# Home For My Future Rats



## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

Alright guys, so a few of you might know that my parents gave the okay for me to get a pair of females for myself for my birthday! XD Sadly, I've been grounded for the past nine days, so I haven't been able to be on here during that time. But, now that I'm back, I thought I'd show you guys what I have right now and see what you guys think. Please give me as much advice as you would like and comment on the home I have. I will be getting my pair of females about two weeks from now, hopefully on October 4-5 (The weekend before my birthday on Tuesday).

So, what I have gathered and made in the past nine days is a single Critter Nation, a 20 Lb bad of Oxbow Regal Rat food, Peach Gerber Baby Puffs, 8 Rat hammocks (From the wonderful thelittleredladybug- 4 are ready in the cage already), 7 feet of fleece bedding (._.), 2 rat harnesses (Made by Classic FAIL- For around the house to calm my parents down, assuming my pair takes to them XD), a cardboard pen with metal bar support I made, a Kaytee Nut Knot Nibbler, a large Fiddle Sticks hideout, 3 paper towel tubes (Why not? XD) and a type of absorbent bamboo-based fabric (Sorry, my mom ordered it and I can't find the name...). 
Here is a picture of what my cage looks like currently (I need binder clips for the fleece, so it isn't on yet):









And a picture of my free-range pen (Immersion will be done in a rat-proofed bathroom connected to my room. They may jump over the pen I have set up, so I'll have to wait and see what my rats are like ._.):









And finally, a list of supplies I still need:
1. Binder clips (For fleece)
2. Blanket to go over the cardboard on the free-range pen.
3. 2 Litter trays and litter. One for the cage and one for the pen.
4. Food Bowls 
5. Toys
6. Water Bottles
7. Rats! XD
​I hope the pictures worked ._.


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

How fun! What an exciting time


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

I know! XD My dad keeps teasing me and asking why I always look so excited and then just giving me this sort of eye-rolling smile when I tell him yet again about the rats. XD


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## LittleBird (Jun 22, 2014)

I think it's wonderful that you're so prepared! I wish every pet owner would make this much effort in planning for their new pets. If they did, there would be a lot fewer unwanted animals that wind up in shelters or worse. 

I sincerely applaud you!


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## Roonel (Jan 27, 2014)

Great work! Those ratties are going to be super happy animals.


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## livenatso (Sep 14, 2014)

Wow! I wish I was as prepared for my rats as you are. I am really envying everyone with these nice critter nations. Hate the tiny doors on my all living things rat starter kit cage and also hate that there's barely any floor space in mine.


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## CleverRat (Mar 9, 2014)

This summer I went through the same thing as you. It's just so dang exiting!!! I had to wait MONTHS to get mine. It was torture.  but it helped me be super prepared.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

All looks good, just gotta get a boatload of toys. I would look at reusing toys, like soda boxes for houses and basket hammocks and dryer duct tunnels.


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## Ratpax (Aug 24, 2014)

LittleBird said:


> I think it's wonderful that you're so prepared! I wish every pet owner would make this much effort in planning for their new pets. If they did, there would be a lot fewer unwanted animals that wind up in shelters or worse.
> 
> I sincerely applaud you!


Absolutely! I was thinking the same thing.

And I LOVE the pink-n-orange material you have.


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## KaylasRats (Sep 21, 2014)

Looks really good!! Please update on the harnessing when you try it, I can never seem to get any of my rats to take to it. Want to know if you're successfull!


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

I'm so glad you all approve! I'll be getting lots and lots of toys when I can and I'll try and engineer a few fun little things from the items around my house as well. XD 
And I adore that material too! It was a surprise from my mother. ^-^
I'll definitely keep you updated on the harnesses once I get my rats comfortable with me. There are a few other members around that have the same harness as me, so you may want to ask them as well. There's one user around (Terribly sorry, I forget the username) who's using one on their rat in their avatar picture.


