Another ? for pet rat owners . . .

[jelbe5]

We have been talking about getting a pet rat. My older dd loves the idea of having her pet sit on her shoulder. My ? is, can you potty train a rat or do you take your chances when the rat sits on you. Also how much overall mess do the make? Thank you.

[wendybird]

It is a risk. :lol: Ours usually go when we open the cage, so we wait a minute before picking them up. There have only been a couple accidents and they were really no biggie.

I am not sure which mess you are referring to. When they are in their cage ours tend to toss their bedding around while nesting. I sweep under the cages twice a day.It is dry mess and does not smell. I clean the cages twice a week. Again, no smell. We used to use a different bedding and they did smell then, but the recycled cardboard pellets are wonderful.

When our rats are on us they climb. I have long hair and our older female especially will not go on my shoulder without climbing to the top of my head. I do not let them sit on my shoulders anymore lol, but hold them in my lap. It is disconcerting to have a rodent on my head!:D

[justamouse]

I used to carry mine around in HS with me. I just dealt with it. But for short periods on shoulders, it shouldn't be a problem.

[5LittleMonkeys]

When our rats were babies they would tinkle or poo once in a great while but it really wasn't a large quantity. (a tiny bit of wet or one little poo) Now that they are older they don't "go" outside of their cage. I always make sure they are fed treats inside their cage though because they do tend to relieve themselves shortly after eating.

[guateangel]

If you had my rats (2) then yes, you will get pooped and tinkled on!

 

 

Be prepared to vaccum/sweep a couple of times a day.

Be prepared for potty, poop, hair (they shed) and bedding to end up on and around the area where the cage sits (unless you have an aquarium, we didn't.) For us that included dd's dresser, floor and wall....disgusting to say the least.

Be prepared to bathe it often (they stink if you don't!) The tail gets nasty (poop/potty). I would take a soft, wet tooth brush to the tail in order to get it clean. Ick!

My dh would take a pressure washer to the cage 1x month.

Change bedding 1-2 x's a week. We spent, on average, $30 a month just on bedding (the good stuff.)

 

I always made dd wear a long sleeve, old top when she handled them becuase she'd get pooped/tinkled on every time and scratched. Washing hands was a must after handling too.

 

VERY sweet lil things (we had our since they were babies), we loved ours very much BUT it's a lot of work trying to keep everything clean and smell-free.

 

I have a dear friend who has 2 rats and they love them. When I walk in their house, I smell the rats immediately. They switch bedding maybe every 2 wks, never bathe them and rarely scrub the cage. To each their own. :)

 

I guess you can say I'm more of a dog/cat person. :D

Edited February 27, 2011 by guateangel

[tammyw]

Michelle, you make me want to wait until we can get a dog :)

[guateangel]

Michelle, you make me want to wait until we can get a dog :)

 

 

Sorry, just being real. I read on your other thread that males can be stinky and that's what we had, so maybe stick to females? Not sure. All I know is it was a lot of work keeping the area clean and not stinkn'.

 

Get a dog. :lol:

[tammyw]

I don't like any smell! And hey, I'm glad you're being real.

[snipsnsnailsx5]

I have actually heard about potty training rats. I've read about people who will just put a couple boxes of the paper litter in their cage and then train them to go in those, and in those only. So that the rest of their cage stays fairly clean and they don't have to wash bedding or change the tray of the cage so often.

Also, they shouldn't go to the bathroom when out of the cage. My boys have had our rats out of the cage for long periods of time and they may poop a few times (they poop very easily lol, especially when squeezed!) but they haven't been peed on.

[Mergath]

I've had several rats over the years. One was great, and never messed on me. One had stomach issues and made huge messes everywhere. Two would occasionally dribble on my shoulder a bit- just a drop or two- and the poos were only in the "bathroom" corner of the cage.

 

In general, rats are very neat creatures, and most of them don't leave more than a drip or two on you, maybe the occasional easily removed poo. I guess it depends on how germ-phobic you are.

 

Really, my biggest issue with my rats was always the chewing, not the messes. Rats love to chew. I still have many, many books that have been nibbled on the spine. You have to watch them constantly when they're on the floor running.

[tuckabella]

If you have a choice, get a Long-Evans rat. They are white with black splotches in their rib area and a black head and black strip that runs down their back. They are much more sweet and docile than other rats.

Here is a link to see what I am trying to describe.

[sandellie4]

We love our two ratties, but it IS a lot of work to keep everything clean, and they get sick frequently, requiring vet visits and medication (baytril). We use the expensive bedding because the cheap bedding is bad for them and can make them sick. We clean their cage twice a week and it's intense because we are so thorough to help keep down the smell. They also don't live very long as a general rule. The longest for us was three years for one of our male ratties. We love rats, we really do, but it's important to know how much work, and expense, is involved. Our kids help, of course, but a lot of it does fall on us if we want to keep the ratties healthy and the smell down.

 

Our ratties attend home school -- often perched on top of someone's head! -- and while there are occasional accidents, they don't tend to be bad accidents. We try not to take them out immediately after they eat, though.

 

They are very sweet and friendly when handled sufficiently. We give ours a treat plate of fresh veggies and blueberries nightly. When someone comes into the room, they will hop onto the cage bars and hold on with their wee hands, looking for attention. Definitely get more than one rattie; single ratties can get lonely. We find the males generally more friendly (just personal preference, really), and for some reason, our females tend to get tumors, which makes us sad, so we usually get males. If you get two males when they're young, you have a good chance they will get along.

 

We have dogs, too...not sure, really, whether ratties or dogs are more work! Just different work, I suppose.

 

Sandy

Edited February 27, 2011 by sandellie4

[snipsnsnailsx5]

ITA about the sickness part...something I didn't realize when we got our rats last year.

 

Now one of our rats has a big nasty cancerous growth on the side of his face. :( We had our vet friend look at it, but apparently a lot of vets are not that familiar with rat health care. You have to really shop around to find a good vet who's well versed in rat health.

 

So now we're just enjoying our rat with the little time he has left and as long as he's feeling comfortable and eating/playing normally, then after that we'll have to put him to sleep. :(

 

I didn't realize that cancer can be common in rats, along with other illnesses.

 

Once we put pine bedding in the cage because DH got it on accident, and I thought it would be okay to use just short term until he got the paper bedding. Nope!

The very next day one of our rats started bleeding from his eyes or nose or both (I forget now!). I thought one of the kids had stepped on him or something. He was hardly moving and looked like he was dying.

Then thankfully I got the bright idea to try changing his bedding first. Right away it worked. The next day he was eating and drinking and no longer bleeding. Two days later he was back to normal. It was a respiratory infection thing from the pine bedding!

Yikes!

SO no pine bedding!