There are as many different ways to keep rats as there are rat owners, but over the years I have found what works for me. I am fairly relaxed about how I keep my pets, and often try out new things or experiment with different ideas in order to find out what works best – it’s a constant learning curve.
Housing
Currently, the majority of my rats live in Savic Royal Suites. These are large, fully front opening cages with lots of space for climbing and enrichment. I keep groups of around twelve rats in these. I also use 100cm long rabbit cages for smaller groups of mainly older rats, these are fairly low cages though still with enough space to allow for climbing and different levels, but quite wide bar spacing so not suited for smaller rats. For young kittens and mothers with litters, I use Freddy 2 cages – I’ll also use a Freddy for small groups as well, as they have great access, are well made and last well, and are a really good size for a group of up to four rats.
Cages are furnished with a variety of different furniture and playthings made from a variety of materials – lots of ropes and tubes, hammocks, nest areas, boxes, igloos, shelves, litter trays and whatever else I find or buy that I think would be appreciated. I use lots of different substrate, currently Megazorb and Back2Naturet or Papelit as a base layer, topped with either Green Mile, Finacard, or Ecopetbed/BedXcel in different parts of the cage. I also provide litter trays with some of the base substrate in, and plenty of shredded paper and tissue paper for nesting.
Feeding
Generally my rats eat a very varied diet. One batch of food I make for them is rarely the same as the next, and I am constantly trying new ingredients and ideas out with them. Their food is always made up to the basic principles of the Shunamite Diet (I think the associated book – the Scuttling Gourmet – is a “must have” for any rat owner). Mainly it’s a rabbit food base (something without pellets), mixed with herbs, cereals, and a good quality fish based dog food. I often use mixes from ratrations.com, or mix those 50-50 with a rabbit food based mix. I scatter feed, rather than use a bowl, mixing food into the thick substrate of their cage and hiding it in different places so they need to work to find it – this makes it all the more interesting for them to find.
As well as their dry mix, my rats get wet food a few times a week. Once or twice a week they get NatureDiet, a wet dog food, and about every other day they get a good portion of vegetables (curly kale or spring greens, broccoli, peas, carrots, sweetcorn). I also aim to give them oily fish once a week, which they normally get given with pasta, cous cous, or rice, vegetables and herbs as a complete wet meal. They also get assorted table scraps and leftovers on a regular basis too, no food need go to waste in a house with pet rats.
Breeding
I don’t breed lots of litters – I only really breed if I am intent on keeping kittens from a litter, and if I feel a mating will improve on the general health, temperament, lifespan, and type of the parents. I tend to breed from my girls at around 7-13 months, depending on my time, space, other litters, and other non-rat commitments. Kittens are handled pretty much every day from being born, and generally not homed before seven weeks old, when I feel they are mature enough to go out into the world.