# barney our rat



## spida (Oct 27, 2008)

hi all we have a young white male rat, whats best for him food wise .. i give him 'rat food' from the pet shop but anything else i can give him too?

thanks all

san


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## Jammy (Sep 15, 2008)

spida said:


> hi all we have a young white male rat, whats best for him food wise .. i give him 'rat food' from the pet shop but anything else i can give him too?
> 
> thanks all
> 
> san


Firstly welcome to the joys of being owned by rats.

You could try the shunamite diet which can be found if you google shunamite rats and is also available in a book written by the diet founder called The Scuttling Gourmet which can be bought from Acrorats and also a all round good source of rattie info is Fancy Rats • Index page

Most importantly he needs a friend as lone rats can become very un-happy they are very sociable intelligent creatures. Best to get another male which ia a baby or a youngster as he will take to a baby easier. Intorduce them in the bath and then put them both in a reshly cleaned out cage if all appears to be going well.

What cage do you have and how old is he ? Also never keep a rat on sawdust or wood shavings, shredded paper bioecatolet, cardboard sque=ars are all good.

Any more advice you need dont hesitate to ask.

Have fun with him and lots of luck

Juliet x


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## spida (Oct 27, 2008)

Jammy said:


> Firstly welcome to the joys of being owned by rats.
> 
> You could try the shunamite diet which can be found if you google shunamite rats and is also available in a book written by the diet founder called The Scuttling Gourmet which can be bought from Acrorats and also a all round good source of rattie info is Fancy Rats • Index page
> 
> ...


hiya thanks for the advice i curently have wood shavings in with him as advised by pet shop owner .. will it harm barney using this? ill chage it asap tho .. thanks

best wishes san x


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

yes it will harm him. his lungs i think.....


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## hilary bradshaw (Mar 9, 2008)

it all been said, great advice, love to see a picture of him!


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## Jammy (Sep 15, 2008)

spida said:


> hiya thanks for the advice i curently have wood shavings in with him as advised by pet shop owner .. will it harm barney using this? ill chage it asap tho .. thanks
> 
> best wishes san x


Wood shavings can cause resp infections and damage there lungs i highly reccomend Biocatolet at around £4.50 for 12 Litre a bag it isnt cheap but on this mine only need a full cleaning out once a fortnight and it is so easy to just scoop out with a dustpan wipe around with cage cleaner and then replace with fresh litter. Also VERY easy to get from sainsburys and pets at home.

I do strongly advise getting him a friend of same age if hes a baby ? or younger than him.

Any advice you need dont hesitate to ask.

Enjoy him.

Juliet xx


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## Jammy (Sep 15, 2008)

Plus you gotta show us piccies please x

Also what colour and age is he ?


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## spida (Oct 27, 2008)

barney is mainly white as u can see lol but he is developing a black streak around his back, not a gr8 foto i know its off my fone .. im not sure his age, but weve had him about 4weeks and i was told he was a few weeks old ..


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## u-look-like-a-hamster (Aug 17, 2008)

Aww he is sweet

you should get him a younger buddy though

xx


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## Kuroku (Oct 21, 2008)

spida said:


> hiya thanks for the advice i curently have wood shavings in with him as advised by pet shop owner .. will it harm barney using this? ill chage it asap tho .. thanks
> 
> best wishes san x


Pine and Ceder based wood chip can irritate the rat's lungs, this will cause respiritory infections.

I use cardboard based bedding (BedXCel) which is actually horse bedding but costs the same as a bale of woodchip. It's great stuff and easier to clean! Yesterday's news is a good cat litter for litter boxes. If not then Breeder Select litter is just as good (sold as Pets at Home).

As for food, I feed based on Alison Campbells "Shunamite Diet", it's basically a mixture of pellet-free rabbit food (Alpha Herbal Deluxe), senior dry dog food (Burns or James Wellbeloved), sugar free cereals and a bit of dry pasta.

Commercial rats foods I found are rubbish. Not many people know that dried sweetcorn which most of the foods contain actually increases the risk of cancer in rats!

As for treats, fruit and vegetables are the best. But don't give male rats citrus fruits (increases risk of kidney cancer). Curley Kale is the best form of veg you can give them, but not too much or he'll get the runs!

