Care Guide

Please note that these are my suggestions, not set out guidelines put in place across the world. Raising rats can be quite controversial, I suggest taking a look at a lot of care guides and comparing them. Rattery owner written  care guides are a good place to look and get reliable knowledge.

Rats need a balanced diet.  It important that alongside your rats dry food you always supply 

them with fresh fruits and vegetables, regardless of the brand of pellets you buy. When searching for a brand, make sure it is specifically for rats and rats only; small rodent mix, or gerbil&rat 

mix wont cut it. This is because all rodents have different diets; it is unhealthy to have them

 all eat the same thing. Oxbow and Mazuri are  highly regarded in the rat owner world. 

I personally prefer the Shunamite diet. There is a lot of great info 

online about making a hand mixed diet. 

Below is a list of some fruits and vegetables that are safe for rats (all in moderation):

apples-

pears-

bananas-

carrots-

fresh corn-

peas-

cucumbers-

cooked sweet potato-

strawberries-

blueberries-

Rats must be kept in well ventilated cages. They cannot be kept in tanks. Bin cages are okay if they have mesh and air holes and are ideally kept in them for short periods of time (maternity, rehab, etc). Critter Nation cages are a go to, or at least cages of similar style. At very minimum, your cage should have 2 cubic feet of space for each individual rat, but more is better. Do not over crowd your cage.

Rats have sensitive respiratory systems, so its important you have them on proper bedding. I suggest non-dusty, kiln dried aspen or pine wood shavings.
I do not like to use paper bedding for my rats because I find it is dustier than wood shavings, does nothing for smell, and more often than not carries parasites.

If you use fleece, be sure to supply your rats with a dig box!

Rats are very cleanly animals, they groom themselves more times a day than cats do, so you do not need to bathe them unless under certain circumstances. Sometimes older rats don't have the strength to groom themselves, so you may need to help, or you may have a buck rat that produces more than the average amount of buck grease. I suggest using lukewarm water and 

a very small amount of sensitive baby shampoo that will not irritate their eyes. Excessive bathing causes an imbalance in natural oil production so do so sparingly.

When it comes to cage cleaning, it can depend on the type of bedding you have chosen. I find 

wood shavings need to be cleaned once a week, and if you have litter trained rats on fleece you

 need to wash the fleece one to two times a week, spot cleaning the litter box daily. I highly 

suggest a deep, full clean monthly. I take everything out of my cages and put them

 out in the yard to be hosed down with water, vinegar, and Dawn dish soap. 

Keeping your cage clean is very helpful for preventing URIs.

A group of coexisting rats is called a mischief. 

Rats are highly sociable animals that live in large mischiefs naturally. Pet rats 

should not be kept alone, so we only adopt out in pairs or more. 

Rats tend to think the more the merrier!