New Rat Owner

[Kojakx]

Hello , 2 days ago finally ( after 7 years of convincing) was allowed to get one an early 22nd birthday present , and my sister ( who turned 16 2 days ago ) wanted one also so we went and purchased 2 young male rats from our local PetsMart. The only knowledge of rats that i know is what i've read online , so far they are amazing little creatures . My rat (Twitch) is a silver hooded rat with a huge spot on his back and darker flecks of grey in his fur . My sisters rat (Mustard) is beige hooded. They where both in the same cage at the petstore and now live together here with us. Currently we have shredded paper on the bottom of their cage ( just normal computer blank white) till next week when we can get Carefresh (cause the store ran out for some reason). I found this forum through Google and was hoping maybe someone here with more rat experience would be able to help me with a couple things (question and knowledge wise).

Questions :

1. What is the best diet for them at the moment ?
2. Twitch has been sneezing and twitching a bit is this normal for a new rat when they come to a new home?
3. Mustard got his finger stuck inbetween the bars and was screaming till I freed him . we are planning on the bars in the morning , does this happen sometimes or am I the only one with the bad luck?
4. I maybe moving within the next 6months , when I do I will be taking Twitch with me , Will Mustard ( and twitch with me) be ok with a new friend ? Or should we leave them be alone in their cages ? ( currently Twitch pretty much stays with me when I see he's awake ( 4-6 hrs a day) where he hangs out on my shoulders while i'm online or playing video games .

Thank you in Advance ,

P.S - Sorry this post was so long .

[LittleLadyBug]

Please bare with me as im not a rat expert, I'm just going to answer to the questions in the best way I know how.

1. What is the best diet for them at the moment ?--- I have my rats on a regular rat feed, I also give them parsley and spinach on a daily bases.-- very small amount of carrot a couple times a week.

2. Twitch has been sneezing and twitching a bit is this normal for a new rat when they come to a new home?-- You really have to be careful with Petsmart pets, they are usually sick however I would suggest keeping an eye out for about another week...he may just be getting use to the new environment. If it persist to get worse, please seek a vet's help.

3. Mustard got his finger stuck inbetween the bars and was screaming till I freed him . we are planning on the bars in the morning , does this happen sometimes or am I the only one with the bad luck? I personally never had this happen before.

4. I maybe moving within the next 6months , when I do I will be taking Twitch with me , Will Mustard ( and twitch with me) be ok with a new friend ? Or should we leave them be alone in their cages ? ( currently Twitch pretty much stays with me when I see he's awake ( 4-6 hrs a day) where he hangs out on my shoulders while i'm online or playing video games .
I would suggest not separating them. Rats can go into depression and pass away from this. Some people would say you can replace the mate but my personal opinion is not to. I would like to point out how some males become more aggressive the older they get, which causes them to fight with their male friend...this is possible since they are still young.

[breyer08]

As far as diet is concerned, if you do a search of the forum you can find a lot of threads with "recipes" or models to follow. General rule of thumb is to always provide a high quality lab block made specifically for rats. (Harlan Teklad is very good, and you can order it online. You should start with 2018 until age 8 months, then switch to 2014.) This should be supplemented daily by fresh veggies and occasional fruits. Here is a great list of safe fruits and veggies for rats. I decided to make my own dry mix for my boys, which was always available for them in their food bowl. You can look up SueBee's diet for rats--that is basically what I did, except I eliminated the dog food, since they were already getting the lab blocks.

Sneezing is normal when rats are in a new environment. However, if the sneezing lasts more than a few days, or if it gets progressively worse (accompanied by red mucus around the nose/eyes, known as "porphyrin"), then you should keep a close eye on them. Get in the habit of listening to their lungs daily so that you know what they normally sound like. Rats are highly prone to respiratory infections, so it is important for you to be able to quickly identify problems when they arise.

What kind of a cage are you using right now, and how is it that he was able to catch his finger between the bars?

Also, you should definitely not separate the rats. They are incredibly social animals, and since they are already living together it would be cruel to split them apart. Rats who live alone for extended periods of time can easily become depressed and begin to have other emotional and even physical issues related to the depression.

[fluffy470]

I myself have three young male rats at the moment and I feed them, Harland teklad lab blocks ( they can be hard to find though, i purchase them from a rescue near me) I also give them fruits and veggies ( since you have boys it's very important you never give them citrus although I wouldn't give citrus to girls either) I also give my boys a dry mix which is basically a box of plain old Cheerios, rice krispies, unsalted unroasted sunflower seeds. (I get mine at trader joes) and total cereal (if you don't give them total cereal I suggest you ask an experienced rattie vet about giving them vitamin supplements) Never give them the "rat blend" of food you can buy in pet stores , it's very high in fat and is overall not a very well balanced diet for your rats, You can find loads of other recipes online for your drymix this is just my favorite.
As far as twitch sneezing, that is very normal for new rats when they come home, as they are getting used to the new smells of their new environment. My boy Remmy was actually rather lethargic for the first week but once he got used to his surroundings he became much more active
It appears you have just as bad of luck with your cage bars as I do, six has had his finger caught in the door and Jojo has got his tail caught in the bars.
If twitch does not hang out with mustard much or have a bond with him they should be fine, but I suggest you get them both a friend while they are young, I don't however have much experience with re introducing rats to others as my 3 have been together al ost their entire life ( Jojo is five weeks younger than six and Remmy but he get along with them just fine
I hope you enjoy your rats! If you have any other questions you can feel free to pm me