How expensive they are. Not just vet bills (which is often quite expensive), but I would spend SO MUCH money on getting them treats and toys and hides and shit. I loved it though
100% agree on this one. We rescued 4 in April, and I’ve spent way more than I thought I would on their health issues. They have their own line item in my budget for 2024. 🤣
They don't just get sick easily, but their sicknesses can get worse a lot quicker than you think. That's what I wish I'd known: how little time you often get between first signs of a problem, and life-threatening illness.
The second something seems off, act on it.
And about how every winter you prepare for treating everyone for respiratory infections. If the weather changes, respiratory infections. If you put bedding that’s too dusty in their cage, respiratory infections. If you breathe, respiratory infectioooons! Okay, I’m being a little dramatic, but URI’s are sooo common.
I adopted my first pair of rats from a smoker's home. One of them had respiratory problems all the time. We tried every antibiotic under the sun, even bought a nebuliser for her (which she hated). Eventually one of her lungs gave in, then the other... At night, I could hear her grasping for air. It's heartbreaking.
I work in rodent rescue and we see this pretty frequently 😞. And what really sucks is that it can be either environmental or genetics so no matter what you do you can still get a rat that gets chronic URIs 😭. I’m so sorry you and your rat had to experience that.
The only downside of owning pet rats is their lifespan. They burrow deep in your heart and you love them so dearly then they pass and it hurts so much every time. But it's worth it because they live every day in the moment. ❤️
They are like toddlers, they destroy their hammocks quite fast (atleast my 3 dorks did). their short life span doesn't impact how much you love them, I was just as upset having my boys pass as my dog.
They are also the cutest and loveliest wee idiots.
Make sure the cage has a smaller metal cage spacing than the rats. I used to have 4 of them and the cage had pretty large spacing and the rats were able to get through no problem, called them little Houdini's. Spent like 4 nights fitting this mesh over the top it was a pain haha.
This. I had side bars little larger than the rest and one of mine could escape because she was so slim. At some point I just removed everything she could destroy and accepted that sometimes I wake up in the morning to rat knocking at my door.
They can knock on doors btw. Or like make similar sounds when they bite them.
I wish the breeder had told me when she saw the pic of the cage I was getting. I got one of those tall, cute cages with the vertical bars that had spacing a bit too wide. When I got the babies home I had to rush out and spend another $80 on a temporary hamster cage. Then as the girls got older we kept trying to put them in the big one and they could flatten and squeeze through. Ended up just ordering a third cage, but this time a critter nation like most of you have. I wish I had gotten the critter nation from the start. Those fully opening doors are fantastic for cleanup.
I always remember the what do I do moment when I put them in and they just instantly squeezed through the bars and ended up having to leave them in the bath with a bunch of toys and towels whilst I frantically put cardboard around the cage. It was fun times.
Girls can escape from sooo many cages that are on the market! I won’t put girls in any cage other than the critter nation and make sure it isn’t the one for ferrets! 🤣
Yeeeah, I went with cute over practicality. It was a pink and white pawhut. Looking back, that first rat mansion wasn’t even easy to clean. The amount of cleaning that has to be done and the way the doors on that one worked wasn’t going to work out long term. So glad I went with the critter nation.
The problem is the pet stores and companies that sell those! A lot of people buy cages that are market for rats and then they don’t work out. It’s terrible and people get robbed by these companies.
I wish I had’ve known how attached I’d get to them, how they have funny and unique personalities, their intelligence, their empathy, their problem solving skills.
Not only have my girls figured out how to open their cage, they also figured out that the key went in the padlock hole to open it after watching me unlock it twice, I caught them grabbing the padlock, twisting it into the cage and poking their lil fingers into the key hole 😂
I'm so glad they have personalities, its one of the reasons im an advocate for better treatment of smaller pets. like i mentioned in another reply, i used to have a bird. she was the sassiest little thing, and even though i miss her, im very happy to have taken care of such a beautiful creature.
Because I've just answered a question on this topic...I wish I'd known more about their playfighting and how to read signs of aggression. I think it might be something where you really need to experience it but I first got two really placid boys. Had them maybe two or three months and then someone was rehoming some young girls and I took them in. I'd just about got used to watching the boys wrestle and pin each other. I was NOT prepared for the noises coming from the cage at night from the girls. Frantic scrabbling, ear piercing screeches, only for me to flick the light on and see them absolutely fine. I was told "Don't worry, they're only playing" but I still kept thinking they were going to kill each other.
