Just got my first pair of rats :)

[AnnShh]

I have been wanting one (or two) for awhile, but living in a dorm we aren't allowed to have pets. My roommate and I just moved to an apartment and I decided now would be a good timeto get a pair! One is hooded that is white with grey-brownish markings... and the other is a Berkshire that I think is a mink color from the research I've done but I'm not really sure. He's a really dark chocolate brown color.

Anyways, their names are Remington (Remy for short... the hooded rat) and Rebel (cause I go to Ole Miss... the berkshire rat). So, so, so cute! They aren't used to being handled much but that should be easy enough to fix. I tried to pick two that didn't oppose to being picked up- they didn't show any inclination to nip and they didn't scream when picked up like a couple did, which is good. Remy loved my fleece blanket and fell asleep in it earlier today. Rebel has decided that he likes sitting against my side in the corner of my elbow. I love them already.

One question I wanted to ask... I know some people use fleece for the bottom of the cage... do they generally not chew it? And are they fairly easy to litter train or do you just usually let them go whereever on the fleece and just change it out every day?

 

[AnnShh]

Forgot to add pictures!!

 

[LovinHedgies]

Cute!!! I have three rats - Lucy, Ethel and Mona. Lucy and Ethel are Dumbo rats and Mona is a hairless. They are very fun little pets - very interactive. I keep mine in the top of my FN cage so they have the two shelves and ramps, hammocks, and hidey houses. I do not use fleece for the bottom of my cage because they do chew it and create their own little tunnels through it. So I recommend using some type of bedding like Carefresh. I do have fleece over the FN shelves and little ladders which the little ladies have "customized" lol - I got them from http://www.qualitymutationchinchillas.com. So since I use bedding I change it once a week and wash the liners as needed, mine seem to just go to the bathroom in the bedding and not on the fleece, but I have never tried to litter train them. A good forum for rats is - www.goosemoose.com - Rats Rule They have great pictures of different set-ups for rats.
Have fun with your little men

 

[toxxxic.kitten]

Awww! They are adorable dumbo ratties! I'm going to be picking up a pair from a dwarf line next week, hopefully. I've never used fleece with rats, just because they PEE a ton especially the males. They are fairly easy (at least in my experience) to litter box train. To teach them I kept putting their poos in the litter box and eventually they caught on. Rats are quite intelligent critters. They are like miniature dogs, to me. Congrats on your new additions!

 

[Dragonflye]

Awww, sweet ratties...I miss my guys. I've used Carefresh and aspen litters, fleece never worked for me. I used a ferret litterpan in my cages and they used it most of the time. They are smart little buggars... Have fun with them!

 

[AnnShh]

Thanks guys- I am really enjoying them already. The only problem is I want to keep playing with them but I don't want to stress them out too much for the first couple days so I'm resisting the urge lol.

Right now I have them on carefresh bedding. They seem to like pushing it around into their house. I have a large Martin's cage with several shelves/ramps... and wheel, hammock, house, a couple little toys, etc. in it. I have one of those "chin chiller" slabs covering part of one shelf so they can get off the wire if they want, and I put fleece on one of the other shelves as well. If they chew it I will take it out. I'm debating on whether I want to try to litter train them or not... I might try it out and see how it goes.

 

[menagerie]

There is a good chance that they will chew the fleece, but it's not really a concern that it will cause blockages. Rats chew and that is that. Depending on the chewing level of cage occupants, I either hang fleece or old clothes for hammocks. I don't do a lot of sewed hammocks as I have too many rats and would be sewing all the time to keep them in chew toys, uhhhmmm I mean hammocks. Some rats are good and don't chew too much.

They are adorable. It's kind of hard to tell from the photos, but Remy looks to be mink and Rebel could be a dilute black. Where did you get them?

I second goosemoose as a great place for rat information.

I use a recycled paper bedding for the rats, again I have too may to do cage liners. I have had rats that were totally potty trained and only went in a designated litter box. One old boy, Spots, would climb out of his hammock half asleep to pee in the litter box and then get back into bed. Too bad his cagemates were not that good and peed in the hammock.

Get them on a good food, it will go a long way to keeping them healthy. What are you currently feeding?

 

[AnnShh]

There is a good chance that they will chew the fleece, but it's not really a concern that it will cause blockages. Rats chew and that is that. Depending on the chewing level of cage occupants, I either hang fleece or old clothes for hammocks. I don't do a lot of sewed hammocks as I have too many rats and would be sewing all the time to keep them in chew toys, uhhhmmm I mean hammocks. Some rats are good and don't chew too much.

They are adorable. It's kind of hard to tell from the photos, but Remy looks to be mink and Rebel could be a dilute black. Where did you get them?

I second goosemoose as a great place for rat information.

I use a recycled paper bedding for the rats, again I have too may to do cage liners. I have had rats that were totally potty trained and only went in a designated litter box. One old boy, Spots, would climb out of his hammock half asleep to pee in the litter box and then get back into bed. Too bad his cagemates were not that good and peed in the hammock.

Get them on a good food, it will go a long way to keeping them healthy. What are you currently feeding?

So they just chew it and shred it but generally not swallow it? So far I haven't noticed any chewing... but I will keep an eye on it and if I don't see any shredded bits to go along with the chewed parts I will take it out.

I will admit that the diet needs to be changed. I have them on LM Animal Farms blocks right now because that's what they were on at the petstore (didn't know if it was ok to suddenly change their food) but I am researching to try to find a better one. Is Oxbow generally a good rat feed? From what I've read, people generally love or hate Suebee's mix... know anything about that?

I bought them from PetCo... I generally avoid buying from chain petstores. All of my current animals are from breeders or rescues. But the area I'm in it was hard to find places near by that had available rats. I checked our local animal control as they get rats in once in awhile but they didn't have any either... so I finally gave up and went to PetCo.

 

[menagerie]

So they just chew it and shred it but generally not swallow it? So far I haven't noticed any chewing... but I will keep an eye on it and if I don't see any shredded bits to go along with the chewed parts I will take it out.

Rats have a totally different digestive system than chins. It is extremely rare that they would suffer from an impaction. I don't worry about the rats eating fabric, as they don't have the same issues as chins.

I will admit that the diet needs to be changed. I have them on LM Animal Farms blocks right now because that's what they were on at the petstore (didn't know if it was ok to suddenly change their food) but I am researching to try to find a better one. Is Oxbow generally a good rat feed? From what I've read, people generally love or hate Suebee's mix... know anything about that?

Yep, you need to get rid of that food it's crap. We feed Harlan Techlad, which is a lab formula. You can get it for $1.00 / lb plus shipping from Wee Companions. Email Fenella at [email protected]. It's the best rat diet available. Rats seems to have mixed reactions to Oxbow, some love it, so hate it. I am not a Suebee's mix fan. It's a recipe she came up with before Harlan became more accessible. Most rats that are on the Suebee diet become obese.