Another question about boys and girls...

[Kat]

I was just thinking, because everyone says that unaltered boys and girls should not live in the same house together. But I was just wondering, what if two boys lived in the basement, and two girls lived upstairs (I live in a bungalow). Anyways, the basement is obviously finished and its where me and my sister live. My bedroom would be on the opposite side of the house as to where the girls would be on the upper level. Would the scent still bother the males, or would that distance be enough? What if I closed off the vent from my bedroom or something? Would that work too? I called around different vets, and its between 275 and 300$ to neuter one male rat, and i dont have that kind of money to just throw around atm, considering we're also going to be getting a puppy in a few days time, and ill be responsible for the food and vet costs. So anyways as I was saying, would it be safe if I had the boys on a different level, opposite side of the house, even have the vent closed, away from the girls, or would it still be too dangerous? I dont know what else we could possibly do because we have all become attached to the babies already, and wouldnt want to give them away. (Right now we have just two, one male, and one female, but since they cant live together, we are obviously getting one more male and one more female so they can keep eachother company)

 

[twitch]

its not that its bad to have unaltered rats in the same house, i personally have not seen any stress on the parts of the rats for having them both in the same house. its that with unaltered rats in the same house, the chances of an accidental pregnancy are increased. having one gender altered eliminates that risk and then you are able to have a mixed colony, which i personally love having. so it would be fine to have them in the same house so long as you can make sure that they never have any contact with one another. the smell of each other is not going to really bother them any.

just remember that females in heat are determined little buggers. if there is a way for them to escape their cage or a way for them to get down to the boys, they will find it. make sure you have good and secure cages for both sets and keep their free range space secure and always supervised when they are out in it.

as for the cost of the neuter, that is just stupid prices. yes, neuters are not free or anything, but normally they should be about the price of a cat neuter. or at least that is the way it is in my area. the vets that give huge prices like you mentioned are normally the ones that don't have a clue what they are doing compared to the ones that give a lower qoute of around $100. but that is only my experience for my area. it coudl very well be different in yours.

have you contacted dr. munn. i don't know how far burlington is from toronto, but she is the go to rat vet in the ontario area. i don't know what her prices are though. there are a bunch of people here from ontario though, they might be able to point you in the direction of a vet that you could afford better.

and one note on money and rats. they are cheap to get but expensive to keep. they often have lung issues and certainly are not the most healthy of pets. they only live a short time and so get old fast and with age comes a higher chance of illness and other medical problems. i'm not a rich person but i can cover these costs ONLY because i saved up for them ahead of time. set a jar aside and put into it all loose change and anything you can spare, then don't touch it unless you need it for the vet. i have 15 rats and i'm a student on welfare with a human child in tow as well. this is how i am able to afford the vet costs and make sure all my rats have proper medical attention when they need it. where your rats are still only babies, hopefully you have some time yet to save, but you need to start sooner rather then later.

 

[lilratsy43]

If you have the boys and girls in cages where they can not escape you should be fine. I have had boys and girls unaltered, in the same room, for over a year now, and no mistakes!!!

 

[SQ]

It really isn't safe to have unaltered males and females living in the same household.

Rats are highly motivated and very, very smart .... and people are not perfect.

I have heard of unaltered rats in a cage in the basement getting to other unaltered rats in a cage in a bedroom on the 3rd floor .... the result was pregnancy ....

Many people do report their unneutered boys being stressed (fighting with one another) by girls going into heat. But that isnt always the case.

 

[jorats]

I don't recommend it but it's very doable.
In many cases, intact boys in close proximity with intact girls may or may not make the boys aggressive. It can make the boys produce too much sebum and be very stressed out.
I know a lot of people say their rats are just fine but just think about that for a moment, not being allowed to mate but yet smelling the girls going into heat must be very stressful and frustrating for both sexes.
But... having the boys in the basement and the girls in the upper level, I'm sure would be quite alright as for the scenting is concerned. The only thing is the determination of girls and boys needing to reproduce. Please please please make sure there is always a closed door in between them.

 

[Kat]

have you contacted dr. munn. i don't know how far burlington is from toronto, but she is the go to rat vet in the ontario area. i don't know what her prices are though. there are a bunch of people here from ontario though, they might be able to point you in the direction of a vet that you could afford better.

For me, toronto is about an hour and a half-ish away, the only way I could get there would be by train because I dont have a car, and my parents wouldnt drive me all the way there >.< and i dont know toronto well enough to find it on my own.

Im going to try it out, take all the safety precautions, like closing the doors, making sure the cages are secure, and try it out.

 

[SQ]

If you were able to neuter the boy (and wait 3 weeks) or spay the girl, you could put them in together and wouldn't need to get more rats.

Rats can have up to 26 babies in a litter with average size being 12 to 14 babies.
If you do what you are planning, there will be a chance of two pregnancies ...
That is a lot of babies/ratties to be responsible for.