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Rat Information Please2007-11-24 22:14:25

Rats love to gnaw, which also helps keep their teeth in shape, & you can get chew-toys from the pet store, or use hard dog biscuits. I keep hearing that many rats enjoy uncooked pasta but none of ours has (they want it cooked with sauce, thank you). Yours might enjoy it, though.

Toys can include anything your rat can chew on, climb on, climb in or carry around. We give ours cat toys (the little balls with a bell inside), chew toys & bird toys if they're very well-made. Our hooded girl's favorite toy is actually the plastic cap from a can of cooking spray. As noted, the enjoy hammocks & cardboard boxes. Like with cats or small children, just give your rat a few toys @ a time & put the rest away, but change them out frequently to keep things interesting.

We use Softsorbent for our rats, mice & guinea pig. It seems to be the best size to work for everybody. Carefresh is good, too. No pine or cedar, but aspen is ok.

Routine maintanence like food, bedding & the occasional treat or toy doesn't cost much. Keep in mind though, that vet visits can be expensive & you'll probably have to take you rat to the vet on occasion. They don't need vaccinations or anyting, but there is always the possibility of an infection, accident or illness.

Please consider adopting 2 girls instead of just 1, as they are social animals & will be much happier if they don't live by themselves. They won't be any less friendly toward you & will be happy to include you in their playtime.

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1. Your rat, regardless of dumbo, fancy, or "feeder" will get to be the same size as any other rat. Nearly all domestic rats are the same species. The physical differences you see are due to breeding. Dumbo ears are a recessive gene. My largest girl is about 6'' not counting the tail.