couple of ?s

[abby]

Don't want to breed rats so was wondering if we get young ones at the same time is it best to go with 2 girls or 2 boys?

Next question, I cannot for the life of me find any rat breeders onthe net or in the phone book in South Oz. Can anyone recommend anyone? Would really prefer to go through a breeder. I have heard good reports about P&K pets though too.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[Leeann]

Welcome Abbey

First off, the choice of either boys or girls is personal preference.
Some ppl prefer boys to girls.
But yes, if you do not plan on breeding then 2 of the same sex is the best way to go.

Buying from a rattery (breeder) is the better way to go.
You can be more comfortable in the knowledge that you will get 2 of the same sex and also the history of the rats too.

I am aware of one Rattery in Adeleaide, I have pm'd you the details.
Some breeders from other states will send rats interstate, so keep that in mind also.

Couple of points to remember if purchasing from a pet shop, they DO NOT always get it right, as you might accidently end up with one of each, so please be very careful and make sure they are of the same sex.
And with pet shop ratties, we never know anything of their history, as alot of shops just get them to sell, can't be bothered knowing much about their parentage. By this I mean, does the line they came from have any health issues.

I am not say don't buy from a pet shop, just be very careful is all.

[Colleen]

Both girls and boys make great ratty friends. Females and more active and inquisitive, they are generally thinner with softer fur, and tend to smell less. The only set backs of girls is that they chew more, and go into heat every 5-6 days... with makes them even more crazy then they usually are. let me say again... they are really active and crazy at times!! Two females get along with each other fine, as long as they have plenty of exercise and toys.

Boys are gentle giants and if you want more of a lap rat, you would go with a boy. They are fat and squishy, and lazy and would prefer sitting on your shoulder rather than running around and investigating. although you can have an exception of both sexes. Only problem with boys, they smell more (which can be controlled through regular clean-outs and using a good litter eg Aspen wood shavings) there fur tends to be rougher, and they tend to be more aggressive toward each other and humans. But if you get 2 boys from the same litter, they may not fight as much, and if you buy them from a breeder, there is a lot less chance of them being aggressive in there later life. a big cage with toys in it helps.

I'm biased, i must admit. i had two boys and they were GREAT!!! they never fought (apart from the odd play fight) and they were ALWAY friendly toward me and all of my family. But the were purchased from a breeder.

both boys and girls bond really well with each other and humans, neither is really better than the other.

[abby]

Thanks for that. I'm a parrot breeder so very pro breeder rather then pet shop. The reasons you outlined are the same for birds.

We've currently got a 2 1/2 year old boy and he's starting to really show his age atm. Josh actually belongs to my 6 yo son who has some problems (mild autism and epilepsy) and has been wonderful therapy for him and just a beautiful loving patient rat all round.

At the moment I'm just preparing for the inevitable knowing that my son will find it hard to lose Josh and knowing that we'll have to fill that gap pretty quickly.

Thanks for the details Leanne. I'll shoot off an email shortly.

[Colleen]

Good Luck with finding some new ratties!

[Gothic Shadows]

Abby I have 2 daughters and one likes female rats and one likes male rats.

I've never had a problem with unrelated males living together or being aggressive to each other or humans.

I've also been around rats for at least 10 years, I actually started out with rats as an experiment and then did a study on them for veterinary studies and over that 10 years I have also talked with many rat owns and have found that although aggression to other rats and humans does happen more in males than in females it is not a common occurrence within properly bred and handled rats.

As everyone has said there are differences with males and females in that males are bigger and more lazy where as females a smaller and more active.

I have a friend with an autistic son and she also has had rats for him as pets, she tried both males and females and has said that for her son she found males were the much better choice.

[abby]

I sent off an email to the breeder that Leanne recommended to me, he's going to get back to me with some more details.
We took the old boy (Joshie) to the vet last night just to talk about comfort measures. He's got some antibiotics but more so my son can see that we're trying something rather then anything else. The vet said as I thought that he's simply become an elderly rat. No tumours or anything, nothing apart from obvious aging. Took some gorgeous photos of my son with Josh yesterday so he has some print memories for when the inevitable happens.
Euthanasia was offered but I suspect that my son would then get fixated on the idea that vet=death. I've got some electrolyte solution in my birdie emergency kit so keeping an eye on his hydration levels and just syringing that into him when needed. It's all about comfort measures right now.

[fizzlesticks]

I've been tossing up over boys & girls as well. Boys sound happy to sit around on my shoulder, whereas girls sound like great fun to play with. Not sure.

[28thrat]

I just wanted to add, someone said earlier that boys are more aggressive towards each other and humans.

From my experience, I've had much more trouble housing girls together than boys. I've had 15 boys housed in one cage without a single squabble. I had to house 3 girls (Whiskers, Dash and Demi) in separate cages for 6 months because one didn't like the others. When I got another girl (Nariz), that Whiskers disagreed with her as well, she was housed alone for 2 months. After her three friends passed away, I bought Wiggles, and it took a few months to house them all together without worry. About 5 months later I bought Spud, and she was introduced without an issue.

