I recommend two rats of the same sex, rather than a solo rat. As for a cage, I recommend a Martin's Cage. Also, I would recommend this as some reading. Also, I strongly advocate rescue to purchase, so you can find rats in need of a home on petfinder.com. Best of luck.
definitly get two rats, a single one will be miserable. rather than support pet stores, check petfinder like lovemore said and try to get a rescued one
I just said rat as in made for rats... ) I am going to check lollypop farm (the animal rescue near me) for rats.
You might want to check this site out before investing a small fortune in a store-bought cage. http://www.guineapigcages.com/ Check the forum section under "C&C cages for other pets" and you'll find an entire section just on rats. There is a TON of info there, not just on building cages but also on rat care & health issues. Likewise in the photo gallery if you scroll WAY down, there's a section labelled "Cages for other pets." Rats are even more fun to build for that piggies since they LOVE to climb and you can experiment with multiple levels, ramps & tunnels I currently have a "2x5" one-level cage that we made for our two guinea pigs. Total cost INCLUDING a homemade table to set the cage on and store food & supplies underneath was: lumber for table - $12 coroplast sheet - $20 cubes (on sale at Target) - $13 TOTAL COST - $45 for a 14 square-foot cage... you just can't beat that! They're bigger, FUN to build, easy to redesign and/or create to fit into odd-shaped corners of a room, and they're very easy to clean & maintain. love, mom
C&C's are great! It was certainly affordable for the monstrous size we got out of ours. Sometimes it takes a bit to track down a reasonable source for coroplast but well worth the research and like the momma above said, it's fun!
W/ the C&C, is it safe and secure? I have a cat... I usually keep the doors closed, but better safe than sorry...
Yes, they are. With rats (because they climb) you HAVE to make them with a lid on top... and cats can't get in then anymore than the rats could get out. A few people have said they had problems with cats sitting on the top of a guinea-pig cage and reaching in & "batting" at their smaller pets, but the universal solution to that has been to make the cage one "cube" taller. With rats if I remember right you have to use grids with smaller openings... and a cat's paw wouldn't fit, so you ought to be safe regardless of cage-height. If you were at all worried though, you could always make it higher just in case! love, mom
