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13K views 87 replies 14 participants last post by  Nibbler 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi I am new to this site, I am a 14 year old girl that LOVES animals. Well right now I own 1 horse(for sale), 2 cats(1 indoor, 1 outdoor) and 2 parakeets. I am interested in owning a pet rat. I have owned hamsters before and even 1 guinea pig before. I am trying to find one but can't seem to find one that is free or cheap that comes with a cage and is free or cheap on shipping and one that can ship. Maybe you all can help me? I like in the US.(but I would like 2 rats because I dont want one to get lonly and I havnt found anyone with owning just one soo...)
 
#2 ·
Two rats are definitely a much better idea. They will be much healthier and happier. Cheap rats are easy to find, even pedigree breeders like myself charge 15 or under per rat. Cheap cages are a bit more complicated, but you can usually find some on craigslist or ebay or freecycle or newspapers etc. One inexpensive way to go is a ten gallon tank with a tank topper.

The shipping is a problem. Unfortunately that's not up to the person shipping it to you. The carriers charge ridiculous prices for the shipping of mammals, so anyone shipping legally has to pay that. Most people who quote you a shipping price are quoting you exactly what it costs them to ship the animal.

Your best bet will probably be to ask petstores, vets, pet supply places etc. in your area if they know of local breeders. You could also find someone who's just a few hours away from you and beg a friend or family member to drive you. Many breeders will drive a reasonable distance to meet a pet owner, including myself. Where do you live by the way?
 
#3 ·
Mississippi, and I begged my dad to drive me 2 hours for a horse, I am pretty sure there are no local rat breeders that are under 2 hours away. The local SPCA doesnt have rats, they only have dogs and cats. I looked on petfinder but normally they only have ones that don't ship. I found this one site that charges $50 to ship but I couldn't find where her price was and right now work is slow and I am not making any money yet(until I start working at my barn then I will make $50 a day. but I will only work on Sundays) My dad has a cage for me but its a hamster cage like this one:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754670
and sence it says "hamster home" I am SURE 2 rats cant live in that. I have a fish tank but I was affraid it might be too small for 2 rats?
 
#4 ·
Okay, what I am going to do is use my fish tank I got for my 12th birthday and buy a fish tank topper. Now...what BEDDING do I use? what do I feed them? is there some kind of "Rat Bedding" and is there some kind of "rat food" or what? And now I am looking for 2 rats and shipping avaliabe or the place be near me.
 
#86 ·
for beddings u can use
aspen
yesturdays news
carefresh
and a few others dont use pine or cedar as it is toxic. lab block and veggies are good food wise for rats but there is diffrent types u can use for them
 
#6 ·
I have a petsmart but I think there rats are like no less then $50 yea there alot.
 
#7 ·
ok...well i was thinking if you were closer...i would let you adopt 2 of the babies my Minnie unexpectedly had,but you're a bit far from Fort Wayne.But for food you should be able to find rat/mouse mixes of food and you can add other foods to it that ratties like.I use Carefresh for my bedding..it's a little dusty,but better than some beddings.Just never use pine...that's bad for ratties.
 
#9 ·
you're welcome...good luck finding some ratties.
 
#10 ·
thanks, I need the luck lol. I don't know if I want 2 boys or 2 girls?? The girl hamsters I always had didn't bite but the first male I got bit me all the time. What do you all suggest?
 
#11 ·
Rats almost never bite at all, so that shouldn't be an issue with males or females. Male rats tend to be lazier and are more likely to calmly sit with you and just enjoy your company. Females are more active and are usually on the go and more playful. So it's just personal preference. I have males, I like to just sit with them and watch tv or read a book.
 
#12 ·
As mtmaughan said male rats are more calm and laid back...females are more outgoing and like to explore...I have girls and I love them although sometimes I do wish they'd just calm down sometimes.Even my 2 year old is quite an active rattie.It just depends on if you want to sit and watch tv with your rat or let your rat explore your room and play with you a lot.
 
#13 ·
I want to just sit with mine when I get 2 also. So I guess I will look for males =] thanks mtmaughan
 
#14 ·
maybe try looking for a reptile store. They often sell live feeder rats for fairly cheap. I can't see anyone charging more than $15 for a single rat, anywhere. Feeders generally go for about $5, and can still make great pets. My SIL has 5 girls from the feeder bin who are the sweetest things, and very smart. Just a thought.
 
#15 ·
I am trying to talk my sister to bring me to petsmart and check there prices(its an hour away lol)
 
#16 ·
unless you are ready to bring them home, it might be better to simply call the store for the prices, see if they have any currently in stock, etc. It could save a potentially useless two hour car ride. Just a thought.
 
#18 ·
Thanks =] This is harder then I thought. Do alot of poeple say "oh its just a rat, it will be EASY to find one" and then its harder then they think?
 
#19 ·
Are there any Petcos around you? They usually have both gender "feeder" rats. Most of my rats have come from feeder bins from Petco or a bird/reptile store near me. They're always really sweet rats. The only thing you risk is possible health problems when buying from a feeder bin. Make sure to get fat, active rats with clear eyes and noses. Sneezing is a sign of illness, and so is being underweight, hunched over, slanted eyes, breathing through their mouth, "bloody" noses (rat snot is red)... but if they're nice and plump, curious, happy, playful then they're usually good health.

