Should I get my upcoming pet rat a cage companion?

Rats are wonderful pets, and I am so glad you are doing research before adopting them! Rats should always be kept in groups of two or more. The only time a rat should live alone is if it has aggression issues. This goes for both male and female rats. Whoever said that male rats will eat each other is completely incorrect, especially when they both have lived together since birth. The only time this could happen is if one is extremely aggressive, one has died so the other one is "getting rid of" the body, or two rats who were not raised together or not properly introduced are left together. I have four male rats, and they get along wonderfully. A rat should NEVER be housed alone unless he/she has aggression issues. Oh, and having a second rat really isn't that much more work, I went from two to four rats and I just need to give them food and water more often, and clean the cage a little more often. Also, if there are any in your area i highly recommend you get the rats from a breeder, or from an animal shelter. Rats from pet stores often are not taken care of properly or are born in poor conditions, and often end up with many health issues. But, to answer your question, yes, you should get two rats!

On a side note, before getting rats make sure you are financially ready to handle them. Two of my rats developed tumours and I had to pay $400 to remove each tumour, and one of my rats has chronic upper respiratory infections and needs to be on baytril and doxycycline every few weeks (about $30-60 at a time). I have probably spent well above $1000 on my little guys for their vet care. Make sure you have an exotic animal vet in your area who will see and treat rats! PLEASE DO NOT GET RATS IF YOU AREN'T WILLING TO TAKE THEM TO THE VET.

I hope this all helps you. Make sure you do your research before getting the rats, there is a lot to know about them. Look up proper feeding bedding, housing, training, enrichment, and health problems and how to detect them, etc. Rats are absolutely wonderful pets! Good luck!

Only on rare occasions is it acceptable to leave a rat alone so you should definately get two. Having only one can lead to mental illness and eventually death. Besides no matter how much time you spend with your rat nothing can replace the company of a fellow rat.

Its not true that male rats will kill each other if they have been together for a while although they are more territorial than females by far. Also its not harder to care for two rats over one. Either way you will have to clean the cage at least once a week, etc. if you only get one you will have to spend almost all day with him to keep him happy which is almost impossible.

Also one other thing. I dont recommend buying a rat from the pet store unless it is your last choice. Rats at pet stores are often unsocialized and sick. This can be expensive and ruin your first rat experience. Please try and look around for pet rats who need adopted as these can be the best rats you will ever own...

Best of luck!

This is a common mistake: human attention is NOT a replacement for another rat! No matter how many hours you intend to spend with your rat, it simply will never measure up to having another cage mate with which the rat will play, groom, eat, and sleep with. Buying two rats is a top priority. There is absolutely no reason for you to get just one...

You need to be smart and do your OWN research. People will shout out all kinds of things, such as "rats will fight to the death, so keep them alone." Well yeah, any animal on this planet has the capacity to fight to the death with another of its kind. However this usually will happen when the person responsible is too ignorant to understand otherwise. Most common reasons rats fight is improper introduction, overcrowded/undersized cages, and lack of mental stimulation. If you are a good pet owner with half a brain, this will not happen to you...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with introducing two rats, of the same gender, that came from different litters. You just need to RESEARCH ahead of time, and do it RIGHT.

Definitely get a pair! Rats are highly sociable, they love company. It isn't fair to keep a lone rat unless you can literally spend all day every day with it.

It is actually very rare for males to fight, but rats will often chase each other around the cage and jump on top of each other to establish domiance. This is normal rat behaviour though, not fighting. You only have a fight on your hands if a rat draws blood from another. Yes, buying two littermates will reduce the risk of fighting, but fights are very rare anyway.

Actually two rats are no harder to care for than one. You still only have one cage to clean out, you will obviously need to give more food but you will still have the same number of meal times, so really it is no harder.

Litter mates are not nessecarily the same colour, I have had four brothers who all looked completely different. But oce you get to know your rats, you will find it easy to tell them apart.

The bottom line is: You must get two.

As far as I know, males from the same litter are very closely bonded and won't fight to death. In fact, even rat who became a pair latter probably wouldn't cause that serious injury if properly introduce.

It is really important for a rat to have a companion of its kind. As it was said before, human contact can't replace a rat to rat relationship. Also, If you get two rats, they'll bond with you much quicker since they'll feel safe in the presence of each other.

As for the color, well I currently have two albino girls which my mom finds identical but I can tell them apart with eyes closed. All rats have unique personalities and the more time you spend with them the more apparent they become. Of course, having different color rats means that if you are in the opposite side of the room you can tell the naughty one off much quicker which sometimes is a big advantage.

I home you have many wonderful memories with your rat(s)!

Males will not fight to the death unless they are improperly introduced. I have 8 male rats that happily live together with only squabbles that are common in male rats for dominance over the cage. If you get two males from the same litter they will be fine living together.

Rats really do need another rat companion unless they'd lived alone for their whole life. Rats can't get the maximum happiness if they are alone. Rats love to clean each other, play with each other and over all it makes them feel safer having another rat companion. Rats get sick when alone much more easily as they are stressed.

Just because you get two rats doesn't mean for extra work. Just extra playtime and more cuddles. Owning pets means work and even one rat can be allot. I would get the two.

You should definitely buy two. Its unfair on them and cruel if they are kept alone. Single rats have a much higher tendancy of dying earlier because they get depressed (yes, rat depression exists) and slowly starve to death because they don't eat. They also have a high tendancy to develop bevaiour problems (agression and won't want to spend time with you).

If you had done good research, getting 2 shouldn't even be a question.

Male rats do have a higher tendancy to fight, but most of it is natural dominance. If you have two males and witness them fighting, you should only seperate them if blood is drawn.

In some male rats their agression towards each other can be stopped by getting them neutured.

I have two females and they are brilliant pets. I totally reccomend pet rats. But whatever you do, get more than one. Male rats do bond with eachother just like females do. Many people do not pair two males up, leaving them singly which is just cruel. Nothing compares to having another rat to play, groom, wrestle and communicate with. Nothing in the world.

Good luck!

Get two. If you only get one it will be extremely hard to socialize. Having a buddy makes them braver. One of my rats was very friendly from the beginning, while the other one was pretty shy. The shy one would just follow around the adventurous one and eventually they both would come up to me no problem. I really recommend getting two. You can't play with them 24/7.

Here is a link to why you should have 2+

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cDy3bMRuobE

Another

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5rCQOA-XYg