# Thinking About a Third Rat, Opinions?



## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

So I've been deciding on getting a third rat in the past few months. I already have two, a hairless rat named Molly who is a year and a half old now with a few URI issues from time to time and her daughter Mimi who is almost a year old. Now, I was going to wait until Molly passes away to buy another companion for Mimi, but I'm not so sure if that's a good idea because I don't want Mimi to be depressed for several weeks if and when that were to happen. I'm thinking a third rat will help her cope better? 

My cage is perfectly suitable for a third rat, and I just got a job so I can pay vet bills if the need happens to arise. (My parents were helping me out with vet bills before.) I'm also hoping to have a snuggle buddy for Molly when Mimi is not in the mood to snuggle with her. (Sometimes I have to put Mimi in a separate cage overnight because she chews on the cage bars in the big cage on some nights. She has plenty to do in there, she just wants treats.) Molly's a little sensitive when it comes to cold weather. She'll break out coughing and sneezing when a cold front comes in, but I've always been there to provide her with vet care and medication when need be. Maybe having a third rat will help keep her warm at night while the treat monster is in time out? 

My only downsides to owning a third rat would be that I have a job, and I am a full time student so finding the time to clean the cage more often might be a bit of a challenge. Usually, I clean the cage fully once a week on the days I don't work. My rats live in a Petco Rat Manor at the moment. I don't know exactly how much extra cleaning a third rat would mean for that specific cage. 

The other downside I have currently is that I don't know if I should adopt or buy from a pet store. Adoption is a little hard around where I live because rats are not exactly viewed as the ideal pet so no one really breeds them or fosters them as far as I know except for snake food. Not even the Human Society that's a little farther off from where I live has rats. (I live in Southwest Florida by the way.) If I do adopt or buy I want a young female rat or a neutered male rat if the option is available. The problem with buying is that most of the pet stores I've seen rats at sell rats that are in pretty poor shape or have all genders in the same cage. It's hard finding a good rat, and I don't like the way they keep their animals, except maybe a few privately owned shops here and there. 

So there are my reasons for wanting and not wanting another rat. I just thought I might get everyone's opinions before I start looking through stores or online. Vets and vet expenses are no problem, I have a job and a vet right down the street. My only issues are cage cleaning, introductions, and where to get one from.


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## Jackie (Jan 31, 2013)

I was kind of thinking the same thing for the reason that 3 would be better than one?! Rat manor can house 3 so that's not a problem. I happen to have one too so I figured that out. Other than that I can't help because I'm still in the process of getting rats (2 or 3?!?!). I think based on your situation a 3rd rat would be really good for Molly's sake. I am a full time student/part time job girl too, but I'm pretty sure if you just do the normal clean poop out everyday and then clean once a week it won't be much different. (but this is only based on what I've seen people say since I don't have rats yet)

I don't really have breeding options where I live either, but craigslist has both adult and young rats and often they are well socialized. So for me it was either petsmart or craigslist. If a pet store is your only option go with the best you can find. I can't believe some places will keep both genders in the same cage. The petsmart here seems to have good looking animals if that was a last resort. Either that or petco?!


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

I am a busy mom and was worried about taking on a third rattie, but it has proven no more difficult or time consuming than two. Not much messier, either. The bucks are young (6-ish weeks) and were bred as snake food, though still handled a little, but even with their less than perfect situation and socialization they've proven to be incredibly sweet ratties. I only had the two for three days before the breeder informed me that the person intent on buying the third boy flaked out, and we did have some scuffles initially even though the trio had only been apart for half a week. But with a thorough cage cleaning the minimal issues have sorted themselves out nicely.

I really was a little concerned about having more rats than hands, but it hasn't been a problem. Handling each of them in 10-20 minutes spurts several times a day has worked well. My children are too young to be of much help with handling, so all trust training while they're young, fidgety, and only slightly socialized, has been up to me. It still hasn't been bad. I spot clean the cage daily (wipe down the messy bits, clean up uneaten fresh food, refresh water, etc) and take out the litter for a more thorough cleaning weekly. No smells or issues have popped up with this routine and it only takes a few minutes.

