Rats

My first pair of rats came to me in 1995, from a run down pet shop. Snatchett (a pink eyed white, often referred to as albino) and Ginnal (a black hoody) were my introduction to the rat world. Since then I have succumbed to the addiction of keeping rats as pets - Snatchett and Ginnal were great ambassadors for their species!

Rats are amazing creatures, and I'm here to tell you a bit more about them.....


**History ...
...led to the use of rats in "rat pits", where a dog would be put up against a number of rats to see how many it could kill.

As the rats bred more and more, some natural mutations occured in their colour. Rat catchers and rat pit owners collected these specimens and bred from them, selling some as pets - beginning the long run of the rat as a pet.

Popularity declined and advanced sporadically, but now the rat ... more

My first pair of rats came to me in 1995, from a run down pet shop. Snatchett (a pink eyed white, often referred to as albino) and Ginnal (a black hoody) were my introduction to the rat world. Since then I have succumbed to the addiction of keeping rats as pets - Snatchett and Ginnal were great ambassadors for their species!

Rats are amazing creatures, and I'm here to tell you a bit more about them.....

**History of the Fancy Rat**

Fancy rats as we know them today are domesticated forms of Rattus Norvegicus - the Brown or Norway Rat. The Brown Rat started colonising England in the 18th Century, and immediately began to drive out the Black Rat, and it's population exploded.

In Victorian times, this rat overpopulation led to the use of rats in "rat pits", where a dog would be put up against a number of rats to see how many it could kill.

As the rats bred more and more, some natural mutations occured in their colour. Rat catchers and rat pit owners collected these specimens and bred from them, selling some as pets - beginning the long run of the rat as a pet.

Popularity declined and advanced sporadically, but now the rat is a popular small pet in many countries.

**Breaking the myths**

Q. Aren't rats smelly/dirty?

A. Any small pet can get smelly if they're not cleaned out enough. Bucks tend to have more of an "aroma" about them, but with regular cage cleans and the odd bath this isn't a problem. Rats are naturally clean creatures and like cats love to sit and preen themselves.

Q. Don't rats carry diseases like the Plague and Weil's Disease?

A. Any animal or human can carry disease, however rats are naturally less suceptible to disease than cats or dogs. Rats do not and never did carry the Plague. Wild rats (not pet rats) carry Leptospirosis, also known as Weil's Disease.

Q. Don't rats bite?

A. In my experience, you're far less likely to be bitten by a well socialised pet rat than by one of my three children! I've had far more bites off cats, dogs and even hamsters. I've only ever been bitten once by a rat and he was ill and sore, so it was my fault for pestering him then. When socialised correctly from birth they are docile, friendly and have no reason to bite unless you are hurting them or scaring them - a risk you take with treating any animal that way.

**About Fancy Rats**

Rats make amazing family pets. They are intelligent, clean, and friendly with proper socialisation and handling from birth. Rats can even be clicker trained, like dogs! Out of all the smaller pets, rats are the most docile and easy to handle pets for children too, as long as children are supervised of course (as they should be with any pet).

The life expectancy of the fancy rat is between 18 months and 3 years, with an average of about 2 years. I have heard of rats making it to 4 years, although this is a rarity.

Fancy rats are usually ready for their new homes by the age of 6 weeks. They are sexually mature at about 5 weeks, so should be separated before then and not allowed to mix other than with their own gender.

Rats thrive with company of their own kind and gender as they naturally live in colonies, and should not be kept as only pets unless there are health or behavioural reasons for it. So, if you're considering rats as pets, you'll need to consider whether you're happy to have a pair or group.

Rats need "play time" out of the cage to exercise and be handled. Regular handling from the minute you adopt rats is imperative.

Rats come in lots of different "varieties" - there are a vast amount of colourings and markings. The more common colours include black, agouti (a ticked brown "wild rat" colour) and pink eyed white - but there are lots of other colours including topaz and silver fawn (rich warm gingery colours), blues and even rats with "Siamese" colouring. Any of these colours can be "self" (ie all over) or marked. Markings include hoods (a hooded rat will have a mainly white body with a coloured head/shoulders and stripe down the back), Berkshire (mainly coloured with white markings on belly, legs and tail), and many more. Rats can also have top ears (normal rat ears) or dumbo ears (flatter, lower set ears like Dumbo the elephant) and smooth, rex (curly) or satin (extra smooth) coats.

**What cage?**

Rats need a lot more cage space than most people realise. There are many cages that are advertised as "rat starter cages" that are nowhere near the size rats need to thrive. Rats cannot live in hamster cages, they are just far too small.

