Since ancient times, rats have been considered enemies of man, because they destroyed grain supplies and served as carriers of infectious diseases. In the middle of the 19th century, rat-catchers began to preserve and tame the albino rats that they come across as outlandish animals. At first, the descendants of tamed rats were used mainly for laboratory experiments, and only a few of them were lucky enough to become someone's pets. However, interest in keeping decorative rats has grown steadily, and today they are very popular.
The nature of decorative rats
Domestic rats are sociable, intelligent and friendly, willingly make contact with humans. Compared to other rodents, rats are highly intelligent. In addition to the general features characteristic of the entire rat genus, each domestic rat also has its own character traits: some animals are calm and phlegmatic, others are active and curious, and others are restless and fussy.
A very important character trait of all rats is their sociality. Animals should not live alone - they definitely need a rat company. Communication with a person is very important, but even the most loving and caring owner will never replace a relative of a rat. Rats love to play together and sleep in their arms. In addition, they happily bite and lick each other's fur.
The lifestyle of domestic rats
Ornamental rats are kept in same-sex flocks. If it is not possible to keep several rats at the same time, you can get two. Of course, living in a pack is more fun, but the two rats will not be bored either.
Some inexperienced owners believe that it is better to have a "rat family" consisting of a male and a female. But, since rats are distinguished by early puberty and fertility, soon the owner of heterosexual animals will have many small rats in the arms, which will need to look for a home. In the meantime, the owner is busy looking, the female rat will become pregnant again. This is possible even when feeding the previous litter.
Therefore, even rat breeders who are professionally engaged in breeding and breeding work do not keep heterosexual animals together all the time. Male and female are planted in the same cage for a maximum of 3 days and only for the purpose of obtaining litter.
Contrary to popular belief, tame rats do not suffer at all without communication with the opposite sex. Moreover, they do not need mating "for health" and do not experience any torment due to the lack of sexual activity.
Choosing a cage for decorative rats
The ideal home for tame rats is a cage with a plastic base and enamelled metal rods. The cage should be spacious. To understand how many rats a cage is designed to house, you need to multiply its length, height and width in cm. The product must then be divided by 60,000 if males will live in the cage, or by 40,000 if females are to be populated in the cage. The resulting number will be the maximum number of rats that can be housed in this cage.
Feeding domestic rats
The basis of the diet of tame rats is a mixture consisting mainly of cereals and cereals (wheat, oats, corn, buckwheat, barley, rye, rice), as well as a small amount of seeds and nuts. You can buy this mixture ready-made at a pet store. You can also compose it yourself. Commercial rodent feed is considered more balanced. However, decorative rats often eat only certain types of grain from the finished feed, and the rest has to be thrown away. Therefore, many owners prefer to make the mixture themselves, focusing on the tastes of their favorites. In addition to the grain mixture, rats must be fed in the form of fresh vegetables and fruits, herbs, lean boiled meat and dairy products.
