

Thanks! I did a bit of research today, and I think I can handle owning 2 rats, and a lot of it is similar to other animals I already knew how to care for. But, £100 is a lot for a pet rat's vet bills, after all, I thought they only live for 2-3 years. I saw a table of common health problems and it only included mites, tumors, overgrown teeth, and traumatic injury, so what did you spend the money on?

One more thing, cages that could fit rats are quite expensive... The cages that are cheep are too small for two rats. Has anyone built their own, or know where to get a reasonable cage?

I use a aquarium.
Things you ca use:
Rubbermaid tub:Holes cut in the top and sides,or cut a hole,and zipptie a aquarium lid on.
Regular Cage
Aquaruim
Bird Cage

And I use ashpen bedding.

Good Luck!

-------------------------------------
Turns out,the onbly reason my mom bought my rats,is for breeders.She's feeding the babies to our snake.

[.Middy.]

Aquariums are not safe for rats! Please dont suggest using them to people. The only time they should be used are with a nursing mother for the first couple weeks until the babies are big enough to not fit through the wires. (If you can find a cage with wire spacing small enough then there should never be a reason to have a rat in a aquarium.)

The chemicals in their pee can cause respiratory issues that could turn deadly if not treated.

Sorry to jump in like that. I just hate the idea of people suggesting aquariums to people when I know they aren't safe. Anyways I have two amazing males. Bazil and Bug are their names. Baze is a mismarked dalmatian, and Bug is a Variberk. Baze is white with black markings while Bug is black with white markings. I will post some pictures of them as soon as possible.

[ppig]

Thanks! I did a bit of research today, and I think I can handle owning 2 rats, and a lot of it is similar to other animals I already knew how to care for. But, £100 is a lot for a pet rat's vet bills, after all, I thought they only live for 2-3 years. I saw a table of common health problems and it only included mites, tumors, overgrown teeth, and traumatic injury, so what did you spend the money on?

One more thing, cages that could fit rats are quite expensive... The cages that are cheep are too small for two rats. Has anyone built their own, or know where to get a reasonable cage?

You can get second hand cages for quite cheap on Preloved. Also, a good thing about that is you go and see the cage before you buy it.

Unfortunately, I have never owned a rat so I don't know... That was just a quote from somebody..

[crazy cranky critter]

I currently have two rats. Brothers. Their names are Bourbon and Whiskey/Jack (as in Jack Daniels). They are black with white tums :) Bourbon is ultra hyper and Jack is hella lazy.
Their cage is big enough to fit up to seven rats in it, but they enjoy chillin' in their big bachelor pad, just the two of them. It's a wire cage with a slide out base. The bars are pretty spaced out, so I have to keep my ratters in a two-rat-max cage until they are full grown. Hence why I only get rats two at a time.

[UnicornDoingDressage]

If you are worried abut being kept up at night by your rats, move their wheel out side their cage at night. My rats personally come out and run around my rat proof room, with their wheel out in my room and coffee boxes to hide in <3

[cek00]

Thanks guys!

I will look for cheap cages on ebay and other second hand sites. I have a while before I need one though, my mom said that we couldn't get any rats untill after school started, and even then she wasn't sure.

[hello1234lol]

@ ~•MidnightDreamer•~,Sorry,I didn't know.I use an aquaruim.

[.Middy.]

If you have your rats in one, I would suggest getting them a wire cage.

[UnicornDoingDressage]

Eek, I kept a hamster in an aquarium once and she died later that day.
Y'all have adorable rat names! I have 2 girlies. One Moonie, a beautiful pearly-white albino, and Milky a stunning buff with black markings. They are small rats meant to be nom noms for snakes ;_; I rescued em <3 <3

[coyoteflu]

I am getting two baby girls either this Halloween or Christmas from a wonderful breeder in my area! After talking to my dad about getting them and with a little encouragement from my mom, since she is more open to new things, he will allow rats in the house, which I feel very lucky for. I recently bought a Martin's R-695 for around 50 dollars on Craigslist for them which came with three hammocks, a wheel (much too small for rat use, unfortunately), and a small container that I've hung up in the cage as a bed. I still have to gather up the rest of the supplies, such as a huge bag of lab blocks, water bottles and food dishes, a temporary cage, a litter box and litter, a travel cage, liners, and more toys for the cage. I also found a good list of vets in my area which I'm going to look into more. Currently, some names I would like to choose from are Cobaltt, Robin, Penny, Rue, and Rae. I really like Rue but depending on their personalities that could change. I cannot wait to get them!