Basic Rat Care Information
Before you buy......
There are many different ways to keep pet rats, but there are a few key elements that every rat owner should know......
Rat temperament is largely hereditary/genetic, but is often variable within a litter or family.
This is why it is very important to speak to your breeder about family history and potential outcomes for temperament for each rat, so that you can be prepared.
Everyone tends to give the same old speech about selecting for health and temperament. If I had a dollar for every time I was told there "is no aggression in the line at all" only to find out later that there is.... I would not be rich, but I could at least buy a bag of rat food haha!
It is important that breeders are honest and realistic about their projects and possible outcomes, as well as putting in effort to uncover any potential temperament issues, including (but not limited to) late onset aggression (LOA) and maternal aggression (MA).
No one should expect rats to be perfect, as every rat is unique. However, a breeder who really knows their animals and who has actively worked towards their goals for improvement, should be able to tell you any potential issues that have a higher chance of showing up in each of their projects.
When breeders and pet keepers are honest with each other, it sets everyone up with realistic expectations that they can feel prepared for and supported with.
Rats are social animals and do not like to live alone.
Human companionship is amazing but can never take the place of another rat friend for 24/7 companionship, play, grooming and keeping warm.
It is best to always have at least 2 same sex rats living together, but preferably 3 or more. When you have a bonded pair of rats living together for most of their lives, if one passes away it can often be very difficult to introduce new rats to the existing one for companionship. The lone rat may not accept new friends, but will also suffer from being alone - an impossible situation. For this reason it is best to have at least 3 rats at any time, so that if one passes away, no one is left alone while you work out if they will accept a new friend willingly or not.
Rats kept in larger groups will often not mourn or even seem to notice the loss of one of it's members, like rats kept in pairs often do.
Rats should primarily be fed a rat specific food block and only be occasionally supplemented with additional foods and treats.
This ensures that they have the optimal amount of protein and other nutrients to support healthy growth and longevity.
While rats do like fresh fruit and vegetables, and other assorted snack food items, these can lead to poor health when given in excess, due to either not gaining enough calories, or gaining too many or an unbalanced diet.
Foods such as Lauke Mills Rat and Mouse Feed and Vetafarm Rodent Origins are specially formulated to be a healthy and complete diet. Lauke Mills has a higher protein content and is recommended for any rat, especially breeding females and growing babies. Vetafarm is a lower protein diet that is best suited to mature males and mature non breeding females.
Rats need access to enclosed spaces and to be free from drafts and fast moving air.
I personally keep my rats in large tubs with top opening aviary mesh lids, with a layer of deep wood shavings on the bottom and upside down containers with doors cut in, for shelter. This enables them to have a natural circulation of air as hot air rises, but to be sheltered from any fast air movement/drafts/breezes. The rats get to dig around in the shavings which absorb moisture and smell.
While I understand that most pet keepers enjoy keeping their rats in big open cages full of cool looking decorations and toys, it is important to still get creative and find a way to incorporate enclosed spaces and bedding material for your rat's wellbeing.
Enclosed spaces (like hammocks and upside down containers with door holes) provide privacy for rats (they are prey animals that like to be able to hide), as well as enable them to get out of any drafts and keep warm. Rats will get sick if they have a constant draft or fan blowing on them.
Having a thick layer of wood shavings or other bedding material enables natural behaviour in rats, as they love to dig around and snuggle into it. It is easy to make deep corflute trays for cages so that you can have shavings inside, and the raised sides will give protection against rapid airflow, also. There are places who custom make these trays for you, with metal capped tops to prevent chewing.
Kaybe's Mousery in Thorneside QLD makes high quality trays for Ferret Kingdom cages.
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All rats are prone to respiratory infections, so it is important to source rats from a healthy/resistant family, but also be prepared to seek veterinary assistance if your pet gets sick.
While breeders do their best to select healthy rats for breeding, it is inevitable that some of the rats that they sell will get sick earlier than expected, and need medical intervention.
Be prepared for this as it is out of the breeder's hands, and can be influenced by genetics, family history, diet, and husbandry such as bedding type, placement of a fan, stress levels, sudden changes in weather and more.
While other rat owners can provide suggestions on how to ease symptoms short term, nothing replaces the advice and treatment provided by a vet for serious symptoms/illnesses.
Deciding to breed.....
If you have decided that you want to breed rats, perhaps ones you are yet to buy, or ones that you already have, please get in touch with an established breeder who can discuss with you what your goals are and what is involved in being a responsible breeder. Breeding rats is a lot more work (and heartache) than it seems at first glance.
The most important thing to remember is to start with the very best animals that you can find, and make sure you can ask about their family history and possible outcomes (for health and temperament), as these can vary greatly between breeders and even between individual projects that each breeder may be working on.
Research, research and more research! While colour, coat type and pattern are usually what draw us in to wanting to breed a certain type of rat, they are the least important factor when deciding on your goals and how to achieve them. If you don't prioritise health and temperament, you can very easily end up increasing undesirable aggression issues, flighty temperament or increased instances of respiratory infections and other health issues.
It is not much fun to own or sell beautiful rats that are sickly or nasty to people and/or other rats (these traits often take a good 8 or so months to show up, too, making it an unexpected problem for the new owner).