# What age do they stop growing?



## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

I got my oldest rat from a hoarder and she said he was 6 months old. I know she had got him 4 1/2 months before I got him from her because she actually kept the receipt from when she bought him and I figure he was at least 4-5 weeks old when she purchased him so that would make him about 6 months old like she said. Anyways, so I've had him for about 6 weeks now and he basically stayed the same size this entire time up until now. A few days ago for some reason he looks bigger, not fatter but longer. I asked my friend to come over to grab something and while she was here I asked her to hold him while I cleaned his cage out a bit and while she was holding him she stated she thought was bigger also. (I never mentioned to her that I thought he looked bigger she just up and said it). So... at what age do they stop growing? The one rat at my son's daycare is super big and I'm affraid if mine gets that big his pretty new cage might be too cramped for him because he will need bigger tubes and stuff. 

At what age do male's stop growing?


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## Katherose (Nov 20, 2007)

I don't know the exact age that rats stop growing. I've heard that it's about 6-7 months of age. I have three females. I got them when they were 6 months old, and the breeder said they should be about full grown. However, they've grown a bit in the two months I've had them, so who knows.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

they reach physical maturity at about 8 months but just like people... they can continue to bulk up after that


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

Julia beat me to it. Like she said, 8 months is physical maturity in rats.


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## Emster (Dec 9, 2007)

Doris is a year old now, or just over and she is huge compared to Mavis!
Mavis is about 3 months old.


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

8 months, i believe


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## Sami (Dec 11, 2007)

If they stop at 8 months then my Dust is gonna be huge, because she's only about 2 1/2 months now! 
She's already almost too big to stand in the palm of my hand.


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## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

Lovinmyworm, I just wanted to add that you might try the cage calculator if you're worried about space. It's usually pretty accurate from my experience...

http://www.rattycorner.com/odds/calc.shtml


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## Ratty1100 (Nov 17, 2007)

About one year I have heard.

My rats grew nearly an inch (2 cm), between 8th month and their first birthday.

Inch is 2.54 cm if i am not mistaken.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

Kimmiekins said:


> Julia beat me to it. Like she said, 8 months is physical maturity in rats.


hehehe... I've had a great deal of down time that has increased my online time. I have the awful flu bug that is going around. Sitting at the computer is about all I can manage doing right now aside from sleeping.


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## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

Aw, sorry to hear it, Julia. My whole family, my best friend, and my boyfriend all got it this week. We were miserable! But yes, it does give you time to look up interesting facts!


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

I have a fairly large cage, but I have 2 rats. One is a baby still so who knows how big he will get. I'm a bit concerned if he gets too big that his tail will get longer and he will feel cramped in the current cage. Here is a picture of it (click to enlarge) The dimensions are 16.5 inches deep by 26 inches wide and there are currently 3 levels. He's already 8 inches long minus tail (Btw do you know how hard it is to measure a rat's length? lol)


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

I went to the rat calculator and it says it will hold 6 rats... umm that seems like cramped quarters don't you all think?


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

not sure what you entered

you said 16.5 in deep
26 in wide

How tall is it?

<edited to add>

simply a guess here

the cage looks to be 30 inches tall... the calculator comes up with a total of 3 for that size

if it is as much as 36 inches tall you could go 4


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Actually it's 48in tall measuring from the bottom shelf to the top of the top shelf. Guess it's a bad camera angle that makes it looks smaller, or the fact that I have super large pvc pipes and really big food dishes and such in there?


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

26wX16.5DX48

ok, 5 rats is what the calculator says


I typically do less than what the calculator says because I too use large pvc tube or those colored tubes you find with ferret accessories... I have dozens of those. 

I think you could comfortably fit 4 rats in this space along with plenty of accessories (5 might be pushing it if they happen to become very large)


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

I'm only thinking 2 in this cage. My oldest rat and hopefully my new rat who is sitting in a quarantine cage for a few more weeks I'm still crossing my fingers that they will get along when they are introduced. My concern is that my rat is already fairly large and will be growing now for a few more months, is he going to fit with the depth only being 16.5? He's already 8in long plus tail. Plus I have holes cut out for him to get to the different levels and such so really the cage is smaller because of these holes and because of rat necessities. In his cage currently he has this...

Top level- Basket style bed, food dish, and his littler box.
Middle level- Water, litter box, rope toy he loves to climb on, a hammock and a tube with a puch style hammock over one end so he can climb in there and be in total darkness 
Bottom level- Another food dish, litter box, pvc tubes, his digging box, and all of his napkins he has spent so much time shredding and making a wonderfull mess with. 

(BTW: The napkins are too funny, he will drag them from the top to the bottom piece by piece then go crazy for hours shredding them more to make a perfect bed.) 

Anyways, will there be enough room for a rat who is 6 months old, 8in long minus tail and the shelves are only 16.5in deep?


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

it is narrow but you have the width & height to make up for it

ok... consider this... those tubes I was talking about are 4 inches wide & they love traveling through them & you'll even find several snuggled up inside of it at the same time

I've seen them enter one end, turn within the tube & exit the way they entered & the rat doing it is probably 16 inches long without his tail & weighs over 3 pounds

I think your rats will manage the narrow shelf & because there are several level that offer a full 26 inches of width there is plenty of space to spread out or even all investigate at the same time.


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Thanks for saying that. I was getting a bit nervous about the size of the cage if he's going to continue to grow.


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## Iloveratz500 (Jan 21, 2008)

I think, maybe 8 months to a year. Maybe. II am not sure, you sohuld probably check with a Professional though.


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