[Screechy]

Hello everyone! I'm new here to the forum but I'm pretty familiar with rats. My older sister had a rat years back, and my boyfriend has two over at his apartment, which....are my fault. I saved one from becoming dinner((Roxy)) and then we got a second((Strawberry)) because we know that rats are very social. I myself have 3 Robo hamsters, and they're wild little boys((Jericho, Fleedy, and Monster)) but I was over at my bfs house today and was playing with the girls and decided I wanted one of my own. I didn't want to go to petco or petsmart so we drove a few extra miles to a pet store called "Creatures and Critters". The girl working there seemed to know a lot about the rats and let me hold them. They had a few large rats, a dumbo male that I ALMOST ended up with......and a bunch of small and medium sized rats. I quickly picked up a black and white female, her body was white but her head and back have blotches of black....gorgeous! She was very gentle and sweet and I was able to hold and pet her. SO, I ended up with her! I bought a few toys, and treats, ect. and then we went back to the bfs house to take a look at our new girl. She's great......but she's very.......VOCAL. I don't know if maybe she's in heat, but she doesn't look to be in any pain. She'll just randomely squeak out of no where........and its REALLY LOUD TOO!! 8O.....We did notice that there was a male in the cage with her, but he was only half her size and the girl helping us said he was too young to get any of the girls in there pregnant, which made me wonder why he was in there in the first place. If by some chance she IS pregnant however, I've done a lot of reading on how to rear the little ones, so I think everything would be alright, and I know a lot of people who would take the babies.....all my firends love ratties!! BUT anyways, I have a few questions.....

....so she doesn't stink too bad, but are there any ways to KEEP her that way? My mom hates the smell of rats and won't let me keep her if it gets too bad. Does anyone use anything that really works that I could try?

two, do rats NEED a buddy? Or are they ok on their own? I know that my bf got his first rat a friend and they're fine but my mom says only one rat for me. Do they NEED a friend or am I a companion enough?

three, I heard that there was a type of bedding that was really harmful to small animals. I'm pretty sure what I'm using isn't that. I heard it was some type of fluffy material, but I use the carefresh bedding for her and my hamsters and it seems to have worked well in the past, but I'd really like to know whats the best

four, it gets a little cold at night in my room, so I would want to keep her warm. What could I use? I heard it wasn't a good idea to use old socks because they could choke or get strangled in the threads if they got loosened.......what would be a good idea to keep her warm?

AND LASTLY, is it ok to bath her? My bf baths his rats every week to keep them clean and they always smell clean........but another friend of mine said you dont HAVE to bath them, but his rats stink pretty bad....>.<. I was just curious, especially since I need to keep the stink at a low if not gone......and if bathing is needed, what shampoo do you recomend? He uses something by Superpet, but I don't like the smell :roll:

THANK YOU for reading! I'm sorry its so long and full of questions, I just want my Ratty((By the way, her name is Serena)) to have a good, long, healthy life!

Thanks again
Brittany

 

[madeittothemoon]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure how to help you with the possibly pregnancy, since I've never had an accidental litter. I have a rat that squeaks a lot- she just has a more voal personality... which is funny, because her name is Silent Bob. Your rat could be injured... I'm not sure where to begin with any of that, though.

As far as the smell goes, you can bathe her. Make sure that you just don't do it too often- too much bathing is bad for rats. Also, the more you clean her cage, the better it will smell- just make sure not to wash out all of her scent from the cage, or she might end up trying to stink it up even more!

Yes, rats NEED a cagemate. Even if you spend a few hours a day with her, she's still looking at over 20 hours a day alone. Not fun. Plus, rats are nocturnal, so they're the most lively when we're sleeping. A friend for her is a must.

The types of bedding that are safe for rats are Carefresh (regular or Ultra), Aspen, Yesterday's News (the brand of cat litter), and fleece. Fleece is nice for litter training- line the floor with fleece and then put some bedding in a litter box. I also like fleece because it makes cage cleaning a lot easier- just take the fleece out of the cage every few days (depending on the cage size and how many rats you have), and then put another piece of fleece down. This is the cheapest option, too, since it's reusable. You can get fleece from WalMart for as little as $3, if you're not picky about the color or pattern.

