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I`ve had several pet rats and they are wonderful pets,I kept the graphics down on this page so it would load fast.
some things to know about pet rats
1) baby rats tend to defecate on
you as a defence when they are scared. with patients and some time they will
love to be handled, but you may need to wear old clothes and cover any furniture
they are on until the get old enough and more secure to handle this.
2)
they are born tame by nature they tend to be the victim rather than the
aggressors in nature.
3) scientists have discovered that they can
actually laugh. they have a separate sound wave they make when being tickled
etc.
1)wire cage with a solid bottom is preferred like a small rabbit cage.
A
glass aquarium doesn't allow enough air to circulate therefore causing many
breathing problems,skin problems etc.
DIET
Regular hamster and gerbil type diets are not the best for pet rats they will get way too much fat from these diets and also over eat causing serious health problems including heart disease. remember all the things that they have linked to humans having too much fat in their diets was discovered on our little lab rats the same species we have as pets.
in the wild they spend their time hunting food so in captivity when given to
them without "working for it" can cause one of their most common heath
risks,overeating.
you should feed them a condensed rodent food often called
lap block or rat block.
don`t forget their tummys are tiny when giving
treats. a drop of yogurt or one cornflake once in a while is fine but never feed
them cheese. if you do it could lead to another common killer dehydration from
diarrhea!
once in a while you can give them some hamster gerbil mix but very sparingly.
BEDDING
They must have bedding and this seems to be a
debate between owners . I have found aspen to be the most absorbent,but some
others will work as well.
another good idea is to line their bedding with some pelleted newspaper sold in pet stores called yesterdays news. Sometimes you can find it in the small animal section but if you get it in the cat litter section you get more for your money.
which ever you choose be sure you NEVER NEVER use cedar bedding!
rats have insiscissors for front teeth. This means they keep growing and unless they have something to gnaw on they can have them grow too long causing many heaths problems and also it could be very painful.
after all they are rats and what do rats do?
It would be best if you give them a few days to get used to their new surroundings.After all would you like to be interrupted right after moving ? Imagine trying to unpack boxes and arrange your furniture in your home.
Rats are nesting animals and need to time to do so.
when getting ready
to handle them GO SLOW. start by just offering them a rat block ,if they don`t
take it out of your hand back off and try later soon they will love to see you
coming because it will mean something good to them. think of each step as a
building block and build on them.
Links to other sites on the Web
the exotic pet
clinic The
Rodents webring rats 3.0