# Two or three rats?



## Rusty7 (May 25, 2018)

I'm planning on getting some male rats (they will live in a single unit critter nation). I just wasn't sure if I should get two or three rats. What are the pros and cons of getting two rats instead of three rats? Is there a greater chance of fighting with three rats, or will they generally be happier since they have more friends? Will I need to wash the cage liners and hammocks more frequently? And is a single critter nation too small for three rats?


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## shibezone (Feb 5, 2018)

I really like having three males myself, honestly, I'd considered only two but the boys I picked from the rescue were closely bonded, so three rats it was! They can pick who to play or snuggle with, which I think improves their overall wellbeing, and the big thing for me is if one passes, I'm not suddenly left with a single rat that I have to hurry and do intros to new rats with. 
It doesn't really cost more to have three in general other than you have three rat's worth of vet bills if anything comes up! 
My three live in a single unit Critter Nation and it's PLENTY big for them, in fact you could easily house a few more than that if you'd like. You'll need to spot clean daily (pick up stray poops, old food, soiled bedding, etc) but I only have to wash everything once a week with my boys, and change their litter box out twice a week.


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## techfool (Apr 16, 2018)

For me, two is easier than three. I like to have a little one-on-one time with each of them, plus free range time with both of them. With three rats it would be difficult. YMMV as I also have other commitments. My two boys go crazy when they're out At least I can grab one with each hand when they make a run for it. I couldn't do that with three. From the rat's point of view, I don't think it makes much difference though being the no.3 rat can be not good fun, especially with males. Or maybe they will all be fine, hard to predict. If you get three, get three from the beginning. Save yourself the stress of introducing a third male to a pair that have already figured out who's alpha.When I'm down to one rat, what I do depends on who that rat is and how mellow or not they are in their old age. It's not something I can predict right now. If I decided to get companions, I would get two and have three rats for a while. Babies do better with a same-age friend.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I prefer three or more, but only with enough time, space, and money in case of vet emergencies to take care of everyone. In my experience the dynamics between 2 rats and 3 rats are different, 3 and up seems more natural and everyone is a bit more active and lively, generally seem happier. If one rat doesn't want to socialize, the other rat has another option for attention and won't be so deprived, and the other rat won't be potentially pestered. This also means if one passes away, they still have a friend until you bring home another pair of babies and aren't left alone. My preference is 3-4 at any given time because of this.


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## Prov1 (May 8, 2018)

We just added two to our group after the passing of one of our girls, three seems to be working out well. Now, it took a little bit to get them socialized together, but they seem to be doing well now. I am not sure how much difference there is between having two or having three, as it has only been less than two weeks.


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## athenianratdaddy (Dec 20, 2017)

I generally prefer to having three or more. Better group dynamics, more fun to watch, and just a little more poop to clean (compared to having two). Rats are very social and 'wild' (brown rats are commensal to humans so the definition of 'wild' is different) rat groups could number anywhere from >10 to 50>, so I think that they must like to interact with more of their kind instead of less.


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## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

I'm bumping this back up, as I was set on getting 2 females. I haven't had rats before and don't want to get a massive cage and clean up even more poop than necessary. I figure for starting out maybe 2 would be ideal for me. However maybe 3 would be more fun and the rats would be better adjusted. Or maybe I shouldn't get carried away just quite yet and stick with 2


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## Prov1 (May 8, 2018)

It's been a month or so since we added two to our group (3 now) and I don't notice much difference in cleaning and such. We have a fairly big cage to start with, so it's a chore to clean regardless, and since the two young additions were young, I don't think that we are cleaning more frequently yet. The only difference that I have noticed is the amount of treats that we go through  All three are very spoiled!!


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

3 or more is better in my experience. Like some have said above, the rat's true group dynamic really shows.

I had 2 when I was a kid and thought it was enough, but when I moved to Germany the minimum is 3. I was a bit intimidated by the idea of having 3 rats at first, however, it is so much fun. I try to keep no less than 3 rats now since their personalities really shine when there's more in a group.

The other reason I have more than 2 is that if one passes I won't need to run out and find new buddies. At the moment I've just added 3 young ones to my 2 older girls. I have 5! It's still a lot of fun and I think they're extremely happy as a group, but of course, the resources for 5 rats is more than 3.

The caring for 3 rats isn't much more than 2.


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## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

Kelsbels said:


> 3 or more is better in my experience. Like some have said above, the rat's true group dynamic really shows.
> 
> I had 2 when I was a kid and thought it was enough, but when I moved to Germany the minimum is 3. I was a bit intimidated by the idea of having 3 rats at first, however, it is so much fun. I try to keep no less than 3 rats now since their personalities really shine when there's more in a group.
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think I might have to do 2 at this point as my cage isn't really that big and I'm a first time rat owner. I'm having trouble talking my wife into 2 rats already....not sure I can pull off 3 at the moment  . But I think having 2 rats and having to clean and feed them and everything it really woudln't be a big deal to add a third one. Just a little more food and poop but still have to have a cage and clean it anyway. Plus 3+ sounds more fun, and like was mentioned, if 1 or 2 dies that's pretty tough for the 1 that's still remaining.

I think what my long term plan is to get 2 in my smallish cage (still plenty big for 2 IMO) and get everyone in my house used to having rats around. Then later on I can introduce 2 more rats at a later time by getting a bigger cage. Then I will still have my current smaller cage for quarantine, introductions, rat sitters, temp housing while deep cleaning, etc.


