Any Rat Owners? We need advice

[Tammi K]

My daughter has a baby ball python who eats live baby rats (Ugh! I know. I hate the thought but the snake has to eat. She is going to transition to frozen in the very near future.)

 

Anyway, my daughter bought a fuzzy rat (about 2-3 weeks old we're guessing) to feed the snake. Unfortunately, the snake was beginning its shed and they don't eat while shedding. So, she had two choices. Either let the baby rat die or try to hand feed it.

 

DD did a lot of research on line and learned that soy formula was a good substitute.  She's been hand feeding the little fuzzball of a week now and she is getting big and really feisty. Her eyes aren't even open yet but she runs up and down our sleeves, crawls around our necks, basically crawls wherever she can.  She's looking strong and healthy considering she was feeding stock.

 

In the past week we've all fallen in love with the little thing and of course, she is no longer considered snake food. Now that we have a new little pet, we are looking to do what is best from her.  Most things I read seem to indicate that she will not do well as a single rat and that she should have a companion.  Will that make her less tolerant toward humans?  Does she NEED a buddy?  How hard will it be to introduce her to a buddy at such a young age. We think she's about 16-19 days now.  It's hard to tell exactly because we don't know what type of rat she is and the pictures of rats at different ages seem to vary a bit by breed.   ((She's all white, whiskers are fairly long, ears are starting to lift off her head, eyes are still closed although it looks like they might be opening just a tad, interested picking up single oats but not really sure how to eat them - perhaps that might help someone figure out an age.))

 

The only way we could get another little one is to buy another feeder rat from the pet store and raise it. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

Edited September 4, 2016 by Tammi K

[Guest]

She does need a buddy to be happiest, and it need not be the same age. Another juvenile female that is slightly older will likely be fine, but rats are their absolute best as pets with a friend. That's not an exaggeration, they are social animals are behave increasingly poorly with isolation, even with lots of human interaction. You will find your rat to be more personable, calm, and not displaying odd stress behaviors like over grooming/barbering and running away from a hand with a friend in there.

 

They will still both need plenty of effort put into socialization and daily contact, along with adequate conditions (large enough cage, clean fabric or news pulp/paper bedding) and diet, but a buddy rat really makes ALL the difference. I've kept a single rat back in the day and then a group, the group was by far healthier and happier.

 

You may do better introducing another rat in when she is closer to a month old, just in case there may be some aggression, but that's fairly rare.

 

And it may have been a typo but don't get a mouse to add in there - move and rate mix in a catastrophic manner. A female from the pet store who is a little older should be just fine.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Arctic Mama

[Guest]

Here is a resource on introduction - they are recommending the baby be 5-6 weeks old before being introduced to a companion.

http://www.rmca.org/Resources/aintro.txt

[MercyA]

Just wanted to say good for you guys for saving the baby.  :thumbup1: The site to which Arctic Mama linked is a good one: www.rmca.org.

[happi duck]

Years ago we had two rats...so sweet!

 

.

Edited September 5, 2016 by happi duck

[Mom-ninja.]

what I lucky rat

[maize]

We had rats when I was a kid, they were super friendly, fun pets.

[Kassia]

We have two male rats who are getting pretty old.  They are such good boys!  We did get ours from a breeder.  

[Dmmetler]

Lucky rat! FWIW, almost every snake person I know who feeds live ends up with pet rats for exactly that reason-the snake won't eat it, so the rat is removed, and they end up getting attached to the rat. Honestly, rats have more personality and are smarter than the snakes are.

 

If you need tips on getting a fussy BP to go to frozen thawed, I can pass on a few-DD interns with a BP breeder who doesn't sell snakes that aren't on F/T and feeding reliably, so DD spends a lot of time coaxing little snakes to eat.

Edited September 5, 2016 by dmmetler

[Bluegoat]

Unless you can spend a lot of time with the rat, I would get a buddy.  But I would wait until the eyes are open at least, and maybe a bit longer.  You will likely find she's still really friendly.  Males are sometimes more cuddly than females, so you could add a male if that is what you are looking for, though you would need to take precautions right away to avoid breeding.