Rats also love to explore and climb, so having ample space and levels for them to do that is a must.

The ideal amount of cage space per rat is 2 cubic feet. Many ferret and chinchilla cages are more suitable for rats, but be aware many cages for ferrets will have wide bar spacing that smaller does and kittens can escape through. I currently have a huge Superpet Multi Storey ferret cage for some of my boys.

Indoor metal aviaries such as Ferplast Brios, Mitos and similar are suitable for rats, but you will need to buy or make plenty of shelves and levels so they don't fall and hurt themselves, as these aviaries are tall.

Some people keep their pet rats in glass tanks - I'm not a huge fan of this as there is not as much ventilation in a tank and respiratory problems and overheating are more likely to occur. They're also difficult to equip properly.

Many people make their own rat setups out of old wardrobes, kitchen cupboards, etc. This way you can make a cage to your own specification, putting everything how you and your rats like things. Unfortunately these cages tend not to last as long as you would hope.

**What to put in the cage**

Now you have your cage, what do you put in it?

Well the first thing you need to think about is suitable bedding and floor covering. Sawdust, wood shavings and wood based cat litters are *not safe* for small animals as they contain phenols which are toxic to them and can induce respiratory illness. Good bedding needs to be dust extracted to be safe for the rats. Paper based cat litters (make sure they're 100% paper and dust free) are good, but cheaper and often better examples are dust extracted horse bedding, such as Aubiose hemp bedding, Megazorb cotton based bedding and Ecopetbed cardboard bedding.

The next step is to kit your cage out with toys, hammocks and the likes. Many shops now sell rat hammocks, as they're very popular with most rats as they like to sleep high up and safely. However, I make homemade hammocks out of tea towels, cut up bath towels, old jeans, etc and they are just as good and cheaper to replace when the rats inevitably chew them. I use cableties or paperclips to attach hammocks and other things to the cage.

Good toys include hanging bird feeders stuffed with fresh veg, an old big plastic margarine tub with a small amount of water and some frozen peas in (use this one supervised) for rats to "fish", etc.

Rat need beds. Hammocks are good for this, but I like to provide variety by adding a Rody Igloo plastic bed and other things for rats to curl up in. Torn or shredded kitchen roll or newpaper makes good bed filler.

**Boys or girls?**

Male rats are referred to as bucks and females as does. Baby rats are called kittens. Bucks and does tend to have different characteristics and personalities, although this can also vary between rats of the same gender. As a whole, bucks are lazier and better as "lap rats" than girls, although there are always exceptions to the rule. Does tend to be more "on the go" and less likely to sit still for a sleepy cuddle, but just as affectionate. Bucks tend to be more aromatic (!) than does, but as I said before, this is easily remedied. Does scentmark less too, as boys sometimes dribble a bit when out and about (and they're not fussed if it's on you *lol*). Does are smaller than bucks as a rule. Well bred bucks can reach up to a kilo in weight, although the average weight is about 500g, the average for does being slightly less.

**How many?**

Well, that is down to how much cage space you have ready, and how many you can provide handling, out time, and how many you can afford to feed and provide veterinary treatment for. I daren't tell you how many we have here at the moment but I can say that we have our limit and we know how many we can play with, afford to feed, afford to vet treat, etc. It's well worth looking into the cost of feeding, and local veterinary charges. This is so important to work out *before* you get your rats as once you meet them you inevitably fall for all of them! Be prepared for the possibility, however small, that the larger the group, the more there is a likelihood of a fallout, which could result in you having to split a large group up. Generally as a first time thing, a pair or trio of rats is the best start, until you get the feel for how much time they take up and how much money too!

**Where do I get my rats from?**

Well there are generally three main routes to getting pet rats and I'll go through each.

*Pet shop*
Pet shop rats tend to be bred by either the shop themselves or a rat farm. Quite often these rats are poorly bred and can be more susceptible to inherited illness, behavioural problems and have a lower life expectancy. On top of that, many pet shops still house rat kittens in together regardless of gender, and even if they separate, you have no guarantee it was done before sexual maturity and sadly it's a common occurence that people take on pet shop doe babies not realising they're already pregnant as babies themselves. The amount of tales I've heard of people buying two rats from a shop and them not even being the same sex is staggering. Commonly these babies are kept on sawdust, not socialised enough and fed low quality rat foods. A lot of the time the rats bred for selling as pets are basically a side line of those that breed for snake food too. I personally would never recommend buying rats from a petshop.