There are a few things you could do to keep her warm. First, make sure that she has hammocks. You can either buy them or make them. I'm pretty lazy about making them- I generally cut a piece of an old towel or fleece cage lining and use safety pins or binder clips to keep it up. There are some hammocks that are more cube shaped- which would probably keep her warmer. You might want to think of getting a space heater... they're not that expensive, and not nearly as dangerous as some people make them out to be. And a companion would definitely keep her warmer- all of my girls like to snuggle.

As for the baths, I tend to use a puppy shampoo. But honestly, the only time that I've ever had to bathe my rats has been when I put off cleaning my cage too long. If they're in a clean cage, you might not even have to ever bathe them.

Hope all of this helps!

 

[Screechy]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure how to help you with the possibly pregnancy, since I've never had an accidental litter. I have a rat that squeaks a lot- she just has a more voal personality... which is funny, because her name is Silent Bob. Your rat could be injured... I'm not sure where to begin with any of that, though.

>>I don't think she's injured, I let her run around my rat-proofed room and she seemed happy and very into EVERYTHING. I'm kind of worried about her though, she's a definite chewer! She tries to eat everything! But she won't squeak when you pick her up, just at random times, like when she's out playing or in her cage....just really random squeaks. Maybe she misses her cagemates =[


As far as the smell goes, you can bathe her. Make sure that you just don't do it too often- too much bathing is bad for rats. Also, the more you clean her cage, the better it will smell- just make sure not to wash out all of her scent from the cage, or she might end up trying to stink it up even more!

>>A friend of mine who has rats says he bathes them one a week if they're stinking, but usually once every two weeks........it all depends on how stinky they are. And yes I heard about when you clean the cage to much they stink it up more........I've had that happen lol!!



Yes, rats NEED a cagemate. Even if you spend a few hours a day with her, she's still looking at over 20 hours a day alone. Not fun. Plus, rats are nocturnal, so they're the most lively when we're sleeping. A friend for her is a must.

>>Alrighty then I guess thats settled. My bf and I talked about maybe getting her a friend and one of my friends said she'd be ok alone, but.....I know they're really social and so I'll most likely end up with a second rat here pretty soon.......maybe as soon as tomorrow >.<


The types of bedding that are safe for rats are Carefresh (regular or Ultra), Aspen, Yesterday's News (the brand of cat litter), and fleece. Fleece is nice for litter training- line the floor with fleece and then put some bedding in a litter box. I also like fleece because it makes cage cleaning a lot easier- just take the fleece out of the cage every few days (depending on the cage size and how many rats you have), and then put another piece of fleece down. This is the cheapest option, too, since it's reusable. You can get fleece from WalMart for as little as $3, if you're not picky about the color or pattern.

>>Thats a pretty good idea, the fleece! I'll have to make a walmart run tomorrow along with a petstore run to get her a friend =]


There are a few things you could do to keep her warm. First, make sure that she has hammocks. You can either buy them or make them. I'm pretty lazy about making them- I generally cut a piece of an old towel or fleece cage lining and use safety pins or binder clips to keep it up. There are some hammocks that are more cube shaped- which would probably keep her warmer. You might want to think of getting a space heater... they're not that expensive, and not nearly as dangerous as some people make them out to be. And a companion would definitely keep her warmer- all of my girls like to snuggle.

>>I actually HAVE a space heater, but my grandmother is visiting and so she stole it! ARGH.......so I really just need something temporary to keep her cozy, but of course, I'll most likely be getting her a friend too, so that'll be a bonus.


As for the baths, I tend to use a puppy shampoo. But honestly, the only time that I've ever had to bathe my rats has been when I put off cleaning my cage too long. If they're in a clean cage, you might not even have to ever bathe them.

>>I bought kitten shampoo, because I read somewhere that kitten shampoo was safest as well as baby shampoo....pretty anything mild and gentle I guess haha. Is that ok?

Hope all of this helps!

>>Trust me, ANY advice helps =] THANKYOU

 

[Inesita]

Hello and welcome!