# Fancy Rats



## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

Hopefully in the near future I will be getting some fancy rats. Now I'm not new to owning rats but wouldn't consider myself a pro either.

The cage I have is suitable for 4 rats according to different rat cage calculators and my own calculations. However I will only be having 2 in this space.

I'll be using paper based bedding like carefresh, fitch and breeders select as these have been tried and tested and work for me and all the rats I've had.

They'll be fed science selective pellets as my previous rats did well in these too and at the time was considered one of the best foods. Hopefully that is still the case.

I have several hammocks that are all different shapes and sizes as well as 2 sputniks (space pods), bendy bridges, tunnels and houses. They'll have litter boxes, a digging box as well as a scramble net, water bottles, water bowls, food bowls and chews. 

Is there anything I've missed so far?


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## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

Well, they're home. Meet Inky (white on face) and Splat (all black with white on tummy). They're 8 weeks old and super tiny.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

So, you're not getting gerbils now?


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## anachronism (Jan 30, 2014)

Rats do better on mix type foods rather than nuggets on the whole. You can either whip up a mix yourself using the shunamite guidelines or ratrations sells superb mixes.

Care fresh can be dusty, a lot of rat owners are using dust extracted shavings now such as bedmax or littlemax, so something to consider if you fancy trying something new.

They certainly are tiny! Where are they from? They look small for 8 weeks. Get some chicken wings and scrambled egg down them they are going to need lots of protein to grow

ETA I would ditch the food bowls and scatter feed. Much more fun for them than a dish and it stops one hogging all the nice bits


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## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

ForestWomble said:


> So, you're not getting gerbils now?


Maybe in the future but sometimes the devil you know. The gerbils I was going to adopt, one of them had died and the other would only be rehomed if I already had gerbils and I couldn't find any anywhere so I thought best leave it


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## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

anachronism said:


> Rats do better on mix type foods rather than nuggets on the whole. You can either whip up a mix yourself using the shunamite guidelines or ratrations sells superb mixes.
> 
> Care fresh can be dusty, a lot of rat owners are using dust extracted shavings now such as bedmax or littlemax, so something to consider if you fancy trying something new.
> 
> ...


I have tried mixes (shop bought) with all my lot and they were picking out the bits they liked and left the rest so this time I'm using nuggets. I havent tried the shunamite guidelines or ratrations. (I completely forgot about the ratrations website) so I'll look into those. (They were weaned onto pellets so for now they'll stay on it until I find something more suitable.)

Carefresh is what they've got while waiting for the fitch as I prefer that and it's not dusty really. What's bedmax made of? I thought hemp which im allergic to hence why I haven't tried it.

They're from the midlands (breeder and social distancing was followed not like that matters as they're meant to be scrapping it).

I was wondering about protein. I assume babies need higher protein compared to adults. Was thinking of mealworms? Some pumpkin seeds (sparingly). Veggies every other day. Not straight away as they're still settling in. But that's what I'm going to be building up to.

How much egg? Don't want to overload them.

Will scatter feed eventually it's just a temporary thing at the moment to ensure they're eating (which they really are omg little pigs) also going to offer a water bowl along side the bottle as well but got to figure out how to prevent them plopping into it. 

Thanks for taking the time to answer to my post, it's appreciated. If you think of anything else please let me know.


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## anachronism (Jan 30, 2014)

If you are feeding a mix and they are leaving bits you are offering too much  

Bedmax/littlemax is wood shavings. There was a big thing about woodshavings being no good for rats years back but dust extracted ones are absolutely fine and would be a lot better for smell than fitch I would imagine.

They need extra protein until about 12 weeks. An egg between them is fine. A good site for info is the Isamu site if you fancy a Web guide to hand. The scuttling gourmet is also a brilliant book in regards of rat nutrition


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## anachronism (Jan 30, 2014)

If you are feeding a mix and they are leaving bits you are offering too much  

Bedmax/littlemax is wood shavings. There was a big thing about woodshavings being no good for rats years back but dust extracted ones are absolutely fine and would be a lot better for smell than fitch I would imagine.

