Post by allenya on Dec 31, 2012 8:28:53 GMT -9
Around a year ago two of my friends decided to get a pair of rats.
The one had never had rats before but he had known people who did.
The other had been the mom to tree rats in the past.
So he picked out his rat, a tan and white male hooded.
And she picked out her rat, a black and white hooded female.(She claims they were to young to tell the gender and she was sure it was a male but I saw then the next day and knew it was a female)
So of course babies came soon after this, a litter on 11 healthy little ones.
The babies grew quickly and nothing was really done to find them homes. I wanted to take a set but we had just lost our rat and the boyfriend wasn't sure about taking new ones. The babies will be a year old mid April and some of the females have finally found new places to live. All of them have gone in sets of two. There is now one female from the litter left and three males.
So I talked to my boyfriend again and it looks like I may get to keep two of the males, a set of albinos. The other will live with dad and the owner of the female parent will also be keeping one of the female babies with mom.
I have to get them a better cage. I had a great one for my rat but I lent it to the babies that one or many of the females chewed a hole in the base on it to get out of the cage.
The friend that has had rats before is supposed to be giving me her cage but I don't know if she will actually follow through on that.
I'm hoping someone here can suggest a cage.
I want to try using fabric bedding for them but if I don't like that I am likely to use carefresh (I think that's what it is called.)
I am looking for any other tips I can get. I have had rats before but his was a special case. He was old when I got him, and scared of being out of his cage. These boys have never been fully hand tamed sadly. I can get them out of the cage and handle them but they are always scared and I get peed on a lot.
The one had never had rats before but he had known people who did.
The other had been the mom to tree rats in the past.
So he picked out his rat, a tan and white male hooded.
And she picked out her rat, a black and white hooded female.(She claims they were to young to tell the gender and she was sure it was a male but I saw then the next day and knew it was a female)
So of course babies came soon after this, a litter on 11 healthy little ones.
The babies grew quickly and nothing was really done to find them homes. I wanted to take a set but we had just lost our rat and the boyfriend wasn't sure about taking new ones. The babies will be a year old mid April and some of the females have finally found new places to live. All of them have gone in sets of two. There is now one female from the litter left and three males.
So I talked to my boyfriend again and it looks like I may get to keep two of the males, a set of albinos. The other will live with dad and the owner of the female parent will also be keeping one of the female babies with mom.
I have to get them a better cage. I had a great one for my rat but I lent it to the babies that one or many of the females chewed a hole in the base on it to get out of the cage.
The friend that has had rats before is supposed to be giving me her cage but I don't know if she will actually follow through on that.
I'm hoping someone here can suggest a cage.
I want to try using fabric bedding for them but if I don't like that I am likely to use carefresh (I think that's what it is called.)
I am looking for any other tips I can get. I have had rats before but his was a special case. He was old when I got him, and scared of being out of his cage. These boys have never been fully hand tamed sadly. I can get them out of the cage and handle them but they are always scared and I get peed on a lot.
A Critter Nation is a super good rat cage. It is similar to the Ferret Nation cages, but with smaller bar spacing and the bars run horizontally instead of vertically. As for fleece bedding, they would LOVE that. I am sure you will have to replace it semi-frequently due to chewing though...but then maybe not. If you do go the CN cage route and want to use Carefresh, you'll need to build a lip on the cage levels to prevent spillage. Plexi works well for this and it is clear so it won't ruin the appearance of the cage. I know some people have used plastic trays from Home Depot or other Hardware stores in their FN cages too, maybe it would also fit in a CN? I think they are big plastic drip pans that they cut the tops off of, but I am not 100% sure....