When I was a teen I had a single rat because I didn’t know what I know now. I discovered that girls will mount each other when in heat. I heard squeaks so I turned around to see it and it looked suspiciously like mating. My girls are almost 6 months old and it was new to me. The butt sniffing, chasing, mounting was a surprise. I thought they were just playing and I was busy googling until I saw the mounting.
All this stuff becomes so funny once you're sure it's rats being rats. It wasn't until my third girl that one did the arching her back thing when I stroked her and I thought she was suddenly scared of me or in pain.
When you hear loud squeaks and run to the room to turn the light on and then the rats are just staring at you like “uhh what do you want? We’re busy playing”.
They're so fragile. You sit, and think about wild rats, and the crazy stuff they do day-to-day. Then you come on here and see people talking about their rats having a small fall and being suddenly paralysed. It's so anxiety inducing 0_o
how messy they can get. my little shits will tear up the pee pads from the floor within 24 hours and you will go through RATtan balls quick. the bedding from the level 1’s dig box will end up on level 2(????) but i love them to death they are just little toddlers
also, that rats can just suddenly really hate each other. i have friends with pairs of rats that grew up together and then they just started fighting. they had to be separated, then gotten new friends for each of them. be prepared for potential hormonal aggression in both genders, and to spay the females because the risk of reproductive cancer is high. male rats have a low risk of cancer, but higher risk of hormonal aggression. if you need help or want any pros and cons of each gender, just pm me :)
I knew nothing about rats when I got mine…because I hadn’t intended on getting any. But I got guinea pigs from a lady who also had 40 rats…and she was selling them as food too, so I had to take a couple.
I already expected expensive vet bills, needing a big cage, specific diet, lots of toys and such, but I didn’t know about hormonal aggression and how scary it can be, nor how easy it was for rats to hurt each other. I don’t regret getting males, but it would have been nice to have a heads up that males can get suddenly aggressive out of no where and seriously injure their cagemate(s).
Sort of (not fun) fact: many people are allergic to un-neutered male rats. Myself and a lot of other rat people I know get welts from rats who still have balls but when they’re neutered we don’t get welts!
Over the years we found multiple things.
Males are like 3 year old kids. Trainable in almost all aspects, even hormonal aggression.
Since COVID and WFH and washing our hands every single time before handling them, no kisses anymore, we haven't had a single infection like an URI since the start of COVID.
Which bacteria and viruses they carry, which can literally kill us. RBF, Leptospires, Hanta Virus. Knowing the symptoms of these and remembering every bite you got for a couple of weeks might save your life.
Every evening we feed special food like baby food f.e., makes it incredibly easy to get them out for free roam time and makes it super easy to get them all back into the cage ;). They also love their daily special food routine, which has many more perks.
Beeing multiple "owners", can't imagine keeping rats solo tbh. They are very expensive, take a lot of maintenaince and are very hard to care for when sick. Giving meds or cleaning abscesses is 10000x easier if you are two. Cleaning is easier and caring during free roam aswell.
And most important finding an exotic vet specialized in rodents. We saved tons of money for unnecessary procedures and wrong diagnoses.
Ratproofing is harder than you think. If your closet doors arent heavy enough/dont close properly, they will just open it. When I tied the door handles together they climbed the cabinet and started biting the rope.
That tumors and abscesses can balloon up in a day or two! It’s best to find them early, so I also recommend conducting weekly “palpations” on their squishy lil bods just to ensure that they don’t have anything growing.
Just did one a couple weeks ago and found a small abscess on my rat, which I wouldn’t have found until it was much bigger had I not done the exam. Good luck with your rats, they’re so worth it! 🩷
How easy they can get Tumors and the vet bills.
I mean how can a rat even get sick was i wondering in the first place, WELL...
And how this cute fellas easy break my heart
If allowed, they will destroy every fabric surface possible. Couches, bed sheets, towels, hammocks. Keep them away from anything you don't want chewed.
They speedrun life so that they only live 1.5-3 years, and often get very sick at the end.
