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Rats!
Aoi Tsuki
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have just acquired two one-year-old female rats from a family whose kid didn't want them anymore; the sister and dad were keeping the poor things outside (during and after rain, in TEXAS, holy shit humidity 
), didn't know what sex they were (male rodents have quite the massive balls--a lack thereof means it's female) and were afraid to touch them, and surprised when I said the reddish stuff around the pink-eyed white's eyes meant she wasn't doing too good.
Sigh.
So now I have in my closet a stinky little 1.5x3-ish foot wire cage, rusting a bit, with one friendly hooded rat who'll juuust let me touch her (flinching a bit, but busy with my bribe of yogurt) and one whom I'm not even trying for a few days, as she thought my finger was food. First order of business, once I've resumed work getting them to trust me, is a new cage, because I know females need to run around, and the hooded one (tentatively named Kairi) has already hopped out to explore, while the albino (Namine?) is content to dig madly in her bedding.
I've read up on rats, enough to believe I can do 'em better than the zoo they were living in (four dogs, two snakes, an iguana, another lizard, three zebra finches, two turtles...that I saw). What kind of cage should I be going for, besides a powder-covered, non-rusty piece of shit with stuff to do and no wire bottom? Any good lab blocks or homemade mixes that won't require I buy $50 worth at once? And why are people so stupid? ("Omigosh, she's so skinny!"
*punch*)
), didn't know what sex they were (male rodents have quite the massive balls--a lack thereof means it's female) and were afraid to touch them, and surprised when I said the reddish stuff around the pink-eyed white's eyes meant she wasn't doing too good.Sigh.
So now I have in my closet a stinky little 1.5x3-ish foot wire cage, rusting a bit, with one friendly hooded rat who'll juuust let me touch her (flinching a bit, but busy with my bribe of yogurt) and one whom I'm not even trying for a few days, as she thought my finger was food. First order of business, once I've resumed work getting them to trust me, is a new cage, because I know females need to run around, and the hooded one (tentatively named Kairi) has already hopped out to explore, while the albino (Namine?) is content to dig madly in her bedding.
I've read up on rats, enough to believe I can do 'em better than the zoo they were living in (four dogs, two snakes, an iguana, another lizard, three zebra finches, two turtles...that I saw). What kind of cage should I be going for, besides a powder-covered, non-rusty piece of shit with stuff to do and no wire bottom? Any good lab blocks or homemade mixes that won't require I buy $50 worth at once? And why are people so stupid? ("Omigosh, she's so skinny!"
*punch*) Aoi Tsuki on
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As for cages, the bigger the better. A deepish tray at the bottom will help keep the rats from kicking all their bedding onto the floor, but you're going to want a good vaccuum cleaner. Make sure the floors aren't all wire, since walking on wire all the time hurts their feet. You can cover any wire bits with wood, since it won't hurt the rats when they chew on it. Make sure the bars are quite close together, as rats can and will squeeze through any space the same size as their skull. Oh, and make very, very sure you don't have anything dangling near the cage, since the rats will chew through it.
Rats loooooooove hammocks, and it's adorable to see them sleeping in them. I wouldn't drop any serious cash on that, since they'll chew the hammock up and you'll have to replace it several times, but it's definitely worth it.
If you get a wheel for them, make sure it's not wire, since rats can get their feet and tails caught in a wire wheel and break them.
Toys are important, since rats are very intelligent and curious little boogers. Try giving them a paper towel tube to run through, or you can put treats in and fold both ends closed. Those little sample-sized cereal boxes are great, and it's hilarious to watch the rats haul them around and climb into them. Socks with the toes cut out are great for burrowing, and again, hilarious, especially when there's a fat rat butt sticking out of them.
As for food, you may have to suck it up and buy lab blocks in bulk. You can, however, treat your rats with just about anything you can (healthily) eat. Fruits and vegetables are the best treat, although don't give them citrus as it may cause cancer in male rats, and you can feed them just about any healthy human food as long as you're careful not to give them too much fat. While you're hand-taming them, peanut butter is a great distraction, since it'll take them awhile to clean it off their whiskers. This is also mind-bendingly cute.
Oh, and just make sure you're not using any sort of aerosol spray or air freshener around them, since rats have really delicate respiratory systems.
D'awwww. I was giving them a tiny bit of yogurt earlier, another trick I remember from a friend; I had that on a spoon, and very carefully stroked Kairi's back while she was lapping it up. She flinched a little, but didn't run (the first time, anyway), and I didn't push her. Naminé is even shyer, so I'm not trying her till she figures out it's all gravy.
Spoon for the peanut butter, too? I imagine fingers = *nomnom* isn't the association I want!
