Hello! I can't wait to join the community.

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CrazyRatLady

Active Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2020
Messages
31
Location
North Carolina
Hello! I'm Megan. I'm a future crazy rat lady.
At the moment, I have a gerbil, and (most likely) this year I'll be getting rats! I cannot wait! My mom had rats before me, and it's been ages since we've had little ratties in our family.
You'll be seeing a lot more activity from me later, but I'm just getting my fill of research now :) Thank you for this forum: I know it'll help a lot, like the gerbil forum has helped me thus far!
I wanted to ask, would male or female rats be best for a beginner? I've watched videos on this, and I think I want males because I'm a total sucker for cuddles and would prefer rats who are on the calmer side. But I know that either gender can be energetic! So which would be best for a beginner? Thank you!
Again, I can't wait :)
 
I have 3 female rats, and all are, or were super energetic, but also LOVE to cuddle. I also have had many boys, and now have 2 left, and they are awesome too! My youngest boy is SUPER energetic, and is a CRAZY jumper. He HATES to be held and cuddled, but will come to you for a scratch, then is right back to exploring and being naughty. I've only had one other boy rat that was like this. Pepper. He was a super independent, and feisty boy. He always had places to explore, and would steal your food in a heartbeat if you weren't careful. Problem with boys is, they can become hormonal and aggressive. More so in my opinion than girls. It's something that sometimes requires a neuter to bring under control. So just be prepared for that possibility. Girls on the other hand, can be pregnant when you get them (if not seperated from males at the right age), can die from childbirth, get uterine, and mammary tumors, requiring a spay to treat. Whatever sex you decide on, just be sure to get at least one cagemate, as I'm sure you know.

Welcome to the forum!
 
Welcome! I like female rats and my girl is very energetic at night and cuddly during the day! Males do have buck grease, which I've heard smells bad, but I personally don't have a boy. I recommend that if you do decide on getting a female then you get one who is younger, this reduced the risk of them being pregnant from when you get them greatly. Also if you adopt from a young age you can correct behavioral problems and litter train them easier. Things that are taught at a young age stick with the rat better and longer then things taught at an older age.
 
Welcome! I like female rats and my girl is very energetic at night and cuddly during the day! Males do have buck grease, which I've heard smells bad, but I personally don't have a boy. I recommend that if you do decide on getting a female then you get one who is younger, this reduced the risk of them being pregnant from when you get them greatly. Also if you adopt from a young age you can correct behavioral problems and litter train them easier. Things that are taught at a young age stick with the rat better and longer then things taught at an older age.


Does your littke girl have a cagemate? Rats HAVE to be in groups of two or more of the same sex. I have two males, and the buck grease isn't bad on all males. If it is, you can always wipe them down with an unscented baby wipe. Also, you don't want to get any rat too young. They need to be with their momma and siblings until 5 weeks for males, and 6weeks or entire life with females. So I'd be weary of taking one younger than 6 weeks. They need vital nutrition that they get from momma, and lessons on how to behave from their group.
 
Hi There, we are Egg and Dak, we are new rat parents as of October 2019. We have three rats, all boys, Finn (3 months), Taro (9 months), and Tofu (1 year). Currently three of them live separately as Taro and Tofu are a bonded pair and haven't truly taken to Finni yet. We also have one hamster, but that's a totally different story. We loved our babies from the moment we first laid eyes on Finni and his brother Wirt (sadly passed). We hope to have many rats in the future as they are all so precious and sweet with their tiny hands and cute faces.
 
Hi Welcome to the forum :)

Please read the Reference Thread as it contains a lot of useful information with more being added all the time
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

Rats of both sexes and all ages are wonderful and have their own personalities.
It is essential that you have access to a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats
and have family that will pay the vet bills and medication costs or a credit card/bank account.

Female rats need to be spayed for health reasons by a good vet with the knowledge and experience to do it safely.
Male rats sometimes need to be neutered by a good vet with the knowledge and experience to do it safely.
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/why-spay-or-neuter-rats.35402/

You might find this helpful: https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/thinking-of-getting-a-rat-things-to-consider.32306/
 
Welcome to the forum! As a person who has never had female rats for almost four years... I vote males! But I'm very biased :D

People can pin male rats as these lazy, cuddlebugs that constantly sleep, but if you get babies, you will get energy, energy, energy, ENERGY! Babies always wrestle, run around, play... Just be their mischievous little selves. I find my hardcore cuddlers are my old men who are past 1.5 years of age. Sure, babies don't mind being picked up and kissed, but they just love to play so much more. When it comes to playpen time, I have my cuddly old men who seek out the comfort of my lap, and then I have the rambunctious old men or rambunctious young boys running around and exploring.

Personally, I wanted male rats for another reason... They're just bigger. I have some huge males who've weighed in at just under 1.5 pounds, but were not overweight by any means and were just big boys! Owen was my largest and bulkiest rat, and if I remember right, he must've weighed about 600 grams. He was a BIG boy.

When choosing your rats, find the ones that bond with you, and then take their buddies home with them. You'll be surprised who chooses you and decides they want to be your friend. I actually had two, Luci and Lil Chu, who chose me and then couldn't care less about me while their brothers soak up all of my attention :p

As previously mentioned, be wary of what each gender could entail. I've never had females, so I can't speak on that, but a vast majority of the boys I've brought home have not become hormonally aggressive. Most that are tend to just be scared and don't know how to tell me they're scared. In fact, one of my now passed boys, Grumpy, used to bite me, but then decide one day he was gonna be my buddy. Your rats, male or females, can have such a huge variation in personalities, it's kinda funny. Like, two rescues I brought home. One is a lovebug who falls asleep on my chest while his brother would much prefer I leave him alone.
 
Thank you so much for the advice, everyone! I think I'm further set on males! I was split between the two because my mom wanted females (that was the only kind she had previously), and she was worried about the buck grease and aggressive hormones with males. From what I heard, buck grease isn't really a problem, and the aggression shouldn't be an issue, either :)
 
Thank you so much for the advice, everyone! I think I'm further set on males! I was split between the two because my mom wanted females (that was the only kind she had previously), and she was worried about the buck grease and aggressive hormones with males. From what I heard, buck grease isn't really a problem, and the aggression shouldn't be an issue, either :)
If you neuter your boys, apparently buck grease production goes down. I've never actually worried about it. The only time I remembered that my guys produce buck grease is because my first siamese is getting an orange tinted tummy! Still soft as down and very kissable, though. But, he's also just incredibly tolerant and lets me do that to him.
 
I've had MANY boys, and only pepper had noticeable buck grease. But it was super easy to get off with a baby wipe. My girls have bunny soft fur, my boys are a little more wiry, but not gross. I still love all over them. If they have grease, it's not noticeable.
 
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