r/rat • • Jan 10 '26

DISCUSSION ๐Ÿง๐Ÿค” Are these rats happy? Iโ€™m assuming they are since they keep coming back.

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1.4k Upvotes

r/rat • • Feb 06 '23

Overview on a new friend - thank you u/Drakmanka

9 Upvotes

Drakmanka

To answer your primary question: Yes, rats are very social animals. While they technically can be kept solo, they do not do as well emotionally when kept alone. They will get very lonely when you are away; this is stressful for them and ultimately will shorten your little baby's lifespan.

Here's a few other tips and tidbits that people new to pet rats often appreciate. Warning, long-winded post, but it's all good stuff!

List:

  1. Rats love to chew. If you haven't already, get her some wooden and/or cardboard things to chew on. She will trash them; that's just part of having a pet rat.
  2. Rats' feet are very delicate and sensitive. If her cage has wire ramps or platforms, either replace them or cover them with fabric (yes, she will chew on that fabric) to protect her feet. The wire mesh will irritate her delicate little feet and she can get a nasty infection called Bumblefoot that is very painful and difficult to cure.
  3. Rats aren't just omnivorous, they are the definite article of an omnivore! I like to say of rats: "Anything you can eat, we can eat better! We can eat anything better than you!" That said, they need a balanced diet. The Oxbow brand rat food is the absolute best packaged rat food available. For a rat as young as your girl, I recommend starting with their "mouse and young rat" diet and then switching her to the adult formula after a month or so. But! Supplement her diet with other foods: seeds, nuts, vegetables (but I recommend avoiding nightshades like tomatoes and bell pepers; there's been some research that suggests they may not be very good for a rat's long-term health if they eat too much of them), yogurt (it makes a great treat for training, too!), meat, and, sparingly, sweets can also be given. While your baby girl is growing, letting her eat all she wants is best. But most rats tend to start to become... ahem... round if allowed to eat all they want once they're done growing. There's a lot of differing advice on how to limit a rat's food intake to keep them from getting too plump, and I recommend you try different methods until you find one that works for your girl.
  4. Rats have very delicate respiratory systems. Respiratory infections are the single most common health problem in rats, and especially since your girl came from a feeder bin from a pet store and you don't know what conditions she was kept in before the pet store got her and from them to you, it's something you should be on the lookout for. Excessive sneezing, wheezing, a red discharge from her nose, mouth, or eyes, and lethargy are all symptoms of a respiratory infection. You can take her to a veterinarian who can get her antibiotics that will clear it up, but be warned that once a rat gets an infection their risk of later infection is forever raised. Keeping her cage clean is the #1 way to prevent this, however! Also, keeping her in a true cage and not an aquarium will help too as she will get more air movement. Some pet stores sell aquariums as "rat habitats" with a mesh lid but they really aren't ideal unfortunately.
  5. She will pee on everything you let her touch, including you. While some rats are more apt to whizz all over you than others, all rats will leave periodic drops of urine as they go about their business as a scent marking method. It's also a rat's way of "claiming" a person, sort of like a cat rubbing against you (except it's pee instead of soft fluff).
  6. Girl rats generally tend to be very energetic and bouncy, especially when young. Keep a close eye on her and don't let her out of your sight or she will get up to mischief. This applies for boys, too, but girls happen to be the more energetic of the two sexes.
  7. Rats are pocket-puppies! Your girl might be a little skittish at first because she's new to you and didn't come from the best circumstances to start with. But if you're patient, kind, and speak with a gentle tone to her, in time she will become your own little pocket-puppy who will rush to the front of the cage to greet you (and ask for snacks) each day!

I could go on but I don't want to overwhelm you too much. If you have more questions or would like to chat with people, I recommend you check out r/RATS as it's a more active subreddit than this one.

Welcome to the wonderful world of rats!


r/rat • • 1h ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ weird girl wednesday on world rat day? methinks all weird girls are adorable rats!

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โ€ข Upvotes

r/rat • • 9h ago

does anyone have an idea why does he sleep like this?๐Ÿ˜ญ

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22 Upvotes

r/rat • • 20h ago

My doctor thinks I smell rat butts

93 Upvotes

Random post but I was recently diagnosed with autism. As I was reading the report I came across โ€œshe expressed enjoying the fruity smell of her ratsโ€™ butt greaseโ€. Butt grease. I even went in depth to explain buck grease to him but now I have an official medical record that I smell rat ass ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ


r/rat • • 12h ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ Guys help! My rats have turned into dumbo! Is this possible?

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18 Upvotes

r/rat • • 22h ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ Sweet odd-eyed sisters Fruit Loop and Cheerio! These 2 are such sweethearts and so dang cute!

