Anyone else have pet rats?

looby1975

I am am reasonably new to the wonderful world of pet rats. My daughter always wanted them when she was younger but in my ignorance I said no because I thought they were disgusting, dirty, bitey and smelly.

Last summer while home from uni she bought some which I agreed to as she would be taking them back to her flat in under a month. I fell in love with them and a couple of weeks later my son and I had our own large cage and 2 ratties (raggedy and storm) of our own. Then a third when dd bought me another for my birthday (microft).

They are the best pets I've ever had since my childhood dog, I'm not well enough to care properly for a dog now so the boys are just perfect for me.

Anyhooooo after all that do any other rat owners have any tips about the best things to keep their teeth down. Ours devour everything that's in their cage (for etc, wooden chew sticks, dry pasta, cooked bones (they go mad for the marrowbone and chew the bone to get to it) They are now munching their way through their rope hammock and constantly decimate their snuggle hammock (we go through at least every other month lol) Their teeth are fine but it's costing me a mini fortune

pawsies

Raw veg?

I would just give them things to chew every day in their diet so they are satisfying that need rather than needing to chew their environment.

looby1975

oh yeah they get raw carrot, broccoli etc every day. They go bonkers for frozen corn on the cob too. The main part of their diet are hard rat nuggets which they happily munch away on.

looby1975

oh they also get plenty of stimulation every day and free roam for at least an hour a day so it's not because they are bored.

Have any rat owners given their rats rawhide dog chews? I've had a look online and the jury seems to be out as to whether they are ok or not to give as a chew.

pawsies

Worth a try? They are omnivores so probably enjoy a bit of everything

danih

Check out the trees around your home and local area.

My neighbours have an apple tree - the branches are safe for my guinea pigs - and similar rodents. Free too!!

We had rats a few years ago - great pets and super clever.

Person_one

Some of mine once chewed a curtain to shreds when I left the cage too close one day, wouldn't recommend that though!

They are great pets, I really miss having them around but I just hated their short lifespans.

looby1975

Person_one wrote: »

Some of mine once chewed a curtain to shreds when I left the cage too close one day, wouldn't recommend that though!

They are great pets, I really miss having them around but I just hated their short lifespans.

yeah mine have had the curtains too They are cheeky sods they use their tails to hook things into the cage to chew on! They managed to get one of my sons xbox games (just the disc not the box) into their cage, we have no idea how they managed it it was last seen on the coffee table next to but not touching the cage:eek:

I know what you mean about the short life spans, I'll be gutted when my boys go.

meritaten

what about hazel trees? my DDs degue goes crazy when DD takes home bits of my tree. she had a real treat last weekend as we had to cut the tree down and dig out the roots because I had stupidly planted it too close to the wall.
if its ok for Degues then it should be ok for ratties.

looby1975

My daughter has sent me a pic of how small my littlest boy was when we got him. The bigger boy is Storm and the baby is Mycroft.

I totally forgot how tiny he was.

hgotsparkle

We give ours dried pasta, they love it and it helps with their teeth