1. Companionship

Rats are very sociable, so enjoy being kept with other rats. They have social hierarchs and can suffer sometimes fatal illnesses both mental and physical if housed solo. 

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2. Diet

Rats are omnivores, so eat both animal and plant materials. Be careful about adding too much salt, fat or sugar as this can lead to big issues. There are definitely toxic foods out there so when in doubt, check it out!

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3. Enrichment

Rats need boredom breakers, toys and activity. You can put food inside toilet tubes or offer ropes, hammocks and chews. Most ideally, a deep substrate to forage or burrow in. See Naturalistic & Bioactive Rat Set Ups for more information.

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4. Handling

Ideally, your rats will have been handled from a young age, making interacting with your rats as easy as possible from the get go. It is important to note that rats are still prey animals by nature and so rough handling and sudden grabbing can spook them! Slow, gentle and with lots of reward is the best route! Also, Never pick them up by their tail! It hurts a lot!

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5. Housing

Your enclosure should be as large and as interesting as possible. Instead of thinking about necessities, try to build a world for them. When you aren't around, they are still active and wanting to do stuff and should have a lot of options! While rats enjoy climbing, they enjoy floor space a lot more, first and foremost, they are ground/burrow animals. It's a great idea to cater to this.

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6. Family Suitability

It's important to really think about if rats are the right fit for you and if you are the right fit for the rats. Rats are desperately social and even one elderly rat needs a rat companion. Rats are a revolving door that once you start, it can be morally hard to get out of. When you are done owning rats, you will need to rehome your remaining rat, no matter how  old they are. It's a very lonely existence to be the last of your species and to them, that's what is happening.

 

Are your children too young? Even the most tender and gentle children can be too much for prey animals and as the grown-up, you need to think about if the pet will be in safe hands. It's also important to wonder - will the novelty wear off?

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