We have.....

That is still not working for me.

So, how many rats can more than comfortably, do you think, could fit into one of the singles? How about one of the doubles?

MAN.

I've been looking at rat breeders in Illinois all night.
And I CANNOT GET A PAIR OF RATS YET.

AND. I don't know enough about them to get any yet.
But you keep making me want one!!!!

Is it bad that I want rats, but that I do not care what they look like (except the bigger the ears, the better) as long as they are bred to be healthy and have great temperaments???

And I don't even know if I want boys or girls yet.
I want to say boys because my boy mice are sweethearts and love me.
But I could do without the stinkiness of a male.
Yes, my males now STINK when they pee on me. But their cages do not stink.

And do you think they'd think I'm ridiculous if I joined goosemoose when I do not own a rat yet???
And probably won't be able to for a while?

Nah, I joined the holistic ferret forum about a year before I got ferret ... Everyone likes a responsible owner who learns before adopting
And even then I was getting the supplies and stuff, learning as much as I could when my roomies brought Izzy home, after I fell in live with her at the store.

Males do stink more. But they are much more mellow and cuddly! IME I prefer the males. I only have 2 females now, but I'm done with rats for a while. Their short life spans are depressing Plus I've really fallen for ferrets

Stupid cage calculators.. bleh.

Well, a few threads on GM say 6 tops, five comfortably in a one level Maybe four if you have extra big boys.

Hehehe, awe! I think it's wonderful you're so enamored by these ratties, and you might be doing your researching early!

Oh, Illinois! The Tekka Maki rattery used to be there, I loooooved that rattery.. but Sweet Genes is located in Naperville, and they're pretty renown!

The really nice thing about not minding a bit what your ratties look like, is if you put your name on a reservation list, you'll likely wait less time than say, someone looking for a harley coated black-eyed siamese or something. Then again, since you're doing your research anyway, sometimes breeders won't mind putting you on a reservation list, as long as you update them if you need to drop out, and that way you might be able to get some reeeally pretty little ratties for waiting so long(this is talking sometimes 6mo. to two years!).

I have four big boy ratties, one is neutered, but I bet if I neutered all of them, they wouldn't be smelly at all. I usually try to spot clean daily, and do one large cleaning with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide sprays once a week, and to be honest, I don't really notice their scent. Maybe if I have the cage doors open, or if I'm holding one of them, they carry a little smell like a dog might have its own smell, but otherwise I don't mind it much at all. A close friend of mine had little old lady rats, and they were a bit smaller, and sooo soft, and so friendly! Such sweet little girls that would board your hand when you opened the cage door, and give you kisses through the bars. But they were much more active, where one of my boys might just turn into a pile of mush in my lap. Also, where I smell my boys a little bit from time to time, I don't remember smelling the lady-rats at all. And smell can have a lot of variables - like how humid your house is, or what sort of bedding you use.

Yay! I'm so happy to know that other people love ratties

Oh, and as Brat' reminded me earlier, like any pet, ratties do have their downsides.

Short lifespans are part of that for sure, along with potentially chronic medical issues. Another I can think of, is something I mentioned earlier - rats get passed around a lot, and if you don't manage to get one directly from a reputable source, sometimes they require a lot of work- extra socialization to manage any fear or aggression based issues and soo much patience for bonding time. They can be super chewers, and depending on the rat, can be really needy, like tiny puppies. But if you feel like you might be able to brave some or all of these, or you really research your sources, ratties can be such rewarding pets

I currently have females, but my first group of ratties (years ago) included several males and they really didn't smell. Nowhere near as much as male mice at any rate. I cleaned once a week fully and spot cleaned as needed if someone made a level particularly messy and didn't have any odor problem. And I lived in an apartment at the time..I'd have noticed smells

My current three rattie girls live in a double CN, but they fit comfortably on a single level (as they like to hang out on one floor a lot).