What someone else said was to try and find a reptile store. That's actually a really good idea. Look through Yellowpages.com or a phone book, and call around asking local reptile stores if they have live feeder rats. Sometimes pet stores inside of malls carry feeder/pet rats too. If it's a pet store call 'em up and ask if they have live rats.
 
#20 · (Edited)
#21 ·
That hay is meant to be a food for rabbits, and I think guinea pigs. I don't really know much about it otherwise. For bedding there are many options, including Carefresh, Yesterday's News, Aspen, and Kaytee Softsorbent. You can look them up to find out more about them. NEVER use cedar or pine!!

For food, I advocate a good lab block as the base of the diet. The link you gave is for a seed mix. With a mix they can pick out the things that they like best and may not get all the nutrition they need. Mazuri makes a good lab block:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754059

You can feed many other things in addition to the lab blocks, but as I said, it should be the base of the diet as it provides the necessary nutrition.

It's great that you are asking for information before you get rats, but I encourage you to try to learn a bit more before you actually get them. You are well on your way!
 
#22 ·
oh thanks I will be getting the Carefresh bedding I posted and the food you posted. Thanks. And I saw that =] thats why I took the link down. lol thanks I really wanted yall to know yall have been really helpful and I hope everything works out with this. I just lost my dog that I have had sence he was 6 weeks old and he was 1 year and a couple months old when he died(even got hit by a car and we paid $500 to help him live and he still lived but something tragic happened to him about 2-3 weeks ago.) And I saw rats are very much like dogs but small, and very clean and friendly and need attention and right now I need something like that. I have a cat but she is VERY independent and doesnt like attention unles you go to her. So wish me luck, my sister said she might bring me to petsmart Thursday after my horseback riding lesson.
 
#23 ·
I agree with what mtmaughan said.

Carefresh is a good bedding. It's nice and soft and won't poke the little ratties like hay would. I've seen some people using hay as bedding for rats, but I couldn't even begin to imagine how uncomfortable that would be. It'd be like walking on dead grass, ouch!
If you're low on money a good alternative bedding would be Aspen. It's dustier than carefresh, but it's cheaper. Never use Pine or Cedar, as these contain oils that will cause respiratory problems in most small animals.

As for food, Mazuri is a good staple diet. I, personally, like to give my rats a lab block [some good examples are; Mazuri, Harlan Teklad, sometimes you can mix Lite Senior dog foods like Innova, Wellness, etc for variety] and a seed diet as a treat. My rats like SunSeed... wow Petsmart.com has a limited selection. Anyways, since it's just a treat go ahead and look through hamster foods too. Find a food with lots of Safflower seeds [white seeds], fewer Sunflower seeds, less corn is better and no alfalfa. The reason I say fewer sunflower seeds is because Sunflower seeds are high in fat. Alfalfa and corn is indigestible to rats.

Oh! And a good treat once in a while is bird Millet Spray. I know that sounds weird, but once every few months I'll throw a millet spray in my rat cages. They love to shred them apart. It's more of a toy than a treat, but sometimes they'll eat the seeds.

Feel free to ask any more questions.
Here's a couple of websites you can browse for rattie help:
http://wererat.net/rathelp/
http://www.petratscanada.com/ratcare.htm
http://ratfanclub.org/helpinfo.html
 
#24 ·
thankyou Moo, actually I am low on money hehe but I want the best for my ratties. So depends, I might buy the Aspen but is it ok for them? I don't want them uncomfortable or hurt or anything else. And as far as the millet goes, yea I have parakeets/budgies so we ALWAYS have millet spray so I will give my ratties a milley spray once every few months. Okay as far as 'home made' toys...um klenex boxes? toilet paper rolls? paper towel rolls? what is OK for your rat to play with?
 
#25 ·
What do you all think about the names:

Male Names:
Tolo & Sushi

Female Names:
Lexi & Bella

because I am for sure getting 2 rats. Don't want one getting lonly =]
 
#26 ·
I'd never recommend something that would be bad for little ratties =P. Aspen should be fine. I buy my ratties whatever I can afford. So like, lets say one week you have enough to buy Carefresh, do it. But if you don't have enough money for Carefresh every time then Aspen is fine.

Your home made toys sound great! Also, I give my rats plastic-free toys that my bird either doesn't like or is done with. So all those leftover stringy, nesting, wooden toys your budgies are done with go ahead and let your rats play with them for a while before throwing them out. Just make sure they don't have any plastic, rubber, or anything the rats might ingest that could be bad.

Also you can buy these rodent toys called "Kabobs" You remove the bell on the bottom and add chew blocks, fruit, veggies, toilet paper rolls, etc. Just check out the wood chews with holes in them at the pet store and pick your favorite.

Also, if you can't go to Petsmart all the time you can check out http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/ - It's a good site that I order a lot of my pet stuff from. They sometimes have better deals than Petsmart does.

OH! YOGIES! How could I forget the most important part of rat-keeping?! Petco is the only place I know of that sells Yogies. They are the absolute best bonding treat you could ever buy. My rat Miki gets mad at me if I run out of "her" yogies lol. You'll probably have to order these online, but I seriously recommend it. None of the rip-off yogurt treats are any good -- my rats will only eat Yogies.
 
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