Echoing the others who are saying to get him a buddy. Rats should never be kept on their own. They will end up becoming depressed, withdrawn and difficult to handle.


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## spida (Oct 27, 2008)

thanks for all the advice .. i was wondering wud barney still be depressed even tho we handle evry day and inter act with him evryday?

just with getting another rat im not so sure about .. wont 2 male rats fight? and if we have a female rat .. babies lol ..


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## Jammy (Sep 15, 2008)

spida said:


> thanks for all the advice .. i was wondering wud barney still be depressed even tho we handle evry day and inter act with him evryday?
> 
> just with getting another rat im not so sure about .. wont 2 male rats fight? and if we have a female rat .. babies lol ..


Hiya

Rats are very social animals and if you get him another male companion of around 6 weeks or so normally a young male rat will accept a baby

NO I would not suggest you get a female as yes you will get bubs which all need homes to find.

If you go on National Fancy Rat Society website you can get a list of breeders emailed to you and you may find someone near you has a litter with some babies (kittens) available but you will need to get a pair as most breeders will not sell sell a single rat because the very problem you have can arise. If you take him to meet the breeder they may allow you to take a single kitten but that is down to them.
Also on fancy-rats.co.uk/community there is a lot of rescue's need good loving forever homes too.

Lastly yes handling him lots is fab but he will be much happier with company I assure you i have had bothgroups and lone rats and rats in groups are in my experience wa way happier.

Any help you need or if you need any help getting in touch with breederes dont hesitate to pm me.

I think you are to be commended in asking for advice and wanting the best for Barney.

Lots of luck.
Juliet x


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## tj1980 (Apr 4, 2008)

all my male rats have been introduced at different times as they are all different ages, i have never had a problem with introducing them. As jammy said before do it it the bath and make sure cage is clean and they should be fine. i have 8 boys all in together raging from 2years to 6 months


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## spida (Oct 27, 2008)

thanks all esp juliet (((HUGS))) to you all .. thanks so much x


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## spida (Oct 27, 2008)

i was thinkin abt what u all said abt gettin barney a buddy .. what size home will i need for 2 rats?


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## Jammy (Sep 15, 2008)

spida said:


> i was thinkin abt what u all said abt gettin barney a buddy .. what size home will i need for 2 rats?


Depends what cage you have now if you go to fancy rats main site there is a cage calculator and if you enter your cage measurements and select 2 cubic feet per rat (most commonly used) it will tell you how many rats your cage is suitable for

Hope that helps

Juliet x


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## owieprone (Nov 6, 2008)

pets at home rat nuggets are very good, mine love them. specially rolly, who ignores all other food till these are gone.

I put my rats on newspaper, with a litter tray full of biocatolet, saves cleaning and lets them sort out their own bedding from the paper. none of my rats have ever liked the bedding stuff petshops.

I would definately try to get a mate for your rat as it's much kinder to give them a friend of their own sort, even if you play with them everyday for hours.

I've had three rats that wouldn't get on with other rats so had to be kept alone but as i was at uni when i had 2 of them they got played with for many hours a day and were kept beside each other. our current loner is our only male and he, rolly, is too aggressive to be kept with others. our first clue to this was the fact we adopted him at 1 y/o and he had a large lump out of his ear  he has a friend in his cage tho, croc the toy crocodile, who he loves and hasn't destroyed! 

but they are the exception really, the 2 that i had at uni mellowed in their old age, 2y/o, and finaly got on then accepted baby cage mates. they both died over 3 y/o. 

barney is the spitting image of our siamese girl, heckler, (dead) very cute  good choice


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## nimbusrattery (Nov 14, 2008)

The effects of pine and cedar shavings on the respiratory system is debatable, I used it for many years without any effects on my Rats. More importantly it has been linked with liver damage in rodents although this has only been tested in laboratories. It really is best to use something else to be on the safe side. You could try straw, hay, auboise, megazorb, hemp, finacard, bedexcel, bedmax, ecobed, yesterdays news, back 2 nature or anything similar to those products. As for food the Shunamite diet is an excellent recommendation, perhaps you should just the fancy rats forums where Alison Campbell the creater of the diet is a member. There are plenty of discussions in the feeding section and you will be able to ask direct questions to Alison. The website is Fancy Rats | Home


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