Rat Forum banner

Free-range time- how much?

2.2K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  Holly  
#1 ·
Out of curiosity, how much free-range time do your ratties get?

My girls get an hour every night, in addition to daily individual couch time and shoulder time.

It’s quite funny, when they think it’s time to come out in the evening all three will hang off the door of their cage and stare at me intently. :roll: :lol:
 
#2 ·
mine usually get an hour or two a day to be rats in the bathroom, along with being woken up in the middle of a nap for kisses and a few trips around the house and such. the more the better and i'd def play with them more only i have 3 jobs and a few side projects and they often get in the way of those, lol. :p
 
#4 ·
I had a rat room way when I had my rats. The 11 boys would run around the room all day, except for three hours when the ladies would be aloud out and the boys would have to go in their cage. The four girls got a lot more of my attention I will admit because I felt guilty they didn't get as much run around time as the lads. I don't think the boys minded though.
 
#7 ·
My girliesuusually get about a half hour or an hour in the morning while I'm getting ready for class (as soon as I wake up, I can see them in their cage at the foot of my bed, staring at me! They say, get up! Get up and let us out! It's cute, but a little creepy at the same time. They just... stare at me!)

If they're awake when I come home, they get an hour or two (most of which is spent sleeping somewhere). And in the evening if they're awake, they usually get a couple of hours, depending on what I have to do and where I have to be. But it's always at least 45 minutes at night.

Mostly I just let them run around on my bed, and I'll walk over and say hi and pet them. I don't pick them up too much, or play with them a ton, because I get hives when their little ratty talons scratch me.

Also, I think I've taught them "go home!", because I usually forget to put them back until I'm trying to rush out the door! It's so much easier with their cooperation.
 
#8 ·
It varies every day, depending on what's going on. Some days they get to stay out most of the day, some days just an hour or less. I arranged my room so my computer desk/coffee table that I sit on while at the computer (despite everyone thinking that's weird)/bed are all directly lined up, so the rats get their play time on the bed, they can come over and say hi, get skritches and kisses, sit on my shoulder, play on the keyboard, hide behind the monitor... So if I'm not really doing anything, they can stay out for as long as I'm just wasting time online ^_^
 
#9 ·
i let my girls out for usually around an hour; sometimes a little less on weekdays as i have school.
on weekends i take them out whenever i see them clambering on the bars and keep them out for 1 hour before offering the option of staying out longer or going home. :]
 
#10 ·
We usually have at least one hour of "playtime" at night. Sometimes I let them run around the (rat-proofed, rat-OWNED) bathroom for longer than that, but I don't always stay with them then, because I know that they're safe, and I'm not always comfortable for long periods of time in there.

If they indicate that they want to spend a lot of time playing, or if they want to take a nap in a drawer instead of going back home, I usually let them do that.

Some nights, they don't really seem to want to come out, and if they don't want to every once in awhile, that's fine. I'm not going to "force" them to play. This never really happens for more than one night at a time, however.

Every once in awhile (actually, this has only happened once so far,) I'll have a particularly busy day, for instance, where I have to travel a 200 mile round trip, and I'll wind up being too tired to play. This ~should~ be OK if I don't do it too often, because they have a lot of room to run, and each other to chase and love.

I always keep in mind that I wouldn't want to spend my life in a cage, but at the same time, sometimes There's No Place Like Home.