The Beginning of My Rat Love Life: A Lot to Learn

To be honest, at first buying my first 2 rats was an impulse buy. I wanted pocket pets and the baby rats looked so cute. To be blunt I knew nothing about rats. Thinking back I know a bad move but we all grow, learn and move on. I had a lot to learn, people really underestimate all the essentials you must know about rats. They are not low maintence but not high either. But you cant just stick them in a cage and expect them to be happy. Even in the beginning I knew better then that. So I started doing a lot of research. I became very interested in my two cute little growing boys. While the primary idea for bedding is pine or cedar shavings, cedar especially has a toxic oil that is very bad for rats and most animals in fact. You know that lovely smell you breathe in from cedar and pine? Yip you got it, that is the toxic oils you are releasing into your lungs. Rats exposed to these oils over a prolonged period of time become more prone to a respiratory infection which in fact they are already prone to getting. In some rats kidney failure has also been linked to these oils. You can buy Aspen bedding which is wood stripped of these oils but it is more costly. In the beginning I became very interested in Carefresh. It is made of wood pulp fibers and is heated hense sanitized. Theres the basic Carefresh and then theres the Extra obsorbent(white) kind. I find the original tends to smell a bit unappealing while the white doesnt. In the end I found it too costly So I tryed a new product, Boxo. It is what I am still using to this day. It is made from mushed up cardboard and heated hanse sanitized. If feels almost the same as Carefresh but I find Boxo smells better and is softer. It absorbs quite well the only real complaint I have is how dusty it can be but it doesnt seem to bother the rats. Any product you use that makes them sneeze too much and its been a few days with no change I would suggest trying a new product as this could mean it is irritating their lungs too much. When it came to food the choice was harder. Of course every food company is going to tell you that their brand is the one for you! That they have everything to give your pet a long happy life but in all reality there is a huge difference between the good and the bad ones. I settled on Living World Hamster Extrusion Blocks. Yes a hamster food but also good for rats. Living World is a good basic choice if you cant find any better ones in your area. protein should be really no higher then 16 at the max. Oxbow Regal Rat and Harlan TekLab 2014 are excellent choices for rats but can be harder to find. Mine where on Oxbow but they didnt seem to enjoy the flavour so I switched to 2014 and they are still having their Extrusion aswell. Another surprise that came along with my fuzzies was that I didnt realize how often they could get sick. Because of how prone they are to lung infections you have to expect and be ready that some time in their lives or even a few times you will have to treat them with an anti-biotic, these visits can be costly but are manditory. left untreated and your babies will pass away. If you are unready or unwilling to take the responsibility for vet visits then I would not recommend rats for you.