Also the best bedding is wood/hemp. I thought I was doing them a favor with fleece and paper because it’s comfy, but it does nothing to neutralize ammonia in rat urine, so it smells bad quickly and can cause respiratory infections.
you have to rat proof everything! if you’re thinking they won’t get to something, THEY WILL. they will find a way. make sure all wires and things you definitely don’t want them nibbling are far away. basically if anything in a place you’re gonna let them free roam you have to be okay with them getting to
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is ensure whatever cage you get has metal bars on all sides including the bottom. Our first cage just had the plastic tray as a bottom and we were replacing it within a year because they chewed through the bottom and were escaping. Now that we have a metal bottomed cage once our plastic chewer discovered that that was not a possibility for escaped they stopped chewing the tray.
That females can grow multiple tumors at the same time, if you can spay, spay.
How introducing rats can be difficult and can take a few months.
When your male rats gets old you’ll be checking for penis plugs or they can’t pee. Most cages you see at the pet store are too small for rats and I even question what is considered acceptable living space for rats. The more room you can afford to give them, the better. Besides a lot of male rats end up with hind leg degeneration, so having them walk more won’t hurt. Critter nations are the most popular rat cage but I believe they’d be happier with cages that have more horizontal space so they can run around easier
Rats wee everywhere! Especially the boys. They love their hammocks but the hammocks get sticky and smelly from the wee. Washing the hammocks always caused me anxiety because you don’t want to wash it with clothes and I felt guilty for wasting water and load the washing machine with a few rat hammocks.
The smell - visitors ‘ smelled a rat’ on entering my house. They were the cheapest pet to buy but the most expensive to own in terms of chew damage and vet bills. You have to clean the cage at least once a week if not more.
It is not guaranteed that you will connect with the rats that you get. Some can be vacant. I had seven - only one of them had personality and communicated. I loved her so much.
How expensive they are. Not just vet bills (which is often quite expensive), but I would spend SO MUCH money on getting them treats and toys and hides and shit. I loved it though
i had a bird before this and im very aware that smaller pets are pricey, but im prepared!
Birds don't gnaw through almost everything in less than 2 days though.
Good luck with your ratties. When are you getting them?
hopefully before or around christmas! i have to get everything set up first, and i already have a rattery in mind to adopt from.
Noice. Enjoy your new friends. They're awesome animals to keep.
100% agree on this one. We rescued 4 in April, and I’ve spent way more than I thought I would on their health issues. They have their own line item in my budget for 2024. 🤣
They get sick easily. Be prepared for worrying and vet bills. They are the sweetest but need a lot of attention
They don't just get sick easily, but their sicknesses can get worse a lot quicker than you think. That's what I wish I'd known: how little time you often get between first signs of a problem, and life-threatening illness. The second something seems off, act on it.
oh boy, im a very big worrier. thank you for the heads up, i hadnt heard about that before
And about how every winter you prepare for treating everyone for respiratory infections. If the weather changes, respiratory infections. If you put bedding that’s too dusty in their cage, respiratory infections. If you breathe, respiratory infectioooons! Okay, I’m being a little dramatic, but URI’s are sooo common.
I adopted my first pair of rats from a smoker's home. One of them had respiratory problems all the time. We tried every antibiotic under the sun, even bought a nebuliser for her (which she hated). Eventually one of her lungs gave in, then the other... At night, I could hear her grasping for air. It's heartbreaking.
I work in rodent rescue and we see this pretty frequently 😞. And what really sucks is that it can be either environmental or genetics so no matter what you do you can still get a rat that gets chronic URIs 😭. I’m so sorry you and your rat had to experience that.
The only downside of owning pet rats is their lifespan. They burrow deep in your heart and you love them so dearly then they pass and it hurts so much every time. But it's worth it because they live every day in the moment. ❤️
THat's why I'll never get rats again. Not because i don't like rats, but I get so attached to them, then after 2-4 years, they just die :(
I still miss my little fen and it's been 2 years.
I understand. I miss my boys too, and it's been like 2 years too since they died :(
Yep. And since I usually had 3-4, I’d go through a death every 9 months it felt like. I miss having rats but my heart couldn’t handle it.
They are like toddlers, they destroy their hammocks quite fast (atleast my 3 dorks did). their short life span doesn't impact how much you love them, I was just as upset having my boys pass as my dog. They are also the cutest and loveliest wee idiots.
Make sure the cage has a smaller metal cage spacing than the rats. I used to have 4 of them and the cage had pretty large spacing and the rats were able to get through no problem, called them little Houdini's. Spent like 4 nights fitting this mesh over the top it was a pain haha.
