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shaggyandscruffy

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2012
Messages
13
Location
Ohio
Hi there!

My name is Samantha. As a little girl I always had pet mice growing up. I found fancy rex mice for sale and decided to buy three females so my kids could experience the same joys as I did when little.

My son and I went to the pet store to pick up some food before stopping at the breeders house. Well, we ran into quite a snag!

At the pet store there was TWO VERY TAME male rats for sale. My son and I got to hold them. They came with a NEW cage, a glass water bottle, a large excercise wheel, a feed dish, and a treat holder (in the shape of a rat) that hangs down from the top of their cage. The asking price was $29.99. I didn't even ask if they would drop the price on them, but the ladies at the pet store stated that they could drop the price to $20 for all of this.

I had never owned rats before! But I was hooked! I always loved mice, but these guys were big, kind of smelly, and so sweet and tame! I really liked how I wasn't worried about dropping them or them being too fast like a little mouse can be.

WE BOUGHT THEM! I left my phone number with the ladies at the pet shop and they gave my number to the owner who called me. She stated that They are not a year old yet, that they were five months old this last February. She said that her daughter named them both "Buddy." Well my son had better plans! He named the bigger rat "Scooby" and the slightly smaller rat "Scruffy." (I typically like more individualistic names, but have to admit that I loved the ide of naming them after these two dog cartoon characters).

The lady had us laughing so much on the phone. She explained their personalities a bit more and what we were in for! She made sure to tell us not to keep their cage near the window because they will pull the cutains in and destroy them! She stated that when they would walk by the cage the rats would reach their hands out to try and grab you to get some attention! HOW CUTE IT THAT?!?!

We still got the three fancy rex mice as well, and they are kept in a separate cage. We adore these little tame girls just as much.

I have so many questions to ask all of you!

1) When we hold them, their toenails really scratch us up and leave red marks. I thought that trimming their toenails with baby nail clippers might help? I also thought that perhaps I would buy each of of us a turtle neck shirt to wear so that might help protect our skin when they climb on us.

2) I read that it is okay to give them baths every once in a while. I want to let them get settled in first, but what is the best method to do this? I don't want to stress them out.

3) I noticed that one was sneezing a bit at the pet store. So far he seems fine, but what do I need to watch for? Is there anything I can give him? Because of this, We are keeping the pet mice in another room and always wash our hands, etc.

4) While their cage is new, I would like to spoil them and buy them a much larger cage within the next month or two. Which types of cages do you recommend?

5) I have seen photos of people taking their pet rats outside and letting them run around a bit. Is this recommended? I wouldn't want them to get lost. I will eventually buy them a harness, but I LOVE taking photos of animals in natural settings. Just how fast can a rat run? These guys seem pretty lazy so far!

Thanks for all of you help in advance!
 
This is a picture of the cage. As you can see, it is not large enough (at least in my opinion). I think they would really like having a larger cage!

I wonder if a giant "Ferret Nation" cage would work? I know that I want their future home to be VERY big!





And here are their pictures! I apologize for the bad quality. I had to take these photos with my junk cell phone camera.




I have been trying to learn what color they are. It is white with a "creamy colored tofee" color, but I am sure that is not the right description.

Are there any websites that list all of the colors available in pet rats?

I apologize for all of the questions!
 
Ohhh what a lovely story about your first introduction to our wonderful rats!! :D

1) Cage Waaaaaaaay too small, that was maybe barely okay when they were babies. An FN would be awesome for them or even better a CN (Critter Nation) as they have smaller bar spacing and can be used even for babies if you decide to ever get more. The FN will be just great for bigger boys but small females, babies etc it won't work. :)

2) Start with the long sleeved shirts...you can trim nails very carefully with baby nail clippers but you have to be careful not to snick off a toe. You can also try a brick under their water bottle to wear down their nails more naturally instead.

3) If you don't have to bathe its best not to...rats are very very clean animals and groom themselves thoroughly many times a day already. There are other ways of reducing smell in their bedding/litter instead.

4) Watch the sneezing for any signs of congestion, poprhyrin (red discharge NOT blood) coming from eyes/nose that stays all day long. ANY lung/breathing sounds at all and they will need a vet and antibiotics.

5) Its best not to have rats run around outdoors as they could get scared and run off fast if startled, or another animal could snatch them (hawks etc), plus there's the possibility of pesticides on grass etc. Boys are generally lazier than the much more active females but those are just generalities LOL

6) I think your new loves are beige hooded (or hoodies) or possibly fawn hooded (hard to tell from the pic) and they look adorable :heart:
 
Welcome and congRATS!

