The average cost of owning a rat

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C

Cigar

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
1,032
Location
Southern Ontario
Has anyone put something like this together before? I saw it on the ferret forum at GM and I think it's an interesting idea.

Cage: Ferret Nations are AMAZING!! I love them! A FN 141 will fit 3-4 ferrets. Cost: $140 (check local craigslist for a cheaper one)
Minimum cage size for 1 ferret should be 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet. With that though he'll need a bit more extra attention.
Food: Innova Evo, 8 in 1 Ultimate, and Totally Ferret are great ferret kibbles. Cost: $10-25 (also check out raw diets and commercial raw diets)
You can also feed some cat foods like Orijen, Cat Evo, and CA Natural. With food it's best to have at least 3 different kinds to give your ferret variety. Also keeps him healthy!
Litter: Sheets of newspaper, Yesterday's News, and wood pellets (not shavings) work well. Cost: $8-15
Litter box: Don't use the corner litter boxes! Marshall's lock litter box works well. Cost: $8
You can also use cat litter boxes, but make sure he can actually get in.
Bedding: Ferrets love hammocks and should have at least two in the cage! Cost (for 2): $15-20
You can get them custom made from people for cheaper prices.
Treats: Ferret tone is great to have around! Cost: $5
N-Bones are also great! Check the raw food link for these!
Toys: Toys are a must have! Ferrets need a lot of enrichment, so make sure to have a lot of toys around! Cost:$10-20
Just make sure the toys aren't rubber, foam, or latex.
Books: Ferrets for Dummies and Ferrets by Vickie Mckimmey are must haves!
Another thing to think about are vet bills and costs. At least once in a ferrets life (unless you get a ferret from a breeder this may not apply) you'll have to spend $800+ on vet bills all at one time. They also need yearly vet visits. Here's about how much you'll pay a month for one ferret:
Food: $14-$30
Litter: $0-$10
Savings: $15
Misc. (toys, damage, etc.): $5-$100
So in all you'll pay anywhere from $38-$155 a month. Sometimes less, sometimes more. Vet costs are yearly and cost from $80-$150 for regular check ups!

Here are some good websites:
http://forum.ferret.com/
http://holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi
http://www.hugawoozel.com/ferretcare.html
 
Oboy, vet bills being the biggest cost I could put up a chart here for my ratties if I knew how.... any way to put a microsoft spread sheet up here?
 
Hmm... that's a good thing to have written up!

I guess it depends what type of cage one wants...

So cage, supplies for cage, toys etc., food, vet... all of that? Anything else?
 
Interesting idea but those costs are waaaay off.
For example, a new FN is $395.
If someone does put together a list, mention the area you are located in and that prices will vary greatly from one country to another and from one part of the country to another.
 
Thanks for pointing out my error, I was referring to the cost of a double.
A single is more like $250 - $300.

You are correct about the US price for the single FN not being $395. However, the price of a new single FN in the states is more like $210 then $140 unless you find a good sale.
It didn't say that the price quoted was in the USA. The person posting is in Ontario so I thought it was Canadian.

I guess that just makes my point about stating where you are and that prices will vary greatly depending upon your location.
 
As the OP said, it was copied from Goosemoose, as we know is a US centric forum. And the point of the post is to not use the listing as a reference, but asking if anything similar has been put together for rats.

Allpetfurniture.com lists the single FN at $135, on sale right now. Amazon.com lists them for around $155.
 
Moon said:
As the OP said, it was copied from Goosemoose, as we know is a US centric forum. And the point of the post is to not use the listing as a reference, but asking if anything similar has been put together for rats.

Allpetfurniture.com lists the single FN at $135, on sale right now. Amazon.com lists them for around $155.
Click to expand...


I realise that, which is why I made a suggestion.
I used the FN price as an example. :doh:
 
It would be cool to do an American and Canadian list for comparison sake.

I think M0onkist is right about the hardest topic being which cages to choose because there's so many to choose from and so many you should never choose. I feel as if cages are a whole new ball game.

IMO the best way to make something like this effective is to make it cost friendly. I'm sure we all have tips and tricks to cut down on expenses.
 
I don't mean to sound blunt, but is this thread about the average cost of owning a rat or is it about arguing over whose ballpark estimate of the cost of a ferret nation is more accurate? :laugh4:

As far as my estimates go, I would safely say that I spend somewhere in the ballpark of $1500/year for the care of my two boys. This includes trips to the vet, neuters, and medications.

I have seen new, single, ferret nations for about $160.
My Martins cages have cost me approximately $400 (rat skyscraper, large ferret carrier and two transporters)
Fleece for bedding runs about $30 for the life of my rats.
Paper towels for "carpeting" the cage and shredding runs me about $60/year
Oxbow/Teklad runs about $100/year
Distilled water costs me about $15/year
chew toys and other fun stuff (to include my coroplast fence... not so fun...LOL) run about $60/year

I am not including the cost of fresh fruit, veggies and other such things since I eat them too and would buy them even if I didn't have my boys.

If you add everything up... yep... even the little fur faces cost alot. Their trips to the vet cost about as much as it would cost for a dog/cat. I pay $265 for one neuter but my vet is a state of the art exotic animal veterinary center. They know rodents and know how to care for them.

This is only an estimated average cost of owning my rats. Depending on the rat, it can be a little more or a little less.

Roquefort cost me almost $800 in veterinary care in just one year but he was a frail little man. Jerry cost me about the same when he died in 2007 but he was also a frail little furball. My other boys have health issues but they are not quite as intense. Albert has been x-rayed to the tune of about $400 so far this year to determine possible congestive heart failure and he is probably on meds for life.

