# Can Rats Really Be Outside?



## dollynloretta (Apr 1, 2015)

Sorry if this seems like a silly question - we're new to rattie parenting. My husband wants to take the girls outside to play in the grass, but I've heard stories about rats ending up with parasites like mites. I see pictures of people playing in the grass with their ratties so I'm wondering if I'm just being paranoid about parasites, or is that really something I have to worry about? My girls are hairless so I'm not so concerned about fleas, but I do worry other little bugs. Their skin seems so sensitive (it scratches easily.) Would you take your hairless babies out to play in the grass? Or outside at all?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

You can treat them like you treat dogs for mites. However, rats aren't like cats or dogs and any outside venturing should be done carefully -- they can slip most harnesses, can get through fences or climb trees, and can be easy prey for wildlife. Additionally, maybe three or four of my twelve rats can enjoy outside. The daylight and open fields and neophobia is just too much for 8/12 (2/3 for those following along at home).


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

Occasionally my rats go outside to the garden with me, always on my shoulder, but I'm nervous as **** about it since we have plenty of hawks around. Just recently I saw a hawk carrying off a brown rat that it scooped up from a parking lot. The image of that rat struggling to get away makes me think twice about taking chances outside with my girls.


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## theRatGirl (Feb 25, 2015)

I take Algernon outside with me all the time. Before he lost his sight, he used to walk with me on the sidewalk. He never got any sort of mites of bugs, but then again, we live in Nevada, where there aren't very many bugs. I love taking all of my rats outside to play on the lawn. The love it, too.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

Before attempting to take rats outside make sure they come when called, create a safe place in your yard, assess any dangers in your yard you are aware of. The rats may refuse to go outside. I have ravens and hawks in my yard, so I would not venture out the door with an uncaged rat at all.


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## Malarz (Sep 7, 2014)

Last year I took my girls out to play in the backyard a few times. But not free range. I took off the top of their rat manor cage, placed it on the grass, and let them in. But I still worried they would dig under, so I watched them all the time. 

Recently I bought a pet carrier purse, like the one you use for chihuahua dogs. I put all three rats in it, we drive to a park, and went for a walk. The purse was closed all the time. I would never let them sit on my shoulder, or have them on a leash. 
They are always mightily interested in the world outside, they want to peek out our get out of the purse. They don't seem stressed. And while in a car they just go to sleep.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I wrote the thread on the subject...

http://www.ratforum.com/showthread....e-rat-activities&highlight=outdoor+activities

As to parasites in my area we have larval deer ticks that attach themselves to rodents rather than deer, they are easily removed with tweezers... Mites are more likely to come from other pet shop rats, but this is a great big world and different regions have different dangers.

That said, all outdoor basic rat training should be done at a safe site. A place where your rats can't run off, or get lost and nothing is likely to kill them. Certain rats will excel there, while most will be terrified of the outdoors and will panic or otherwise be distressed. There's no way to tell which rat will become a true shoulder rat until you work with him or her at the safe site... It won't be too hard to know who you can work with and who you can't in pretty short order. The safe site is also where you hone your own rat handling skills.

For the right rat, life beyond the safe site will be dangerous, but it will be an adventure for both you and your rat... Some, or rather a very few rats are meant to be adventurers and explorers and with your constant vigilance in keeping them safe and alive they will lead amazing lives... With experience and proper training a true shoulder rat becomes an amazingly competent and confident and brilliant animal. However...

the wrong rat will most likely panic and get itself killed or lost before you know what hit you.

This is a picture taken at our safe site... It's 40 Acres of lawn and small trees my daughter can climb. It's surrounded on 3 sides by water and has several very safe locations where a rat can be trained.









This was Fuzzy Rat's last visit to the safe site, she was old and sick and was swelling up with tumors... you can see her in the grass coming towards us... still relaxed and confident Amelia is hiding in the tree branches.....

Closer look...


Amelia hanging on to the tree for dear life...








Fuzzy Rat posing for pics...








Amelia did eventually learn to walk on the ground at the safe site under the trees and sometimes didn't mind a little walk outdoors so long as she didn't have to go on the ground, but she would panic and spook easily and was a nightmare to handle outdoors... a very easy rat to lose. And if you took her into a store or a crowd, you were likely to get peed on... And you really never could put her down to potty anywhere... Indoors she was a very smart and loving rat...

Fuzzy Rat was simply brilliant... she loved to run off and explore on her own, she climbed trees, she chased kids around at the playground and she always came back... She could find the front door of our house from over half a mile away and when she got tired of the great outdoors, she often went back to the car and waited for us there... She could sense a fox from well over a hundred yards away and at night when owls were out would stick to us like glue... If you saw Fuzzy Rat and Amelia together, you would swear that Amelia was Fuzzy Rat's pet rat...

And yet... even Fuzzy Rat was attracted by rat poison bait stations and almost died from eating a poison mushroom... Even a brilliant shoulder rat needs a skilled trainer and handler to work with.

So... outdoors is possible, with the right rat and proper training and handling... it's never safe, it's risk management.

Start with my thread, then be very careful... shoulder ratting can be the greatest fun you can ever have with your rats, or it can go horribly wrong awfully quickly. Always start out at a safe site. At least that will give you and your rats a better than even chance of success and survival.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

When I was a kid, I took my rat outside to play since I had taken past rats outside on occasion to play in the grass. I made sure to literally hover over him on my knees with my hands cupped just a foot or so around him. Still, something spooked him, and he zoomed off and underneath our large deck. I absolutely panicked. We had wild rats that lived under the deck, plus who knows what else, and my grandparents would sprinkle rat poison through the cracks of the deck for the wild rats... I could hear him rustling over the dead leaves and with flashlight I could sometimes see him. I was out there for at least 3 hours trying to lure him out, when the rest of my family gave up. I couldn't leave him. He would peek out occasionally but would run back inside when I got close. 

