Rat Care

Rats are intelligent, friendly, sociable creatures that are generally easy to care for and great with children.  They usually live 2-3 years.

Housing

Wire cages are preferable to aquariums.  Wire cages offer much better air circulation which is key to respiratory health.  Also, with wire cages, it provides hours of fun for rats to climb around.  Never use cedar or pine (softwood) shavings for bedding.  Cedar and pine shavings can cause upper respiratory infections/complications (a common problem with rats).  Use bedding made from material such as shredded newspaper, Yesterday's News Cat Litter (paper-based), or Aspen Shavings (hardwood).  Be sure that any wood shavings used are not dusty.  Avoid drafts as much as possible to prevent respiratory problems.  Depending on how many rats are housed, cleaning should be done at least once a week with a detergent and thoroughly rinsed.

Socialization

Rats are social creatures and need interaction with each other, as well as their owners, to stay healthy and happy.  If you have baby rats, the best way to introduce yourself is to allow them to regularly smell you, gently pet them if timid.  Treats always work for them to get used to you.  Once they warm up, they’ll be nice enough to sit on your shoulder and go for walks with you.  Rats (especially males) love to sit with their owners and be petted much like cats do.  Never pick a rat up by his/her tail.  The best way to pick a rat up is to scoop him/her with both hands.

Rats can reproduce at 5-6 weeks of age and can have up to 20 babies per litter so be sure of your rats’ sex before housing them together. 

Play Time

Rats love to play and stay active.  Providing shelves and ropes for them to climb is great exercise.  A fun game for rats to play is having frozen peas in a small dish of water as they “fish” for the peas.  They love cardboard boxes to crawl around in.  Offer chew toys for their renowned chewing habits.  Simplicity is the key to rat toys and activities.

Nutrition

Feed lab blocks or a suitably balanced diet.  Seed mixes are not suitable, because they do not contain much nutritional value.  Offer pastas (raw or boiled), frozen vegetable mixes (carrots, peas, corn, etc), fresh (watermelon, blueberries) or dried fruits (banana chips are always popular as are cranberries), plain popcorn, rice, etc.  Anything that you eat, as long as it is low in sugar, salt and fat, can be fed.  This includes cooked meat, eggs and low fat cheese.

Use sipper bottles filled with fresh water daily.  A sipper bottle prevents contamination as compared to a dish of water.

Common Problems

     Respiratory infections – very common.  Symptoms include sneezing, sniffling, etc.  It is extremely contagious among rats so it’s important to be treated.

     Abscesses – are infections of the skin, usually caused by other rat bites.

     Tumors – very common among female rats.  Sometimes can be benign (non-cancerous).

     Head tilt – generally caused by an ear infection.