I'm a little surprised that you think male rats smell if you have/had mice - I've had both and I find even female mice smell a lot more. A healthy diet will help decrease the smell somewhat but males typically have that musty smell anyway. Neutering helps a lot but it can be a bit pricey if you're doing it just to control their odor. Shelagh (Lilspaz68) answered all of your other questions, I recommend you have a look in the habitat section for CN/FN set ups so you can get an idea how wonderful the cages are. The cage you have right now is nice because it can be folded away for storage and used as a hospital cage if you ever need one.
 
Argh! I just set up this profile for my son and I and realized I messed up their names! It is supposed to be Scooby and Scrappy! Grrrr, This is why I shouldn't do anything when I am this sleepy!
 
shaggyandscruffy said:
Argh! I just set up this profile for my son and I and realized I messed up their names! It is supposed to be Scooby and Scrappy! Grrrr, This is why I shouldn't do anything when I am this sleepy!
Click to expand...

Message admin, they can correct it for you :)
 
Thanks for all of your help!

I really love these guys!

And yes, the cage is very small. It's a weird cage too. A hamster would get out of it, it's too small for a bunny. I don't really know what they were thinking when this cage zie was selected to be made! I knew we would need a bigger one as soon as possible. It was still a deal at $20 for all of this though! Especially just for these CUTE tame rats alone! But it will make a great hospital cage, as pointed out, if ever needed. It would also be nice for transporting to a vet if ever needed?

And I probably didn't write that correctly: I enjoy the fact that they are a bit stinky. That's why I like my horse! It poops, its real, it life! Mucking out the stall has sort of become a zen moment for me. Weird, I know, but true. Also, I think they were a bit stinkier than usual. They had just changed the bedding, and the underside of our new friends was a bit dirty! Yest another reason I would like to get them a new cage.

I think they are so beautiful!

I will make sure to go check out the habitat section now Victoria, thanks! and to look at the pictures LilSpaz!

Thanks so much!
 
They're cuties! Congrats.

I got the exact same setup, with a shelf and ramp, water bottle, food dish, food, toys, and bedding and of course a rat for adoption at petco for $5 - they just want to move them out of there.
*Edit - I have THAT same toy, the hanging mouse. The boys LOOOVE when I put treats in there.


I think that it might work a for a mouse or something long-term. Right now I have my female rat and her pups in it, she has the room to take a break from them, but not so much she will wander off and leave them too long.
 
1) I don't trimm my boys toenails because two out of the three of them I have are actually VERY gentle when they climb on me :giggle: the other one, my boy Nes, he's very active and doesn't like to be held so he tends to be a little scratchy, but its normal of them and I don't like to risk injurty so I let them grow out. What's funny is that they trim their own nails! Funny right?

2) Personally the only time I ever give my boys a bath is when i really REALLY smell that they been peeing on each other (due to domiance). This actually happened last night with my Gyro boy. I gave him a small sink bath with light warm water and gentle bar of soap that i only dabbed through his fur, rinsed quickly out and dried. The reason why I did it quickly was to avoid stress, and less soap the better, I didn't want to rinse his natural perfume out. This is due because rats who smell different to their cage mates, could trigger aggression. After his quick bath he went back to playing and all was well lol!

3) When i brought my first boy Gizmo, home, he sneezed a bit for about a day but then settled down. This is sometimes due to stress or nerves in a new enviorement. However I brought another baby rat home who sneezed that quickly developed to wheezing, which sadly despite aggressive treatment with antibiotics, he passed because it was a URI or phenomina. When URI's hit rats, you gotta act quickly to treat them, they are not uncommon. However don't assume the worst yet, keep an eye out on him, check to make sure theres no brown/red gunk in the nose ears or eyes and give him a day or two to settle.

4) The cage they are currently in is too small. The rule for one rat and the space they live in is on average 2ftx2ft, so that cage is too small for two ratties! I'd highly recommend a CN (Critter Nation) Cage. Like the others said its great especially if you ever want to get baby ratties one day. It's a little pricey in some parts but here's a site where I got mine for a bargain! You can get the Single CN cage for $134 which is what my boys have! http://www.petstreetmall.com/Critter-Na ... tails.html

My boys cage: (Yes they are spoild in this cage lol!)
TheCage.jpg


5) Well I don't personally let my rats outside, I've seen people with rat harness/leashes do so and they love it! Rats are very VERY smart too so it wouldn't surprise me if you could train them to stay in a specific place outside. However I don't risk outside activity due to my location which is the country side. Like the others say, rats are prey animals to hawks, however I not only have to deal with hawks, I have to deal with hawks, dogs, cats, owls, coyotes and other wildlife. I wouldn't chance it, but if you know your enviorment and your rats well enough then go for it! As for how fast they run? Well depends on their age, since they are 5months old I'm sure they are fast little buggers. Not as fast as mice, but they can really move! They also love to bounce when they run! You can see in one of my playful videos when I used to have more then 3 boys. Sadly I had a hairless rat who passed away in this video, but you can tell how fast they are between the ages of 6weeks to 5months of age!

