Our motto is ~ Beautiful Pets as Smart and Loving as a Dog only Smaller ~ Frequently Asked Questions This is where you can find some answers to the questions that you have. Please remember that most of these answers come from my years of rat owning but other rat owners may have a different view to mine. These questions and answers are written in a way that new rat owners will be able to understand as they are meant to help owners who don't have much experience as well as to answer the questions of people who are only just thinking about getting a rat for the first time.
eventually breed them is that OK ? ~ A ~ Breeding your rats is fine and its up to you, but please remember that a female is able to get pregnant from the age of 5 to 6 weeks and she comes into season every 4 to 5 days and it only takes a second for a rat to become pregnant. She will then have her babies 21 to 23 days later. She will then come into season again 24 to 48 hours after giving birth so she could get pregnant again right away, rats can also have between 10 and 23 babies in each litter. My biggest litter was 19 and a friends biggest litter was 23. So it is always better to get a pair of same sex rats even if you do plan to breed as you need to keep the girl separate from the boy until you are ready to breed. Only breed your females for the first time between 6 and 8 months then give them 5 to 6 months break before breeding them for the second time, which should also be the last litter for that female. Breeding a female before 6 months of age is not good for her or the developing babies as it can impair their immune systems and cause other health problems to both babies and mothers. Young mothers will be stunted. ~ Q ~ Do rats get sick ? ~ A~ Yes rats do get sick, they do tend to get colds when the weather changes. Some rats get tumors and cancer, although its more common in females, males can also get tumors and cancer especially if given Oranges, Orange Juice, Pepper or Nutmeg. Other problems include Head Tilt, which is normally caused by an ear infection, with the right antibiotics this can be treated to a degree where your rats head isn't completely twisted to the side. Please take your rat to the vet at any sign of illness, lump, head tilt, eye problem. Rats deserve the same type of health care that you would want for yourself if you were sick.
~ A ~ The biggest cage you can possibly afford is the best for your rat or rats as its always better if your rats can have lots of room to move about and explore and play.
~ A ~ Rats can basically eat anything that you do. Their diets should include a dry food mix, I find a home made one much like muesli is better than most pre-mixed shop ones which tend to get wasted by the rat only eating the small amount of ingredients that they like. You should also give your rat fresh vegetable, fresh fruit, and the table scraps, they enjoy chicken bones and love cooked chicken, fish, chops and steak, they will also eat sausages and any other type of meat. They love cooked pasta and rice, mine enjoy strawberry yogurt and baby food of any type. So your rat will enjoy a variety of things and its simple to just cook a little bit more at dinner to give to your rat. Rats do need to eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and grains to have a healthy well balanced diet.
~ A ~ Rats do get bored so toys are a good idea, but not every rat will want to play with toys, so don't worry if your rat is one that doesn't seem interested. Most rats are not interested in rodent running wheels either, but you can give it a go if you like.
males together.
and more living together at times with only a few disagreements during the teenage years or sometimes with the rats close to or over two years old. As older rats can get very grumpy, especially with younger more playful rats. Also just like people sometimes 2 rats may just not like each other and that goes for girls as well. ~ Q ~ Can I have my rat de-sexed? ~ A ~ Yes you can. It is cheaper to have your male de-sexed, but getting females done help to lessen the risk of female mammary tumors. Males can cost anything from $60 to $180 to be de-sexed depending on which vet you go to. Rats do have a higher mortality rate when it comes to surgery, due to the anesthetic and the effect it can have on their hearts and lungs. Some rats just wont wake up and some will but die a short time later. So always try to find a vet who knows about rats. I personally prefer not to de-sex unless its absolutely necessary.
mother not producing milk, young or inexperienced mothers hurting their babies by accident such as biting off limbs or skin while cleaning up the baby and cutting the cord. Some mothers will eat babies if there is something wrong with them that you cant see or if the mother knows that she is unable to care for that many babies, as litters can be as large as 23 or more babies. Some mothers need to have surgery to remove the babies. Blue females can have bleeding and birthing problems and Manx females shouldn't ever be bred from, unless you get them xrayed to make sure they don't have shortened spines.
~ A ~ Yes some rats who are born may not be classed as normal. One of the most common problems, especially in DownUnder lines is babies born with no eyes, a missing eye or small eyes. Occasionally you may get a deaf rat but this can be harder to spot. Now and then you may get a rat born with a missing leg. Occasionally you may get a rat born with brain damage due to lack of oxygen during birth. Some defects are caused due to mothers being too young or not getting enough nutrients while pregnant. Most babies born with problems will die sooner than a normal rat, but many can have happy fairly normal lives in that time. I have had both Blind / no eyes at all and Deaf rats who have lived fairly normal lives as they know nothing different so to them their life is normal. If a rat is born with or develops teeth problems due to a knock to the mouth when young, the teeth may grow wrongly, stopping them from being worn down. This will lead to the teeth needing to be trimmed every 2 weeks, otherwise the teeth will cause problems such as digging into the mouth or cheeks and stopping your rat from eating, in which case it may die. You can have the teeth removed but this is expensive and is major surgery so the chance of survival is low. ~ Q ~ Please let us know if you have any questions that you would like to see on this page. ~ A ~ We will then put them here and try to answer them for you. Thank You. |
Some Frequently Asked Questions
Bozzy Rats
~ Beautiful Pets as Smart and Loving as a Dog only Smaller ~
Bozzy Rats
Bozzy Rats Rattery ~ Australia ~
Our Boys Page
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Nursery Page
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There you will see current litters.
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Rescues Page
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Maethor comes from Warm Fuzzies
Rattery in Victoria
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Maethor to be taken to our links
page, where you will find links to
other Ratteries and pet sites.
Maethor comes from Warm Fuzzies
Rattery in Victoria
About Us
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