Help with pet rats, please?

rats are omnivores, so they eat a wide range of foods.

the best dry foods for rats are a home made balanced mix, like the Shunamite diet (commercially availiable mixes are really low quality), or a high quality lab block like Oxbow. alongside the dry mix they should have plenty of fresh foods daily too. lots of vegetables, some fruit, some cooked grains and pulses, sprouted seeds, occasional meat, fish or eggs.

mine have the Shunamite diet dry mix and fresh food daily. the fresh food makes up 50% of their diet.

rats are very unlikely to bite. MUCH less than hamsters, and about the same, or less, than guinea pigs. (I've had plenty more nips from guinea pigs than rats, and I've kept rats for much longer. in fact, in over 20 years of keeping rats I have NEVER been bitten by one)

rats need a large, well ventilated, barred cage. never a tank. four cubic feet is the MINIMUM size for a pair of rats.

they need at least an hour out of the cage daily to interact, explore and play.

they need access to a good small animal vet, and an owner that is willing and able to take them there at the first sign of illness. vet care is NEVER an optional extra with pets, and rats can get sick quite easily. most will need to see a vet at least a few times in their life. so it's wise to put some money aside in case.

rats don't actually need a wheel. some rats won't even use one. if you choose to provide a wheel, it must be 12" across and free from gaps that can trap paws and tails. however it's not necessary. rats don't really find them that stimulating, as it's running without going anywhere.

Tell your mom she may not like them now but I guarantee she will after you bring them home! My mom HATED rats, with a passion! But as soon as she held my little man she fell in love with him! Now I can barely keep her away from him! They have rat food at walmart, it is very cheap I think maybe 3 or 5 dollars. Rats are the most inexpensive pets out there! If you want a rat that wont bite you have to chose them very carefully. Find one that will come up to you and play with you at the pet store. Those are the ones that will be super friendly and LOVE to give you kisses, like my Baby Girl! All you need is a rat cage or an aquarium and some shredded up newspaper or bedding, which you can buy at walmart and thats really cheap too. You will want to get them a house so they can "hide" and sleep in. I have an igloo and a rock house that my rats love! You need a small food dish and a bigger water dish or an attachable water bottle. You also want to get something they can chew on or they might chew on you! lol If you have any questions message me. I hope I helped! :) Good luck picking out your new friends! Oh and your right to get two, they get very lonely and you will need a cage mate. Just be sure to get two of the same sex.

Well-bred rats are not supposed to bite, not even when frightened or scared (although that is no reason to mistreat your pet, of course). Rats that bite are not supposed to be bred from, so that they will not pass on that trait to any pups. Of course if you get a rat from the pet store it is not going to be well-bred so it could have undesirable behavioral traits. Nonetheless, no matter whether you get them from a breeder or the pet store, your rats will probably turn out to be rewarding, amazing pets if you tame them and handle them right.

Two rats will need a cage that is at least 4 square feet in size. The cage should be wire and multi-level (they tend to get bored in one-level cages). Here is an inexpensive appropriately sized cage: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productI...

It is large enough to comfortably house up to four rats. The dimensions are 28.5" long by 17.5" wide by 31.5" high. It has three solid levels and comes with a giant exercise wheel, hammock, food dish, and water bottle. Rats' main diet should be pellets. They are nutritionally balanced and prevent selective feeding. Pellets can understandably get boring, however, so it is fine to sprinkle a high quality seed mix on top for flavor.

Avoid the sugary commercialized treats. They are a waste of money and offer no nutritional value whatsoever. For treats, give your rats fresh fruits and vegetables or the packaged dried fruits and veggies you can find at your local pet store (not to be confused with yogurt drops). Veggies can be fed every other day; fruits can be given once a week.

The supplies you will need is a large multi-level cage, large exercise wheel (preferably 11" or larger), food bowl, water bottle, bedding, food, a hide house, and lots of things for them to chew on. Do not get cedar or pine bedding. Instead of getting a plastic hide house, try getting a wooden or otherwise chewable one. Get lots of things to entertain them---you can get wooden tunnels, bridges, ladders, balls, sticks, and even bird toys. The Petco website has a great selection of them. Rats also enjoy hammocks to rest in.

Other than that, all I have to say is that, contrary to popular belief, rats are very hygienic creatures. They are like miniature dogs and make wonderful pets. They do require a lot of attention, though, so you absolutely have to take them out of their cage for at least one hour every single day of their life. And I mean interacting with them and stimulating their mind, not putting them in some plastic runaround ball.

They eat seeds and grain, their food is almost the same as a hamsters. You can also feed them fruit, veggies and other things like that.

They do not bite, I have had rats for many years and have not been bit once.

They need a cage, water bottle, food, treats, toys, food bowl, bed, bedding (no pine or wood bedding, a paper based bedding is best) and carrying case

Rats are very smart and you can teach them tricks. My rats know many tricks. They don't really smell as long as you keep the cage clean. They don't get many health problems. The most common would be respiratory. Which can be caused by pine and other wood bedding. They also don't coast a whole lot to take care of.

Here are some cute vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxAymFk7z5g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFdSZBdpINw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=qCP-Al_hVCY&fe...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns0Ff0rPkw4