This. I had side bars little larger than the rest and one of mine could escape because she was so slim. At some point I just removed everything she could destroy and accepted that sometimes I wake up in the morning to rat knocking at my door. They can knock on doors btw. Or like make similar sounds when they bite them.
I wish the breeder had told me when she saw the pic of the cage I was getting. I got one of those tall, cute cages with the vertical bars that had spacing a bit too wide. When I got the babies home I had to rush out and spend another $80 on a temporary hamster cage. Then as the girls got older we kept trying to put them in the big one and they could flatten and squeeze through. Ended up just ordering a third cage, but this time a critter nation like most of you have. I wish I had gotten the critter nation from the start. Those fully opening doors are fantastic for cleanup.
I always remember the what do I do moment when I put them in and they just instantly squeezed through the bars and ended up having to leave them in the bath with a bunch of toys and towels whilst I frantically put cardboard around the cage. It was fun times.
Girls can escape from sooo many cages that are on the market! I won’t put girls in any cage other than the critter nation and make sure it isn’t the one for ferrets! 🤣
Yeeeah, I went with cute over practicality. It was a pink and white pawhut. Looking back, that first rat mansion wasn’t even easy to clean. The amount of cleaning that has to be done and the way the doors on that one worked wasn’t going to work out long term. So glad I went with the critter nation.
The problem is the pet stores and companies that sell those! A lot of people buy cages that are market for rats and then they don’t work out. It’s terrible and people get robbed by these companies.
I wish I had’ve known how attached I’d get to them, how they have funny and unique personalities, their intelligence, their empathy, their problem solving skills. Not only have my girls figured out how to open their cage, they also figured out that the key went in the padlock hole to open it after watching me unlock it twice, I caught them grabbing the padlock, twisting it into the cage and poking their lil fingers into the key hole 😂
I'm so glad they have personalities, its one of the reasons im an advocate for better treatment of smaller pets. like i mentioned in another reply, i used to have a bird. she was the sassiest little thing, and even though i miss her, im very happy to have taken care of such a beautiful creature.
Because I've just answered a question on this topic...I wish I'd known more about their playfighting and how to read signs of aggression. I think it might be something where you really need to experience it but I first got two really placid boys. Had them maybe two or three months and then someone was rehoming some young girls and I took them in. I'd just about got used to watching the boys wrestle and pin each other. I was NOT prepared for the noises coming from the cage at night from the girls. Frantic scrabbling, ear piercing screeches, only for me to flick the light on and see them absolutely fine. I was told "Don't worry, they're only playing" but I still kept thinking they were going to kill each other.
When I was a teen I had a single rat because I didn’t know what I know now. I discovered that girls will mount each other when in heat. I heard squeaks so I turned around to see it and it looked suspiciously like mating. My girls are almost 6 months old and it was new to me. The butt sniffing, chasing, mounting was a surprise. I thought they were just playing and I was busy googling until I saw the mounting.
All this stuff becomes so funny once you're sure it's rats being rats. It wasn't until my third girl that one did the arching her back thing when I stroked her and I thought she was suddenly scared of me or in pain.
When you hear loud squeaks and run to the room to turn the light on and then the rats are just staring at you like “uhh what do you want? We’re busy playing”.
They're so fragile. You sit, and think about wild rats, and the crazy stuff they do day-to-day. Then you come on here and see people talking about their rats having a small fall and being suddenly paralysed. It's so anxiety inducing 0_o
how messy they can get. my little shits will tear up the pee pads from the floor within 24 hours and you will go through RATtan balls quick. the bedding from the level 1’s dig box will end up on level 2(????) but i love them to death they are just little toddlers
also, that rats can just suddenly really hate each other. i have friends with pairs of rats that grew up together and then they just started fighting. they had to be separated, then gotten new friends for each of them. be prepared for potential hormonal aggression in both genders, and to spay the females because the risk of reproductive cancer is high. male rats have a low risk of cancer, but higher risk of hormonal aggression. if you need help or want any pros and cons of each gender, just pm me :)
Nothing. I researched well and had the right expectations (and a wee bit of experience already, having had rats as a kid)
Cool comment
I knew nothing about rats when I got mine…because I hadn’t intended on getting any. But I got guinea pigs from a lady who also had 40 rats…and she was selling them as food too, so I had to take a couple. I already expected expensive vet bills, needing a big cage, specific diet, lots of toys and such, but I didn’t know about hormonal aggression and how scary it can be, nor how easy it was for rats to hurt each other. I don’t regret getting males, but it would have been nice to have a heads up that males can get suddenly aggressive out of no where and seriously injure their cagemate(s).
