PlayMate for my rat

[Bree]

So I just got my new baby and posted a thread on her biting me. A lot of people said to get another friend for her to live with. Can everyone give me a list of reasons why this is good and also why it’s bad to only have 1 rat? Thanks!

EDIT: for her a playmate!

 

[Nadia]

Hi Bree,

Rats are naturally social animals, they will basically be very unhappy by themselves. That will reflect on their health and behaviour. I’m a new rat owner myself and quite frankly I couldn’t imagine having just one. I have 4 and it’s such a joy to see them interacting and also they all have their own personalities which is so nice for me personally. But mainly I feel (having done some research on rat’s social habits) that it’s bad for them to keep just one because they thrive as a group.

Good luck

 

[SQ]

 

[SQ]

Rats are social animals and need to live with at least one other rat
Rats normally live in huge extended family groups and it is unnatural for a rat to live alone
Lone rats can become depressed, withdrawn, unfriendly, aggressive, stop eating and die
Keeping a rat by itself is considered animal cruelty.
People that only want one pet are encouraged to get a Syrian hamster as in the wild they live alone.
In the past people were not aware that rats and other pets needed to live in pairs or groups, but now we know better …. although some myths still persist

If you have a baby rat, then you need to get another same sex baby immediately - hopefully one of it's siblings. This baby has been taken away from his/her mama, and all of her/his siblings …… this baby is grieving for it's family, alone, frightened - actually terrified …. and desperately wanting it's mama and all of it's brothers and sisters
Babies also need another at least one other baby to play with

People need to have at least two rats but how many more then 2 you should get depends on your circumstances ….. such as how many can you care for - vet care, medications when ill, surgery, cage size, food, etc
Please see https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/thinking-of-getting-a-rat-things-to-consider.32306/

Btw the Reference Thread has a lot of good info https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

 

[ViciousCurse]

I'm not here to attack you, but I don't see any pros on keeping a single rat alone. It's stressful to the one rat. All it does is save time, money, and space for the human and leaves the rat incredibly unhappy. Albeit, I am a little surprised that a breeder allowed you to take home just one.

As you mentioned, they then are prone to biting and acting out because they are so unhappy.
I see a number of cons in keeping a rat alone. As mentioned, you see a lot of issues arise. The added stress of being alone makes their immune system drop in its effectiveness, making them more prone to being sick. In the long run, a rat who is constantly sick is a lot more expensive than just buying one small cage and one lone rat. They become aggressive because they're sad. I've been bitten and it is extremely painful and it's not fun for the human or rat involved. One thing I see a lot of people not understand is that a lone rat has no one of their own kind to communicate or spend time with. A human will never groom their head and shoulders like a rat can. A human can never play with a rat like another rat can. Humans are busy creatures and a lot of us find other things to do than constantly spend time with our rats. I'm home a vast majority of the time, but I'm not handling or playing with my rats all of that time. I couldn't fathom being alone all day, unable to call or text friends, or even physically see something of my own kind.

As Nadia mentioned, I love watching my rats interact. I love watching their different personalities, how they act, play, walk, etc. Every rat is different and when it's time for their daily food bowl filling, it's interesting to watch how the rats react to food being placed down. I have so many rats in one cage that it's like watching an ant hill as they all either run and hide their food, or run and eat their food.
My rats know their names and I love calling names and seeing who pops their head out.
Having more than one rat gives a lot more opportunities to be kissed on and snuggled on by rats. I can stick my hand in my rat cage at any given time and I can get three or four rats all grooming my fingers at once, while one is crawling up my arm and licking my neck. When I settle down for a movie, I can have two rats fast asleep in my arms.

I hope you seriously consider bringing another rat that's the same age and gender as the rat you currently have.