r/rat • • Jan 10 '26

DISCUSSION πŸ§πŸ€” Are these rats happy? I’m assuming they are since they keep coming back.

Thumbnail v.redd.it
1.4k Upvotes

r/rat • • Feb 06 '23

Overview on a new friend - thank you u/Drakmanka

9 Upvotes

Drakmanka

To answer your primary question: Yes, rats are very social animals. While they technically can be kept solo, they do not do as well emotionally when kept alone. They will get very lonely when you are away; this is stressful for them and ultimately will shorten your little baby's lifespan.

Here's a few other tips and tidbits that people new to pet rats often appreciate. Warning, long-winded post, but it's all good stuff!

List:

  1. Rats love to chew. If you haven't already, get her some wooden and/or cardboard things to chew on. She will trash them; that's just part of having a pet rat.
  2. Rats' feet are very delicate and sensitive. If her cage has wire ramps or platforms, either replace them or cover them with fabric (yes, she will chew on that fabric) to protect her feet. The wire mesh will irritate her delicate little feet and she can get a nasty infection called Bumblefoot that is very painful and difficult to cure.
  3. Rats aren't just omnivorous, they are the definite article of an omnivore! I like to say of rats: "Anything you can eat, we can eat better! We can eat anything better than you!" That said, they need a balanced diet. The Oxbow brand rat food is the absolute best packaged rat food available. For a rat as young as your girl, I recommend starting with their "mouse and young rat" diet and then switching her to the adult formula after a month or so. But! Supplement her diet with other foods: seeds, nuts, vegetables (but I recommend avoiding nightshades like tomatoes and bell pepers; there's been some research that suggests they may not be very good for a rat's long-term health if they eat too much of them), yogurt (it makes a great treat for training, too!), meat, and, sparingly, sweets can also be given. While your baby girl is growing, letting her eat all she wants is best. But most rats tend to start to become... ahem... round if allowed to eat all they want once they're done growing. There's a lot of differing advice on how to limit a rat's food intake to keep them from getting too plump, and I recommend you try different methods until you find one that works for your girl.
  4. Rats have very delicate respiratory systems. Respiratory infections are the single most common health problem in rats, and especially since your girl came from a feeder bin from a pet store and you don't know what conditions she was kept in before the pet store got her and from them to you, it's something you should be on the lookout for. Excessive sneezing, wheezing, a red discharge from her nose, mouth, or eyes, and lethargy are all symptoms of a respiratory infection. You can take her to a veterinarian who can get her antibiotics that will clear it up, but be warned that once a rat gets an infection their risk of later infection is forever raised. Keeping her cage clean is the #1 way to prevent this, however! Also, keeping her in a true cage and not an aquarium will help too as she will get more air movement. Some pet stores sell aquariums as "rat habitats" with a mesh lid but they really aren't ideal unfortunately.
  5. She will pee on everything you let her touch, including you. While some rats are more apt to whizz all over you than others, all rats will leave periodic drops of urine as they go about their business as a scent marking method. It's also a rat's way of "claiming" a person, sort of like a cat rubbing against you (except it's pee instead of soft fluff).
  6. Girl rats generally tend to be very energetic and bouncy, especially when young. Keep a close eye on her and don't let her out of your sight or she will get up to mischief. This applies for boys, too, but girls happen to be the more energetic of the two sexes.
  7. Rats are pocket-puppies! Your girl might be a little skittish at first because she's new to you and didn't come from the best circumstances to start with. But if you're patient, kind, and speak with a gentle tone to her, in time she will become your own little pocket-puppy who will rush to the front of the cage to greet you (and ask for snacks) each day!

I could go on but I don't want to overwhelm you too much. If you have more questions or would like to chat with people, I recommend you check out r/RATS as it's a more active subreddit than this one.

Welcome to the wonderful world of rats!


r/rat • • 3h ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ My sweet and smooshy senior rat Crumb ❀️

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

25 Upvotes

r/rat • • 4h ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ My cotton puff of a rat Milk doing some spins and paws!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

18 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ Sleepy Rats

Post image
211 Upvotes

r/rat • • 5h ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© are my rats fighting or playing??

