# Anybody else have pet rats?



## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Hi, 

I was wondering if anyone else had pet rats. I have two male fancies. One is so friendly and smart. The other is mean and skittish. 

Wondering if anyonebhad handling tipd to make the other one nicer. He starts fights with the other rat a lot too. Maybe he isn't happy sharing his cage? I bought them at the same time and was told they sre litter mates. The pet store breeds their own rats and normally would sell them as snake food... so in a way we saved them.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Are they neutered? Maybe neutering them will help.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I had two male rats.. Started with one.. He was lonely so we got the second one... They were both pretty nice and cuddly... So not much help there... Mine were not neutered... It could just be that rat.. I had a mouse like that.. She was nasty! The rest that I had were very nice and friendly 
Sorry.. Guess I'm not much help..


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I didn't even know rats could be neutered... I assumed because of their size they wouldn't take anesthesia well. 

We recently upsized their cage and since then they haven't fought as much. Except over food. Usually they're nice to each other. Just wayy different from one another


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Dani-1995 said:


> I didn't even know rats could be neutered... I assumed because of their size they wouldn't take anesthesia well.


I have hear of mice that have been spayed...


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

This is going to sound really stupid but I knew females could be spayed but had no idea about the males... guess I just didn't think about it.

From what I'm reading it doesn't seem like neuturing will help him any. I'm thinking he's just the dominant one which is weird because the other one is so bold. He loves to cuddle and be held and hardly ever hides. The mean one is always hiding in their coffee can house thing. He gets handled just as much. Hes just shy


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Hey I would have never thought either of them could if I didn't read it! Lol!

That's what it sounds like to me... I don't know a whole lot though lol!


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I'm still learning about them... we've had them like 3 months now. Theyre were my brothers but you know how that goes... he stopped cleaning up after them so the next person who isn't creeped out by rats gets them. 

I like them though. Theyre really sweet and fun to watch


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Yep lol! 

I loved my boys  I want to get some more at some point.. But my mom doesn't want anymore rodents in the house.. Well she doesn't want any more animals unless it's a goat pretty much lol! (Or a cat.. She LOVES her cats!)


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## Electra552 (Aug 23, 2013)

I had 4.... We took them on our honey moon)). Yes really....we were dropper feeding them because someone sold their Mom. ( worked as a pet shop manager way back then). They were awesome....lived about 5 years. They travelled to gettysburg, dc, and virginia with us)). The hotel maid musta thought we were crazY! Lol......

Males can be neutered...they live longer, are calmer, and dont mark either! Find a good small animal vet.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Awww that sounds like me! Im looking into fixing them now and weighing pros and cons. Tough finding a vet that knows rats.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Before and after pictures! The nice one, shaggy is black and white and the not so nice one is Scooby. He's the gray one


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## RoseBoerGoats (Oct 17, 2013)

I used to show rats when I was in 4H  I also bred a few to have pups for snake food :shrug: I always had better luck with females. 
The black and white hooded is Leaf and the dumbo is Macy. Loved these girls.I had to get rid of them when I moved. Leaf was so little she could slip through the bars and run around on top of the cage. As soon as I'd notice she'd squeeze back in.  ps the slit in Macy's ear is from a male rat picking on her. That's why I got Leaf.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Aww their so cute! I think my next ones will be females. I've read that peoplenhave more issues will males biting even after being neutered. And I can't find a good vet for them


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## RoseBoerGoats (Oct 17, 2013)

Thank you  best of luck with your rats :wink:


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## Lucky_072508 (Jul 22, 2011)

I've had a total of 80 pet rats in my life, and I'm only 24. Lol. I don't have any currently and doubt I will ever get more (my fiancé is a big chicken around them). 
Witt the skittish one, neutering could help. Otherwise he may just need to live in his own cage. I had a few like that. How much time does he get out of his cage each day? What is his cage size and setup like?


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## Talron (Nov 17, 2013)

I have five rats. All males, had one neutered because he was imbalanced and attacked all the others.
Neutering usually helps male rats settle down.
You could also talk to your vet about prozac my vet had my crazy boy on that before we snipped him and it chilled him out a lot.


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## iloveboergoats (May 4, 2013)

I raise and breed naked mile rats


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## iloveboergoats (May 4, 2013)

Naked mole rats


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## Rasfamily (Jan 4, 2014)

We have numerous rats here including hairless, dumbo and even blues.
Some rats are naturally more aggressive and after years of dealing with them we believe temperament to be a genetic trait.
Rats bred for snake food are usually hooded or albino and those tend to produce higher numbers of babies. They also tend to have less desirable temperaments.
When you get into the rex, dumbo and fur color variants raised for pets or show that are selectively bred you see a huge change in temperament.
Here aggressive rats become snake food, I got my 1st all black hairless recently and we are working on getting blue hairless dumbos hopefully soon.
I also have a blue dumbo who if you put your hand in the cage for anything he runs out and climbs in you hand to be taken out and wants to ride in your pocket.


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Our two, teenaged sons got dumbo rats several years ago as their first, individual pets (not family-owned, but individually cared for by each boy). They were absolutely the best pets for kids, IMO. They're easy to care for and generally like human company.
The first one my eldest son wanted bit the pet store lady three times on the way out of the cage, so she went right back into the cage. His second choice was reserved and slightly skittish around everyone except him, but she didn't bite. They adored them. They lived for close to three years - Twitchtip (my second son's rat) just died last weekend, in fact. They're great pets.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I ended up re homing my two as go to ground training rats. The lady who got them raise jack Russell and trains them to sniff out animals. The rats are not harmed.. just used to get the dog to find the cage their in. 

Both of my males got increasingly more aggressive. One wasn't too bad still but the other was terrible.... I could barely feed him without getting bit or almost getting bit. I was originally going to just re home the mean one and keep the nice one but when I tried to separate them he turned mean too. My guess is litter mates and they don't want to be alone? 

If there is a next time I will be getting a female. No more unneutered males for me... I'll have to first find a vet that will fix them at a reasonable cost


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