How to care for a domestic rat?

Despite numerous prejudices, the domestic rat is an appeasable pet, the care of which is unexpectedly pleasant, easy and fun. In addition, their attachment to the owner and intelligence, they are not inferior to cats and dogs, even if sometimes they do not exceed them. All about the intricacies of keeping and caring for domestic rats, read in this article.

One of the reasons why you should buy a domestic rat is its intelligence. She is able to recognize the owner and distinguish between family members. Most tame rats can build faces and laugh, not to mention the fact that they are not only tied to the owner, but caressed to him. Decorative rats are easy to keep in the apartment. It will be enough for them to arrange a cage with everything necessary. They are much better than other pets tolerate changes in temperature and humidity.

This animal is trainable. Of course, one should not expect high results, but domestic rats can be taught to perform simple commands, and small rats can easily learn to swim on their own. It is noticed that each rat has its own character and temperament. It cannot be called a plus, but it is rather interesting to observe the manifestation of this. Rats can be both active and lazy, with their vagaries of character or even eating habits.

At home, rats can be kept in pairs, flocks or alone. Rats are polygamous, if you are not going to sell or distribute rats afterwards, you should not get a male and a female, and even more so put them in one cage. Care of the cubs in any case will complicate your life, since the rats are not particularly picky when choosing a partner. Male with female can contact only for the sake of reproduction. Nevertheless, they are the gregarious animals that need communication.

The material of the dwelling must be made of metal. Wooden cages for rodents are very poorly recommended and almost never put up for sale. The rodent cage should be spacious. It is not recommended to acquire low cages, as some individuals like to climb the upper bars. The most common and acceptable size for a cell is 60x40x60 cm.

It is necessary to pay attention to the distance between the bars of the grids. They should be no more than 12 mm. The rods themselves should be completely enameled and should not have chipping or peeling of the coating anywhere. The bottom of the cage should be smooth to minimize subsequent pet injury. It is necessary to take care of the pallet with high sides so that the waste does not fall on the surface of the floor or table. Positive feedback received collapsible cells with large doors.

Be sure to equip the cage with a small house. For pets, it will look like a burrow, in which they will hide and sleep.It would be best to make her bottom soft. A hammock can be another favorite place to relax. It can be hung between the bars of the cage or installed separately. Other useful and interesting toys for rats include various colored tunnels, bridges, wheels, swings, balls, and even edible figurines.

It is recommended to purchase a nipple drinker. It is most convenient for pets and owners. When choosing between floor and hanging bowls, it is better to give preference to hanging bowls. They can be put as dry food, and used for liquid. The best filler is corn.. Wood chips provoke allergies, and wipes require regular cleaning. You can not put as a filler paper with printing ink. She can simply poison the rodents.

A good idea is to create own mini-park for the rat. For this you need to plant wheat in a small tray with the ground. After it germinates, you need to put it in a cage. Pet will be happy to bask in it.

As a rule, the requirements for feeding ornamental rats are low. Rats are omnivores, but to ensure they have a healthy and nutritious diet, still need to adhere to certain recommendations.

• The basis of the diet should be vegetables - They are rich in vitamins and also have a positive effect on the bowels. It is good to eat rodents and dried fruits. The main thing is that they are natural.
• Another essential part of the diet is protein. It can be given to rats in the form of boiled eggs or meat (beef, chicken, fish) or liver (heart, kidney). Be sure everything should be boiled in order to avoid subsequent infection with worms.
• Improve the health of rodents flax or pumpkin seeds. A good addition will be the seedlings of wheat or oats.
• Kefir can help restore the intestinal microflora, and cottage cheese - a lack of calcium. Rats actively eat watermelon and strawberries.

Products that are prohibited for use by rodents include the following:

• shish kebab or any other meat with a high content of spices;
• chocolate and other sweets;
• potatoes;
• raw beans.

Especially you need to take care and properly feed the newly-fed mother-rat with rich in vitamins feed. Her diet should be rich in protein, fiber and foods high in calcium. Sometimes it is recommended to feed the rat with prepared dry pet food from pet stores. But often they can not feed their pet. The main part of the diet should remain “alive”.

On average, a rodent eats almost 30 grams of food per day. A third of this amount is in vegetables. The daily rate of water for rats is 60 ml.

It is necessary to bathe rats in warm water. This is best done using shampoo. Sometimes a small brush can be used as a washcloth. Often before or after bathing the rat is cut off the claws.

It is imperative to bathe the rat if it is smeared with something. Everything is not so scary, if it is food, but if it is something inedible, then cleared, the rat can simply be poisoned. Sometimes it is enough just to wash the rat's paws and tail. Bathing is also recommended if the rat smells bad. Most often this happens due to the untimely cleaning of the cage.

Domestic rats are rather shy, so swimming can be stressful for them. It is best to lower the rat into a container and pour water there so that it can stand on the bottom with its paws. First you need to moisten the rodent's fur, and then apply shampoo. For bathing is quite suitable baby shampoo. Need to watch that so that the tool does not fall into the eyes and ears.

Drying the rodent is necessary, wrapping it in a few towels. If the pet lives with other rodents, then it should be launched into the cage carefully, since another smell can cause rejection of its fellows. If the rat is healthy, then you need to bathe it once a month. (if it is female) or combine it with wet rubbing (if it is a male).

It should immediately be noted that the life expectancy of rats is small - about two years. With good living conditions, they can live 4 years. Interesting fact: The maximum age of the rat, which was officially recorded - 7 years. If you hold not one rat, but several pieces, then quite often there will be fights that will lead to injuries. They need to be treated.

The sphynx and dumbo rats are quite susceptible to various diseases, as this is a product of gene mutations that later have a negative effect on their health. As a rule, old age for them comes at the age of two years.

Healthy rats are moderately active and inquisitive. They sniff their master or his hands. If the rodent is too sluggish or, on the contrary, is too active, then it means that he has health problems. It is worth paying attention when buying a rat on the following points:

• scratches, wounds or sores on the legs and tail; later they can cause other more serious diseases;
• bald spots;
• suppuration on the body;
• frequent sneezing;
• the wet area around the anus is a clear sign of bowel disorder;
• any suspicious discharge from the eyes, ears and even the nose.

Domestic rats differ from their wild relatives much poorer health. The former are prone to gaining extra weight and to various oncological diseases. As a preventive measure for these diseases, you should carefully monitor the diet of pets. Separately, it is worth highlighting ticks, lice and other parasites living on animals covered with wool. To get rid of them, it is necessary to detect the disease in time and process the animals with special preparations.

The process of training rats is simplified due to their friendliness. Individuals can be easily tamed to climb in the host's long sleeves and crawl out. Rats love to swarm in boxes and find something there. By regularly encouraging and stroking them, rats can be taught to bring some small thing or jump over obstacles.. Rodents can also easily learn to climb a rope or a hoop.

Of course, in no case beats pets. Such behavior towards him will not give any results in terms of training. One of the easiest tricks you can teach a rat is to respond to your name and come to the owner, and also stand up on the orders on your hind legs. Quite often, sunflower seeds or small pieces of fruit are used as encouragement.

Moving away from the topic, I would like to talk about the origin of domestic rats.The 16th century, when rats flooded all medieval cities, was long gone, but it was from that moment that their domestication began. The cultivation of rats by man reached its peak in the 19th century, when individuals were bred specifically for participation in battles. In the same period, albinists began to be used for laboratory research.

Of course, not all rats participated in battles or were experimental, some individuals remained in humans as pets. Ever since then, they have been living with people, and their temper has become more docile than that of their wild relatives.

See how to look after a rat in the next video.