2 Upvotes

i got a female rat in sunday, and i didn’t realize they needed a friend. it’s now wednesday, and i just got her another female to have as a friend. we slowly introduced them, and they are now in the cage together. i looked it up and i know the red flags and normal play behavior but im just making a post incase. at one point they were rolled up in a ball together. no one was crying like they were hurt, and no blood was drawn. i’m just very very very nervous and i don’t want anyone to get hurt. no hair is standing up either, so im genuinely assuming this is fine and they’re just wrestling, but i can’t tell as this is my first time owning rats


r/rat • • 4h ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© Fighting or Playing

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

Please read the attached :)


r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ Feta the rat entering nakie egg mode! Plus spotlight-stealer Crumb :P

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

28 Upvotes

r/rat • • 16h ago

Rats in Boston

3 Upvotes

Hi all,

I live in Boston with no car. The closest active rattery I could find near me is Bard; who sounds great (and honestly if I get rats that's probably who I will go to).

However, this will be my first rat adoption so I'm taking my time and weighing my options.

Does anyone in the area know; are options for ethically bred rats always this limited in the area? I would really love if there were a rattery closer & more readily accessible to me where I could maybe visit before committing to adopt.

I did register to foster for Mainely; who don't seem to have much going on in the city either. Coastline seems to be on hiatus. There was a breeder called Firefly who quit a few years back because the adopters were breaking their trust; broke my heart to read that because I'm a short walk from both a Petco and that god awful pet store on Harvard Ave.

Sorry this turned into more of a rant than a question I guess. I just feel like it shouldn't be so much harder to find a healthy, happy, and respected animal than it is countless abused ones.

Please if you have any Boston resources for adopting happy rats please share!


r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© New rat had deep sore on back above leg

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

4 Upvotes

Just got 3 rats and one has a pretty deep wound on her back. I got them from a random girl who couldn’t take care of them and they are all under 2 months old. She seems ok and it does not seem to bother her. I am new to owning rats.

One of the others is also sneezing a lot, I did just bring her home but she is have fits. The others seem ok with no sneezing but I know a new environment and smells can make them sneeze.

I know they can heal but it looks decently deep, not sure what to do please help.


r/rat • • 16h ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© Older rat pulls younger one around

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/rat • • 22h ago

What is this sound coming from my white rat

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ My pet rats Chickpea and Fruit Loop playing vs basketball!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© Is she afraid of me?

Post image
14 Upvotes

r/rat • • 23h ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ the boy who loves coming out the most and all of them in their dig box <3

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ I took my rats to a school event and Cheese chilled on her back almost the entire time!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

155 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© ADVICE NEEDED: Picking up my babies

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

please read the attached post :)


r/rat • • 2d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© What variety is he?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

178 Upvotes

I’m in the uk so I will be using uk terms! He is almost the same shade as my blue point Siamese but a little lighter, I had initially labelled him a blue point Himilayan but question it now that he is 14 weeks and has yet to develop points.
Could he be Russian buff? He does have heathering but I considered him too warm for Russian buff, and he doesn’t meet the criteria for ivory


r/rat • • 1d ago

Looking for an Affordable Rat Surgeon in the NYC Area

Thumbnail gallery
6 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ My rats being ratty ambassadors a public event!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

40 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© TW- postneuter wound Spoiler

Thumbnail gallery
3 Upvotes

Any neuter experienced owners?


r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© Rats with uri doesn’t seem to be clearing up

2 Upvotes

Hey all, I got three rats about a month ago. When I got them the previous owners had hay in their cage and a bunch of other stuff that wasn’t good for them $2k+ in vet visits and a revamp of their cage later they mostly seem to be doing better. We use liners on the cage instead of bedding, we frequently clean, we have an air purifier. However the one rat is still randomly coughing/heaving? It’s not excessive but I’m not sure why it hasn’t stopped, they got antibiotics and everything from the vet and we’re going in again on Thursday to check up on them again but is there something we’re missing in preventing this from happening?


r/rat • • 2d ago

CUTENESS β€οΈπŸ€β€οΈπŸ€ Cheerio the rat spinning...and randomly deciding to also do some opposite spins!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

24 Upvotes

r/rat • • 2d ago

I think I have adopted rats before they were ready

Post image
12 Upvotes

r/rat • • 1d ago

HELP NEEDED πŸ€πŸ˜© is this jolting part of her respiratory infection

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

5 Upvotes