So, I work at a local pet store and these rats were brought in with this cage. We cant kwep live rats at the store due to company change causing change in policy, so I brought them home with me. I never owned rats before but Im pretty sure this is not a rat cage die to size and how far apart the bars are spaced (one kept getting out, fixed with some heavy duty cardboard). I have a bunch of food and the bedding shown in the pic.
1/4
here's female #1, currently named Miss Brisby
>>2129877
fuck forgot pic
here's female #2, Lil' Warden
Get a proper cage first, rats are alot smarter than youd think, they make great pets, I would set them up with a cage big enough to fit some parrot ladders and tubes to crawl through, rats love to climb and play.
now, I have never owned rats before, and after 4 days of keeping them I think a newfound passion was uncovered. I definitely want to have multiple rats, maybe 8 - 10 in the future. Im getting a larger cage soon for these two (a friend is giving me her smallest ferret cage ehich is at least twice the size of the cage I have now)
Any tips from experienced rat owners on /an/? how big of a cage will I newd for a good group of rats, what kind of hides/toys/miscellaneous shit should I put in the cage? is the bedding Im using now fine or should I use something else?
one more thing before I go to sleep, is it a good idea to try and prevent/punish overly dominant behavior? if so, how would I go about doing that? my beige female is the dominant one constantly humping and tackling the white and black one, without any real injuries being left behind but it still worries me.
just kidding THIS is the last thing Ill post before sleeping, and this isnt a question, just verifying that I do give them a few hours outside of their cage to run around my room freely, though that will change when thwy have a bigger set up as this much free roam Im just doing to compensate for their temporary small living space
rats like to climb, so get a tall cage, preferably with horizontal bars. I have heard of rats being put in ferret cages before, so the cage is probably fine. Give the rats a lot to do in the cage, so platforms (not wire, that will hurt their feet), ladders, tunnels, hammocks, things like that. to keep the cage interesting you can shift around the toys and such every month or so.
bedding seems fine, the most inportant thing with bedding is that it is dust free. rats have sensitive airways so things like hay or straw are much to dusty.
dominance behaviour is completely normal and unavoidable if you have multiple rats. as long as there are no injuries it's fine. if the dominance is about food as well you could make 2 feeding places, so you can be sure they both get enough to eat.
That's a rabbit cage you have there
good for males, not so much for females as females are escape artists and will be all over the place when you wake up due to slipping out of those bars
bar spacing for females should be 1/2 inch. If you can cover that cage with some sort of mesh then you're good to go. Clean the cage out at least once a week. Rats generally dont stink but they will if you let them stay on old bedding
Let them roam out of the cage for at least an hour a day. You can feed them meat but only give them a small bit every few days as its not great for them and shortens their lifespan dramatically
get lab blocks, not seed mixs. Seeds are awful for rats. Do not feed them cheese or dairy. While they love it, it gives them severe diarrhea
just google pet rats for the basics, it's all there