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

Update on Supplies:

Alright, so I got the binder clips and the blanket for the free-range area. Sadly, most of the other supplies will not be gotten until I go to the petstore to pick up my rats... However, I do now have the cage finished as well as the free-range area (Minus a small part that just needs one strip of cardboard XD). I just have to wait until the weekend after this one now!  I'm so nervous about finding the right ones... I hope they won't all be sick and unfriendly. :I Anyway, so here is my cage and pen now:



















I also made a little "tug of war" rope using the scraps from cutting and fitting the fleece for the pans... XD


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## 2ratshack (Sep 13, 2014)

It looks great! I bet your new ratties are going to be super happy with their new life.  The only thing I can think of is that you mentioned you're getting female rats. They can be pretty hyper little beasts, especially if they're young. I would just add lots of things to their free range area, and switch it around daily, or every few days so they don't get to board and decide to escape. I would also just buy plenty of toys as someone else suggested. Also, I don't know if they will already have been introduced to a wheel, but some rats like to run on them. If you get a wheel though, just make sure that it's a solid wheel, no wire, or holes that tails or toes could go through. (And the wheel needs to be at least 11 in.) There is nothing else I can think of. Good luck with your new babies! P.S. I would start collecting toilet paper tubes now. (You can make a lot of disposable toys for them to teat through)


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## 2ratshack (Sep 13, 2014)

*bored. (I had horses on my mind.  )


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

I have a few toilet paper tubes in there now and I'm going to start gathering them as well. ^-^ I've considered wheels and I'm not really sure if I want to use one... I've found them incredibly hard to clean in the past and I'm not sure if I really want to try it again... If they seem bored in the cage and too hyper though, I'll definitely consider it, hard to clean or not. XD And I'll definitely keep the switching idea in mind! I don't want them to get bored afterall. :3


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## madsnake (Aug 24, 2014)

Looks fun! Your ratties will love it.


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## Ratpax (Aug 24, 2014)

Sabatea said:


> Update on Supplies:
> 
> Alright, so I got the binder clips and the blanket for the free-range area. Sadly, most of the other supplies will not be gotten until I go to the petstore to pick up my rats... However, I do now have the cage finished as well as the free-range area (Minus a small part that just needs one strip of cardboard XD). I just have to wait until the weekend after this one now!  I'm so nervous about finding the right ones... I hope they won't all be sick and unfriendly. :I Anyway, so here is my cage and pen now:
> View attachment 175177
> ...


Oh gosh, I didn't know you were planning to purchase your rats from a pet store.

Do you really not have access to any good rat rescues where you are? Or good ethical breeders?

I hate for your first rat experience to possibly end in heartache far too soon and/or cost you and your parents huge vet bill$, which would certainly make them re-think giving permission for them in the first place.

Beyond that, I know when I unknowingly supported bad pet store practices (animal mills are where they order their livestock from) I felt so terrible later, about doing that.

I actually ended up seeing pics of the place where my very first dog of my own came from, and... well, I could just never give money to people like that again, gives them incentive to keep on abusing animals.

I know sometimes Petco has rats for adoption--these are not the rats they "order in" from mill-type places--they are owner surrenders and just really need a nice new home who will commit to them. There is no fee for such adoptions.

Sometimes there will be rats needing homes listed on Craigslist (although be very wary and careful there, and check with your parents, etc) or local bulletin boards or newspaper classifieds.

I guess I'm just really impressed with your values so far, how you are researching, and planning, and so forth, and it would be really great to see you find rats that you could feel really good about giving homes to, knowing you did a good thing.


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## madihicks4 (Jul 2, 2014)

How can you afford all this? Have you been saving up?


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## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

Ratpax- Sadly, the only rattery still in service around this time is Phoenix Gate Rattery, which I have heard a lot of good things about, but they only breed up to two litters per year due to a sudden allergy they got. And, sadly, I highly doubt my parents would really want to drive me to Atlanta to get a few rats that they don't even want in their house... I understand the feud against petstores, I really do, but at this time there's really nothing I can do about it besides not get rats. I will certainly be happy to drive myself to Atlanta once I have my own car and my own steady income, but right now my parents have to take me places. Should they allow me to get a second pair/another rat should something happen to the rats I get, I will definitely be wanting them from Phoenix Gate Rattery. I even messaged another user on here that comes from Georgia as well and they had to get pet store rats as well... :I As for the rat rescues... There is the Georgia Rat Rescue here, but it will be the same thing with my parents. Not to mention that they don't seem to have very many up for adoption and only one female that is not aggressive to other rats. I'm also afraid of getting a sort of "special case" rat that I won't really be able to work with and help with my experience. Thank you very much for your concern though! :3 

madihicks4- My birthday was coming up. I also have some saved over from last year ready for vet bills. My mom is actually now a rat lover herself because of all of my research and my telling her about them. XD My parents are divorced though, so my mom and my dad have separate "birthdays" so to say. All of the cage materials are from my mother and my dad is paying for the rats and the toys I will be getting.


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