# Rats, anyone?



## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

So, I am pretty new to rat ownership. I have owned mice/guinea pigs before. I did some re-search on rats and decided to go pick out two boys at the pet shop. Herenzo and Di' Adlo. Sadly a few days after Di' Adlo passed away, I am not sure from what exactly. Maybe they fought, maybe he hurt himself (his leg was broken) or maybe he was sick. I knew I needed to get another rat since rats are social animals. I really hate how wild Herenzo is so I looked into going to a rat breeder for my next rat. I was only meant to have two rats in all but things didn't work that way and I have six. Four from breeders, one from a pet shop and the other from a friend who didn't want hers anymore.

Here is Herenzo; my baby boy. He doesn't like being handled to much yet but when I bring him out, he enjoys randomly running around/relaxing. He does come up to me when I come to the cage but he's still a bit afraid of me.


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## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

Chez/Cheva; I think he's adorable, I really do. I can't say much about his personality yet as he's still so skittish.


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## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

Nola; He isn't white, he's a champagne hooded. It's hard to see in the photo's cause the champagne is so light. Nola is a mix between a cuddly, adventures kind of rat. He likes to explore and adventure but he gets tired of that fast and finds a nice place to snuggle and just stays there. He's a favorite.


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## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

Chella; He's a adventures little one. He hardly ever stops moving around when I bring him outside the cage, lol. I love his adventures personality. He's the most active out of the tame rats.














































Nuke; He was quite shy. He loves to cuddles and stay quite still. After a bit of hiding away, he likes to wander around. He is actually one of my favorites.


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## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

Togetherness;





































Herenzo and Cheva are housed together. Nuke, Chella, Nola and Madero are housed together. When I get a bigger cage, I will be putting all six boys together. 

Nuke and Chella are sublings.

Madero and Nola are siblings.

I now just need to go to the shops to decorate there cages and there all set. I can't wait to get a bigger cage. There quite easy to look after and I haven't noticed a smell..[/quote]


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

I love rats! I kept a fairly large mischief for several years (mostly females and a couple of neutered males), but after the last of them passed away I could not bring myself to adopt more. It was just too tough to lose them. They're such awesome, personable little critters!


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Very cute!  I haven't kept rats but I think they're adorable!


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## Sian (Oct 19, 2011)

Very sweet!


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## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

Rachel; they are awesome little critters. I'm sad about the fact they die so young. I wish they lived longer. I know some people who wont own rats anymore cause they arn't around long enough. Do you think you'll ever own rats again?.

Also, thanks guys!.

I took Madero and Chella out for a walk. I had a little comfy pouch with me. Chella shocked me and actually stayed in the pouch, I didn't expect him to since he's the active one. Madero shocked me since he climbed out and sat on my shoulder for the walk. It was so cute.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

I love rats! Be careful they are very addicting. I started with two and at my highest I had 19 but sadly had to re-home many of them when I was forced to move back home with my parents. My last rat went to the bridge in June, I don't know if I will ever get rats again though (I am not a fan of cage cleaning)...

My heart rat Vixey:









I was also rescuing rats at the time. I really did enjoy them.

Make sure you get a really good sized cage as boys get HUGE! One of my male rats weighed over 700g...Also are you introing them now? If not, the sooner the better. Males can be difficult to get to live together as they age, if you start young (and all your boys look young like 5-8 weeks) it should go off without a hitch.

I wished you lived near here, I have a critter nation that I would have sold to you for cheap...Here it is below, this was before I had enough stuff to fill it.










Just a couple of my guys (mostly because I haven't talked about them in forever)...
Gunther








Rhys


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## Tahlz (Sep 15, 2011)

Lauren43;

Lol. I've only had mine for a few days and I'm addicted!. Why do you think I have six?. Lol. I am actually on the waiting list for 5 more rats but that's when there born, I'm getting them from the same breeder but she only breeds when she thinks it's right. I'm hoping for two blue's, a buff, a chocolate and a silver fawn. I hopefully will have a blue by Christmas and the others next year.*

The cage cleaning isn't fun ><. I am litter training my guys though so that'll make things a tad easier. I am sorry for your loss  I already have favorites and I worry how heart broken I'm going to be when there time is up. I just hope I don't take there deaths to hard.

