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KittyKatMe

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I have been doing tons of research, and I finally found a great rattery near me. It is calle Cutie Pie Acres, and specializes in dwarfs. I bought a huge triple story Exotics cage and I plan to get a pair of females. I am on the waiting list, and should be getting them in late October. Any opinions on rats? I have my bunnies and a Winter White hamster right now, so I'm totally psyched to add more to my fur family!:)
 
I. LOVE. rats. I have two but they live at Boyfriend's house now because I'm really really friggin' allergic and I had to be hospitalized because I couldn't breathe after I touched them. :( But they live at Boyfriend's so I can still look at them and tell them how much I love them and blow them kisses, as long as I don't get too close for too long.
 
i have 4 rats and they are great pets they are very intelligent and sweet. the boys are more snuggly but the girls are a ton of fun. they may be more of a handful and make great escape artists, but they are just so fun. i have 2 boys and 2 girls in separate cages of course they make great friends and they should always at least live in pairs my boys never fight my girls will sometimes skirmish but its not bad at all. more of a play thing. they are so awesome and fun though. they really are super cool and are really super smart!!! the learn everything soooo fast! my girls are prety snuggly too so not just boys can be snuggle puddles! just make sure with girls that you get a really secure cage they are true escape artists and very curious to explore.
 
my only experience with rats...

between freshman and sophomore year, my college roommate dumped her boyfriend and got a pair of rats, which we both agreed was a big improvement. unfortunately, she had asked the pet store for two female rats and when she got home and opened the box, she discovered that one of her "females" had boy parts. suffice it to say, she arrived back at school with a cage full of rat babies.

the mother rat, bella, was freaking vicious and we pretty much hated her (took good care of her anyway, ofc) but all the other rats were sweet as can be. they'd sit on your hand and wrap their tail around your wrist and it was super cute.

the funniest rat moment was when my roommate got a new boyfriend and they, uh, hooked up in our dorm room. I came home at like 6 am and looked in the cage with bella and her babies and there's a pair of pink panties IN the rat cage. I was like "hey roomie, why do the rats have your underwear??" lol. apparently they got tossed on top of the cage and the mother rat took the time to tug them completely through the bars and add them to the nest.
 
You should note, the underwear thing can also happen with headphones... Pixel and Kentucky destroyed a pair of Boyfriend's headphones and he was NOT happy. He shouldn't have left them so close to the cage...
 
Any rattery that specializes in rats is NOT one that you want to get your rats from.

Unlike dwarfism in rabbits, dwarf rats are extremely unhealthy for a majority of their lives. And, they don't live as long as standard sized rats. So, instead of two or three years you're looking at around one.

Rats are some of the best pets in the world, so I'm sure once you find a reputable breeder (no working with dwarf, hairless, or Manx and with an established line) or (even better) a rescue, you'll never want to be ratless again.
 
the underwear thing that can happen with ANYTHING my rats will pull sweaters through if they can usually they can get the whole sleeve through the bars. they are exceptional at ding the seemingly impossible. i swear i would put things down several feet away from the cages and some how id find a sleeve completely pulled into the cage covered in bedding and holes chewed through it.
 
The cage is a double story Critter Nation. It looks pretty big for two rats, but I'm not sure
 
rat cages are usually pretty good size for rats one thing i would get if i were you is a hammock they sell them at petco and you can just clip it on it will get destroyed but they love it!!!
 
Are you sure It's a critter nation? It'd be 36" long or something like that and be huge and metal. A double critter nation can hold twelve rats (is nearly 6ft tall with stand).

That's a good cage. I'd also recommend martin's cages. Fabulous company and its really affordable. The smallest thats safe for a pair is the 680 model.

Most cages in the pet store are too small for rats with the exception of the rat manor (not ideal of males) and the super pets exotic ( which can hold 4 females and 3 males).
 
Yea, it's a Critter Nation. Someone told me that it could only hold up to two at the most, so I wasn't sure.
 
I too would like to warn you about dwarf rats. They are simply not healthy and live much shorter(often problem filled) lives. Why not get a hamster if you want something small? It's really not fair to the rats.

I have a single CN and it could hold 4 males/5 females in my opinion, so even though it's not a double it's a huge cage in general. I love rats, they just love life and are so entertaining. They'll eat meals with you, play with and clean you, etc. Rats can't have pine or cedar bedding as it leads to respiratory infections.. and I'm going to warn you right now rat vet care is EXPENSIVE. Mine are on medicine forever and I spend $100 a week for their medicine alone never mind food/bedding/other animals. You don't know when/if something will go wrong so be prepared.
 
I second that rar vet care is super expensive. My cheapest rat was 300 in vet care in his 3 yr life. My most expensive I had for six months (she was a year when I got her from the rescue) and during those six months, I spent around 2 grand.

I would argue that my rabbits are a fraction of the cost as far as medical care.

However, they are so worth it.
 
yeah rats can be expensive and with rats thing happen very suddenly. dwarf rats do not live long and tend to have more health issues than regular rats there are plenty of other kinds of rats that are super cute though!

tinker toy one of my rats she is blue rat but shes not very big at all shes not a dwarf she just not very big and shes got a very mouse like face. her daughter miya is also rather small and shes a dumbo (usually dumbos in my experience are a little bigger than normal ear rats) but its very hard to resist those ears!!!!

my other two rats afre soxy an all black rat with white paws and a little white diamond on his chest so not all black but still. and hes a big puddle hes definitely bigger he is also tinkers son. and zaki an adorable himi. whos about as big as soxy.

tinkers had an eye abscess recently and i took her to the vet she had to get some eye drops and an antibiotic its all better now but that was bout 50$ but thats the cheapest vet bill ive ever seen for a rat.
 
I have a dumbo (Kentucky) and a regular rat (Pixel) and Kentucky is only like 2/3 of Pixel's size. Pixel is WAY bigger. Not as in fat, as in his whole body proportions are normal, he's just bigger. Well, I guess they're both a little chunky. ;) But yeah, I'm totally in love with dumbo rats.
 
I'm actually not getting a dwarf; she has others as well! I am actually getting standard, because of the dwarf health issues. Plus, I already have a tiny WW hamster! I'm not looking for small!:)
 

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