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| Anyone knowledgeable about rats?; You know, the real ones. | |||
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| Tweet Topic Started: 1st November 2011 - 04:07 AM (499 Views) | |||
| Mathusala0 | 1st November 2011 - 04:07 AM Post #1 | ||
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The Evil Underlord
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trying to find some good information about pet rats. namely whether or not females or males are better to keep. | ||
![]() The Glossary of Common Underempire Lingo The Skaven Guide to competitive list building (8th Edition) The Skaven Castle Formation | |||
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| Stinkhair | 1st November 2011 - 05:51 AM Post #2 | ||
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Dabbling GM. Clanrat loon. 6th Edition Aficionado. Bitter.
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Males tend to be bigger and more lazy, contrary to the Skaven lore. Females are cuter IMO because they don't have testes the size of their heads. Males are, I think, harder to introduce to each other later in life (aka, after the first few months) - not that females are exactly 'easy'. Also male rats are a little more odoriferous.
Edited by Stinkhair, 1st November 2011 - 05:52 AM.
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| WillQueek | 1st November 2011 - 06:27 AM Post #3 | ||
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I can only say to NEVER buy 2 rats for the same cage. male & female go wrong, male & male go wrong, i don't know about females actually........ | ||
FOR THE GLORY OF THE HORNED RAT OF COURSE!
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| Mathusala0 | 1st November 2011 - 06:47 AM Post #4 | ||
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The Evil Underlord
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personally it seems that getting 2 rats is a must, the bigger concern is male or female. currently it could swing either way. Im just looking to see if anyone in the community has any opinions. so far it looks like females. |
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| Stinkhair | 1st November 2011 - 06:56 AM Post #5 | ||
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Dabbling GM. Clanrat loon. 6th Edition Aficionado. Bitter.
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I would slap that straight down, Willqueek. Rats are highly social creatures. Keeping them alone is like putting a human into solitary confinement - it's just not good for them. The issue is introducing them. Males are harder to introduce to each other than females, but both can be difficult. It is best to get siblings if you can, or get young rats and introduce them to each other early. Always introduce rats in a neutral space and then put them in a cage that has just been extremely thoroughly cleaned so that neither group/individual sees the other(s) as invaders. Obviously keep a close eye on them for a while afterwards, just to make sure they're getting on. And it should go without saying, don't put a male rat and a female rat together in one cage unless you want more rats. Edited by Stinkhair, 1st November 2011 - 06:57 AM.
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| WillQueek | 1st November 2011 - 01:44 PM Post #6 | ||
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Out of my own expiriance of a male rat killing (not really ''killing'', just figthing hard) another male rat i would say they wouldn't get along very well. BUt why not check this: The magical link to knowledge!!!!!
Edited by WillQueek, 1st November 2011 - 01:45 PM.
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FOR THE GLORY OF THE HORNED RAT OF COURSE!
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| SkavenDan | 1st November 2011 - 01:46 PM Post #7 | ||
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Doomwheel Fanatic
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Females kill other females because it is competition. Rats are rather complex creatures | ||
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| ShuNian | 1st November 2011 - 03:40 PM Post #8 | ||
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Self-Proclaimed Miss Skavenblight
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http://dianephotos.deviantart.com/journal/RATS-F-A-Q-UPDATED-225264591# This is a huge guide to rats and how to take care of them, written by someone who has had MANY rats in their care. It is highly recommended to keep two or more rats, because they can grow really depressed without a friend. You are supposed to keep two or more of the same gender, as mixing genders can result in unwanted breeding. Personally, I've never owend a rat in my life- but I found this guide/FAQ to be really insightful. I'm not terribly sure on why rats fight- but I believe it's because they are trying to establish who the alpha rat is. Edited by ShuNian, 1st November 2011 - 03:41 PM.
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| "All tunnels lead to Skavenblight..." | |||
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| Sketch | 1st November 2011 - 03:50 PM Post #9 | ||
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scratchings and squeakings
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I've never owned a rat either although I'm getting much closer to just bringing two back to the house completely unannouced someday, uncaring of whether my parents want them around or not. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission and all that. As regards looking after them I found the following two websites to be brimming with all the useful information you could possibly need: http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/ http://www.nfrs.org/ My own conclusion is that two females (preferably siblings bought at the same time) would be easiest for someone starting out with pet rats. As has been mentioned males can be indolent and perhaps slightly malodorous. Have to agree with Stinkhair that I really wouldn't keep one on its own, they are highly social and intelligent animals. What are you going to call 'em?
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Raining Blood / M(elrik)atriculation / Twikitch's Triumph![]()
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| WillQueek | 1st November 2011 - 03:59 PM Post #10 | ||
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WillQueek of course! OR NOT?!
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FOR THE GLORY OF THE HORNED RAT OF COURSE!
