# COULD you keep a lone male rat



## Cassies-mum (Jul 22, 2009)

*PLEASE NOTE*
This is a hypothetical question, I am not getting any rats (at least for another 4 years lol) 

Would it be possible to keep a male rat on his own? why
What about a female? why?


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## rosie75 (Sep 14, 2009)

I suppose it's like people really, a minority prefer to be alone, but the majority really do need company.
I would only have a lone rat in exceptional circumstances
Whether male or female, they need company
If you were shut in a cage all day with an hour or 2 out of it, you'd get pretty lonely and depressed.


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## Akai-Chan (Feb 21, 2009)

Yes you can, but it is unfair on the rat as they are sociable creatures and can become depressed if they are kept on their own.

Some male rats however do not like other males and can only be kept on their own, however it depends on their age as males become difficult to introduce when they;re going through puberty. It is often easier to introduce baby rats to them or wait until they are fully mature before introducing.

Female rats are a lot easier to introduce and should not be kept alone. I have never known a female to not like other rats, so there is no reason why they should stay on their own.

I don;t see why you would want to keep a lone rat anyway, they're much more fun and active in 2's... or 3's... or 6's... 

Peace
Akai-Chan


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

i would never ever keep a lone male rat.

the only time i woyuld do this if the rat was agressive towards other rats and even if he had been neutered and still agressive.

rats get depressed when on there own.

read this as to why rats need company.
Fancy Rats | Information | Why Rats Need Company

amy.


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## Midnight (Jan 17, 2009)

My Friend has  
http://www.petforums.co.uk/rodents/68687-anyone-got-house-rat.html


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

My 1st rat was a lone male, but I didn't know any better at the time & there weren't the resources we have nowadays- this was in 1990 & the book I had stated that it was ok. Now I wouldn't do it with either males or females unless there was a really serious agression problem & even then I'd try & work out some sort of solution


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

I would wonder why you would want to keep a lone rat?  Rats are much better in groups and it's lovely seeing my 3 playing together and grooming each other. They would be so depressed alone. 

The only reason that I would have a lone rat is from a rescue and they had tested that rat with other rats and he/she was simply unsocialable. That would be the only time a lone rat is acceptable.


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## fluffosaur (Dec 10, 2009)

I think everybody else has said - they get seriously depressed if they are on their own. Why would you keep a lone rat anyway?? If you want one animal who isn't going to do much get a hamster. 

They're pack animals & must be homed in pairs or more. I think a lot of people on this forum have at least 3 with collections that are still growing !!


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## RattehChickidee (Sep 15, 2009)

My first rat was a lone female. She was on her own for a year as I didn't know they were supposed to be kept in groups at the time (a certain pet shop didn't express the importance). I then became aware of this when I joined a rat forum and tried to introduce her to 2 of my flatmates does. We followed the introductions examples that were given but in the end after weeks of trying, she only preferred to free range with them (which was better than nothing, as she had become antisocial with other rats from being alone for a year i guess - she didn't know how to return the grooming favour etc) but she would go back to her own cage afterwards on her own accord. She was freeranged for alot hours though and her cage door was always open for her. 
When I was living at my mum's, she was out all day with my mum and I mean all day, she'd do the housework with her in her jacket hood lol, so she had constant company as my mum doesn't work.
I now have four bucks, and it does demonstrate how much they enjoy living in groups, (they have someone to fight over beds with , someone to groom etc) I would not keep a rat alone now unless it was absolutely necessary, it's like keeping a human alone all their life without hadrly any interaction.


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

The answer is "you could, but you shouldn't". Unless you absolutely had to ie. you had a rat that wouldn't introduce to others or had lost his cagemate at a very old age. But those would be very rare circumstances, and not impossible to work around (eg a lone grumpy male could be neutered and intro-ed to females, or an elderly rat could enjoy company from another elderly rat, or even kittens have been known to give even the oldest rats a new lease of life).

If you want a rat, you must be prepared to buy two or more same sex rats to live together. If you cannot or dont want to do this, you should consider another pet that doesn't need to live in a group. Rats do.


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## Flissy (Jul 27, 2009)

This is the one thing that worries me about getting rats: obviously if you start with a group you are inevitably going to end up with one at some point 

Unless you keep getting more rats forever or give your rat away to someone who has a group or something, which I could never do with any of my pets


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

Yep that is true. The general idea is to get three rats as your initial group - then if one dies, you still have two left so none are left alone. However it's inevitable that if you decide not to get more rats when your group pass on - one will be left alone - and if you cant bring yourself to home them to someone who will intro new friends, they will stay that way. However this is very different to subjecting a rat to a whole life alone.


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