That doesn't matter to me though. He licks my nose and cleans my fingers so all is good. :heart:

Yep... owning rats can be an expensive venture so being a rat owner requires solid, emotional, dedication.

They are not, necessarily, cheaper in their upkeep as a dog or cat would be. Size doesn't (and can't) matter. If a person bases their core values, and the expense they are willing to incur, on the size of the animal... then they should strongly consider getting a dog or a cat.

Rodents are only for the dedicated. My opinion for what it's worth. :cheeky:
 
There's a thing like this on the ASPCA's website but it doesn't include vet bills (I e-mailed them about it and they never got back to me): http://www.aspca.org/adoption/pet-care-costs.html

There's another thing on their site too: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/small-pet ... -care.html

I'm sorry to say it but rats cost way more than anyone could imagine. There is very little difference in the way of cost for small pets and large ones. It depends on what you have time for and how you manage that time.
 
The ASPCA's estimate is WAY off. $35 for a decent cage? I wish! It's a shame they haven't added veterinary costs.. I think it misleads people into thinking rodents aren't important enough to take to a vet. Jennifer medical bills are an example of how intense they can get - I'd hate to see Shelagh's vet bills!
 
The last couple of years I've averaged nearly $4000/year (USD) in vet bills, but now that most of the bad genetics have passed out of my group I'm hoping that will go down a bit. Maybe.

Pink
 
The geographical difference in the price of a cage just doesn't matter in the cost of a kid over a lifetime when you start dividing the differnce by the amout of kids who will use that cage.
What difference does $40 or even $80 difference make once you've used it for 12 kids?
I may be harping on one subject but to me once you have the cage the rest of the cost is negligable - except the vet costs! Which range majorly for any one procedure from vet to vet. So how can you even do a general ballpark list?
Start with spay/neuter, add an impossible guestimate at what injuries might cost thruout their life (impossible as some behave themselves and others leap tall buildings and/or get into fights or harmful things), add all kinds of unexpected physiological stuff that might or might not happen to a particular kid, then there's the pretty much inevitable respiratory antibiotics when they are old.
Even if you could average that it could double or halve depending on your vet's costs.
Impossible to say what 1 rat will cost you. The only certainty is that they pay you back. :heart:
 
You could come up with start up list and a range of estimates for that for two rats (since no one should ever have a lone rat), adding yearly estimates for replacement items, perishables, vet visits and meds. to the bottom ....

$45 a year :doh:
That will not even pay for one rat to have one vet visit in most places ... much less any meds.

When I got rats, I though I would be paying all the big expenses up front, like several hundred for a cage and the cost of getting everyone spayed and neutered. I didn't realise that those expenses would just be a drop in the bucket ...
 
Rats are the most expensive pet I have ever had. I would say across it's lifespan (excluding the initial expense of the cage) that it would cost me between $600 to $1200 per rat. My vet bills have gone down since spaying my females, but the cost of antibiotics seems never ending, especially when they get older.
 
SQ said:
$45 a year :doh:
That will not even pay for one rat to have one vet visit in most places ... much less any meds.
Click to expand...

45 a year for vet visits is ridiculously low even for one rat. Although the vet here in town is pretty good for prices. I got two boys in at once for 56 dollars which is the cost of a vet visit for one animal.
Some vets will give good discounts to people who bring in several animals at once.
 
Leala said:
SQ said:
$45 a year :doh:
That will not even pay for one rat to have one vet visit in most places ... much less any meds.
Click to expand...

45 a year for vet visits is ridiculously low even for one rat. Although the vet here in town is pretty good for prices. I got two boys in at once for 56 dollars which is the cost of a vet visit for one animal.
Some vets will give good discounts to people who bring in several animals at once.
Click to expand...

Ya, around here, a visit for a rat is usually about 80$ but luckily i found that does it for 40$
 
Well, I've been very lucky so far. No vet bills whatsoever, but all my babes are still under 1 year.

So, my R690 was $60.00 (used from sausage4ever).
I will be upgrading to a very large SuperPet I got off Kijiji for $40.00 once I move.
I'll probably spend about $30.00 in accessories like levels and ladders to fix it up.

So that's $130.00 in cage costs so far.

I buy one bag of Extrusion and one bag of Yesterdays News per month.
That's $20.00/month...$240.00/yr.

This month I also bought this funky grass toy for $12.00. I usually pick up a cool toy like that every 3 months or so. So that's $36.00/yr.

I get my cage floor liners from Value Village...$.99 per baby flannelette blanket. I usually by 3 or 4 at a time, every 3 or 4 months...so that's about $12.00/yr.

Hammocks are my other biggest expendature...I've spent about $50.00 so far on hammocks...but that will go down since my landlady has offered to start sewing them for me.

Fruits and veggies I don't count since I eat them also...but I do buy some baby cereal every 2 months. That's $25.00/year.

I think that's all. So altogether that's $493.00 for the first year (including cage stuff and hammocks), and it will be about $313.00/year for the following years.

And I'm pretty frugal. Actually a lot of my toys I get free from the office. Toner cartlidges for our printer come in these awesome rectangluar tube things. They also get printer paper box lids filled with shredded paper...my boss jokes that her confidential papers are very well protected since they are 1st shredded...then pooped and peed on. Empty tissue boxes, envelope boxes...pretty much all boxes come home with me. They get all my old towels I no longer use. My water bottles I found free on Freecycle.org

It's very easy to overspend on them though. When I was at PetValue today I saw one of those ElephantPlay toys they market for ferrets. It was $25.00 and I was sorely tempted. But really....how different is that some towels and laundry tubes? Sometimes i think it's more for us than for the rats.

Mostly they need good food, and comfy place to sleep, lots of time to exercise and run...and most of all love..and the love part is free :D
 

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