I am thinking of buying the critter nation or this new cage, Ratopia. They will be getting a nice cage since I know they get big. Yes, I'm letting them all interact. I bring them out on the bed to play everyday or ever second day so I hope that's enough for them and they'll be fine when I let them live together.

I'm so jealous I live so far away. I would have bought that. Shame it can't be shipped, lol. How many rats do you think would be comfortable in the critter nation?. I am only having males so they'd get the whole thing.

I cannot wait to get a bigger cage and to decorate it.

O my lord!. Your rats were adorable!!. I love how Gunther is wearing a hat and Rhys is just cute. Can you please post more photo's?. 

Feel free to talk about your rats. Did they ever get free roam?.


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## leilaquinn (Sep 7, 2011)

I want rats soooo bad, i am slowly wearing my husband down:tongue:


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I love rats! 

I have had quite a few since my childhood (Badger, buttons, Ruby, Mama, little one). My last one I had was Molly, a blue hooded dumbo. She would run up behind my cat and pull her tail  She would also play with my crow 'Jake'. I miss having a rat. Maybe someday I can get another


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Tahlz said:


> Rachel; they are awesome little critters. I'm sad about the fact they die so young. I wish they lived longer. I know some people who wont own rats anymore cause they arn't around long enough. Do you think you'll ever own rats again?.
> 
> Also, thanks guys!.
> 
> I took Madero and Chella out for a walk. I had a little comfy pouch with me. Chella shocked me and actually stayed in the pouch, I didn't expect him to since he's the active one. Madero shocked me since he climbed out and sat on my shoulder for the walk. It was so cute.


You know, I probably will in the future. Not anytime soon, but someday. It's sooo tough to lose them. My heart rat, Lemmiwinks, was lost to lymphoma. She was definitely the hardest to lose and having her euthanized was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. I've lost them to pituitary tumors, congestive heart failure, pneumonia (despite aggressive treatment), old age....it was just one after another after another  I do miss them terribly. Your babies are adorable. It brings back fond memories to see them.


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Lauren, your Vixey looks just like my Lemmiwinks! Then I had a neutered male, Presley, who looked very similar, but slightly darker. I have such a soft spot for blue dumbos. Both of them were the sweetest things in the entire world.


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

They are all beautiful. I had 2 male rats a while ago, colin and wilson ... colin died of old age and wilson had to be PTS due to a brain tumour  (that was one of the worst days of my life, I cried for weeks) ... I haven't been able to bring myself to have anymore, their lives are so short and it's extremely painful when they die. They are awesome pets though, they have individual personalities and are very clever


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Great pictures!!! :becky: I personally love rats... but I honestly can't see myself getting one any time within the next 10-15 years... BT's are great ratters... and Tobi just loves little critters... 

They sure are cute little things, when i was a kid we had one that would try to climb into people mouths.... it was so weird :lol:


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Tahlz said:


> So, I am pretty new to rat ownership. I have owned mice/guinea pigs before. I did some re-search on rats and decided to go pick out two boys at the pet shop. Herenzo and Di' Adlo. Sadly a few days after Di' Adlo passed away, I am not sure from what exactly. Maybe they fought, maybe he hurt himself (his leg was broken) or maybe he was sick. I knew I needed to get another rat since rats are social animals. I really hate how wild Herenzo is so I looked into going to a rat breeder for my next rat. I was only meant to have two rats in all but things didn't work that way and I have six. Four from breeders, one from a pet shop and the other from a friend who didn't want hers anymore.
> 
> Here is Herenzo; my baby boy. He doesn't like being handled to much yet but when I bring him out, he enjoys randomly running around/relaxing. He does come up to me when I come to the cage but he's still a bit afraid of me.


