[gen120]

hey!
I am either going to get a pair of Sugar gliders or a pair of female rats from the same cage.
I am leaning towards a rat though!!
I am getting my female rat from Petco and I was wondering if their are any Must have things for them!
I am getting this cage for them!

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-5-Story-Rat...ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting


What are some good things to get at Petco for them????

 

[cjshrader]

A) Have you already gotten the cage! I have that cage and but wish I had not now. There is much bigger/better that you can get for an equivalent price (Or go a little higher and just go for the Ferret Nation. I think you can get a good Martin's cage for a good price too). I do use it for quarantine but otherwise my rats stay in a different cage.

B) Another big thing I learned about rats is that their toys don't really have to come from pet stores. You can generally make everything you need. They love cardboard boxes and things like that.

However, from pet stores you can get things to chew on, things to climb on, those sorts of things. The nice thing about rats is the entire pet store is full of toys for them, not just one section. If you end up getting a different cage, then a wheel is a must-have.

 

[mopydream44]

forget petco. They overcharge you for things that you can either make or buy elsewhere.

If you are open to buying things on the internet I can direct you to a few places that you can purchase nice things but if you can't/don't want to order off of the internet then you can go into a local $ store. They have bins that make nice igloos, blankets that make nice hammocks or bedding. It's really a treasure trove if you just take a look around and use a little creativity. Also go buy yourself some mailing tubes. They love them, and mine have not gotten messy enough to throw away (I've had them for a few months) they WILL get messy if you put them in the cage but they are great for free roam time!

if you don't think you can make things, or you really just want everything set up quickly, products made for ferrets will be your best bet (i.e. hammocks, tubes, igloos, beds) avoid buying things made for hamsters as your rats will outgrow them REALLY fast. You can also buy bird toys, i.e. ladders, perches, and so on. If you buy wooden toys make sure they are not pine or cedar (i'm sure you've seen this all over the forum) and be aware that wood can get pretty stinky, and you may have to chuck it after a while.

if you DO want to go the creative route there are plenty of ideas floating around here, or you can just ask

 

[DonnaK]

Our rats never tire of their wheel (11" comfort wheel) and they sleep in nothing but the hammocks that I make for them, so those are two good money/time investors, but other than that some of their favourite toys are household items I give them to play with. I give them tubes, empty boxes - some tissue boxes are perfect! - brown paper bags make a nice crinkly noise that they love to chew and run around on/in, wine corks are great for a chew toy (they don't eat it, they just love chewing it up), I have a 20 foot dryer hose that they love to run through from their cage to the spare couch, I made a couple of cushions that I donated to them and they love climbing them and hiding under them... simple things that you have around the house, you know? You can go to the pet store and spend a lot of money on pretty toys that they may not even touch, because they want that crinkly bag that you're holding in your hand that cost absolutely nothing! :lol:

 

[gen120]

ok!
Thanks for the advice!
I do not have a cage yet!
What is the best cage for your money??

 

[cjshrader]

Well if you're looking to pay around $100, then I'd go for a Martin's cage. Make sure to get powder coated!

http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/rat/

Someone else will have to say which is a good size, but since the more space the better I'd always just go with the biggest I could afford. In this case, the R-695 or R-690.

Now personally I'd recommend spending a little extra on the Ferret Nation.

http://www.ferret.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=630303&Category=Ferret Cages&subCategory=Ferret Nation Cages

It's super-easy to clean and it's very large. Lots of room for whatever you like. It's also expandable. The only caveat is that if you get smaller female rats they can escape, so you'll need to cover it with hardware cloth or something similar. I have the two level one (Which is like the one I linked to, only twice as high)

 

[Mana]

If you haven't already, you should check petfinder.com and see if there are rats in any shelters near you. Or try to find a rat rescue in your area. Pet stores should be a last resort when getting any animal.

 

[gen120]

ok!!
Thanks!
I am planning to get 2 medium female rats!

 

[cjshrader]

Another thing I should mention is that there is no such thing as a "Medium" rat. Petco does a weird thing where they label them like that, but a medium rat is just a young rat. And a small is even younger (I wonder if they are too young?). So look at the "large" female rats, that is what you can reasonably expect your rats to grow to.

And as Mana said, definitely look for an adoption or a responsible breeder before going to a petstore. At petstores, you will (On average) find less healthy and less socialized rats.

 

[lina]

I got 2 female rats from a large pet store and they looked like they had never been handled much. They was about 4 mths old when I got them so it took a while for them to trust me and pick them up. As a rule I dont go to these large petshops now I look for rats needing new homes. If I do go to petshops I get younger rats so they soon get used to being picked up and handled at a younger age.

 

[Forensic]

Another thing I should mention is that there is no such thing as a "Medium" rat. Petco does a weird thing where they label them like that, but a medium rat is just a young rat. And a small is even younger (I wonder if they are too young?). So look at the "large" female rats, that is what you can reasonably expect your rats to grow to.

And as Mana said, definitely look for an adoption or a responsible breeder before going to a petstore. At petstores, you will (On average) find less healthy and less socialized rats.

The 'small' rats here are usually about 3 weeks-4 weeks old, while the mediums are 5 weeks to 7 weeks... So yes, the 'smalls' are very young, many have never been handled and most are ill/stressed.

 

[lina]

OMG do people sell rats that young. When I said young mine where 8 weeks old. I never knew a pet shop would ever dream of selling them so young.

 

[Forensic]

Yes, I think they do. Looking through many baby pictures, the young babies have very distinctive (cute) head/body ratios and such... these are very young babies.

 

[Holly]

I got Boo when he was four or five weeks old. It worked out well, though. He had never experienced anything "bad" in his short life, so he was never afraid of anything...hands, faces, bath time, his older brother...

I think I got very lucky.