# Question about rats and chinchillas



## GeeMarie (Feb 22, 2013)

Hiya, not sure where to put this so I thought general would be good.

We recently bought chinchillas. Sadly one died last night after only 12 days (going to the pet shop today about that) so we only have one left 
My question is, should I keep my rats and chinchilla as separate as they are now, or can they meet each other? I'm guessing not, tbh, but I just wondered if anyone knew differently 

Thanks!


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I wouldnt let them meet each other. They could do quite a bit of damage to each other and being a different species they don't effectively speak the same language, so even if they got on initially misunderstandings could easily occur. Plus i have no doubt that a wild rat would happily eat a young chinchilla, and whilst yours are unlikley to attack your chinchilla it may have an instinctive fear of them. I know my rabbits used to be afraid of the rats when i had both, and a rabbit is much bigger.


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

I wouldn't let them meet during free range time, I'd probably show the rats the chinchilla through the cage And vice versa but I wouldn't let them interact together, just because you never know what could happen, 


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## Poisoned (Nov 17, 2012)

I definitely wouldn't. Both can do damage to each other, and they're both so different in behavior that the chances of them getting along and understanding one another is very slim, and not worth the risk. Chins have very thin skin and fragile bones, it wouldn't take much for a bite to hit the bone and cause a serious infection. NOPE. 

I let mine sniff each other through the cage, and one of the chins got very upset over it.


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## alexn (Sep 30, 2012)

No, IMO. The rats will probably be curious, but you don't know how they will react. Chins can get very stressed very easily, and, as you had to find out the hard way, can pass on worryingly easily. If the chin decided to bite the rats, you could very easily have a dead rat on your hands, and vice-versa. This isn't to say that its impossible for them to get on, but I really wouldn't risk it.

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## GeeMarie (Feb 22, 2013)

Perfect, thank you. I figured as much but wanted to be sure.

Thanks!


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Nope. I know that it's possible to get rats with cats and dogs in some cases but never house them with any other rodents or small pets. I think people tend to forget that they're still animals and not just domesticated pets.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

ratclaws said:


> Nope. I know that it's possible to get rats with cats and dogs in some cases but never house them with any other rodents or small pets. I think people tend to forget that they're still animals and not just domesticated pets.


I very much agree with this, but also believe that it applies to cats and dogs etc.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

I know what you mean, I wouldn't even introduce my rats to any other pets of any kind. I have seen some pictures on here of rats with cats and dogs though, which is nice but I'd never take the risk.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Ratclaws

Thats a good idea not introducing them to any other pet. My cats seemed fine with my rats after months of free ranging. They would sniff them and that was it. They like watching them run around but all three of my cats never made any move to swat at them or pounce. I was even comfortable leaving the room for a moment. Until one day I had rolled the cage out from the corner and was doing a deep cleaning of it and the surrounding floor. Well my energetic adventurous girl climbed down the cage and out and that was okay with me considering it was never a problem. She was behind the cage in the corner exploring the baseboards when i see out of the corner of my eye this orange ball dodging across the room from about 10 ft away. Instinctively i shove the cage back because i would be able to get around it in time to grab him. The cat got injured but the rat although startled was fine. I think i just ran over the cats paw with the cage but he didnt limp or anything. So they can change at the drop of a hat and you could end up with a dead pet. My fiance is convinced he just wanted to play with her but his 7lbs of clawed fluff and teeth would probably hurt her little fragile 1lb self even if he didn't want to. 

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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

My mastiff goes to smell my boys but they always bite her so she just doesn't go near them now haha 


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## GeeMarie (Feb 22, 2013)

I definitely didn't mean house them together. Tbh, as I said in my original post and in my 'thank you for advice' post, I didn't think it was a good idea anyway. Just wanted to check, as if it *was* ok it would have been nice for my chinchilla to have company now his brother has died. However, I didn't really think it would work and was glad to get confirmation of that. Thanks again!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

When we took Fuzzy Rat to the vets the veterinary assistant insisted that we bring her in a carrier next time... Fuzzy Rat is a true shoulder rat and we don't use a carrier. By way of demonstration we put her on the ground and she followed my daughter around the office. That really seemed to impress the vet, who seemed to thing she would scurry under something. 

Then the assistant insisted that if the waiting room were full of dogs something bad would happen.... I told her that for some strange reason all of the dogs would immediately calm down once they saw Fuzzy Rat and Fuzzy Rat wouldn't mind them at all... She looked at me like I had lost my mind. On the way out the waiting room was full of dogs and they all became immediately quiet and relaxed, one fellow took his dog outside when he saw Fuzzy Rat but then brought him back in and he stood there looking at our rat completely calm. I couldn't help but point out to the assistant that that was precisely what I told her would happen. Some rats seem to have a very calming influence on dogs, I've had two that could do it now.

As to parrots, when Fuzzy Rat tried to meet my parrot, he snapped at Fuzzy Rats head when I introduced them. The parrot got bit in the tongue in a bazaar to quick to intervene in an awk-squeek event. (Rat 1 /parrot bleeding from inside it's mouth). Since their first meeting Fuzzy Rat has tried to drag the parrot out of its cage through the bars and charged him once when he nipped my ear. I keep the two apart. Not so much to protect the rat, but I'm pretty sure if Fuzzy Rat ever gets a chance, the parrot would be in a world of hurt. I can't say if it's hate or rat pack dominance.

My part wild rat actually lived with my neighbor's pit bulls for a while, but she attacked mice on sight and I got a nasty wound blocking the bite.

So with dogs, and we've met lots of dogs in our travels, I'm not too concerned, but with smaller animals, rats can bite way faster than you can even see and usually faster than you can intervene.

Be careful.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Last thought, my rats tend to lower their heads and fluff the fur on the back of their necks and charge things they intend to kill. When Fuzzy Rat sees the parrot it's easy to see her hostile intentions. Just like a dog that's about to attack, rats usually change their entire demeanor when they are about to attack. If you know your rats you should be able to spot this and avoid trouble. If rats get attacked they will defend themselves without prior notice. I don't know much about chinchillas except they are pretty fragile animals and if they are stupid enough to attack a rat, a nasty rat bite can do some real harm.

Rats are not helpless little animals, they don't tear you up because they love you, not because they can't.


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## GeeMarie (Feb 22, 2013)

Interesting stuff about the dogs. How strange that they just calm down like that!

My view is pretty much to keep my different species apart, that way I will avoid difficulties!


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