Things not to do when owning a rat
(My version of what mistakes I made. This information is to help anyone who like me had a limited amount of knowledge of rats. These are mistakes I made when I got my first rats and are intended as a guide only. These points are the knowledge I have gained in the last two years of being owned by rats and I hope it helps anyone from making the same mistakes as I made. This list will probably go on and be added to because even today I still make mistakes.)
1) Do not feed Hamster food
(I did this when I first got Geri for my daughter kirsty because I thought all rodents eat the same thing. Hamster food is too high in protein for rats.)
2) Do not buy a wheel
(Kirsty was brought a luxury cage with a wheel in it, I thought it would be alright for rats but Bessie now has a slight kink in her tail from getting it stuck in the wheel.)
3) Do not buy one rat on its own
(I brought Geri on her own for Kirsty’s birthday and she was very lonely, fortunately she gave birth 17 days later and I kept 3 girls to live with her.
4) Do not believe a petshop when they sex a rat
(It is very easy to tell which are boy rats as they have an extra bit at the back that is hard to ignore, but it is surprising how many petshop assistance who do not know this and will mix the sexes. Try to look for rats who have exactly the same bits under the belly at the back, if you are still not sure go to a rat breeder instead, they know what to look for.
5) Check the cage thoroughly before buying
(I did not notice that boys were in with girls and the rat I brought gave birth to 7 babies 17 days later. I was told I was lucky because a normal litter is about 12.)
6) Check the petshop out first, I prefer breeders
(Petshops do not always hold the rats everyday and some places do not clean regularly. Ask around to see if anyone recommends the shop first or try to find a rat breeder The National Fancy Rat society (uk only) has a kitten list with a list of local breeders. Use my link to the NFRS site to find out more.
7) Never use cheap sawdust
(It is often full of large bits that can hurt a rats feet and be full of dust which gets up rats and human noses alike. Shredded paper or meadow hay is best or a good quality sawdust.)
8)Never feed tomatoes
(I accidentally put a piece of tomato in the cage and it upset my rats’ stomach, too much lettuce also does this as well.)