I want to buy two girl rats to keep as pets. How do i look after them and whats the cost?

Question

I am saving up to buy two girl rats.
I have a few questions, if anybody could answer from experience i would appreciate it greatly!

How much do rats cost roughly?
How much is their food?
How much is their bedding?

Would i be able to care for them properly on wages of £20 a week?

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

£20 a week, blimey. Still I've seen poor struggling students care for them quite well.

Cages are the most expensive bit. I want rats one day, when I've got my own place, and I'm going to get a Jenny cage from PetsatHome because they're HUGE. They cost £90! But they're fab! There are good ones for £70 too.

Still, you can get a reasonable sized wire cage in PetsatHome for about £40. Rats do need a lot of space so I wouldn't get a cheaper one that that.

Rat food is inexpensive. Get rat muesli and rat nuggets from PetsatHome - their own brand. They cost £1.99 for a kilo bag, which will probably feed one rat for about a month. Rats are not expensive to feed! Get both the muesli and the nuggets so you can be sure ratties are getting all their nutrients.

Also get lots of toys, they are intelligent creatures who need stimulation. Do get a wheel! Here's the PetsatHome link - PetsatHome has everything you need, and this has all the prices on it:

http://www.petsathome.com/icat/rat

Please use 'Safe bedding' from PetsatHome to cover the base of the cage, and shredded paper for bedding. Rats are very prone to respiratory infections, so you need non-dusty stuff to help prevent these - definitely not sawdust! Wood pellet cat litter is quite good for keeping the smell to a minimum too - ratties are quite smelly, need cleaning at least once a week. You can bathe them too, using special small animal shampoo - but only if it doesn't freak them out too much!

When you get your rats (get 2 the same sex for company but no more) leave them in their new home for a day to let them get settled. BUT listen very carefully to their breathing - if it sounds a bit squeaky, sort of like little chicken noises, take them BACK - I do like PetsatHome, but I have known rats come from them that already have respiratory infections, and this needs to be stopped. Or if you don't mind the fact that they might need antibiotics on and off throughout their life, notify the store at once so they can help with the vet bill! (not that it would be expensive, but it's the principle of the thing).

Right, think that's everything! Lucky you, I can't wait to have rats one day, I'm going to call them Rizzo and Taz! :-)

Chalice

Answer 2

Mice and rats are two very different types of pets. You need to do research on both before you can decide... There are no breeds of either one. Different colours, ear types, etc are not breeds, just physical attributes. Mice are comparable to hamsters or gerbils. They are small, need the typical wire cage or 20 gallon tank. They are social, so you could have two females easily. Males can be a little harder to keep together, so stick to females if you insist on two. They are pretty inexpensive. Once tame, they can be sweet. Rats on the other hand are more comparable to ferrets. They need large and tall wire cages, at least 4 cubic feet for a pair. Ferret cages are usually ideal. Avoid tanks, and avoid cages with wire flooring. Male or female is up to you. Stereotypically (though this is not always the case) females are smaller, cleaner, and quicker, while males a bit bigger, better lap pets, but have a muskier scent. Rats are much more expensive than mice. Having read that, you still need to do more in depth research on care. Your mom will not be able to just know everything herself, that will be YOUR job as the owner.

Answer 3

I'm in the US and not familiar with exchange rates, but I can tell you that a pet rat from a pet shop would probably run you about $6-$7. If you were to go to a local breeder, which I would reccomend for a number of reasons (health, the babies tend to be handled more, you can see the parents, a breeder is usually available for future questions, etc) you'd probably pay closer to $10 for the rat but it would be well worth the few extra dollars!

The largest expense you will have is the cage. Go for the largest one you can afford. Rats are very active and love to climb and have a stimulating environment. Anything you can rig with shelves, ladders, tubes, etc. will be appreciated by them! Martins Cages are fantastic and reasonably priced, and I believe you can order them from anywhere...

Food is relatively inexpensive. For 2 rats you'd probably go through a 5lb bag of food a month. I use Mazuri, whicht costs $5.99 for 5lbs. I also feel fresh people food as well (veggies, fruits, pasta, etc) so that lessens the amount of rat blocks I have to purchase.

Bedding isn't too bad...you can get a large compressed bale of Aspen shavings for around $10. For one cage, that should last you several weeks.

I applaud you for taking the time to consider if you can pay for your rats before getting them. I would say that your weekly budget should be more than adequate!! Once you get up and running with the ratties, they really are not that expensive to keep. Definitely pay more up front for a good cage and, if you can, rats from a reputable breeder and you'll get the most bang for your rat buck!!

Good luck with your rats!!

Answer 4

My son has had to rats for about 4 weeks now. They are brilliant and are so friendly and inteligent. They cost 6.00 pounds each and their food is proper rat food at 1.40 per bag from Morrisons. We also feed them red and yellow peppers, apples, celery, carrots and crunchy bread sticks. I have been advised not to give them soft bread as it can swell in their tummies and mkae them ill and apparently rats don't do cheese or dairy products,so I don't know if someone else can confirm that.
The rats, Anna Maria and Willow love to play. They have their own cage for eating and sleeping in which cost 15.00 from Aldi and I have bought a huge parrot cage from a local charity shop which I thoroughly sterilised and scrubbed and they have that to play in which they think is great. I have also bought baby activity toys from charity shops, which once sterilised are ideal cheap toys for them to play with. Toilet roll insides are ideal tunnels for them to run through and can be thrown away and replaced when they get too tatty.
Bedding can also be shredded paper as supplied by the domestic paper shredder. The small amounts of shredded paper that the home shredder produces won't contain too much dust that would be liable to irritate a rat's respiratory tract.
Hope that this info helps you as much as the previous very informative answers will do; most of all when you do get your rats give them loads of attention and handling and they will soon be easy to handle and be able to sit with you and watch TV or cuddle with you while you are reading a book. Great company and fun! Enjoy!!

Answer 5

female rats cost id say about 2-3 pound come or go a few pounds because im translating $$$ to pounds

rat cages cost 7-15 pound come or go

you should be able to get pellets for a few pounds for a big bag varying depending on quality

either way youll be able to keep the for much less than 20 pounds a week after you buy the cage.

good luck

Answer 6

Kind of cheap.I don't know European money though.Only American money so I can't give you the proper wages.