Rat Care
These are some of my fancy rats saying hello…. Rats, even domesticated varieties still aren’t popular amongst a large section of society, yet they are highly intelligent, affectionate, clean, playful, easily handled….. beating hamsters paws down on the good pet front. Rats are social animals and should be kept in pairs or same sex groups. Their favourite hobbies are to lie in a fleece hammock and doze, or to beg for attention (and yoghurt drops) from any passing human. Rats are omnivorous and so are fed a balanced mix of rabbit feed, dog kibble, cereal and dry pasta, along with some fresh foods, and of course a fresh supply of water. Rats make very good companions, and if you don’t have the room or time for a dog, (or even if you do) a couple of pet rats can be your friends… they love human attention and are good lap-rats, and many will fall asleep as they are stroked, or use you as a playground!
Photo: Chaiyo, Darwin, Matisse, Pablo & Pasha, begging for attention.
I am a member of the National Fancy Rat Society, (NFRS) since 1999, and the Midlands Rat Club for a few years when I lived in the area, and am now a member of the Yorkshire Rat Club.
See the, ‘My Rats,’ page as well… for more past and present residents!
Living Quarters (very empty and way too tidy, before rats moved in properly!)
These are my old rat cages……. the one on the left is from the USA (Ferret/Chinchilla/Rat cage) and is fully collapsible, with 3 1/2 floors. The one on the right is a Terenziani Critter 4 (Rodin) with 3 levels connected with tubes, ramps, & hammocks across the largest drops. I use finacard or ecopetbed substrate (recycled, dust extracted shredded cardboard) on the bottom and have removed the lowest mesh floor. They have various hammocks and houses and grass nest balls to sleep in and always a selection of toys, egg boxes with treats hidden inside etc. I use grass matting under the food bowls and houses, and a litter tray with biocatolet (paper-based) cat litter in it. The tops open up completely and there is a trapdoor on each of the lower levels, with very secure clips. It’s very easy to remove the floors and ramps for washing.Both cages lift off the base by 2 handles at the top. The lefthand cage measures 42” high, 17” wide and 27” long ( approximately 5 cubic feet), and the internal floor space is approximately 10 sq ft. The mesh is 2cm x 2cm. The Rodin cage measures 40″ x 20″ x 31.5″ . I also have a Zoozone medium tank for hospital and OAP use.
Main Cage: Savic Royal Suite Double 95
I love this cage, its huge and so well-designed. The best thing is that it has double doors top and bottom and these open up completely to give full access. It’s on castors, has a storage shelf underneath and plastic shelves on all levels, which are easily removed to wash. The ladder that joins the top half to the bottom can be lifted and hooked up to the ceiling to prevent access – I use this to shut the rats in one half whilst I am cleaning out the other – they are so nosey that the get in the way otherwise! absolutely no lifting or effort with this cage.
Diet
My rats are fed on the Shunamite Diet, devised by Alison Campbell – I recommend that you read her book, ‘The Scuttling Gourmet,’ it has all the nutritional info you need for rats, in a down-to-earth, easy to read and interesting format (now published in the 3rd edition). I read the original book on a flight to the U.S. one day! I mix my adult rats feed in smallish quantities, it consists of Harrisons Rabbit Banana Brunch, (or Alpha Herbal Deluxe rabbit feed) Burns dog kibble, dry pasta, and low sugar cereal such as bran flakes or chex, each ingredient is in specific ratio to the others which is important to remember. Occasionally I add raisins, dried apple rings, dried berries, and seaweed powder…if the rabbit food doesn’t have a high copper content I will give Dr. Squiggles Daily Essentials supplement in a water bottle.
The mix:
This diet is supplemented with small pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables, especially curly kale. Their favourites are fish, prawns, yoghurt and egg - if they are very lucky!! (although its important to really restrict their intake of this sort of thing), and of course yoggies!
They always have access to 2 bunny size bottles of fresh water.
Treats: oak acorns, haws, and rowan berries in tins ready for drying on the aga to keep throughout the winter (above). Rosehips are great too, sweet chestnuts and beech masts.
Substrates for the cage
Some of the substrates I have used for the cages, over the past few years….. they are mostly dust extracted cardboard or paper based and suitable for small animals. Softwood shavings/sawdust – pine and cedar – contain phenols that can affect the organs of the animal, they are also more likely to be dusty which will inflame the delicate respiratory system of rats. I also use bits of old t-shirts etc, and fleece offcuts for beds and boxes.
Shreddybed Back 2 Nature Finacard
Ecopetbed Biocatolet Carefresh
Hemcore (made from the core of the hemp plant)
I use the paper pellets (Biocatolet / Back 2 Nature ) in the litter trays and the cardboard pieces or Hemcore in the base of the cage….. to distuinguish the litter tray as a separate area from the rest of the cage. All of the above substrates can be easily composted.
Pi winning Animal Champion of the Year (Iskoosnik Photo Show Championship) 2006
Zen winning Pet Challenge and Best Adult Owned Buck at a Midlands Rat Club Show