Hello from Parker, Wilson, and Stark!

Hi everyone! I had some rat girls, Penny and Juno, about 7 years ago, and have not had rats since. However, I have never stopped loving them and wanting them back in my life! Well, I finally remedied that!

The beginning of the year I started gathering up everything I needed to bring some home. I felt like I fell short with my girls so I wanted everything to be perfect this time around.


It took me a couple months, but I got it all set up the way I wanted and the day I felt like everything was "move in ready" - I saw them!

Three boy rats, 4 months old, that needed a new home because the owner's husband was sadly allergic. They were in a home with a 4 year old girl who handled them daily.



I have a 3 year old boy myself so the timing and everything seemed perfect. We made the 1.5 hour drive to go get them and put them in their brand new Double Critter Nation

I did change their names but they don't seem to mind!

Wilson is the white striped one, Parker is the grey faced, and Stark is the black.

All of the rats love my boy, too!





They are so friendly, so much more than my girls ever were, and I am so absolutely thrilled whenever I get to bring them out for free roam time

I also share my home with 2 quaker parrots, Jingo (blue, 7 in May) and Bobber (green, unknown age, adopted 2 years ago)



As well as two cats, Jasmine (16 y/o tabby) and Lydia (8 y/o tortie)





And Tuchanka, my 4 y/o leopard gecko



It's a busy life, even with working from home, but I wouldn't have it any other way


Anyways, excited to be part of the community!

You have a beautiful family!! It's wonderful that you took the time to prepare. CongRATS!!

Thank you so much!

Beautiful ratties and other animals.
Wonderful that you took the time to be prepared!

Just so you are aware .... rats are either predators or prey and so can not be mixed with other species. Just mentioning it because many are unaware and as a result animals have been injured and killed

Thank you for mentioning that! My parrots and gecko are definitely prey to both rats and cats, and I know the rats are prey for the cats. I maintain specific zones / times of safety.

10am to 6pm my bird are allowed access to the living room and dining room (their cages are in the dining room). The rat cage is in the living room but I have a piece of acrylic as well as their cardboard pen on top of the cage to prevent anyone landing on it.

The cats during this time have access to the kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms, and are sleeping for 98% of the time. The rats are secure in their cage during the day as well.

The birds go to bed about 6pm (their choice; they raise a ruckus if I'm late!).

About 7 to 9pm (whenever the rats wake up) we prep the living room for them. I made a pen out of cardboard display boards and duct tape that makes a nice area for them to play in safely. The cats won't jump it because it's too tall and they can't see their landing, and I'm always in there with them the entire time. They are never left unsupervised. They get to run around and play for 2 to 3 hours.

Then they are locked up, and the cats have free reign of the house when they are most active and get their snuggle and pet session with me when everyone is secured.

My gecko is only handled in my bedroom on my bed with everyone locked out once or twice a week. She is stressed out by it so I don't do it often; only when she needs a cage cleaning. I have a metal cage topper so even if a cat does jump on it, she is protected.

It's a lot of work, but worth it! I do not allow my prey and predators to mix. Jasmine is almost 17, arthritic, and sleeps 20+ hours a day and I still don't trust her.

You sound very knowledgeable and careful
Good that you are taking care to keep the birds and rats separate ...... rats kill small birds and large birds kill rats
Just so you know, rats have been know to grab a smaller animal, such as a hamster, through the cage bars and kill/dismember them

Yes, I have heard of that before. That's why I make sure the birds can't perch on the cage and if they do manage it somehow, there is a piece of acrylic to prevent anyone being grabbed. The birds themselves are small; only about the size of a cockatiel, and they have large cages that they roost into the middle of. They also are fully flighted and have a play area above their cages that they tend to stay on as an added level of security for them too. The birds are covered at night and their cages are fairly far off the ground (higher than the critter nation), but the rats are 100% not allowed into the dining room and access is blocked so if someone does manage to escape the play area, there is an additional barrier

Birds can also kill each other through cage bars; not from personal experience but a friend had that happen with hers and ever since I have been pretty vigilante. You can't take instincts out of the animals, so I just operate under the assumption that everyone will always try to kill each other! Never worth the "cute Facebook photo."

Mizzely said:

Birds can also kill each other through cage bars; not from personal experience but a friend had that happen with hers and ever since I have been pretty vigilante. You can't take instincts out of the animals, so I just operate under the assumption that everyone will always try to kill each other! Never worth the "cute Facebook photo."

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WOW ! I didn't know that about birds.
Absolutely agree about the "cute Facebook photos"

SQ said:

WOW ! I didn't know that about birds.
Absolutely agree about the "cute Facebook photos"

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Yeah usually parrots in the same taxonomical family are fine, but they can be quite territorial and some simply don't like each other!