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| Mathusala0 | 1st November 2011 - 04:50 PM Post #11 | ||
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The Evil Underlord
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havent quite worked out names, was looking at fantasy names like nikadiemous, but those names are rather long for a rat. | ||
![]() The Glossary of Common Underempire Lingo The Skaven Guide to competitive list building (8th Edition) The Skaven Castle Formation | |||
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| Akai-Chan | 1st November 2011 - 10:59 PM Post #12 | ||
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Rawrrrr! (Monster)
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Having kept and bred rats, both male and female, for many years I can assure you that what Willqueek has said is utter tosh. Rats of both genders need ratty company. They need other rat(s) to snuggle up with and play with and generally have for company. Lone rats tend to end up very introverted and reclusive. Plus, it is so much more fun to have 2 or more, watching how the interact with each other is awesome Males do not fight to the death and neither do females. They will occasionally play fight or have a scrap to establish dominance/tell another rat off if they step out of line but they do not just turn on and kill each other unless you've added new ones to a group incorrectly. I can think of no other situation in which one domesticated pet rat would kill another.For a beginner I would probably recommend boys. They are bigger and a lot happier to sit and be cuddled. They have their moments of activity, however they are mostly big squidges.Girls tend to be hyperhyperhyperrunning everywhereallthetime. I do prefer boys, the only thing I find with them is that they 'scent mark' a lot at first and will dribble a trail of wee on you when you handle them sometimes, however none of my guys do this anymore so I guess after enough time you just smell 'theirs' enough and they stop. Boys, as Stinkhair has said, can be more difficult to introduce to eachother (Personally I have had more problems introducing girls together but then again the boys I breed are really laid back and the girls tend to be cowbags). If you're adding to a group it is recommended to add young kits to existing groups as they won;t smell so hormoney and are accepting a lot easier. Again, as Stinky has said, neutral territory like a bath is a good place to introduce them. Bath is especially good as you can put some warm water in it which makes the rats smell more neutral to eachother. Also adding a drop of vanilla essence to the back of their necks takes their scent away too. Feel free to ask or PM me if you want anymore information. Can help out with any questions about things like housing, food, enrichment or anything else really ![]() Akai-Chan Apologies for double post, but may I also point you in the direction of this forum and highly recommend that you join. http://www.fancyratsforum.co.uk/index.php It is a fantastic source of information and full of helpful, knowledgable rat keepers who will do their best to answer any questions you may have and give you CORRECT information. Akai-Chan Edited by Akai-Chan, 1st November 2011 - 11:09 PM.
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| Mathusala0 | 1st November 2011 - 11:39 PM Post #13 | ||
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The Evil Underlord
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hey hey dont be hittin to hard on will queek, Hes mine to assassinate when I will (and he was just trying to help)Thanks for the link, Ive done my research over the past few months its more just personal opinions im looking for (and you've givin some exellent advice) It would be my first pair of rats. main reason is because I feel I want to actually own my OWN pet (dog is a family pet does not count) that i can basically have mostly as company (i figure rats fit this perfectly as they require attention just like all non fish pets) and rats are also incredibly cute (no where else will you see me squeal like a little girl than when a rat yawns) I do have some questions regarding cats and dogs within the same house. while im not at all worried about my dog (he will pretty much just nuzzle rats [ill explain]) my cats (namely the feral one) will kill rats and mice on a regular basis and bring them to me as gifts (one particular skull is sitting on my steamtank hell-pit, morbid i know [and i bleached that thing like 10 times to be safe] but it looks awesome) also, we have a rat/mice (i believe they are small female brown rats based off the size of the tail) problem (not infestation but they do appear) within our garage. I know that fancy rats can contract the illnesses carried by wild rats (namely salmonela or however you spell it) My room, however, sits on the other side of the house (and is the cleanest room in the house, aka military spotless) |
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| Akai-Chan | 2nd November 2011 - 01:10 AM Post #14 | ||
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Rawrrrr! (Monster)
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Hehe sorry, i kinda get annoyed when I see hugely incorrect information. For me, rat care is Srs Bsns ಠ_ಠ, what with it being a massive part of my life! Rats are good as first own pets (Even if they are highly addictive, they should really come with a warning label!). They're hugely intelligent, will become very attached to you with regular handling and can be fairly easily trained to come to their names. A couple of my boys are 'Pub rats' who are chilled enough to come out with me when i go down the pub or wherever and help educate people about how awesome they are. The calm nature of boys is much better for that than girls though! So long as there is always a cage between rats and cats and there is no way for cats to get into the cage it shouldn;t be a problem. Obviously keeping the cat out of the room the rats in would be best if possible but I understand it isn;t always that easy to separate them. Be warned though that the rats will fear the scent of cat at first (They normally get used to it pretty quickly) but they may be jumpy and hard to tame down for the first week or two, but they will eventually. I know many different people who have cats and rats Normally the cats learn to keep away from cages anyway after the first time they get bitten through the bars!Trust me, keeping parts of skeletons isn;t morbid. My housemate collects them from roadkill (OT I know but thought I'd chuck that in there!)Sounds like your room is far away enough an airspace for it not to pose a problem, just watch out for wild rat possibly coming into the house as then it might become an issue. Hope that helps! |
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| WillQueek | 2nd November 2011 - 06:30 AM Post #15 | ||
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Ok, becouse i'm to lazy to read your whole post now so early in the morning, i have to say all i sayd was personal expiriance........ If you scroll up and read correctly you'll see i have put a text in () after it saying they didn't litterly kill each other but wounded each other nasty sometimes, which is true. I don't know what factors it has ect. but they attacked each other sometimes. A female and a male is not recommended if you want only 2 rats, bacouse well, rats breed fast on animal planet. Edited by WillQueek, 2nd November 2011 - 06:31 AM.
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FOR THE GLORY OF THE HORNED RAT OF COURSE!
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