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## Vampiric Conure (Aug 17, 2018)

I'm glad I'm reading this thread! I'm debating on two or three females. My cage is a touch small for three rats, but I can always upgrade alter, eh? Plus I've not added balconies yet.


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## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

I ended up going with 2 rats for 2 reasons.

1. I had to convince my wife of getting rats b/c she thinks they are gross. So 2 was the easiest "intro" into the animals 
2. I don't have a ton of space so my cage would be a little tight for 3 right now. 

But I can see where 3 would be a lot of fun. 2 are really cool but I'm sure 3 is fun for the rats too. More group dynamic. Someday I'd like more. If/When one of these girls dies I'd get 2 more to join it. But hopefully that's a couple years away yet.


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## Prov1 (May 8, 2018)

TheNinja said:


> I ended up going with 2 rats for 2 reasons.1. I had to convince my wife of getting rats b/c she thinks they are gross. So 2 was the easiest "intro" into the animals 2. I don't have a ton of space so my cage would be a little tight for 3 right now. But I can see where 3 would be a lot of fun. 2 are really cool but I'm sure 3 is fun for the rats too. More group dynamic. Someday I'd like more. If/When one of these girls dies I'd get 2 more to join it. But hopefully that's a couple years away yet.


 That is exactly how we started, my daughter has a friend who had one, and of course she wanted one. So last year we decided to get two, my wife was hesitant at first (and so was I to be honest). And a couple of months ago, we lost one, and decided to get two more. Like I said, my wife really wasn't keen on having them as pets, but now, she loves them. I really enjoy having them now, they have such little personalities. Good luck with your new pets!


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## TheNinja (Aug 6, 2018)

Prov1 said:


> That is exactly how we started, my daughter has a friend who had one, and of course she wanted one. So last year we decided to get two, my wife was hesitant at first (and so was I to be honest). And a couple of months ago, we lost one, and decided to get two more. Like I said, my wife really wasn't keen on having them as pets, but now, she loves them. I really enjoy having them now, they have such little personalities. Good luck with your new pets!


That's awesome that they grew on you and your wife and you both enjoy them. If I had pick again I'd probably go with 3 rats. I love having 2 but I think 3 would be a lot of fun and give the rats some playmates and stuff. Though I worry 2 might team up against 1 but I'm sure they'd figure it out. I mean I already have the cage and have to clean it. It would just be a litlte more food and bedding and a little more cleanup. I may reach back out to the person I got this rat from and if she ends up with a single female in the next few months take it. though I'd have to figure out the whole introduction thing too since they obviously didn't grow up together. 

Do you really like having 3?


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

TheNinja said:


> That's awesome that they grew on you and your wife and you both enjoy them. If I had pick again I'd probably go with 3 rats. I love having 2 but I think 3 would be a lot of fun and give the rats some playmates and stuff. Though I worry 2 might team up against 1 but I'm sure they'd figure it out. I mean I already have the cage and have to clean it. It would just be a litlte more food and bedding and a little more cleanup. I may reach back out to the person I got this rat from and if she ends up with a single female in the next few months take it. though I'd have to figure out the whole introduction thing too since they obviously didn't grow up together.
> 
> Do you really like having 3?


Personally I really like having 3+ rats. I find that when you have 3 or more the rats tend to squabble less - I assume this is because if one wants to go off and do their own thing the other 2 still have each other to bother and play with. In the past I had a pair of sisters where one girl was sorta a bully to the other (would nip at her butt and chase her around). However for whatever reason this only happened when they were in a pair and when I added my older girl to the group the bully girl immediately settled down. When my older girl passed the same behaviors started up and I ended up introducing a pair of 5/6 week old babies to them - and again, as soon as I introduced these new rats the bully behaviors stopped. I don't know if it was the change in cage dynamics or just the fact that one girl was more outgoing (with both rats and people) than her sister (the "bully") but whenever they had at least one more cagemate things went much more smoothly.

Of course pairs usually tend to do fine and I've had pairs in the past that got along great. But personally I'd prefer to have 3+ if possible (currently I have 5).

Actually cleaning wise I don't find its anymore work, but that's probably because as I've gotten more rats I've upgraded the cage so my cleaning schedule stays the same. When I had a pair of rats I had a guinea pig cage for them, and I carried this over to the first half of my first trios life. Then I got a single critter nation and used this for my trio and then when one girl passed and I got 2 more babies I continued to use the single CN. And about 2 months ago I ended up adding 3 more babies to my group after my 2 oldest passed away, and at the same time I found a way to upgrade my SCN so that its just a bit smaller than a DCN. Because of these upgrades I've been able to consistently clean the cage every 1.5-2 weeks and spot clean every ~3/4 days despite now having more rats to clean up after.

Food is really the biggest difference I've noticed. Each rat eats about a pound of Oxbow per month and I used to be able to buy 3 of the small bags and have it last a good 2.5/3 months. Now that I have 5 girls with 3 being younger and eating more than the adults I go through 2 of those small bags per month (and I know I can order 20 pound bags online, just haven't gotten around to trying it). So its a big difference in terms of how much they eat and how much that food costs.


Otherwise I'd say having 5 rats isn't more work than when I just had 2 and I really enjoy seeing them have more friends to interact with (and of course I enjoy having more rat personalities to interact with).


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## Vampiric Conure (Aug 17, 2018)

Well, now that I have my three girls home, I've found cleaning is a breeze. Mind you, I have 11 birds and a dog who's paper training, so 3 rats is VERY tidy, LOL!! They seem to do their business on the lower level and leave the rest of it tidy. They are only 10 weeks old, however, so who knows how their bathroom habits will change over time


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