Before You Get Pet Rats

Here are some things to think about before getting your first rats. Rats can be fun, cuddly and great companions but they are not perfect for everyone.

These videos cover if rats are really the proper pet for you, the pros and cons of owning rats, differences in the types of rats you can buy and supplies you will need before you bring rats home.

If you are seriously considering getting pet rats please watch these videos all the way through.

Here are a few highlights to have in mind before you get started.

• Healthy rats will live for 2-3 years.
• Male and female rats are VERY different.
• You will need to get (at least) two rats and they should be of the SAME sex.
• Plan on spending at least $200 on supplies.

Are Pet Rats Right for You?

Pros and Cons of Owning Rats

How to Choose a Rat

Differences Between Male and Female Rats

What to Get BEFORE You Bring Rats Home

As always, if you found these videos to be useful then please subscribe to the channels that took the time to make them!

Litter Training Your Rats

Litter training your pet rats will be an important step in keeping their cage clean.  Rats poop a lot.  Teaching them where you want them to use the bathroom is the simplest way to keep the rat poop under control.

It can take a few weeks to train a rat to use a litter box so don’t be disappointed if your rats don’t figure it out immediately.

Some rats will use a litter box to poop and pee but most rats will only use it to poop. Apparently its more fun to pee all over the liner in the cage 🙂

The general idea for litter training is to place the litter box where that rats are already pooping and to pick up any poop in their cage and put it in the box.

Positive reinforcement with treats can help if you catch them “in the act” of using the litter box.

The three videos below show you how to litter train your rats in more detail and have good discussions about what to use for litter.

 
As always, if you found these videos to be useful then make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channels that took the time to make these videos!

Pet Rat Cage Tours

I love seeing what people do to make their rats happy and comfortable.

This post is a collection of several different rat cage video tours.

I hope you find some inspiration and ideas in these videos that help you give your rats a nicer home!

Kiera Rose Rat Cage Tour

Sugar Hammy Rat Cage Tour

RatGirl44 Rat Cage Tour

Rattie Wonderland Rat Cage Tour

Peachy Pet Paradise Rat Cage Tour

If you enjoyed these rat cage tours then make sure you subscribe to all of the great YouTube channels that took the time to make these videos!

Caring for Pet Rats

Here are four videos covering the basics of caring for your pet rat!

Proper rat care begins before you bring a pet rat into your home.

Perform some research before you buy a rat.  Different breeds have different personalities and it is important that you pick a personality that will fit you.  When you decide on which breed you want make sure to buy at least two rats.  Rats are highly social animals.  If a rat doesn’t have a friend is his cage it will become extremely stressed.

Basic Rat Care

Where the rat lives is an important factor in keeping your rat happy and healthy.  You will want to get a proper metal rat cage with adequate floor space and room to climb.  Bedding material is important (fleece or pellets) as is the need for adequate sheltered areas.

You will need to provide your rats with plenty of toys to keep their active minds engaged.

There is a lot of other great information in the next two videos including how to perform basic health checks, proper feeding (including what foods to absolutely avoid) and providing chewing material to keep your rat’s teeth healthy.
Rat Care Basics Part 1

Rat Care Basics Part 2

The final video gives a look at what it is like to care for rats on a daily basis.

Something to remember is that rats are highly active at night and they like to sleep during the day.  If you want to keep your pet rats in your bedroom then they might be making lots of noise while you are trying to sleep!

This video also does a nice job of showing that having pet rats is fun but requires daily chores.  You will need to maintain their cage (pick up old food, clean up rat poop) and provide socialization every day.

Rat Care Daily Routine

Do you know of any other great videos about caring for pet rats?  If so then please leave a comment and I will include them in this playlist.

Make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channels of everyone who took the time to make these useful rat care videos!

 

Rat Tricks

Rats are very smart and can be trained with positive reinforcement to perform an incredible variety of tricks.

Today I am sharing some videos that show you the basics of how to teach your pet rat some tricks followed by a collection of pet rats showing off their skills.

Let’s start with Rat Training 101.  Watch as Luna learns the basics of walking on her hind legs, spinning in circles, rolling over and jumping into a hand!

The next two videos show you how to teach your rat some advanced tricks like pulling up a bucket and walking a tightrope.  The instructions are broken down into basic steps and the great music make these really fun to watch!

The Bucket Trick!

Walk a Tightrope!

This next video is very sweet and cute.  It is not always easy and simple to train a rat to perform ticks.  If you are having a hard time teaching your rat to perform a trick like “fetch” then you will enjoy this video.  You are not alone 🙂

Now that you know some basics on how to teach your rat tricks here are three videos that show you the variety of tricks that are possible.  Of course these don’t cover EVERY trick possible but they should give you plenty of ideas 🙂

These rats are playing soccer, riding skateboards, doing the laundry, jumping through hoops and making wishes in the wishing well!

15 Cool Rat Tricks

Epic Rat tricks!

More Amazing Rat Tricks!

If you have a video of your pet rat either being trained to do tricks or performing tricks that you would like to be featured on this post drop me a comment and let me know!!