Funny you should ask--I just removed my Glade thingies after reading about that in my parents' Prevention magazine at home. Whoo, premonitions?
A good tip which I was given when I got my little guys was to use old sheets as bedding rather than buying replaceable substrate. You can take the bedding out and wash it from time to time, and although it'll eventually get all chewed up anyway, you'll get a bit more life out of it.
Sounds like you're on the right track to gaining their trust though, good luck.
In the animal lab we keep our rats in containers like this:
(Except... not by having one cage inside the other. Sorry, closest thing a GIS could come up with)
Bassically, its plastic all the way around except the top, which is wire framed. Drinking bottle through the top, and you rest its food in a slanted part of the cage (where the rat can reach it and pull it down.) Also, this is important, make sure you keep the rats together. They are social animals. They are alot happier, and friendlier when housed in pairs. You want a wood chip based litter for the bottom of the cage, and should really change it about twice a week.
The other thing to keep in mind is that rats are typically nocturnal animals. So they are more likely to be lively at night, or if you put them in the dark (in labs, for example, the lights in the cage room are off all day and on all night, fooling the rats into being awake when we need to be able to work with them.)
Edit: Oh yeah, about escaping: Rats have the ability to collapse their skeleton, making them able to get through holes about the size of a quarter. Just something to keep in mind when rat proofing your place.
Edit 2: Also, consider a breeding size cage. Gives 'em a little more room to run around. A regular doubles cage is fine for when they are little, but as they get older they do need more room. This was a suggestion from some animal rights organization that inspected our lab a few years back and they do seem to be more friendly since the change.
I plan to pick up some extra romaine and bell pepper at the store when I'm buying stuff for the guinea pig--one care guide said red, orange or yellow bell pepper, so is green not okay? Those are cheaper, and the pig loves 'em. And how much greenery do they eat a day?
I'll explain what I can remember.
Rats need to be held. Try to get them out of the cage a lot. Put them on your bed, or in an area where they can't run under and escape. Do not feed them through the bars of the cage - they will think all things are food then. This will hurt you.
Rats don't like water usually. They can eat pretty much anything. Keep them in a nice cool place, but one that allows for light once in awhile - In a closet 24/7 is unhealthy.
If I think of more, I'll let you know.
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Noey McNopants, the closet is temporary; their cage is bulky as all hell, but smelly and not very roomy and almost no head room. I put it in there mostly to control how the cats reacted to them.
Oh, yes, I can has kitties with rats in the vicinity--kitties who are terrified of my guinea pig and at least one of whom encountered Naminé as the latter wedged her incisors between the chicken-wire covering the outside of the cage. (Did I mention this is an exceptionally shitty cage and has to go?) The rats seem never to have encountered a cat before, and as with Hikaru, their fearlessness is psyching out the cats big time. No worries, I'm not taking any risks either way; the new cage will go atop a sturdy shelf the cats cannot climb (it IS possible) and both felines put firmly away when it's run-around time.
Do any pet-store chains sell okay rat food, or is it the online bulk route I'd better take unless I want to be a hypocrite for advising good food in the Kitties thread?
This thread needs pictures!
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
PM me and I'll see if we can't send you a sample bag to try Aoi.
Man, I do need pics. Kairi was climbing my empty 100-CD rack like a little firefighter last night.
Naminé remains reluctant to do much of anything, though she seems active and energetic enough in the cage. Kairi climbed on me a little today (why was she headbutting my crotch?!) and didn't venture much more than a couple of gentle "Food?" nips. I still can't pet either one, though.
They do the sniffing thing to your ears, too.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
The books a about 8 inchs behind the cage, it's hard to tell in the picture.
Cages
Avoid anything with solid glass or plastic walls. Rats love to climb so wired cages are great. We have a "Ferplast Jenny" which came with a tube and some shelves which help bulk things out. Hammocks were already mentioned... get one! My girls sleep on the hammock more than in their bed hehe. A great place to look for accessories is the "bird" section in pet stores i have found. You can get some great stuff than hangs down from the top of the cage to make the rats climb and excercise.
Here is a photo of our cage from a while back. We have about 3 sets of accessories so we can rotate every few weeks to keep the girls active. In his photo we dont have the hammock in but a ferret bag instead (the big blue thing) which they will also sleep in. For "hanging" things which come with cloth / material ties, I have found it easier to cut those off and replace them with metal chains. Makes things last longer.
(Yes we do have Carpet on their plastic shelves
Food
Not sure where you live, but every big pet store near me in the UK sells rat food. "Supreme" are a big brand and they sell "Reggie Rat" food so i guess you could get that worldwide.