All this to say that three rats has worked out very well so far, and should only get better as they become more trusting and less fidgety. They're bouncing off the walls at this age but I'm expecting at least two of the three to be very mellow in the near future, as they already show that tendency. The curious one - all bets are off on him!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

I won't add onto the 3 rats things since all that I'm basically going to say has already been said, though I will admit that for me 5 is a handful. 4 isn't that bad for me, but 5 is my max.

If your worried about finding a rat, and worried about the petstores and what not, try maybe going onto some reptile forums and seeing if you can find someone in your area who breeds rats. Smaller breeders often take better care of their rats and are willing to socialize them.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

There are people who breed rats in my area as snake food, but they sell them frozen. The only thing I'm worried about with feeders from a breeder is that the rats are born into really cramped areas and some breeders are known to use pine shavings, depending on what is cheaper. Some of them also only handle the rats by their tails. 

Food wise I have a question. If I was to add a baby rat to my mischief could I feed it Oxbow because that's what my current rats eat. They eat the adult Oxbow food. Sadly it's the only appropriate rat food that pet stores in my area sell unless I want to go back to Kaytee. (My rats change in diet really improved their health by the way.)


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Contrary to popular belief, not all are like that. most will not pick a rat up by their tails, if they use pine shavings it's almost always kiln dried and from what I've heard from them they have almost no health issues from it. But some use Aspen since in some areas it's much cheaper then pine, and pine can harm babies so some will use Aspen or wood pellets or litters. And not all are cramp, it depends on the breeder of coarse. You'll just have to search around, on forums is where your most likely to find ones who actually care about their rats.

You can feed them oxbow, just give them supplements like plenty of seeds and nuts.


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## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

Agreed with LW.. My dad used to breed feeder rats for his snake collection (and for anybody that wanted to purchase) and he was very precise about it all and knew each and every rat. They had perfectly adequate sized cages and were handled daily in a sweet manner. He would cuddle a couple on his lap when he was writing out police reports at night (he was a police officer), and the bedding he used was shredded paper from the office that he would always put through this vacuum type deal to get any excess dust off and they had hammocks and multi levels and each of the nursery tanks were really big glass aquariums and he used liners for those tanks and kept it all very clean and neat and just overall it was really great.
Basically just pets that also got bred.
So I don't think it's fair to say that that is how feeder breeders treat them.
Personally I think it is much more cruel to freeze a rat to death than to just give it to a snake.

For those of you that are super anti live feeding let me start by saying I DO understand. For some people it just isn't something that they want to do, BUT.. Since I don't get upset over people that prefer f/t, let me defend my dad's style as well so that hopefully I don't have to hear anything bad about it.

1) When breeding his own rats, my dad KNEW that they were fed high quality food/cared for with the best care
2) He knew their genetics
3) He knew that there were not any disease that could be transmitted to any of our other pets
4) He knew that they were treated well and loved while they were alive


Now, on the actual topic at hand, I think a third rat is a great idea  I can't wait to add the third to my little boys' cage  


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

One of the handlers of my trio picked them up by their tails before supporting their legs, but the primary caretaker was very careful with them, too. And this would be considered a 'back yard breeder', yet the tanks were still plenty spacious and clean. They used wood shavings but I got the impression from the mild smell they were Aspen, thought perhaps not.

All that to say - even a breeder off Craigslist (my only option in a state that mostly outlaws rat import and sales) that looks as shady as can be on paper can still produce good animals with more than reasonable (if not ideal) treatment. My boys are healthy and have good temperaments, even having been bred the way that they were. The owners cared for them better than a fair number of folks who bought rats with the intention of keeping them as pets, that's for sure!


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

I'd say getting three rats is a great idea; I did this also and they've been getting along great and don't take up too much extra care!


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

Thanks for your input on everything guys. I think I might get a third rat then. I found someone on craigslist selling dumbos earlier on Friday night. I'm not 100% sure if the person is legit, but they did send me pictures and told me both momma and her babies are in good health.


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