New to Rats. =)

Hello!
My name is Brogan and we are looking into getting out first rats! We went to a pet store the other day, and saw Dumbo hairless rats. I fell in love, but we decided to wait until we have everything set up!
We found a private owner who has younger rats looking for a home. =)
So we are now trying to decide what kind of house, kind of food, kind of bedding, etc, before we adopt them.
We currently have guinea pigs, but from what I understand rats are TOTALLY different!
We are looking into fleece bedding, since its what I use with my pigs. Anyone love it, anyone hate it?
Best way to keep them warm, best size cage?
We are looking at getting 3 female hairless, and we normally use C&C cages for our guinea pigs, would love to hear if those will work with these girls ( with lids of course!)
Thanks!

Nice to meet you, Brogan and welcome to the forum.

As far as bedding goes, I love using shredded paper as opposed to fleece bedding - I find fleece bedding gets very stinky. Carefresh is expensive and I'm not too keen on aspen. If you have some bills and paper that need shredding, in my opinion, it makes the best bedding and is cheap! Our girls love to tunnel about and throw it around. Unfortunately C&C cubes are too wide and rats can easily walk right through it. Lots of people use critter nation, ferret nation or martin cages. My husband actually built our rats a cage. We have our girls in a 30 x 16 x 36 cage that we made for a fraction of the cost of any pet store cage. The size of cage depends on the amount of rats you want.

Rats are definitely a lot different than guinea pigs. We have 5 girls who are always on the go. They love to explore, especially outside of the cage. Boys are generally much more relaxed and out of all the males I've had - I find they are much more inclined to curl up and fall asleep cuddling with their humans. Anyways, I feel like I'm rambling. I'm sure more people will come by and give you some more personal opinions and help!

Hi and welcome.

I second the critter nation. I love mine and so does my mischief!!

For hairless, (of which I have two), you will probably be fine having them keep each other warm. However I find my girls really appreciate the chew proof heating pad I gave them. You really MUST have 2 square feet per rat for their sanity. If you won't be having them out all the time I would say twice the space is better. Grow your cage up, not out. Rats love to climb! It certainly saves on floor space.

On the bedding I am still forming an opinion. I have used fleece for hairless skin reasons but LittleSparrow is right-very stinky. I am trying the uhaul furniture pads as an absorbent liner in between the fleece and cage pan. We will see...I have only been using it this way for 2 days but no stinking so far. I was having to change the fleece alone almost every day and it still stunk.

You may be happy to know that you can encourage the use of a litter box for stools. Newspaper pellets work great for the litter.

Also you will love rats!!! You will never not be able to have them. They are addictive, as any other member will confirm...

I second that Sheldon! Addicting...I'm now rescuing and up to 26! Every time I think it might be too many I find time and space! They are worth it. I use shredded paper and a soft pelleted litter for potties or lining under the paper (for the non-potty trained kiddos)
I've tried carefresh, still too dusty for my liking and smellllly! Fleece was frustrating for me personally as they just pulled it up and made nests so I just do it in strips for nesting with now except in the FN which those girls have found a happy median with me lol
Never did aspen but a friend did and she said its still not exactly what she wanted she is going to try the soft pellets (vitakraft or living world).

Good luck...have fun!

I got them today! I am already completely in love! The are so sweet!
I am using shredded newspaper ( I have a shredder and already get the paper daily, so it was perfect).
I have them in a smaller cage than I would like, however, she had 7 females in a 2 square foot guinea pig cage. So I am using my old guinea pig cage, that is 4 square feet, but then I took off the top, an put a second top floor on it, so it's 4 feet tall and 4 square feet long.
I also got only 2 females instead of 3, I got the 2 who seemed the friendliest, and I felt comfortable with the 2 in the carrier I had on the way home. ( I was told they were babies, but they are actually almost 2). And I didn't want them too crammed on the way home.

I currently have 15 boys, 2 are nakies! All are rescues except the nakies - I know I know, I went to a breeder and I am completely amazed you found three nakies in a pet store...Anyway, I have 3 double critter nations, a rat manor (absolutely HATE IT), and a larger guinea pig cage. We currently have 3 boys in one DCN, 3 in another, 6 in another, the 2 nakies are in the rat manor until we can get them in one of the other colonies, and our Clark is a bachelor until he can get a neuter and join a colony. I use both fleece and litter. I did find fleece smell more than litter, but its cleaner so the cages that don't have the pan extensions to keep litter in get fleece. I use crinkle paper on all small shelves. I prefer Kaytee Clean & Cozy litter since I rarely have any dust with that. Carefresh if you buy the more expensive white is alright on the low dust factor, but the brown stuff is quite dusty. We use ExquisiCat paper litter in our liter pans. Nakies have eye issues so you need to make the cage as clean as possible so stuff doesn't get into their eyes. I have one going to the vet tomorrow - this will be our first eye issue. I prefer ordering from doctorsfosterandsmith.com since I find everything (food/toys/treats,etc) cheaper than the petsmart, petco, etc.

Here they are in their fleece cuddle cup I made them to stay warm!

And I actually got these guys for free from the lady who took the 3 nakkies to the pet store! I didn't realize it was the same person until I told her I saw the ones at the pet store, and she said those were hers! Anyone, so I just happen to get these girls by chance.

Cuties...nakies are something I've not had but want!

Eeee! The first pic...is that a PEW nakie? I ADORE my nudists so much. I love my fur buts too
But I will be getting nakies from now on. Their skin is just so warm and soft and I luvs me some cuddles!



I think I posted this pic in another thread but it is my favorite and really illustrates the affection they can give.

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Sad day for us. apparently the PEW nakie is skinny enough to get between her bars, because she is missing! Both of her doors are locked, so that's the only thing I can think of. Gotta keep searching!!

Does she have a favorite food? I saw on here somewhere to put out a favorite food, put four around it and follow the trail back to the hiding spot. Be careful where you sit down! I lost one of my nakies for several hours and she was in the couch between wood panels.

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Oh no!!!, read the article on the home page of this forum about escapees it has a lot of good tips in it.. Hope you find her. I saw a program once on rats that said if their head can fit in a space they can get their bodies through. I do find that hard to believe though with the size of some of my rats.

Hope you find her...that hapoened with Duchess when she was a baby...I found her in a paper towel roll in my cleaning supplies

She has been found. Her favorite treat coaxed her out. But now that we have found her she acts like she is going crazy in her cage. The minute I put her in it she started running around like she was crazy. Do you think it's because her cage is too small?

4ft by 4ft by (1ft?) Is okay for the 2 of them. I'm betting she just scared herself. Keep it calm, dark and quiet for a bit and I'm sure she will calm.

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