Eventually I FINALLY got him out. But I wouldn't risk it with any of my other rats again haha. You could take their cage outside, or take the top off a cage and put on the grass (without the litter pan) so they can walk on top of the grass. You can also make them a dig box with sterilized dirt or the coconut fiber dirt they use for reptiles and grow cat/wheat grass for them to dig in safely.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Finnebon, that's a great example of a site that looks safe to us because we are familiar with it and it's safe for humans.... most backyards are terribly dangerous for rats.

Good safe sites aren't easy to find, but they aren't actually that hard either. They are well worth the time invested in finding them because most rats will fail out of shoulder rat training and/or for the most part the first time you are out there with your rat you don't have a clue how to handle him or her... A frightened rat plus an inexperienced trainer usually means big trouble. Having a couple of acres of short grass and a couple low bushes, no predators, traps or hidey holes means your rat can't get killed or lost when either or both of you screw up... well up to the degree you chose a great safe site in the first place.

When Fuzzy Rat was only 4 weeks old we took her out in our yard and withing a few minutes she tore off into the shrubs and tall grasses of the vacant lot/construction site next door. It was amazing how fast and agile she was, and she outmaneuvered us brilliantly. She was gone, after about 45 minutes my 5 year old daughter started doubting me that her rat was coming back... I kept telling my little girl that her rat loves her and will be right back... Sometimes when your a dad, you have to be less than truthful while you come up with a better idea...

So suddenly there was Santa, the Easter Bunny and a 4 week old rat pup, lost in a couple of acres of tall grass, shrubs and demolition debris that was coming back at any moment... 

As we sat on the stairs suddenly something moved in the leaf litter, I thought I saw something white and there was a tiny crunching sound coming towards us under the juniper bush... I was afraid to move or say anything, my daughter was starting to well up with tears for her lost best furry friend of only a week... And out from under the bush, precisely to the inch where our rat had vanished, popped a little black head... followed by a little white body and that oh so ridiculous tail.. 

I was frozen in mid-sentence astonished... it was a rather surreal moment... There was a tiny version of the rat that would grow up to be the most amazing true shoulder rat just standing there looking over at us asking to be picked up... All I could do at first was to point and my daughter rushed over to recover her rat... and in my best composed, smug voice I said... "See Emily, I told you Fuzzy Rat loved you and would always come back." Then without a minutes further delay, I dragged everyone inside where it was safe...

That was one of those really terrific "dad moments" when your little girl looks up into your eyes and trusts you... and for sure I wasn't going to try it again... Yup, kiddies there really may be a Santa Clause and an Easter Bunny.

Having learned from my mistake the next day I went out to find a safe site... I mean 40 acres of safe site surrounded by deep water on 3 sides... There was a hedge planting but it was surrounded by 3 foot walls... and we went there to play every day after that... A week later, Fuzzy Rat actually ran up one of the masonry walls and disappeared into the planting... We really couldn't lose her, she was just going to be a real nightmare to find in the bushes... So, just a little bit more relaxed this time, we sat down and waited and after another 45 minutes she popped out of the shrubs and asked to be picked up again...

Over the course of her life, Fuzzy Rat ran away more times than I would care to admit. but she always came back... Knowing we couldn't lose her made it possible for us to go all kinds of places and do all kinds of things with her. She never panicked, she never got lost and she was supremely confident... I could put her in a tall tree and let her climb to the top and sway in the breeze, knowing she would come down when recalled... (well after 45 minutes when she got bored). Her solo adventures always lasted about 45 minutes, but she would come back sooner if she understood we were serious about recalling her.. And yes, the locals eventually got used to us calling our rat.... "YOU MANGY TAIL DRAGGING VERMIN GET YOUR FURRY BUTT BACK HERE!!!!!!!!!!" Usually did the trick WHEN "Sweety Come to Daddy" wasn't enough of a hint.

We've never had another rat quite like Fuzzy Rat, one I trusted so implicitly... All of our true shoulder rats come when called and don't run away or panic, but I've never had the same confidence or trust with any other rat. But I always start training a rat at the safe site. Fuzzy Rat was a star from the moment she chose my daughter from the feeder bin... she never really needed the safe site, but we still had fun there and we learned a lot about outdoor rat handling there and we learned to manage and to trust her there... and most of all how to keep her safe and understand her limits without getting her lost and killed. Other rats didn't do nearly as well and never became true shoulder rats and lessons were learned the hard way.

If you can't safely handle and work with a rat at the safe site, you will get it lost or killed anywhere else... Never be afraid to wash a rat out of your training program, it's the right thing to do and will save your rat's life.

Some rats are born to be spectacular explorers and adventurers, others are meant to be furry indoor friends. At the safe site you can find out who is who... and you can learn your craft as a rat handler. There's nothing safe about taking any rat outdoors... but with the right rat and experience risks can be managed. With the right rat, like Fuzzy Rat you may not even need the safe site, but Fuzzy Rat was a one out of a thousand rat... With the wrong rat, you are going to have a very bad day... 

And for shoulder ratters, 'a very bad day' means you come home with fewer rats than you left with... it's something you will never forget.

Just keep your rats indoors, and enjoy the pics those of us with true shoulder rats will post from time to time, let us take the risks for you... for the most part we know what we are doing... But if you really *need* to come play with the crazies and you think you have a very special rat for gawds sake be careful and find a great safe site before you start. That first mistake can and often will be your rat's last.


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