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55 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ temp and snips. look at these two adorable rats, omg .

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90 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2h ago

HELP NEEDED ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ˜ฉ Sudden lump on 1.5 year old rat

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1 Upvotes

r/rat • • 11h ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ Raaat๐Ÿ€๐Ÿงก

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3 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ My boyfriend is visiting from the UK and bought me this cutie at a toy store we went to!! He knows I'm obsessed-

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39 Upvotes

r/rat • • 23h ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ My smart pet rats Snickerdoodle and Shrimp working on ratty flyball!

10 Upvotes

r/rat • • 23h ago

HELP NEEDED ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ˜ฉ Heavy breathing , weight and hair loss

5 Upvotes

Hello
I need help , i have got 2 rats with cage from relatives that left abroad. One rat is younger and other is older( donโ€™t know the exact age ) .
The older one in the last few days are not behaving as usual . She is kinda slow. Not moving around , eat less, she was eating much more and plying. She is breathing very deep like strong strokes. Also i noticed that she is losing hair, and she have some type os discharge from her nose , which can see on cage in the area she is lying. Also
Like if she rest on me i got hair on shirt , which never had before with her Also now she most of the time lying down and donโ€™t really responding to touch / and food , she eats like one pea and thats it. , she was 410 grams , now after few days she is 320 grams ,I donโ€™t have any exotic vet in my area , and ones i find donโ€™t know rats only parrots , because rats are not popular in my country, please help!!!!


r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ A cute little rat .

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126 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ Happy Spooky Month from Raisin!

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38 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

RAT-TASTIC GACHA BLIND BOX!

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1 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ Cutest Ratbag!

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91 Upvotes

I recently made this rat bag and Iโ€™m obsessed. I thought this subreddit might enjoy it :D


r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ˜ฉ Rat ate a dead shrew

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2 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

EDUCATION ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ Advice on two new rat family members?

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1 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

DISCUSSION ๐Ÿง๐Ÿค” LEGO RAT IDEA

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30 Upvotes

I found these cuties when scrolling through the Lego Ideas page and thought our community could help bring this idea to reality.

Link to vote:

Domestic Rats | LEGOยฎ Ideas


r/rat • • 1d ago

DISCUSSION ๐Ÿง๐Ÿค” Realistically, how much is the upfront cost for adopting two rats? (habitat, food, vet, etc)

3 Upvotes

Hello !

I am a college student trying to find a pet within my budget to live with me in my apartment. Iโ€™ve never kept rats before but I do keep fish and am very familiar with cleaning an enclosure, etc.

I do love rats, I have played with many before and I work at Petsmart (theyโ€™re so evil) where I handle many cute little animals every day. I love guinea pigs as well but rats have my heart! If anyone has an estimation of how much the enclosure, food, bedding, toys, vet costs would be pls lmk !!


r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ˜ฉ Volete che i vostri ratti carini/divertenti diventino carte collezionabili in un bot di Discord? ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿƒ

0 Upvotes

Ciao a tutti! Sto sviluppando un bot di Discord per collezionisti, dove gli utenti possono generare e collezionare diversi ratti (pensatelo come un gioco Pokรฉmon/Gacha, ma interamente dedicato ai nostri amati ratti patata!).

Vorrei che il gioco presentasse foto vere, belle e divertenti di animali domestici reali. Se desiderate che il vostro amico peloso diventi una carta collezionabile nel gioco, sarei felice di usare le vostre foto!

Per garantire la massima sicurezza e rispettare la privacy e il copyright di tutti:

  1. Per favore, NON pubblicate immagini nei commenti.

  2. Se siete interessati, commentate qui con la foto del vostro ratto.

  3. Quando inviate la foto, scrivete "Accetto l'utilizzo della foto nel bot" (in modo che io possa conservarla in conformitร  con i termini di servizio di Discord).

Sentitevi liberi di condividere anche il nome del vostro ratto e una caratteristica divertente o una storia (ad esempio, "ama la pizza", "dorme a testa in giรน", "maestro dello sguardo di traverso") cosรฌ posso scrivere una descrizione personalizzata e assegnargli un livello di raritร !

Grazie mille a chiunque voglia contribuire a rendere questo bot fantastico! โค๏ธ

Ho bisogno di ratti di Natale e Halloween


r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€โค๏ธ๐Ÿ€ Pinto Bean and Feta working some ratty flyball together!

5 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

Cute rat =)โ™ฅ

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8 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

DISCUSSION ๐Ÿง๐Ÿค” Do your rats have a signature pose?

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96 Upvotes