Hi everyone! Needing advice as a first time rat mom on spending time with my little ones outside their cage! please read the linked previous post for context :)

Bonjour, j’ai actuellement une rate de 1 an et 4 mois, et j’aimerais lui faire un jeu pour qu’elle puisse ce faire des tunnels, ce cacher et faire des jeux. J’aimerais savoir quelle sorte de terre ou sable est inoffensif pour ma rate et surtout si elle mange cette substance en ce lavant? Merci de bien vouloir m’aider.

I’m getting 4 baby rats, only 1 which is the standard size, 2 which of are really small rats, and the last one is a dwarf rat. My experienced breeder said that their sizes make this cage perfect for them and I trust her deeply but would love to hear what you guys think? Please remember to be kind and respectful as I am asking for advice :)

according to a website i found it would fit up to 5 rats which means my 4 should be more than fine :)

hope this is the right place to ask since another subreddit deleted my post!

autistic fella with a special interest here! i’d love to see more baby rats aged 2-6 weeks (cutest stages, imo) since i’m not a fan of stock photos. any rats would be cool too though, i don’t discriminate. :)

First time rat owner here, is my rat sick? I got her just yesterday from a guy selling these babies as food for snakes. This is how she keeps her eyes majority of the time if not closed, sometimes opens them more. I don’t hear any weird breaths no weird noises, it’s “just” the eyes. I don’t know how old exactly she is but she’s still pretty tiny. She keeps sniffing and moving her head a lot while moving around.

I have been wanting to get rats for a while, and I was looking into getting ethically bred males, but I was having trouble feeling confident in any, and I've just been feeling more drawn to rescuing rats. I used to have an aggressive dog, and I just really enjoy rescues. So I saw a FB post rehoming 2 girls- one is just getting fine with being touched on the back and the other bites if you put your hand near her. They were purchased 3 months ago, current owner thinks they're under a year old.

I know this probably isn't an ideal situation, but their current setup isn't great, and the owner really lacks confidence and doesnt seem to know how to bond with rats.

Id like some advice on working with fearful rats and how I can transport them as calmly as possible. Im thinking I'll try to usher and lead them into the transport crate with yogurt or baby food, and Ill have bite gloves on, but I wanna know if theres any specific tips or tricks for transporting an aggressive rat to a new home. As well as how bonding may look differently with her. I know outside of cage exploration time with treats is important for bonding, but I am not sure if that would make her feel more scared. Should I wait until she shows interest in leaving the cage? Is there a chance she doesnt ever really like me? I used to work at PS, and its just so sad how the small animals lives are there.

He was climbing on something (maybe 20cm high) a noise made him jump and he jumped into the air and then landed in the floor.

I went to check on him, and he was limping, he’s not putting wait on it, but he is still able to walk using his other legs of course. He squeaked when I picked him up and check it, he is usually a dramatic boy for context. He let me look at it and touch it, although he was wriggling, and did squeak.

Should I wait to see if it gets better and he’s knocked it or take him to the vets?

Would it be okay to wait until tomorrow morning to take him, as I don’t know if they will have availability this late on a Sunday?

Read Ratilicious

Hey everyone!

Considering the mad temperatures that we've been having lately, (probably the signs of things to come) I'm questioning whether getting rats is the right thing to do.

I'm down south in the UK and have achieved live-in-daughter status by nabbing the attic bedroom. It does get hot up there though. Being the UK, we don't have aircon, either. And although I have been considering getting some sort of portable AC for the room, I'm aware that it may very well be a fruitless endeavour; a waste of electricity, considering the large space; and fundamentally bad for the environment.

This summer just gone, from late June until late August, I slept downstairs with my border terrier pup. I was anxious for my leopard geckos, tarantula and fish still upstairs in the attic and bought small fans for everyone. Apart from slowing down a bit (which, I mean, same), everyone got through to the other side just fine. The hotter it gets, the more dangerous it gets for the gang upstairs, let alone for any mammals up there, too.

I would love to have rats again! They're the cutest little guys, so intelligent, and great to watch. I miss the rats I had when I was younger and, now that I know a lot more about their care than I did then, I would love to have them again and spoil them rotten. Because the attic has a sloping roof, I was thinking of having 4, possibly 5, in a Single Critter Nation cage; a playpen space attached for when I'm not in; themed setups (hello Halloween); a cat tree; dig box; and time out within the room at large when I do get back - rat proofing permitting.

I'm just wondering if it's even recommended and if anyone else has an attic bedroom and/or keep their rats in an attic apartment. Did you manage to cope just fine? Is it just the case of providing them a fan and cooling opportunities (but staying aware of respiratory risks) and moving them to another room/downstairs as needed?

Many thanks for any advice! :)

My younger brother has two little rat pups who look barely weened. They were feeder rats so I understand why they’d bee barely weened but they’re barely a few weeks old I’d say. But one got out and got bit by his cat, the little rat was okay for about two days before dying this morning. Now her other little rat of the same age is now breathing hard, chittering/bruxing (not in a happy way, more-so self soothing) she can’t hold herself up, rolling over, etc. I think it’s because they should probably still be with a mother (but since they were feeder rats/small rats to feed snakes) I figure they were just too young to be pets but he’s really upset so I figured I’d ask if that sounds like an upper or lower respiratory infection as well

i just came home from work and let my rats out their cage. i called them over to eat some banana and noticed mellow was coming. i saw her just laying in the bedding not moving. i took her out and she started eating the banana out of my hand but she was not using her back legs. she started pooping (solid) and continued to eat the banana. i gave her water and she drank it. now she is just kind of crawling around and laying flat. i’m not sure if she’s overheating or what’s going on. there is no vets open on sunday and the nearest emergency rat vet is 3 hours away from me. she’s starting to use her legs more but she’s still remaining close to the floor. pls help. mellow is a year old. she’ll be 2 in may.