Thanks, guys!!!
I've contacted a breeder (Sweet Genes), and I'm hoping I'll get an email reply.
Also, I've decided to save up and get a Double Critter Nation. I KNOW. That's an AWFUL lot of space for two males. BUT! I'm doing it this way in case I decide I want to add more rats later. I am going to call a local exotic pet vet to see how much it would cost to do neutering. If I can, or choose to neuter any males I get, I may reserve one of the levels for female rats (if I choose to add more in the future).

But I'm going to have cage, diet, and basic care down before I get any rats.
I've joined goosemoose.com, and posted there, an intro, and a couple replies on the Critter Nation thread they have there, and one reply to a hammock maker's thread.
Dang rat people make some of the CUTEST hammocks, sleeping bags, cage liners, cubes, pyramids (if it can be hung up in a cage, they can make it)!
I'm going to go CRAZY buying all kinds of things to decorate their cage.
TEH CUTEST things too! Monster tunnels and hammocks along with tortoise hammocks and liners, and monkeys.
ohmygod. I can see myself going broke FAST.:lol-sign:


Now, Taqroy, more pictures of those ADORABLE boys of yours, k?!

Woot! More ratties! I think it's a fantastic idea for you to get the double. I really wish that I had even though we only got two rats. There are tons and tons of things that you can make to decorate the cage and entertain your ratties. I *think* this is the site with hammocks but I can't get to it from here so hopefully it's right: linky. I made the double level hammock on there (only got confused at the end lol) and the corner hammock and they are beautiful (if I do say so myself ). I'll post pics when I get home. Also dapper rat has awesome ideas for homemade toys. I actually made double lined fleece liners with velcro but I think I'm going to switch to single layer with binder clips...it looks a ton easier and then if they chew on it I won't be as mad lol.

I'll try to get more pics of them when I get home....Cogswell keeps bugging his eyes out and running from the camera (and hands and doors lol) so I only tried to get pics of him twice. But Sprocket is settling in pretty well so I'll try for him.

Is it bad that I've already named the future male rats that I do not even have yet???

Ugh. I'm so bad.

But I've named them, already, "Guthrie" and "Grinderman".

We got the double critter nation even though we just have the three girls. We wanted them to have a ton of room

Hehehe, yaaay! More ratties in GOOD homes!

giggle, warning there highly addictive Taqroy, wait till you get them all settled in and they start bruxing lol, when there happy they grind their teeth and make this funky little noise and their eyeballs bug out a lil and vibrate LOL.
my male loki would brux whenever i scritched his belly, hed roll over so i could give hiim belly scritches, and Merlin loved having behind his ears scritched.

my females were MUCH less affectionate but i had alot of fun training them and teaching them tricks, they LOVED to learn, anything for yoghurt with them lol.

females tend to be more active and "bright"
males tend to be more snuggle bugs (and can be down right Lazy!)

Hah! I'm already thinking about getting more...lol. I really want these guys to be comfortable around us and see exactly how much work it is maintaining their cage first tho. Sprocket is by far my favorite at this point. He's much much bigger than I thought he was and he's much friendlier than Cogs. We're working on trust training but it takes so long! I like instant gratification lol.

yogies, (or any yoghurt drops), food is the way to any ratties "trust center" (their stomach) open the cage and feed them by hand.
NEVER feed a ratty through the bars, they sometimes have a had time distinguising between fingers and food and snatch sometimes, feeding through the bars seems to escalate this behaviour.

of course, let them come to you and start just feeding them, id also sit by their cage and just talk to them, you may feel a little silly but rats have EXCELENT hearing so getting them used to the sound of your voice is great.
when you feed them, talk to them softly, they startle sometimes so talking to them before reaching into their cage just lets them know your there.

i would also take some of fleece and sleep with it for a few nights then put it in their cage...getting them used to your scent is a great idea too, they have excelent noses.

dont worry, theyll come round rather quickly if theres treats involved.

yoggies, babyfood, cherios, any fruit (mine loved blueberries and strawberries) bits of cooked chicken, and cooked pasta seemed to be the favorites, but they can eat anything.