I was told by a rat breader never to feed them with Hamster, Rabbit or Guinnie Pig food. It has some specific seeds in it that will make rats ill if they eat too much. Not sure if there is any truth in this though or if it was just a ploy to sell rat food.
Check out this LINK from fancy-rats.co.uk, it should lead to a forum post on their site which details what fruit and veg is safe.
Playtime
This depends on where you end up putting the cage, but our cage is the lounge. Come playtime we just rotate the cage so it is back to back with the sofa and open all the doors. The girls can then run around over the sofa of their own accord and are free to retreat back to the safety of the cage if they need to.
Pics
I coudn't do a rat post without showing off my babies
Beatrice
Geraldine
Have fun with the two new additions to your home
Two more things: one, their "owners" gave me a bag full of bird seed for them, which strikes me as a really, really crappy diet. Should I take it out entirely? I've read iffy things about the corn.
And two, what should I do for repeated nipping? Kairi's starting to think my "Eep"ing and drawing my fingers away is a game--not very hard, but I want to make sure she's trustworthy around hands, and I didn't smell at all like food.
As to the nipping, my tactic was to make a high pitched "eep" sound and to flick the end of the finger they went for towards them (gently - you dont want to hurt them, just push them back). The only time my girls nip now is when they dont want to be handled (sleeping etc), and even then its rare.
As your girls are just getting used to you, you need to be ultra slow. In the "wild" a big something coming down from above usually means "i'm gonna be eaten" so they need to learn to trust you. Milage will vary on this, I have heard people say their rats were fine in a few weeks but then my girls only started to really warm to me after 2 months. Take things slow and don't get dishartened.
As Trowizilla said, if you can leave you hand in the cage do so so that they can get used to you on their terms. Pull up a chair to the cage, rest your hand on the door (maybe with some treats nearby) and sit back and watch TV. If the girls come to investigate, dont try to touch them or pick them up... let them invistigate you. Once they start to feel more comfortable start putting treats up your arm so they have to venture outside to get them etc.
Also, bribary works a treat with rats as with small children. If one nips you, ignore it and devote your attention (and treats) towards the other rat, then after a few mins play with both again. The nipper will soon learn to stop.
In theory, I think I have to start at the beginning and take things reeeeal slow now. *whatever smiley means I feel fucking awful*
And Naminé still refuses to come out. I know her vision is bad, even for a rat, 'cause she's pink-eyed; not even a slowly traveling peanut-butter spoon can get her past the cage door. I'm so used to my own animals' total trust that this is something of a shock.
First, the cat scratch. If there is no blood then she will hopefully be ok. My girls playfight and have been known to roll off the shelf and land in the sawdust with nothing more than a dazed expression of "how did i get here". They are pretty resiliant but introducing them to cats is not something you want to be doing just yet (or ever). Keep an eye on her in the cage, if she is moving around and playing then no harm but if she is being more docile than normal then maybe it couldn't hurt to see a vet.
As to starting at the beginning... yeah, you need to do that. It dosn't matter how friendly they may have been with their previous owners you are a new person to then and so will have to gain their trust.
Naminé sounds like my Beatrice at the beginning, being real shy and all. Now she is always the first one out the cage when its play time. If she is in her bed for example , hold some treat food just in the entrance till she takes it off you, then hold some more a little further out. Keep working at it over a few days getting further and further away. She will probably dash back to her bed to eat the treat, but thats fine. Time really is the key.
In terms of treats seeing as it hasnt been mentioned - Yoghurt drops. Rats adore them. Pet stores should have them for rabbits / hamsters etc and these ones are fine for rats. Also, ignore Tom & Jerry, rats (& mice) are lactose intollerent so no cheese... a small bit once in a while is fine, but dont be putting huge blocks in the cage.
EDIT: If you follow the link in my first post there is a list of suitable fruit and veg which can be used as treats. Experiment and see what they like, you may be surprised what they choose (my girls like pepper more than apple)
Do not buy rat pellets. They are nutritional, and the rats like them, however they cost $300 for a small box and are only intended for use in a skinner box. I think it's fairly obvious not to spend that kind of money on food for a rat, but figured I'd just put that out there.
Also, pictures.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Got Mazuri (the last bag!) and a more sensible water bottle for the girls today; Kairi nabbed a piece and scuttled off to a corner to munch it, while Naminé tried to steal it, took another one from me, then proceeded to start taking pieces out of the clean bowl and stow it in her tunnel...over and over and over again. There must be a dozen pellets under there. *headdesk*
Am currently negotiating to get an old ferret cage off Craigslist, too; guinea pig and rabbit cages, besides being too small for their intended aminals, are too flat and boring and $$ at PetSmart, and the wire hamster cages way too small. I have old PJ pants and choroplast to cover wire bottoms with, too.