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
....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