# new rat owner



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

i am a new rat owner and i have a baby rat called Timmy who is 8 weeks old this week, he is in my gallery.
i am looking forward to chatting to other rat owners as i have much to learn about them. tried to upload a pic but it says the file size was reached? but i made an album and he is in there.


----------



## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

Aww, he is a darling. LoL, you may have already gotten this spiel, but have you considered getting him a friend? Ratties don't like to live alone. 

Anywho, not trying to preach, just thought maybe you didn't know (I didn't, when I got my first rat. :wink: )

Anyways, if you have any questions, the folks on here are very helpful. Welcome!


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

thank you for welcoming me, as he is my first rat i just got one, he gets all my love and affection, he loves being held and kissed a lot and just sits in my hand, i have 2 female roborovski hamsters they were together for 2 months in the same cage but started to fight so i had to seperate them, Timmy will not go short of any love as i have lots to give him and im sure i will gain his love and trust.


----------



## Learna (Mar 4, 2008)

Aw, he's so cute!^_^
Sounds like Timmy will get a lot of love but speaking from experience I had one rat then a week later (after reading on here that rats prefer company) I got her sister and she was soooo much happier and active. (not that she wasn't happy before but watching them wrestle is so cute!)^_^ And it's no trouble at all with two rats, just the same as one.^_^
Welcome and have fun^_^


----------



## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

Leedslass90, I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't be giving him lots of love.  Hope you didn't think that's what I meant...

But anyways, Learna summed it up really well, so maybe it's just something you might like to think over. Don't want to hijack your "meet my rat," though, so if you'd like to look into it more you will find TONS of stuff on the forum that might help you make up your mind. 

Have fun with Timmy, they're adorable at that age. :wink:


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

i thought about what you said about getting Timmy a brother but what happens if they dont get on together.
would he bond with another rat from another litter?


----------



## tinyspook (Mar 10, 2008)

Hi there,

Your little rat is uber cute! They are so cute when they are small. 

Just to answer your question about bonding rats from different litters. I had a rat on its own once because its cage mate died. She was so sad on her own (apparently this is because they are nervous on their own as they are instinctively pack animals.) Anyway I bought two more ratties to be her friend, kept them in a seperate cage for about two week then let them all live in the cage together. She is SO much happier now she has friends. Please get your rat a cage mate just for when you are not there to give it hugs he has another little oal to snuggle up with.  

I found this site really helpfull on subject www.rattyrat.com If you go to the guidebook section it has lots of information about rats living on their own and how to introduce a cage mate.

Good luck with it


----------



## Gobo (Mar 6, 2008)

yeah especially with him being pretty young it should be really easy to introduce and itll be really fun to play with both of them!


----------



## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

Adding to what Gobo says, yes, this would be a great time to do it, since he is so young. And if you can find a fairly young fellow for him, even better.


----------



## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

He is soooo cute!


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

thanks for your kind remarks about Timmy, he is sooo cute and loving, likes pasta and chicken, hes with me when i get home til i go to bed, he loves hiding under my jumper hehe


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

news update.
i have decided to get Timmy a playmate next monday, will try and get one nearer to his age which will be 9 weeks, so a rat aged between 7 to 8 weeks should be ok, fingers crossed they bond with each other.


----------



## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

Yay! Good Luck, dont forget to quarantine!


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

how long do i have to do that for?


----------



## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

Here is the thread that I read when I first joined up
http://ratforum.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3991.html

I ended up taking all my rats in for a general checkup at the vets, keeping them separate even then. After I got a clean bill of health for all of them, I introduced them. So I didnt keep them separate for as long as recommended. And I understand something not good could still come up.


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

thanks that was a great help,


----------



## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

Good luck leedslass90! Don't forget to post pictures!


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

i will post more pics in the gallery when i take some more of Timmy.
i have marks on my kneck where he has scratched me they sting a bit hehe, he is only 8 weeks old but his nails seem sharp.


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

new pics added today


----------



## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

Ahhh! He is sooo cute!! You can take him to the vet to get his nails clipped or get a brick and put it in his cage for him to climb on, this will help wear down his nails.


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

thank you for your suggestion, i will be taking him to the vet to have a check up shorty, plus will be buying him a hammock as they love to snooze in them, he shared some of my yogurt today, he has a travel cage too so when i stay over at my boyfriends he comes with us, hes coming with us on holiday next weekend, he will be a well travelled little rat hehe


----------



## tinyspook (Mar 10, 2008)

YAY!!!...so glad you've decided to get Timmy a playmate  Make sure you post photo's of the new guy. 

When I was introducing my rats I found this website www.rattyrat.com really helpful. It gives you tips on how to do it so properly coz if you just throw them in the cage together straight away they may fight (although unlikely as they are so young)

Good luck with it and hope you enjoy watching them play together


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

got a bit of sad news, my boyfriends 2 year old rat died sometime during the night, he was in decline anyway but we saw him and cuddled him saturday night and sunday morning and he seemed to be ok, still its a shock when it happens, 2 weeks ago he got a hairless rat, we called him henry, i will be adding his pics to my gallery soon.


----------



## HylaW (Mar 14, 2008)

Aww, Im sorry for the loss.


----------



## leedslass90 (Mar 26, 2008)

im going to a rat club meeting next month, going to go have a look see how things are run there.


----------