They are just babies. They will get MUCH more friendly. The males are much more... cuddly whereas the females are always go, go, go and are more interested in exploring than snuggling. They all start of afraid of everything but pretty soon they aren't afraid of much. He is super cute. I had some hoodeds that color once. Sisters  I don't like owning males what with the large anatomy. Heehee. I have always wanted one for the friendliness though. My friends have some males and they are so sweet! Your guys are so freaking ADORABLE!!!



leilaquinn said:


> I want rats soooo bad, i am slowly wearing my husband down:tongue:


I had to wear mine down too. He knew that I had had them before and that I wasn't getting myself into something I couldn't handle but we ended up with three. All were Craigslist "rescues". I consider them rescues because Lily was sick and dying when we brought her home and we had her for several months when we thought she wouldn't last more than a few days. I liked knowing that she was going to live out her days without being moved from home to home.

Shadow and Tori were 6 months old when I got them and are not able to be handled. I would love to but they are just too frightened. They are perfectly comfortable and friendly in their cage (they came together and are supposedly sisters) and because it is less stressful on them they do not come out of their cage. I have tried numerous times to give them some free roam time in the dog pen that we have in the living room but they huddle in the corner of their cage. I feel bad for them because they are so scared but they are content in their cage (we have lots of activities, for them in there like little puzzles and toys to keep them entertained. 

If anyone has any suggestions on how to help these poor frightened girls become less so I would be grateful. I have always gotten mine from a particular pet store in California as babies (the friendliest little rats I have ever encountered) where the woman has a passion for her rats. It is the kind of pet store that sells rodents and reptiles vs puppies or kittens.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Tobi said:


> Great pictures!!! :becky: I personally love rats... but I honestly can't see myself getting one any time within the next 10-15 years... BT's are great ratters... and Tobi just loves little critters...
> 
> They sure are cute little things, when i was a kid we had one that would try to climb into people mouths.... it was so weird :lol:


I had one that would clean your teeth at every opportunity! It was definitely weird.

Buck is a hunting dog that specializes in smaller animals and he does just fine. He only hangs around the cage because the rats get dog cookies as treats. Hahaha. He'll run over there when they get into one of their little squealing fests every once in a while but he gets this worried look on his face like he concerned that something is wrong with "his" rats.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> I had one that would clean your teeth at every opportunity! It was definitely weird.
> 
> Buck is a hunting dog that specializes in smaller animals and he does just fine. He only hangs around the cage because the rats get dog cookies as treats. Hahaha. He'll run over there when they get into one of their little squealing fests every once in a while but he gets this worried look on his face like he concerned that something is wrong with "his" rats.


hrm... I suppose the only way to know is to find out... but i know he gets so fixated, and hot over little things :lol: I'll have to find somebody around here with a rat and see how he does around it.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> If anyone has any suggestions on how to help these poor frightened girls become less so I would be grateful. I have always gotten mine from a particular pet store in California as babies (the friendliest little rats I have ever encountered) where the woman has a passion for her rats. It is the kind of pet store that sells rodents and reptiles vs puppies or kittens.


My suggestion for helping them to become less frightened would be to put on a crappy long sleeved t-shirt or two and a sweatshirt then let the girls hang out in between the sweatshirt and the t-shirt. They get used to your voice and your smells this way and they don't have to deal with the overwhelming sights going on around them. Some rats are just shy by nature, but I have found this to be the best way to get them used to you.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

lauren43 said:


> My suggestion for helping them to become less frightened would be to put on a crappy long sleeved t-shirt or two and a sweatshirt then let the girls hang out in between the sweatshirt and the t-shirt. They get used to your voice and your smells this way and they don't have to deal with the overwhelming sights going on around them. Some rats are just shy by nature, but I have found this to be the best way to get them used to you.


When I say scared I mean they bite if you try to touch them. They aren't mean. It is clearly fear. Tory is a bit less afraid. She hasn't tried to bite anybody. I'll give this a go with her and see how she does. These guys (rescues) are the only fearful rats I have ever owned so I am, admittedly, at a bit of a loss.


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