*Breeder*
Good breeders are thankfully becoming more common in this country. A good breeder will be a member of one or more rat clubs, and will breed for health, temperament and "type" (basically their show potential). Most good breeders will have a waiting list you can go on. To find a good breeder, it's best to work out first what variety of rat you are looking for, then to contact the NFRS (http://www.nfrs.org/) for a list of breeders in your area. Make sure you ask potential breeders the really important questions - a good breeder will expect this just as they will expect you to be able to answer a few yourself! Whether a breeder culls (kills unwanted kittens and older rats) may be important to you as it is to me. Many breeders will ask you to fill out a questionaire or ask you some questions about rat care, your cage, etc. Don't be put off by this - it shows they care about where their kittens go and I would be more worried if they didn't!

*Rescue*
Another option is the rescue route. Rescues are overflowing with adult and young rats, and often rat kittens too. Whether or not you decide to take on adult rats should really come down to how experienced you are and the temperament and health of the individual rats you're interested in. Many adult rats in rescue however have not had the best start and may have social or health problems. This shouldn't put you off rescuing though, but if you have little or no experience with keeping rats, it's generally best to go for kittens as a first time owner.

**Rat Health**

Rats are generally very healthy and hardy animals, but again like any other animal they have some illnesses they are prone to. Abscesses are one of the common afflictions - generally caused by a bite or nip from another rat or from an infected tooth root. Female rats tend to be prone to mammary cancer. A rarer cancer in female rats is the pituitary tumour.

Respiratory illness is common in rats too, dependant on their breeding and general care, as most pet rats carry mycoplasma bacteria, which brings on respiratory illness. A good diet, appropriate bedding and keeping your rats happy and socialised (stress is a huge contributing factor to illness) tends to lessen the likelihood of a flare-up, and many rats never have a day's illness.

Rats can also carry parasites such as lice and mites which are not transferable to humans but are to other rats - however these are easily killed by Stronghold or Ivermectin treatment from your vet. Preventative measures should be to make sure any new rats coming in aren't carrying any hanger ons *lol*. Mitey rats tend to be a bit threadbare in extreme cases, and certainly very itchy, sometimes with small red scabs over their body where they have scratched. If a rat has lice, you can generally see them or their eggs in the coat, and again they'll be itchy and sometimes have some baldness in places where they've scratched, and scabs on their body (yuk).

**What do I feed my rats?**

Many foods marketed specifically for rats aren't really very high quality. Reggie Rat is one that is commonly sold - and although it's not poisonous, it's not the best food as it contains preservatives and colourants. Burgess Suparat is slightly better as is XtraVital. Hamster and mouse foods are not suitable for rats at all.

I however feed a homemade diet. It is a mix of Alpha Herbal rabbit food, pasta and cereals (not sugar coated) and a small amount of low protein dog biscuits.

Rat kittens need supplementing with Lactol puppy and small animal milk (20mls each a day made up as a scoop per 60mls), and/or EMP egg based bird food made up with warm water (or their Lactol "dose"). This gives them the extra protein boost and should not be given after the age of 12-13 weeks. NatureDiet puppy food is another good food to supplement kittens with.

Adult rats need lower protein food than kittens, and high protein or high fat foods can be dangerous to adult and especially elderly rats.

All my rats also get a small amount of the following (mix and match, not all every day):

Fresh fruit and vegetables
Sardines or tuna in oil not brine, drained (not too often)
Yoghurt
Cooked pasta
Scrambled eggs (again not to often as they're high protein)

**Tips and Links**

1. Source your local animal feed distributor/wholesaler. These often stock Alpha Herbal food, the horse beddings, etc for cheap and some deliver too. Buying food and bedding is always cheaper in bulk - these suppliers sell the big sacks.

2. Save EVERYTHING. Before you throw anything away - ask yourself - is this safe or exciting for the rats? Cereal boxes, yoghurt pots, old towels and clothes etc can ALL be used. Consider it your bit towards saving the planet by recycling!

Some links for you to read:

The Shunamite diet page:
http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/nutribreed.html

Fancy Rats site (tonnesof info on there):
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/home/

Hawthorn Rat Varieties (information and pictures of each variety):
http://www.hawthorn.org.uk/varieties.asp

National Fancy Rat Association:
http://www.nfrs.org/

RatChat - a fab message forum for info and chat:
http://ratchat.co.uk/

**Last but not least**

All potential rat owners should be aware of an incurable disease known to be transmitted by rats to humans. It's known throughout the rat world as GMR - Get More Rats - and leaves you with a never ending addiction to buying more!! Good luck!!

 

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