New-ish rat owner...

[gneasachamasoin]

Well, actually, I've had rats before in high school, but they were all males. Now, I have a female hooded rex rat, and she's absolutely adorable. I was wondering, first of all, if there's any major differences I should know about having a female rat. I have noticed that she seems to have a lot more personality, but then again it could be because she's so young...My other rats were all acquired after they were full-grown.

A little background: My boyfriend just happened to mention that he wanted a rat, so what did I do? I showed up at his house with one. She's about 7 or 8 weeks old, and her name is Munchie. Now, what he's wanting to do is convert an entertainment center (It's about 4 feet wide by about 4 1/2 feet tall) into a cage for her. It's one of the one's that's the wood-grain-looking stuff over particle board...Is this a good idea as long as there's no way for her to really chew on stuff in there??

I know I seem quite full of questions, but it's been years since I've had rats, and I want to make sure she stays quite happy and healthy. Well, happy won't be a problem...Last time I was over there he had her sitting on his chest while he was watching TV and they were sharing pizza...

[Vanilla_Rat]

First off,go and get her a friend.Female of course!

Rats are VERY social and need cagemates!No matter how much love and attention you give the ratty,nothing compares to having a rat companion for the times us humans cannot be with our rats.They need ratty friends for mutual grromings,wrestling and play...etc.So go out and get Munchie (cute name BTW) a friend.

Female rats are alot more active and playful then males (I have 7 males) and they are not as cuddly or lazy as males.They do have their moments of cuddles,but for the most part they are active little explorers that just wanna play!

[mulder]

i have heard that females tend to be more outgoing than males, whom prefer to chill out somewhere.on the cage building aspect, i have built my own, and you can totally use your ET center, just go to home depot and get a roll of garden caging for ten bucks, and staplegun it on. !! if you ask i can send you pics of my cages

and welcome!

[rodentz]

the first thing she will need is a friend. and the entertainment center could work great for a cage. If you get some sticky back lonoleum(sp) and stick it on the bottom so the pee wont soak into the wood and smell, then all you have to do is wipe it down everyday

[pinkie1205]

It might work a little better if you get linoleom that isn't sticky on the back. I've heard of people having problems with it getting gummy and nasty. You might be better off getting linoleom with no backing and ziptieing or velcroing it down.

[gneasachamasoin]

Wow, thanks so much for the ideas! I'll be sure and pass them on to my bf as he'll be the one building the cage.

(Unless I get bored when he's at work one night...He works graveyards, which is one reason I got him a rat...I know mine tended to be a bit nocturnal.)

Oh, and Mulder, I'd like to see your cages, maybe I can get some ideas!!

I do know the EC is HUGE and multi-leveled, so we'll be putting in little ladders and such for her to get from floor to floor of her little ratty condo. This thing is going to be pretty cool-looking I think...lol. I'm just not quite sure what we're going to do about the litter or where to put it...Maybe we could build trays that'll fit in each level and cover them in the linoleum?? Or put a protective coating on the whole thing where we could drag it on the porch and hose it down? **** this is more confusing than I thought it would be...lol. At this rate, we might just buy one...hehe.

[rodentz]

Martin's Cages Inc. - The source for all your pet cage needs.

[mulder]

i'll give you the link to all my pictures and you can paroose as you wish!!! thers a few different cages in there

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/test2003.jpg

natmulder/Cage - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[Perfect]

First off...FRIEND FRIEND FRIEND! Or else your rat will be very lonely. Now that we got that out of the way.

Females are more outgoing then males. They are not as cuddly and as much of couch potatoes as the boys (funny how that happens in real life too eh? lol just kidding)

The cage sounds like a great idea! If you do end up doing it make sure to post pics Good luck!

[gneasachamasoin]

Well, in case you didn't catch my "Munchie" thread, we decided not to do the cage thing. We're just going to build her a bigger one from scratch, probably. Quickly, since she's trying to gnaw her way out of the current one...lol.

Oh, and awesome setup, Mulder!! I can't wait to show those to my bf, I'm sure he'll get tons of ideas from them!

[gneasachamasoin]

Update...I found Munchie a huge aquarium with a screened top for only $5!! Garage sales ROCK! And since she stays in the music room, my bf took a cardboard box a microphone came in and cut a hole in the side for her to have a house, so she's also properly decorated and such. We're dorks, I know.


We also got her one of those big bubbles to run around in, and she was <i>stoked</i> about that. We were sitting in the living room and occasionally hearing -<thump>-pause-<thump!>- where she was running into everything. Don't think she's figured out the brakes yet...hehe.

[candyraver]

I'll be housing my mice in a 25gal aquarium with a screen lid.
I have my girl rats in a Martin's Rat Tower cage& my 4 boys are going in the Ruud cage after they get neutered.

Mulder is amazing @ making things

[mulder]

lol aww thanks guys *blushes*