# How many is too many?



## Lou (Apr 26, 2011)

So all in all (including the babies) I have 15 rats, I spoke with my boyfriend last night and he wants to keep them all! I am not even sure how many boys I have yet, I keep checking but I can't tell! not very good at this yet.

If we kept them all we would have to neuter the boys as who knows how many we would end up with. Do you think 15 is too many? we have the space and just don't want to get out of my depth. 

Obviously I would love to keep them all but I am having a tough time deciding. 

How many rats do you all have? and am I crazy to consider keeping them all?

TIA

Lou


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## ratfan06 (Dec 31, 2010)

The most I ever kept at one time was thirteen,, (so not much less than your fifteen), but I've heard of people with more. It was too much for me and not something I'd do again. However, I wouldn't have traded that time for anything. It all depends on what you're comfortable with and how much time you have to devote to them. Sorry, I know that really wasn't any help.


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## Lou (Apr 26, 2011)

Thank you for the reply,

how do you mean it was too much, was it the cleaning etc?

I am thinking I will try and find homes for the boys and I will definitely keep the girls as I have mainly girls. Any boys that I can't re-home will stay with me and get neutered.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Lou said:


> Thank you for the reply,
> 
> how do you mean it was too much, was it the cleaning etc?
> 
> I am thinking I will try and find homes for the boys and I will definitely keep the girls as I have mainly girls. Any boys that I can't re-home will stay with me and get neutered.


THAT is a very good plan 

How many boys are there in the litter?


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## renegaderob18 (Apr 7, 2011)

I had around 12( after the momma gave birth) rats at one time. 7 boys and 5 girls. I loved them all, but trying to take time out for each one became too much for me so I had to adopt them out. I didn't have them time to spend equally with them all, which was not fair for them.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

If you have never done it before, going to 15 from a smaller number is gonna be overwhelming.

I would know, I had a rat have 12 babies and I already had some rats and I was only able to re-home 4. I have 15 rats and I feel it is more then I can handle. I do it, and the rats all are well cared for and they all get vet care but that means for me I am dirt broke. Between the URIs, injury's, food, bedding, hammocks, toys, big cage I am still broke. I can NOT afford anything for myself.

I also spend about 3-5 hours a week cleaning cages, and scrubbing them is ****. 
I think your best bet is keeping only one gender.

My plan in the future is to have only fosters and maybe 2-3 of my own personal rats.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

unless you're unemployed, not in school, have no social life, and don't do much of anything (and therefor have hours each day to dedicate to the rats) i don't recommend it. 

the most i've had at one point was 6, 4 girls 2 boys... and that was too many for me to handle between going to high school and babysitting part time. 5/6 of them were not handled extensively while young and extremely skittish, and i didn't have the time to dedicate to trust training each of them individually. i had no help whatsoever in caring for them.

i have two adult males now, and they're pretty laid back and easy to care for. i think i could safely add another with my current time schedule 

if you have the spare time and dedication, go for it... but don't compromise the care of your rats by biting off more than you can chew. i'm sure there are other lovely homes out there to offer for the babies.


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## Lou (Apr 26, 2011)

Thank you all, we have definitely decided to try and re-home the males. I THINK there are 5, possibly 6 so that makes 4 or 5 girls to keep along with my other 5.

I am lucky as my partner loves rats and while I work full time during the week, he only works at the weekend so he is a very good rat daddy while I am not there and they are put and about when they are not sleeping ;D

I have found a rat club here in Europe who are going to help me find homes for them, so fingers crossed they all get placed.

I think 15 for me, going from 2 will be too overwhelming, as much as I would love to keep them all.


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## pieandblue16 (May 2, 2011)

i can see how 15 would be overwhelming for anyone!

it all depends on the person though and what they can handle. ive heard of people who happily keep around that number. just things to think about is can everyone get attention they deserve and can you afford it is the two biggest things


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## Monroe (Mar 26, 2011)

I have 3 rats. I personally wouldn't have beyond 5 as the cleaning would be too much for me & too expensive to keep buying more bedding. I don't know how you guys have the money for so many rats!


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## Critter Aficionado (Jan 30, 2011)

If it's just you taking care of the cages and medical bills, I can also see how 15 could be overwhelming. I have three rats of my own that I clean the cages of and pay for; my fiance has two of his own that he generally pays for the things for (sometimes I'll bring home new toys or offer to pay for food or bedding though) and cleans the cage of. Because I have other animals, I'm comfortable with the number of rats I personally have and wouldn't want anymore than four at a time (two if they were special needs medically).


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## ratsrulesok (May 30, 2011)

Jaguar said:


> unless you're unemployed, not in school, have no social life, and don't do much of anything (and therefor have hours each day to dedicate to the rats) i don't recommend it.



Rolf thats me I have 15 babies I am keeping due to a lack of suitable homes, have five already so that twenty ratties, but I am a home carer to my disabled grandparents, I dont go out, got no friends other than online, dont watch tv (have a tumour flashing lights in nearly all programs aggrivate it) so I have literally hours to spend, but its not just time its financal if they all come down with a bug can you afford for them all to go to the vets, can you deal with all the extra mess, cage room and all that jazz?


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

I agree with your plan to rehome as many boys as you can. 

I don't think 15 is so terribly high a number. I only have five myself, but a lot of people have that many and do just fine, it all depends on the person.

Ratsrulesok brought up a great point on finances too, the bills for 15 rats can be outrageous. Heck the bills for just five can be nuts if you have bad luck like me  Money have been what has been stopping me from getting another rat or two but now that I got a new job I'm getting the itch...lol.


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## ratsrulesok (May 30, 2011)

my vet does baytril a week for £5 taking this into account with say all my rats needing it at once I am looking at 18x5=£90 now say its some other treatment I could be looking at say operations neuturing at my vets is £40 if I got all the girls spade and the boys neutured £720!


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## shinysticker (Sep 17, 2008)

> unless you're unemployed, not in school, have no social life, and don't do much of anything (and therefor have hours each day to dedicate to the rats) i don't recommend it


I'm a stay at home mommy (to my rats that is), in a new town. this is me and my fiancées first house, we've been here a month now, and I still know no one. My ratties have definitely helped me through some lonely times. 

however, i think everyones personal rat limit is varied. i had three girls back in the day, and that was plenty enough of rat rat work for me! 
i want to save every rat in this world, but obviously thats not possible. Guess I'll be saving the world, two or three rats @ a time.


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## chickenlicken (Mar 28, 2011)

how old are your babies now? i think they hav to be seperated into their own cage (the boys) at about 5 weeks old or you will have many many more rats!


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