Perfect pet........rabbit, gerbil, kitten or bird???

[whitecra]

My son has had a rabbit for 5 years and she hasn't been that hard to take care of. She is in a cage in his room. She is litter box trained to go in her litter box instead of the rest of her pen. She is a wonderful pet. HE also has a hamster that is sweet. HE has a bird but didn't mess with it much at all.
Chris

 

[IcedMochaChick]

I've had rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs- none of them can hold a candle to my rats! I enjoy my rats more than my dog or cat. Male rats are usually much more laid back and cuddly than female rats. They are smart, affectionate, and clean. They're portable and pretty sturdy. My boys come when called

 

[Farm Chic]

WOW

This is really great advice! Never thought about a rat as a pet. Are there different types of rats to get? What do you look for in a pet rat? What is needed for a rat?

It sounds like my son is really interested in birds. Not really sure about it myself. My mom has one and she says that she likes it, but its kept in her bedroom and she can't let it out because she has a dog and a cat that would love to use it as a play toy! It will make noises and she likes it but it doesn't sound like a great pet for an 8 year old to me.

My son would love to have many different pets. He wants turtles, frogs, snakes, rabbits, cats, fish....you name it! One major problem with that, I would be the main caretaker! Not that I don't mind taking care of animals, I want my son to learn all he can from this experience.

So with that said, anyone have any links that I can do some more research on rats? Like where to find them, what is needed for them and all that good stuff.

Are there any other pets that have not been mentioned or forgotten?

PS
My son will be taking care of a chick when we get them and kind of adopting it as his won. This will be his chick and this is the one he will be showing at the 4H next year!!

 

[mudman]

Have you considered elephants? I've heard they are great pets, very intelligent. You can buy farm implements designed to be pulled by the pachyderm, too. Hey, you could even give your kid a ride to school on it. Plus, think of all the free manure you would have!

 

[Chicken Boo]

I kept mine in aquariums with lids. They are pretty easy to clean. You can get these at any regular pet store. You feed them Rat Chow and just about anything out of the kitchen. I gave mine meat once, though, and it was the only time Tommy and Dickie got a little nippy. So, I gave them no more meat. The more the rat is going to get out to play, the smaller you can get away with the aquarium. However, they do need space to move, so at least a 20 gallon. You may be able to find one at a yard sale (it does not have to be water tight for a rat or two) Half of mine like having a wheel, the others pretty much ignored it most of the time. They need stuff to gnaw on to keep their teeth from growing too long. I used crushed corn cob or wood shavings for litter and changed it about once/week depending on how many rats and how large an aquarium.

I have a booklet on raising rats that someone gave me. I think the title is Rats as Pets with a lovely black and white Norwegian hood rat on the cover. I see it often in PetSmart. It is only about 25 pages, but it is pretty much all you need to know when you get started.

When you pick out your rats, pick them up and see how they behave. A good pet will be curious, want to inspect everything about you and not mind being held. They should not try to get to the floor and run.

I have had over 30 rats. I only had one that was not sociable and agreeable.

Good Luck!!!

 

[sred98]

I've had all the above...rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, and the rat is definitely my favorite. Best all around pet. They don't smell like the others (except the gerbil, they are pretty clean, too) and love to play, watch tv, sleep with you, everything! If he is wanting one to just relax with, go for a male. They tend to be lower energy. The females are smaller and very active.

Temperment-wise, they are both sweet and loving, will come when called, and just want to hang out with you. Think of the males as couch potatoes. LOL!

I would stay away from the albinos and the red eyed ones. They have some sensory issues, and might not like the bright lights, if he takes them outside. There are lots of different colors. I always thought the hairless ones were really cool looking, but thought they would get too cold.

The dalmation and the blues are really pretty, but I always loved the hooded rats.

The rats will go anywhere and everywhere your son does. When I was younger, mine slept with me and went to school with me. They are very adaptable.

Not sure what the one poster meant about the rats getting as big as cats...they are smaller than a guinea pig, so don't worry about the size. My DH did have 2 ginormous ones, they were waaaay overfed. He rescued them and they weighed 3 pounds each! They were sweet as can be, but didn't move much. I don't know why someone would do that to an animal.

Icedmocha-is that a Dumbo Rat? I've never seen a blue one, he's gorgeous!

Good luck finding him the perfect pet! Nothing like rat whispers in your ear!

Fellow rat owners will know exactly what I am talking about!

LOL!

Shelly

 

[gritsar]

The only thing I disagree with on keeping rats is using a aquarium with a wire lid for a cage. We had a wire cage with a heavy plastic bottom, similiar to the ones sold for small rabbits, for ours. The air flow was better resulting in less odors and I just feel like the glass tank results in a bit of sensory deprivation.
As for breeds, there are lots out there. My daughter's two rats Bubonic and Scooter were plain ol' brown rats sold as snake food by the pet store. Both boys, they were very laid back and great pets.

 

[GwenFarms]

Quote:
All the research I did back when we had rats said that one of the best ways to keep them was in an aquarium. They are succeptible to drafts and can become sick pretty quickly. The cold doesn't really bother guinea pigs and rabbits,but rats don't do well if they catch a draft. I had a big multilevel cage we built for play time, but mine stayed in an aquarium at night mostly. You also have to be very careful about wire bottoms. They can become bumblefooted. We used corn cob litter on the bottom of the aquarium and just dumped it a couple of times a week. You have to be careful with any wood shavings and small animals...particularly in an aquarium, because of the dust.

Here is a good link: http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Housing
http://www.petratscanada.com/ratcare.htm#gencare
http://www.afrma.org/rminfo1.htm

 

[CountryMom]

Just a note of correction. Cold does cause respiratory illness in guinea pigs. Not sure on rabbits as I don't have any. Heat also kills guinea pigs and rather quickly. Best to be kept in a reasonable climate.

Quote:
All the research I did back when we had rats said that one of the best ways to keep them was in an aquarium. They are succeptible to drafts and can become sick pretty quickly. The cold doesn't really bother guinea pigs and rabbits,but rats don't do well if they catch a draft. I had a big multilevel cage we built for play time, but mine stayed in an aquarium at night mostly. You also have to be very careful about wire bottoms. They can become bumblefooted. We used corn cob litter on the bottom of the aquarium and just dumped it a couple of times a week. You have to be careful with any wood shavings and small animals...particularly in an aquarium, because of the dust.

Here is a good link: http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Housing
http://www.petratscanada.com/ratcare.htm#gencare
http://www.afrma.org/rminfo1.htm

 

[glowworm]

I had a pet rat when I was that age. I wanted something bigger (like a dog, rabbit, etc.) but my mom did research and decided a rat would be good. My rat was a lot of fun and I forgot about wanting the other animals. I had a male.