Bond With Your Pet Rat

Rats are highly intelligent animals that are truly underrated as household pets. They have individual personalities and can be socialized to build attachments with people. Make sure to provide the proper basic care, understand your rat’s behavior, and spend a lot of time with it. With some patience, you will have a unique pet that will love spending time with you.

Steps

Providing Basic Care

1. Provide a roomy cage. You will need a cage that provides at least two cubic feet of space per rat. While this is a good rule of thumb for most rats, there are some situations where rats will require more space. For instance, if you have a larger rat or multiple rats that are sensitive about sharing elbow room, such as many intact male rats, you may want a larger cage.
   • Keep in mind that your rat is going to spend the majority of their life in their cage so giving them a spacious environment will help keep them happier when you are not able to take them out for play.
2. Keep the cage clean. You should be cleaning your rat’s cage at least once a day. For your daily routine, scoop out any visible excrement and wipe down plastic or metal parts of the cage with a baby wipe or wet paper towel.
   • Use rat litter or woodchips to line the bottom of the cage. Completely empty out and replace the litter at least once a week.
   • You should do a thorough cleaning at least once a month that includes wiping down all metal and plastic parts of the cage, the water bottles, and replacing any cloth bedding.
   • Empty water bottles and refill with fresh water at least every other day. Remove any food that is not eaten. It will rot and attract bacteria.
   • Keep your rat in a travel carrier while you’re cleaning out the cage.
3. Feed it regularly. Water should be readily available at all times as rats can easily dehydrate. The common staple foods for rats are milled pellets, seeds and ground nuts. You can find theses at any pet supply store.
   • Start by feeding your rat one table spoon of these foods twice per day. Once it gets used to food being readily available, it will learn that it doesn’t need to overeat and you can leave a small bowl of food in there at all times.
4. Add some variety. Rats can eat a wide variety of meats, fruits and vegetables. Try to mix in a few more wholesome foods along with the typical rat food you buy at the pet store. You can add in these foods as often as you’d like and should include roughage vegetables at least once a week.
   • Strawberries, grapes, apples, blueberries, leafy greens, squash, cucumber, potatoes and sprouts are all excellent options for adding some variety to your rat’s diet.
   • Meats like chicken, beef, tuna and liver are also great for rats. Make sure you mash them up a bit before serving so they’re easier to digest.
5. Avoid certain foods. Despite the stereotype, rats should not eat cheese as most rats are lactose intolerant. You should also avoid dried corn, oranges, licorice, red cabbage, rhubarb and human junk foods like potato chips and candy. All of these can be toxic for your rat.

Socializing Your Rat

1. Get a younger rat. Like dogs and cats, rats are much easier to socialize when they’re younger. If you have your choice, pick one that is under 6 months old. After this age, they begin to develop their social behavior and if they live in the wild or without much human contact, that is what they’ll be used to.
   • Older rats can be socialized with the same methods but you’ll need to be more patient as it will take them longer to trust you.
2. Offer treats from your hand. Rats will come to trust your hands if they associate them with food. Start by hold the food with your fingertips.
   • After you’ve fed it from your fingertips a few times, hold the food in the palm of your hand and let the rat sit in your hand as you eat. Eventually, it’ll instinctively walk onto your hand anytime you hold it out.
3. Speak softly. Rats, much like dogs, have the ability to differentiate voice patterns. Try to repeatedly say its name softly over time. It may learn to remember its name and come to you when you say it.
   • Because a rat’s eardrums are so small, it won’t be able to differentiate sounds that are too loud. Try whispering with your mouth close to its ear.
4. Hold your rat correctly. Never squeeze your rat and avoid restraining it for more than a few seconds at a time. Keep your hands open and let the rat move around at will. By spending time in your hands, your rat will get used to your scent and bond with you.
   • Pick up your rat by placing your hand under its belly. Try to use two hands when picking it up.
   • Once it’s used to being held, try to simply hold your hand out and let the rat come to you.

Playing Games with Your Rat

1. Build mazes. Rats are known for their ability to take logical approaches to solving mazes. This is a great way to exercise your rat’s mental ability. You can make mazes and obstacle courses out of cardboard boxes or toilet paper tubes taped together.
   • Rats are climbers so try to stack the boxes up. Make sure the climbing structures are sturdy enough to not to collapse under your rats' weight.
   • If you are feeling ambitious, try creating obstacle features like hoops, see-saws, ramps, weaving poles and tunnels.
   • Use treats or moving objects to lead it through the maze.
   • Rats will instinctively chase something that moves quickly pulling a string or rolling a small bouncy ball will also work.
2. Tear up some paper. Try tearing some paper into strips and giving your rat one piece at a time. It will grab the paper, stash it away and return for more. This will build trust by teaching your rat that you have and want to share treasures it enjoys.
3. Play hide-and-seek. If you hide behind something, your rat might come looking for you and get excited when it finds you. It’s best to do this after you’ve hand-tamed your rat so it knows your scent and can try to follow it.
   • Make sure you’re not too far away or it might get lost.
4. Play pea fishing. Get a shallow container and fill it with no more than {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of water. Put some sweet peas in the water. You can use a lot of peas or just a few, as long as the peas have enough room to float around. Your rat will instinctively fish for the peas with its mouth as if bobbing for apples.
   • If the peas are frozen, let them thaw before placing them in the water. If you’re going to microwave them, make sure they have time to cool down before placing them in the water.
5. Let it play in the dirt. Rats like to play in the dirt and will dig in your house plants if they find them. Give them a digging box full of sterile soil that will allow them to dig and forage without ruining your plants or eating a poisonous fertilizer.
   • Put a large towel or outdoor tablecloth on a flat surface underneath the box.
   • You can use a shoe box or anything of similar size. Add soil to the box and bury treats or toys into the dirt.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Tame a Rat