Pet Help

[deadvirgin]

I'm considering buying a rat.

Anyone own a rat or two and have any tips? I've been reading the WikiHow page and taking notes, but some extra help would be nice.

Comments

[deadvirgin]

More would be awesome! Would you e-mail more info to me? :D Thanks tons and tons.

[foogod]

FYI, I'm generally pretty wary of WikiHow, as most of the articles I've come across there are either completely useless or have so much bad information they're often worse than useless. That one on keeping rats doesn't look too bad, and from what I know of them most of the information there seems fairly reasonable, but definitely double-check anything with other sources before believing what you read on that site.

My sister (luna_torquill) used to keep rats.. I can see if she's got any advice for you..

One thing I did see on the WikiHow page that I definitely know is true and you should be aware of: Rats tend to have a lot of health issues (even the healthiest ones), and you will end up spending a fair amount of money on vet bills over the life of your rat(s), so you should be prepared for that..

[deadvirgin]

Please do check in with your sis -- any and all info would be helpful.

Yeah, that was the one thing that made me go "Can I /afford/ to keep a rat?" If your sister has any insights/warnings on that, I would be eternally grateful.

[leg028]

I've owned a few sets. Rats are really good pets- they get to know you, and they're smart, and they live 2-3 years.

If possible, get one that's either REALLY young, or raised by people, not a pet store. They're better if they get human interaction right away. Mine all came from my elementary school's rat genetics project they have every year. I'm pretty sure this year is done through, so if you wanted some free and very socialized ones from there you'd have to wait about 7 months.

I always made my rats houses out of tissue boxes and concentrated OJ cans and milk cartons, with lots of places to explore and holes to go through. I also would take a blanket and scrunch it up and let them crawl through it.

[leg028]

Another thing I forgot- they're social animals, so having two is a good idea. Just get two of the same sex, or castrate one. Cause they can make a lot of babies really fast.