Rat Care

The VERY MINIMUM that a rat must have is a cage (big enough), bedding, food, water, and something to chew on. 

 Now I believe that they also need treats (for training) and love love love.  Rats love to climb, so ladders, ropes etc. are great.  I find that even though I put in ladders, landings and ropes, they would rather just climb on the cage.  Wire cages are great for ventilation as well.  I use both wire bottom and unwire bottom cages.  If you use the wire bottom variety, make sure Templeton has a place to rest his tired feet.  My feet would hurt too if I had to walk on wires all day long.   I use cut up pieces of receiving blankets, this gives them a comfortable place to sleep.  Now, many people would argue both sides of the cage issue, but if I find a cage on sale, either kind, then we will make accommodations as needed. 

 Remember that rat's teeth are open rooted, which means they continue to grow throughout the rats life.  continue to grow throughout their lives, and therefore they need to chew to keep their teeth from being too long.  The bottom teeth are normally longer than the top.  Healthy rat teeth will also be yellow.

We adopted a small rat we named Cleatus, he was very skinny,  I looked at his teeth and had to cut them.  Later, he still was not eating and I looked at his teeth again.  His top teeth where growing into his head.  This is called malocclusion.  It was a terrible sight.  Especially since all the person that had him before had to do was give him something to chew on, either in his food, or a toy.  I figured that he was either going to die because of his teeth, or he was going to die by me trying to save him.  I cut his teeth, but he was still unable to eat.  We tried everything to get him to eat, moist food, soft food, etc. My daughter called me while I was on the way home from work and told me he was dead.    Both him and I fought the good fight, but in the end, the damage was already done.  I was very angry for a while at the person who did this to him, but God put this baby in my life for a reason.  What that reason is, I don't know yet.  I'm sure I will find out at some point.  Please, Please make sure that you give your ratties something to chew on.  Dying of starvation is one of the worst ways to go even for a human,  this baby should not have had to go through this torture.

There is a wide variety of food to feed the ratties, but thing like sunflower seeds are treats and should not be in the food.  The food that comes with treats only promotes food waste.  The rats will dig in the bowl and eat the treats and not the ingredients that are good for them.  In the end, just use your best judgment. 

Rats need to have a fresh source of water.  Hanging bottles are best.  Hairless rats (because of the recessive gene that makes them hairless) have a higher metabolism, and so they need more food and water.

I have A LOT of cages to clean so I recommend Yesterdays News bedding.  Rats need their cages cleaned every week to week and a half, depending on how many rats and how big of a cage.  This bedding had really been a Godsend for me.  As many animals/cages as I have, my house does not smell like animal, and really if you are taking good care of the cages neither should yours.

Please, remember this, and I really can't stress it enough, if you feel there is something wrong with your rattie, take him/her to a vet that has experience with small animals.  Rats are normally very healthy and hearty, there are those instances due to genetics or previous poor care, that your little monster may need to see the Doc. 

Rats do not have prehensile tails, in other words, they do not hang from them like opossums.  They use their tails strictly for balance.  This is why it is NEVER acceptable to pick a rat up by the tail.  Rats also sweat from their tales as well.  Tailless rats have a higher morbidity rate than other rats, simply because they are unable to sweat.

If you have a rat that you would like for Rat Finx Rat Rescue to adopt.  Please contact us at:  AndiLynn@RatFinxRatRescueofOklahoma.com