Boy and girl rats together?

[Sami]

I currently have 2 female rats. I'm getting a double unit Ferret Nation cage and possibly more ratties. I was thinking about getting 1-2 more female rats and 2 male rats. Would there be any problems/concerns (other than babies) with putting the 2 boys in one section of the FN and the girls in the other? And NO, I'm not planning on breeding these rats I just want big squishy boy ratties too, hehe.

 

[Tarah]

Having boys and girls in the same room, let alone the same cage can be super risky.

I have a double unit cage, with boys and one and girls in the other, but one section is on top of the others (not sure how the double FN is built) I've never had a problem, but i have heard some horror stories about opposite sex's in the same room.

 

[Sami]

Well I mean it's just the double unit FN with the 4 levels. Ultimately it can become 2 separate cages stacked on top of eachother...how much is it to get a rat neutered?

 

[Tarah]

I've heard anywhere from 150 - 300 hundred dollars for a neuter.
You should call your vet and ask.

 

[rat.charmer]

I wouldn't recommend having unaltered males and females in the same house. There are MANY MANY MANY stories of oopsy litters coming from even the most experienced and knowledgeable rat owners who would swear on the Bible that the two sexes never interacted...It's not worth the risk.

I have 1 neutered male in with 11 females. He loves it

 

[Sami]

Wow $150, I was thinking it was more like $75! As much as I would love to have some cuddly boys I guess I'll have to stick with all little girlies.

 

[Tarah]

Probably the best idea.

 

[Moon]

Wow $150, I was thinking it was more like $75! As much as I would love to have some cuddly boys I guess I'll have to stick with all little girlies.

Remember that Tarah is quoting prices from Newfoundland... you really can't ask for surgery quotes on the forum, since different areas have vastly different prices. I've heard of some vets neutering rats for $50. You should have a general idea of what vets cost in your area anyway, as you'll need a vet who is comfortable doing surgeries in case of an emergency.

 

[lilratsy43]

I am much close to you then Tarah and my vet quoted me $350 for a neuter.

But at Cornell University (which is only an hour from me), they charge $95 a rat. So Moon is right, all vets are different.

 

[lindsayfawn]

I would not recommend having girls and boys in different parts of the FN. We tried that and did not turn out well. We now have 8 thirteen day old babies because of it because one of the girls got out to the boys before they got their neuters.
Our neuters were about 250 in all for the two boys. But as many people said you can't really get quotes for vets on here 'cause every vet has different prices. I'd call around the different vets to see what their prices are but also make sure they've done neuters too. I know I wouldn't want to have a vet that never did a neuter on a rat I'd want an experienced vet.

 

[ryelle]

Might be an idea just to call around some TRUSTED vets in your area and just question them on the prices and what experience they have with surgery on rats. I did this, and found one vet to be not very experienced at all. I paid £55 which is equivelent to $100. The UK is just so much cheaper for everything lol. It can't hurt to ask, can it?

If you did get the boys neutered, then they could all live together and you wouldnt have to have cages seperated. I have two baby girls living with my 9mnth old neutered boy and its SO fun to watch Intro's were stupidly easy too.

I never even dreamed of having girls AND boys (i had only ever had boys) but i took advantage of the neuter and got some girlys

 

[emerson]

Aside from the huge risk of babies (rats are sneaky), behaviour problems are common too, they can smell eachother and get hormonal, and smell way worse, etc. I would atleast recommend getting the boys neutered to ensure no oopsie litters and to keep things less smelly. :sick2:

 

[SQ]

Or get your girls spayed. Spaying reduces the risk of girls developing several health problems such as mammory tumors.

If you neuter males, you need to wait 3 (or 4) weeks before putting them physically with girls to ensure no pregnancies.

 

[MomRat]

3 or 4 weeks? We recently had one of our boys neutered for agression(all we have are males), and before the procedure the doc told us a month to get testosterone out of the system(agression) and up to 2 months for inability to reproduce... Just be careful if you do. =) Better safe than sorry.

 

[ryelle]

3 or 4 weeks? We recently had one of our boys neutered for agression(all we have are males), and before the procedure the doc told us a month to get testosterone out of the system(agression) and up to 2 months for inability to reproduce... Just be careful if you do. =) Better safe than sorry.

Its more the other way around.. 3-4weeks for inability to reproduce and it can take a few months for the testosterone to get out of the system

 

[Sorraia]

If you want to keep a mixed sex colony (regardless whether or not they are in the same cage), get one or both sex neutered/spayed.

Accidents happen FAR too often. You can take all the precautions in the world and an accident can STILL happen. The ONLY guarantee for no babies, and the MOST responsible way of keeping a mixed sex colony, is to get one or both sex altered.

How much it costs depends on your vet and where you live. I have two vets I go to regularly. One will neuter rats for $100 each (American). The other will neuter rats for $40 and spay rats for $64-98 (price depends on whehter or not rat needs a health check first).

 

[Moon]

3 or 4 weeks? We recently had one of our boys neutered for agression(all we have are males), and before the procedure the doc told us a month to get testosterone out of the system(agression) and up to 2 months for inability to reproduce... Just be careful if you do. =) Better safe than sorry.

Yeah, something got mixed up here. After 3 weeks a neutered male should be perfectly safe to introduce to intact females.

Some males show a difference in their behaviour almost immediately after a neuter, while in others in can take quite a while to see them "settle".