So my teenage daughter wants to get a pair of rats. Hubby and I are OK with it. She has to keep her grades up and give us a presentation about rats and their care to earn her rats. That being said, I know next to nothing about rats. What do I need to know?
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I be Beowulf on here might be able to help. IIRC she knows about them.
Two of my daughters had pet rats. They were clean, and somewhat intelligent. The only problem we had with them was that they only live about 3 years --even with excellent care. One other problem we had was when we put our old farm on the market to buy the new one where we currently live. The Realtor was adamant that the rats not be in the house when it was being shown.
I had two sets of three rats in college.
They do best with minimum 3 rats.
Probably the biggest thing to know is that their respiratory systems are EXTREMELY sensitive. They get mycoplasma irritation ā> URI ā> pneumonia very very easily. Environmental factors like artificially scented candles, cleaners, air fresheners, etc. and not cleaning their cage 2-3x a week with a full dump of bedding, washing cloth hammocks, cleaning with vinegar or unscented enzyme cleaner will quickly result in very sick rat babies!
I lived in a studio apartment when I had rats. No candles, air fresheners, scented cleaners, scented shampoo/conditioner, or perfume; plus an air purifier running 24/7 by their cage and having very good husbandry habits, and they all still ended up with respiratory infections
They make amazing pets though and are so sweet and intelligent 
your daughter will love having them.
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They make wonderful pets. Very social and very smart. Please buy them in 2s or 3s of the same gender. Male rats get quite large andā¦ they have very prominent ā¦ ahems. If you are not comfortable with your teen girl handling large testes with cute whiskers, you may want to stick with females. Ha! I have had both male and female pairs and trios and there does not seem to be any socialization differences between genders. They LOVE human food snacks and are incredibly cute when they hold something between their cute little paws to nibble at it. Of course, balanced rat diet should be their main staple. Rats do not like exercise wheels and you have to be careful of the floor of their cage. Their feet are quite tender. I always used newspaper pellet cat litter for a substrate. Cedar wood shavings may smell nice but the fumes can really irritate a ratās eyes, nasal passages, and mucosa. They like surface area - I think they say two square feet per rat. Acquire the largest cage you can - maybe a ferret cage would work. They love ladders, boxes, hidey holes, cage furniture, etc. They should also get some serious handling and out-of-cage time several times per week. We had a good rat to space ratio and I needed to deep clean the bedding/substrate once a week. I did not find rat poop or urine to be especially stinky. They are kind of ādryā animals. They do not like drafts and I think would rather be a bit hot than too cold. Aquariums are not appropriate for rats.
You can sometimes find adult rats at humane societies. It wouldnāt hurt to check PetFinder for āSmall and Fuzzyā pets. The rat life span is sadly pretty short - 2-3 years max. On the positive, it is not a long commitment for a family pet. On the negative, she may be sad when they pass. Mine were hearty creatures. Of the six, only two ever had to go to the vet. One had a giant abcess on her jaw that they were able to poke and resolve. The other fell off a cage shelf and tweaked his back. Little guy got steriod liquid twice a day delivered by soaking a piece of white bread. He was perky in just a few days.
Rats come in some pretty fancy colors and coat patterns but your average, petstore, fancy rat will do. You can also check facebook marketplace for a āsnake food breederā to see if you canāt get a few babies from them. We got two babies from a feeder breeder and they were wonderful pets. Itās like rescueā¦
For humans, general hygiene should be practiced. Wash hands after handling and keep the housing clean. Do not inhale dust from their soiled substrate or bedding. Beware of hanta virus - there are phases when petstores are troubled by it and then years will go by with no reports.
My rats were very friendly and had good dispositions. They would nip you if you tried to reach through the cage bars to pet them, but lifting them out of their cage they were quite docile.
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Disagree about pet store rats. 2/3 of my first group were feeder pet store rats and they were more predisposed to URIs and were skittish. The 3/3 of that first group was from a rattery and man he was a hoot!! I miss that little rat to this day. My second group of rats were from a legitimate rattery as well. They were beautiful and had incredible dispositions, I still miss them too!
OP if youāre anywhere in driving distance of IL, I can send you the contact info for this rattery!
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I could write a bookā¦ I think that most posters have covered the care well, but I wanted to share my experience about the difference between feeder rats and rats from a quality rattery. Itās night and day. I loved my feeder rats - they were my first foray into rat keepingā¦ but holding a quality bred rat (I know, lol) in your hand is akin to the difference between riding a grade horse for dressage and a warmblood bred for it. There is just no comparison.
If I could make another generalization, my feeder rats were infinitely more clever and challenged the integrity of my cages at every turn. But they were also predisposed to more general health issues (including cancer). Rats are like any other pet and will need vet care - including euthanasia. They are just as costly sometimes as having a cat. I agree try to do pairs at minimum, but three is also fun. 
Like with parrots, there are tons of fun toys and home-made things you can make for rats - including decking their cages out with hiding holes and little pet tents. I spent a lot of time hand sewing ārat hammocksā and those little shits would chew them right up.
Set up will be expensive. Try to look on market place for used multi-tier rat cages. I remember mine was $200, Iām sure itās much more now. Like birds, they need lots of space and vertical height. Think about ārat proofingā a room or two of yours - but if your daughter is dedicated enough, they can be taught to come on command; mine often had free roam (with supervision) of the house during playtime and cuddle time. My favorite rat used to sit on my shoulder and we would watch Game Of Thrones together. Nothing is cuter than a rat holding a snack. 
I would have more, but their lives are just way too short. I was as attached to my last rat as Iāve been to any pet; I felt like by the time she was 2 we had just scratched the surface of how smart and willing she was, and then she was gone a year and a half later. It broke my heart when she passed and I couldnāt get more. My oldest one lived to 4 and a half (ironically a feeder rat), but Iāve also had some pass as soon as 2.
This forum was instrumental to me when I was keeping them:
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I can see where rats might turn away some buyers.
Thank you for all the fantastic info! We are planning on a pair for sure. Kiddo is very aware of the short lifespan 
We even talked about getting rescue rats and how their lifespan would probably be even shorter as we wouldnāt have history or age on them most likely. Iāll have to see if thereās a rattery close enough to drive. Iām not a fan of big box pet stores for ANYTHING, lol.
