First of all, this is not a post discouraging people from having large mischiefs. I myself have eight girls and I wouldn't give a single up for the world. I know many people who have 10+ rats and they love every minute of it.
However, there are some things I really wish I'd had some time to think about and consider before I ended up with eight. They're pretty logical and intuitive, but until you have wake-up calls like the ones I've been having recently they don't really hit you. So if you're considering adding some babies to your family, here are some things to consider.
1) The more rats you have, the less time you have to bond with each one. This does not mean you can't bond with them, but the dynamic between human and large group is VERY different from that between human and small group. When we had three girls I had the time to do in-depth, proper training, I was able to keep them out with me almost all the time, and I was very attuned to them and they to me. With eight, getting them out is a production. They're all trained and know their names and generally stay out of trouble, but it took me a LONG time to get there and they aren't as trained as I'd like them to be because when you have eight or so it's nearly impossible to dedicate the time you need to each individually. I know them all and love them all and they love me, but I really am not nearly as connected to them as I was when I had fewer, and it's not because I'm a bad rat-mom. It's just the reality of having many, many little critters.
2) Your chances of accidents, fights, and medical issues increase exponentially. The more personalities you have in your gang, the more likely it is that someone is going to have issues with someone else, etc. This often leads to little tiffs that can end in injury. Moreover, it means you're far more likely to have a freak accident since you've got eight little ones running around and exploring versus two or three. It also means that the likelihood of a respiratory infection, tumors, etc go up significantly as you're dealing with eight rats with eight different genetic make-ups versus two or three. Again, logical, intuitive, but something to seriously consider.
3) Vet expenses increase exponentially. My vet in Nashville was a personal friend so she saw all eight of my girls for the price of two, but this is rare. More often than not you will be charged for each rat or at least one charge per two rats. What this means is that a basic exam goes from costing you around $65 to $520, and that's just for the exam. Most rats will have some type of health issue over their lives. A basic respiratory infection will cost you around $120 for exam + meds, more if you need follow-up. If all eight of your rats only have one infection in their lives (the reality is that some will have more than one) that's a minimum of $960 right there. Today my Yuki needed a surgery to amputate part of her tail from an accident. Accidents happen. So do tumors. Her operation cost less than a tumor operation, required less meds, and less time at the vet. That means it cost only $360 versus the $500 it would have cost if she had a tumor removed. If all of my girls have an accident or a tumor over the threeish years of their lives, that's somewhere around $3,200 in surgeries. That's assuming there's only one tumor, etc. So in vet bills alone for a large mischief you can be (and really are likely) looking at somewhere around $5000 in vet bills over their lifetime (at least, as this is assuming only one check-up, etc).
4) More rats eat more food, destroy more hammocks, use more bedding/litter and need to be cleaned more often. That's a lot of time and money that I'm too exhausted to try to quantify.
Again, I am not condemning large mischiefs or saying don't grow yours--I have a large one, I love them, I don't regret them for a second. But it is very easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking, "It's just one more rat. More cute, yay!" and ignoring the reality of what it will mean down the road. I had a pretty harsh reality check today and the fact is that it's too late for me to sit down and really think about how realistic it will be for me to deal with the major health issues that my girls will face in their future, as there's pretty much a guarantee that at least something will come up for each one. I would hate for someone else to end up in my situation who really can't afford to be in it, so if you're considering adopting/purchasing more rats into your family think about the time, monetary, and emotional commitment you are making and be sure it's realistic for you before you find yourself in an unfortunate situation.
However, there are some things I really wish I'd had some time to think about and consider before I ended up with eight. They're pretty logical and intuitive, but until you have wake-up calls like the ones I've been having recently they don't really hit you. So if you're considering adding some babies to your family, here are some things to consider.
1) The more rats you have, the less time you have to bond with each one. This does not mean you can't bond with them, but the dynamic between human and large group is VERY different from that between human and small group. When we had three girls I had the time to do in-depth, proper training, I was able to keep them out with me almost all the time, and I was very attuned to them and they to me. With eight, getting them out is a production. They're all trained and know their names and generally stay out of trouble, but it took me a LONG time to get there and they aren't as trained as I'd like them to be because when you have eight or so it's nearly impossible to dedicate the time you need to each individually. I know them all and love them all and they love me, but I really am not nearly as connected to them as I was when I had fewer, and it's not because I'm a bad rat-mom. It's just the reality of having many, many little critters.
2) Your chances of accidents, fights, and medical issues increase exponentially. The more personalities you have in your gang, the more likely it is that someone is going to have issues with someone else, etc. This often leads to little tiffs that can end in injury. Moreover, it means you're far more likely to have a freak accident since you've got eight little ones running around and exploring versus two or three. It also means that the likelihood of a respiratory infection, tumors, etc go up significantly as you're dealing with eight rats with eight different genetic make-ups versus two or three. Again, logical, intuitive, but something to seriously consider.
3) Vet expenses increase exponentially. My vet in Nashville was a personal friend so she saw all eight of my girls for the price of two, but this is rare. More often than not you will be charged for each rat or at least one charge per two rats. What this means is that a basic exam goes from costing you around $65 to $520, and that's just for the exam. Most rats will have some type of health issue over their lives. A basic respiratory infection will cost you around $120 for exam + meds, more if you need follow-up. If all eight of your rats only have one infection in their lives (the reality is that some will have more than one) that's a minimum of $960 right there. Today my Yuki needed a surgery to amputate part of her tail from an accident. Accidents happen. So do tumors. Her operation cost less than a tumor operation, required less meds, and less time at the vet. That means it cost only $360 versus the $500 it would have cost if she had a tumor removed. If all of my girls have an accident or a tumor over the threeish years of their lives, that's somewhere around $3,200 in surgeries. That's assuming there's only one tumor, etc. So in vet bills alone for a large mischief you can be (and really are likely) looking at somewhere around $5000 in vet bills over their lifetime (at least, as this is assuming only one check-up, etc).
4) More rats eat more food, destroy more hammocks, use more bedding/litter and need to be cleaned more often. That's a lot of time and money that I'm too exhausted to try to quantify.
Again, I am not condemning large mischiefs or saying don't grow yours--I have a large one, I love them, I don't regret them for a second. But it is very easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking, "It's just one more rat. More cute, yay!" and ignoring the reality of what it will mean down the road. I had a pretty harsh reality check today and the fact is that it's too late for me to sit down and really think about how realistic it will be for me to deal with the major health issues that my girls will face in their future, as there's pretty much a guarantee that at least something will come up for each one. I would hate for someone else to end up in my situation who really can't afford to be in it, so if you're considering adopting/purchasing more rats into your family think about the time, monetary, and emotional commitment you are making and be sure it's realistic for you before you find yourself in an unfortunate situation.
