Might become a ratkeeper...

[Dreamstalker]

I'm pet-sitting for a family friend who has five rats (last-minute job; they're leaving on Monday for a week and the person they had lined up stopped returning their calls). I was over at their house this morning to meet the rats (sooo CUTE) and get instructions; Mom now thinks we should get a couple.

The only concern she has is about wiring; what could we do to prevent chewing? The family I'm ratsitting for has a whole room that can be closed off for them to roam with no loose wires at all, but we don't really have that option.

[RayvenQ]

To be honest I'd be careful about putting them in any room, rats can, thoug hwith a bit of effort, chew through even steel.

Of course, what you could do, is supervise them when you let them wander out the cage (or better yet play with them, they love human interaction and playing) , so you wouldn't have to have zero wires about or anything, just guide them away from anything possibly dangerous if they try to chew on it.

A word of warning though, rats have zero bladder control, they lack the ability to hold onto it until they can go to the bathroom, so when they gotta go, they gotta go. So put something absorbant down in the area where you play with them, and wash your hands thorougly after handling them and, if you have any scratches on your hands, either avoid handling them or put on some gloves otherwise you risk getting Rat-Bite Fever, which can be nasty.

So in short, get a big cage, the one i have, for my two rats, is 26x14x20, with two levels. That gives them a fair bit of room, but could do with more (my old one broke so i had to get a new one quick and it was the biggets they had).

You might want to thing about getting a glass tank for them, as if they develop a habit of chewing on the bars (which they can do if they either form the habit or haven't had anything solidto chew on, which they need to file their teeth down)

Try and get one or more levels in your cage/tank, rats love climbing about and jumping up and stuff.

As for food, dry rat pellets are a good idea, since they are pretty solid and help file down the teeth, plenty of water and intersperse it with fresh and/or dried fruit (my firstrat loved munching on dried bannanas and fresh apple slices)

Males are supposed to be slower and lazier than females but, with males, if you have more than one of them, they will fight, as they establish dominance, although this will look worse than it is (I've seen mine literally flying about the cage as they fight, but theyve never hurt one another and now settle to just pinning each other down)

Another word of warning, if your rat(s) seem to get unwell, be very careful in trying to pick them up as the bites are VERY strong (my first rat bit me once, straight through the skin and muscle in my thumb and actually chipped the bone)

Try and get fairly young ones, so that they humanise easier, older ones, if they haven't been humanised much (like if you adopted them etc) they'll be harder to pick up and handle than ones that. Plus they're oh so cute when they're little too, even when they're bigger they still are. My old one which i had when it was young, used to love curling up on my shoulder (or even walking across my shoulder but staying on there) or even sitting in my sleeve but the two i have now, I adopted at about a year old and i can pick them up, just, to move them while Im cleaning the cage and thats about as much as they'll let me do.

Despite all my warnings, they are really great pets.

[BlaqueKatt]

actually if you get male rats-the "lack of bladder control" is actually scent marking, which a neutered rat doesn't do-yes they do spay and neuter rats-just like any other pet. I'd also suggest locating a vet that deals with rats/rodents BEFORE buying them-better to have and not need than have a cherished pet in an emergency situation and have them die on you while making phone calls.

general guideline is 2 cubic feet of space per rat. Rats they are social creatures so getting them as a pair is important or they can easily become bored and depressed.

Also be mindful of the bedding/substrate-cedar is cheap and smells nice but is highly detrimental to their health.(oils burn their feet, cause lung problems)

Some really good info on housing rats can be found here