[BBvideo 450,375:vpzcwthm]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC09pfJvNjs&list=PL492C8A35C8F8CBF4&index=19&feature=plpp_video[/BBvideo:vpzcwthm]
 
A quick note about harnesses, I had a pair when I first got rat and the only ones I could manage to get the harness on all managed to wiggle out of it. If you really want to take them outdoors, something like the Martin's playpen is best and they need to be supervised at all times. You also should have them treated against parasites beforehand.

http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/
 
WOW! Thanks so much for all of your help!

It really means alot to me!

As for the sneezing, I haven't noticed anything red at all, but will be on the look out.

I also raise show quality bantam chickens, and there has been MANY times where I have saved their lives because I created an emergency chicken kit just in case I ever needed it (anyone who has raised chickens knowns that a healthy bird can turn sick the next day)!

I would like to do this for Scooby and Scrappy too.

What type of antibiotic is needed if they ever start getting wheezy, or have that red stuff?

What other types of things are beneficial to have on hand?

I will go and try to find a link in these forums about this, but figured I'd ask here too just in case you all have some good ideas.

As for babies, my son asked if we could ever get some female rats. For the time being, I told him no. I would be so afraid that their kids would turn into meals for snakes. (I know they need to eat too, but I just wouldn't want to see my "grandkids" ending this way) :heart:

I have the feeling that I might always own then and might not ever breed them.
 
A lot of us have both males and females and we just sterilize one gender (or both). Neutering is generally simpler and cheaper but spaying has so many health benefits. I strongly discourage you breeding... there are SO many unwanted, neglected, mistreated rats out there that came to be because someone though having a litter would be a great experience. You may be surprised to learn just how many rats are waiting for homes in rescues and shelters - babies, adults, males and females and any colour or type you can imagine. If you really want to experience raising a litter, offer to foster for a local rescue. When they're weaned, at least you'll know that they'll go to good homes and not be used as food.

As for the emergency kit, it's a good idea but it's something you'd have to figure out with your vet. Some people have a vet that will give them extra meds to have on hand in case of an emergency, some don't. Most drugs commonly used to treat rats are not sold over the counter (it is possible to get some on the grey market but there's always the risk you'll get counterfeit or expired drugs) so you really should have a vet to turn to when your rats get sick.

There's a website put together by some rat enthusiasts called Rat Guide that has a lot of good info for different treatments for many common ailments. It doesn't have every drug for every condition listed but it has many of the common ones and various dosage guidelines with references. If you have a vet that isn't very familiar with rats but willing to learn, it's a good tool to use to know what direction to look in when treating.
 
Common things I have in my ratty emergency kit: Infant ibuprofen and infant benedryl, with the dosage guide for rats. (Guide can be found on the website Victoria recommended, Rat Guide.) I also keep corn starch, to stop minor bleeds; clean syringes, saline, ensure, powered lab blocks and human heat wraps. The ensure and powdered lab blocks (makes making mush easy) are for rats who need soft food or need some extra enticing to eat/drink. The heat wraps (back sized) I use in case there is a power outage for an extend amount of time during the winter. They can be placed under the bottom of the cage or under the pan to help keep ratties warm.

As Victoria said, it's best to go to the vet for everything else. Though some more experienced members with vets they know are able to purchase common medicines (in pill form) ahead of time. (I really wouldn't recommend going that route or trying to anytime soon though, there is a lot of learning and experience to be had first.)
 
Btw the rat guide they are talkign about is located at;

www.ratguide.com

I completely concur with Victoria regarding the possibility of breeding...read other posts, read Rescue Stories and you will realize that Ohio is actually rife with bad breeders and a lot of homeless rats that are wonderful rats but will never get the chance to show anyone.
 
Agreed with all the ladies here, I can't tell you how many times I've cried over the sad stories for some of these ratties that came from bad circumstances, such as poor breeding, or they were one of many unwanted litters and abaondoned to fend for themselves. I'm not saying that's your intent or thats what all breeders do. There are actually very good breeders here that take pride in what they do, but don't make much living doing it, and that's what makes them good breeders, because they LOVE their ratties.

But it sounds like you're not gonna breed, though the temptation is there. Believe me i thought about once letting my alpha rat Gizmo breed with a nice little lady I could find for him, because he's such the ideal personality of a pet rat, loving, playful, cuddly, all in one! I figured if I could find him a lady just as similar, that personality trait might breed into their kiddies and everyone could experience the joy I have with my Gizmo lol! But that's just silly and niave of me despite my good intentions. Every rat is different despite breeding when it comes to personality, and I would have been overwhelmed with vet care, and the mama and babies special needs. I salute those who get the chance to experience new born baby ratties and salute those everyday who foster them or take care of them :)
 

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