I don't understand how males can be considered aggressive to humans, out of 25 rats in the last 6 years, I've never met one that didn't like me/was aggressive. The point is, I believe that a rat's 'aggressiveness' has nothing to do with it's gender, but it's family tree and upbringing. Even so, it can be taught out.

I'm one of the people who love the male rats. xD I find it easy to be able to lye down and watch some tv/listen to music without having to turn around every 5 seconds to check if one of the rats had performed sky-diving into a plate of dog water, skidded across the floorboards with wet feet riiight under the fridge where they hang out for the next week. My boys play for about half an hour and eventually settle down to groom/sleep in my lap. The girls are so much fun when your awake and at it, they love playing hand tackle and all that jazz. Of course, you do get the active male and the lazy female at times. It's all down to the individual rat.

Whatever you decide, have fun with them. Rats are a wonderful addition to the family, and once you get one, you'll never be rat-less again.

[Colleen]

Yesssss, i take back what i said about boys being more aggressive. Its just that my friend got a male rat from a pet shop, and she had endless problems with it. it would just bite every time you stuck your hand to close to it.
BUT don't get me wrong!!! NOT ALL boys are like that, however you are safer buying rats from breeders, i have heard MANY success stories for people buying rats from pet shops and having no trouble at all.
I myself had to boys (purchased from a breeder), and apart for the odd play fight (which was quite funny to watch) they go on fine! My sisters rat died first and my rat became sooo miserable he refused to eat.... thats how close they were to each other!

[28thrat]

My first rat was 'aggressive', but I don't believe in aggressiveness in rats, rather poor socialization. He was old when I bought him. He used to bite me all the time whenever I tried to play with him, but I was only 9 and I was SO excited and optimistic to have a rat, that I just wore a long sleeved jumper and played with him anyway. After about 6 months, I noticed that I didn't need to wear jumpers anymore. I could plop him in my lap and rub his ears, face, anywhere. He bonded to me. All it takes is a little persistence, and I believe any rat can be tamed. This rat died in my arms on Easter day, he was a very special little man.

Another older boy I rescued from a pet store, Hermit, bit the store girl when she got him out for me. This was also due to poor socialization and after 2 weeks of daily handling he became a sweet little man who loves his hugs. Unfortunately, he'd been kept alone all his life, and he didn't know what to do when he met my rats. He got scared and attacked my poor little Moose...so now he only gets along with Kuro, my oldest boy. I'm working towards letting them live together, but Hermit is still a bit shy.

I also had Fez who was aggressive towards one rat in particular, but I ended up separating the rats into two parts and it was fine. Aslan had the same problem, but again, I separated the rats into two parts and it all panned out.

It just depends on the individual.

[Gothic Shadows]

28thrat said:

All it takes is a little persistence, and I believe any rat can be tamed.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with that.

I bred a beautiful litter of babies a few years ago, all were beautiful and friendly when they were adopted out.

About 3 months later one woman brought back the boy she got from me.

He was attacking rats and people. He had become very vicious.

I spent hours everyday working with him, because I do believe that rats most rats who become aggressive can be worked with.

But even after 10 months this boy was still attacking rats and people but the worst thing was that his attacks were unprodictable.

You could be holding him and patting him and he would be fine and then suddenly he would sink his teeth in, you could sitting with him beside you on the couch and suddenly his teeth were embedded into your arm. You could put food in his bowl one day and all would be fine but the next day he would try to take your hand off.

No matter what I did I couldnt get him out of this, its like he had a split personality, with the aggressive personality being the one in charge.

I ended up with a huge rip in my upper arm one time when he suddenly turned on me for no reason.

My partner had a chunk of his hand sliced open when this boy suddenly turned on him for no reason.

The boy became dangerous to everyone because of his unprodictability.

So unfortunately he was eventually put to sleep, that was such a sad day for me.



Of course in all the years I've had rats I've only come across two other rats like him and that a pet shop rat and another breeder rat.

So although it is very rare, there are the odd rats who can not be tamed no matter what you do or how long you try for.

Again let me say here that this is rare and most rats who show aggression can be tamed with patience just like you say 28thrat.

But to make such a blanket statement such as, Any rat can be tamed, is in my oppinion wrong as with everything there is always at least 1 exception to the rule.

Its better to say that 99% of rats can be tamed, because you at least then leave room for that 1% like my boy who goes against everything you believe.

[28thrat]

Ah, really? I'll have to remember that one, guess I was wrong. Thanks.

[Colleen]

Awwww, that is really sad
I have actually heard similar stories before, you can be very unlucky and get a rat that just has a bad temperament.

[abby]

I've seen it happen with birds and I find with my babies there's normally one trouble maker or complete whinging sook. Of my latest Greencheeks conures we ended up keeping one because he was so strongminded and stubborn. I would only sell him to some with either alot of bird experience or behavioural knowledge. He's still with us and constantly pushes the limits. I can imagine the same with rats.
At any rate we're going to get a couple of boys. Joshie (who has now passed) was such a sweetheart that I think we might stick with what we're used to and yep I have got a breeder lined up so all is good. Thank you for everyone's comments, it's certainly been educational reading.