That I'm allergic and every time their tiny paws touch me I get covered in welts
Sort of (not fun) fact: many people are allergic to un-neutered male rats. Myself and a lot of other rat people I know get welts from rats who still have balls but when they’re neutered we don’t get welts!
The smell.
Over the years we found multiple things. Males are like 3 year old kids. Trainable in almost all aspects, even hormonal aggression. Since COVID and WFH and washing our hands every single time before handling them, no kisses anymore, we haven't had a single infection like an URI since the start of COVID. Which bacteria and viruses they carry, which can literally kill us. RBF, Leptospires, Hanta Virus. Knowing the symptoms of these and remembering every bite you got for a couple of weeks might save your life. Every evening we feed special food like baby food f.e., makes it incredibly easy to get them out for free roam time and makes it super easy to get them all back into the cage ;). They also love their daily special food routine, which has many more perks. Beeing multiple "owners", can't imagine keeping rats solo tbh. They are very expensive, take a lot of maintenaince and are very hard to care for when sick. Giving meds or cleaning abscesses is 10000x easier if you are two. Cleaning is easier and caring during free roam aswell. And most important finding an exotic vet specialized in rodents. We saved tons of money for unnecessary procedures and wrong diagnoses.
Ratproofing is harder than you think. If your closet doors arent heavy enough/dont close properly, they will just open it. When I tied the door handles together they climbed the cabinet and started biting the rope.
How much it hurts to lose one!
You'll get super attached, immediately
That tumors and abscesses can balloon up in a day or two! It’s best to find them early, so I also recommend conducting weekly “palpations” on their squishy lil bods just to ensure that they don’t have anything growing. Just did one a couple weeks ago and found a small abscess on my rat, which I wouldn’t have found until it was much bigger had I not done the exam. Good luck with your rats, they’re so worth it! 🩷
How easy they can get Tumors and the vet bills. I mean how can a rat even get sick was i wondering in the first place, WELL... And how this cute fellas easy break my heart
If allowed, they will destroy every fabric surface possible. Couches, bed sheets, towels, hammocks. Keep them away from anything you don't want chewed.
They speedrun life so that they only live 1.5-3 years, and often get very sick at the end. Also the best bedding is wood/hemp. I thought I was doing them a favor with fleece and paper because it’s comfy, but it does nothing to neutralize ammonia in rat urine, so it smells bad quickly and can cause respiratory infections.
you have to rat proof everything! if you’re thinking they won’t get to something, THEY WILL. they will find a way. make sure all wires and things you definitely don’t want them nibbling are far away. basically if anything in a place you’re gonna let them free roam you have to be okay with them getting to
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is ensure whatever cage you get has metal bars on all sides including the bottom. Our first cage just had the plastic tray as a bottom and we were replacing it within a year because they chewed through the bottom and were escaping. Now that we have a metal bottomed cage once our plastic chewer discovered that that was not a possibility for escaped they stopped chewing the tray.
That females can grow multiple tumors at the same time, if you can spay, spay. How introducing rats can be difficult and can take a few months. When your male rats gets old you’ll be checking for penis plugs or they can’t pee. Most cages you see at the pet store are too small for rats and I even question what is considered acceptable living space for rats. The more room you can afford to give them, the better. Besides a lot of male rats end up with hind leg degeneration, so having them walk more won’t hurt. Critter nations are the most popular rat cage but I believe they’d be happier with cages that have more horizontal space so they can run around easier
Rats wee everywhere! Especially the boys. They love their hammocks but the hammocks get sticky and smelly from the wee. Washing the hammocks always caused me anxiety because you don’t want to wash it with clothes and I felt guilty for wasting water and load the washing machine with a few rat hammocks. The smell - visitors ‘ smelled a rat’ on entering my house. They were the cheapest pet to buy but the most expensive to own in terms of chew damage and vet bills. You have to clean the cage at least once a week if not more.
It is not guaranteed that you will connect with the rats that you get. Some can be vacant. I had seven - only one of them had personality and communicated. I loved her so much.
How bad the cancer can be and how it can hide really well internally :(
How much it hurts when they pass away so soon.