Have you always dreamed of having a rat pet, but don’t know what it’s like? Then read this.
Having a rat as a pet is not as simple as it sounds. First of all you should ask yourself: “Am I able to provide this marvelous creature with a home, comfort and stress-free life for about three years?” You wonder, what is a stress-free life for a rat? First of all, you should keep it away from predators, loud noise, and a bad environment. You should feed it regularly and spend at least an hour a day playing with it.
Once a week a rat pet needs to wander outside it’s cage, so you should provide your pet with that opportunity. Find a room where a rat can walk around safely, and you may want to cover the area where it walks with a blanket, so that the rat does not “mark” your room.
The cage must be well-ventilated, and the best cage for a rat pet is a wire one. You can supply it with pet toys, ropes, ladders, tree branches and anything else, whatever you think will make your pet’s life entertaining.
Once you have decided to buy a rat pet, why not buy two of them at once? You should do this because your rat will need company. Rats are social creatures, and nothing can be better for a rat, then another rat. And for you it will be much more fun to watch your rats play with each other. But make sure you place rats of the same sex in one cage of course, if you don’t want to become a proud owner of a whole clan of rats.
Male rats are more calm and easy to tame–they rarely behave aggressive, unlike females. Females are more active and aggressive.
It is better to buy a rat pet from a breeder, rather than from a pet shop. Rats from breeders are tamed and they are less likely to be ill. An experienced rat owner can give you good advice and help you care for your rat.
Photo© Peter Kaminski
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