I am not yet a rat owner.
I have been doing research for the past few weeks (books, web, petstore pamphlets), including a meet & greet with a few little rats at a local petstore (not one of those "puppy mills" or anything like that, but a smaller, locally-owned, college-town store).
Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I'm back living at home. My mother HATES animals. I do have my own "apartment" in the basement (rec room, bedroom, bathroom) where no one but me really spends any time. The biggest obstacle would be convincing my mother that my rat ownership would not invade her personal space or home in ANY way --- including smell.
I would like to keep the cage in the rec room, because this is where most of the family enters and exits the house, so there would be plenty to keep ratty entertained. This is also where I spend most of my time when I'm not sleeping. My bedroom is kind of a cave that everyone is scared to go.
Loooong post short: With a clean cage (picked out daily, completely cleaned/changed weekly), female rats (rather not deal with so much scent-marking), and maybe some of these order-reducing food adders or treats, what is the smell factor, honestly?
I can't STAND the smell of cat boxes (though I do love cats) --- but I'm not at all bothered by any type of horsey smell. Where would you say it lands between the two?
I will not be keeping more than a pair, at least for the time being.
Thanks in advance, and hopefully I'll have some new friends soon!!
Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I'm back living at home. My mother HATES animals. I do have my own "apartment" in the basement (rec room, bedroom, bathroom) where no one but me really spends any time. The biggest obstacle would be convincing my mother that my rat ownership would not invade her personal space or home in ANY way --- including smell.
I would like to keep the cage in the rec room, because this is where most of the family enters and exits the house, so there would be plenty to keep ratty entertained. This is also where I spend most of my time when I'm not sleeping. My bedroom is kind of a cave that everyone is scared to go.
Loooong post short: With a clean cage (picked out daily, completely cleaned/changed weekly), female rats (rather not deal with so much scent-marking), and maybe some of these order-reducing food adders or treats, what is the smell factor, honestly?
I can't STAND the smell of cat boxes (though I do love cats) --- but I'm not at all bothered by any type of horsey smell. Where would you say it lands between the two?
I will not be keeping more than a pair, at least for the time being.
Thanks in advance, and hopefully I'll have some new friends soon!!