They need extra protein until about 12 weeks. An egg between them is fine. A good site for info is the Isamu site if you fancy a Web guide to hand. The scuttling gourmet is also a brilliant book in regards of rat nutrition


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## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

anachronism said:


> If you are feeding a mix and they are leaving bits you are offering too much
> 
> Bedmax/littlemax is wood shavings. There was a big thing about woodshavings being no good for rats years back but dust extracted ones are absolutely fine and would be a lot better for smell than fitch I would imagine.
> 
> They need extra protein until about 12 weeks. An egg between them is fine. A good site for info is the Isamu site if you fancy a Web guide to hand. The scuttling gourmet is also a brilliant book in regards of rat nutrition


I've ordered ratrations no9 meant for kits up to 12 weeks and some supplement which they recommend along side it for copper, vit D and something else. I'll mix it in with pellets to begin with then gradually take them off it.

Or I may still add pellets alongside so they don't go to waste. I'll have to find a food calculator so I can ensure the mix of foods is balanced for them and their life stage (which I'm going to read up on now)

Regarding woodshavings, that's interesting. I use paper bedding (fitch) for my hamsters so I would have it anyway. To the human nose it's not strong smelling, smells like paper but not chemically? Hams like digging and foraging in it so assumed the rats would too 

I'll have a look for isamu and the book

Thanks

Edit: just realised what you meant by smell...:Hilarious my brains not with it at the moment lol


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## AnneMarie Thomson (Jan 3, 2020)

A nice sand box? My one used to like that. I loved my rat. Post some pictures please when you get them!


Engel98 said:


> Hopefully in the near future I will be getting some fancy rats. Now I'm not new to owning rats but wouldn't consider myself a pro either.
> 
> The cage I have is suitable for 4 rats according to different rat cage calculators and my own calculations. However I will only be having 2 in this space.
> 
> ...


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## Engel98 (Oct 7, 2018)

AnneMarie Thomson said:


> A nice sand box? My one used to like that. I loved my rat. Post some pictures please when you get them!


Had some issues with them. When I got them they were tiny, about 3 weeks old when they're meant to be 8 weeks. I've never had baby rats so didn't know this at the time. It wasn't until I posted photos that people started messaging me. Anyways, I've had them 3 weeks so they're now 6-7 weeks old.

When I got them they were 55g each now they're 123g and 139g and very solid healthy kittens.

They may not be the same size as peers their own age but their overall condition is great. Also got the majority if not all their adult coat now. Very shiny, soft and flake free. (Had mites or lice when I got them and had to be treated).

They're very agile and confident climbers and must be living in ratty heaven. I'm going to upgrade their cage in the next couple of weeks. In the process of making large hammocks to catch them if they fall.

Their current cage is the savic plaza (H 50cm, L 100cm, W 50cm)

I'm going to get the savic zeno empire 3 to stack on top making their cage approximately 150 X 100 X 50 (HxLxW) so I think they'll enjoy the added space to play.

They've got a digging box with Coco coir mixed with sand. They love it.

They're both quite tame tbh and love my company. Often popcorn around the cage when they see me.

Anyways, meet Inky (black Essex) and Splat (Dumbo black self). They've both grown considerably since this photo was taken


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## AnneMarie Thomson (Jan 3, 2020)

Engel98 said:


> Had some issues with them. When I got them they were tiny, about 3 weeks old when they're meant to be 8 weeks. I've never had baby rats so didn't know this at the time. It wasn't until I posted photos that people started messaging me. Anyways, I've had them 3 weeks so they're now 6-7 weeks old.
> 
> When I got them they were 55g each now they're 123g and 139g and very solid healthy kittens.
> 
> ...


Aww they are lovely. I hope they continue to grow and are healthy. They are so loving and funny. Good luck and cheers for the lovely photo of them x


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