Information

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch, my contact information can be found in the adoption bar.

If you're thinking about getting rats here are some important things you should know before adding some rat babies to your family.

Rats are very social creatures, they need to be in pairs and they need lot's of time and handling for them to learn to trust you and not get bored.

They can be costly when it comes to vet bills but most of the time things stay at a pretty good price. Finding a good vet for your rat can be hard so make sure you have a rat experienced vet near you before adopting your rats.

They can be smelly, I find rats will always have a little smell to them even if you clean their cage daily. This is something you need to know before getting rats as I find people sometimes re-home rats because they "didn't realise they smell". I also recommend you should cover your platforms in the cage with corflute, placemats or thick blankets just to make it comfier for the rats and to help with cleaning. I can give more tips on what to use for cages etc when you contact me :)

As with all pets there will be some cost involved, food, bedding, toys and play activities are all ongoing costs so make sure you do your research before getting your new pet.

Before getting rats you will need to have the items listed below as the minimum.

• A cage - There are lots of good options for cages, and you don't always need to buy brand new. The most common starter rat cage is an RSK (Rat Starter Kit) found at your local pet store or second hand on trademe. Another option is a bird cage, just make sure the bar spacing is not too wide (personally my maximum is 1.5cm, I wouldn't go any bigger) and you will need to add your own levels. Never use glass tanks or plastic containers, as these can cause a build up of ammonia creating an unsafe environment for them to live in. I also don't recommend wooden caging as this can be difficult to clean properly and end up smelling not so great!
• Food - this is essential for rats, rats can eat tons of stuff but for a healthy balanced diet you should either make your own rat mix or purchase the right one from the pet store (some pet store rat food is just repackaged bird seed and doesn't provide them with a fully balanced diet, so watch for that) The only good store bought rat foods are Vetafarm Rodent Origins, Science Selective, Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets and NZ Rat Rescue lab blocks/dry mix you can also buy the lab blocks or dry mix off NZRR (New Zealand Rat Rescue) or some breeders may even sell you their homemade rat mix. But it's cheaper again to make your own, a list of my homemade rat mix will be lower down the page.
• Water- this is essential for rats too, you can either get your rats a bottle that is made to hang on the side of the cage or use a dish, I personally recommend a bottle.
• Hammocks and an igloo - rats love to sleep but they need somewhere cosy and warm to do so, hammocks are really good for this and every rat I have ever owned loves hammocks. Sputnicks are similar to hammocks but they're plastic nests that hang from the top of the cage, my rats love sputnicks, igloos and other things similar made for rats are great too with some rat safe bedding in them, even boxes or big containers work great!
• Toys - rats like to gnaw on things, destroy things and play just like us, to stop them getting bored you should really get some rat toys, I recommend untreated/safe wooden parrot toys and homemade toys (you could do some googling to find how to make your own rat toys).

Rats typically are pretty good eaters, they aren't usually fussy and they will eat just about everything you hand them if you start them on a variety of foods at a young age. Some things are super toxic to rats so it's good to watch not to feed them those foods and try them on everything else.

• Anything moldy as mold and bacteria can kill rats
• Apple seeds (they contain cyanide)
• Avocado seeds and skin (these are toxic)
• Beet tops (can cause urinary tract problems and stones in the kidneys and bladder due to their extremely high levels of oxalates)
• Blue Cheese (the mold that is in this is extremely toxic to rats)
• Carbonated drinks (shouldn't willingly be fed but if your rat gets a little it should be okay)
• Green potato skins and eyes ( contains compounds that form cyanide in the stomach)
• Licorice ( can cause neurological poisoning)
• Citrus fruits (can be fed but should be watched - typically fine though)
• Raw peanuts (may cause red blood cells to clump)
• Poppy seeds (these can cause neurological (brain and nerve) damage in rats and can be fatal.

Pet rats should be kept inside to protect them from the weather, predators, and possible toxic materials such as weed spray or poisonous plants. Rats need about two cubic feet of space per rat. You can use a cage calculator (like this one on the RatClubNZ site) to see how many rats would be comfortable in any cage. All you do is put the measurements of your cage in and it will tell you how many rats your cage will comfortably house :)