How we keep our rats
Our rats currently live in to our spare bedroom which has been nicknamed the 'rat room'. The does are currently living in to groups in the Savic Royal Suite. Our bucks are split into groups of around four and live in specially designed hutches. These allow for plenty of floor space and enrichment for our rats. The small groups ensure that they have plenty of space and all get the attention they need.
Our rats have access to a range of cage furniture such as tic tac wheels, ropes, ladders, tunnels, hammocks, fruit tree branches, hanging baskets, digging boxes, shelves and various hide outs. I aim to change the layout of each cage on a weekly basis to keep them entertained and active. They enjoy exploring new 'things' within their environment. Megaspread or Hunters shavings are used as our main substrate and back to nature in litters trays if a cage uses one. I have also used finacard, aubiose and badmax in the past - all of which make good substrates. I wouldn't recommend using fleece as this provides little enrichment and no absorbancy/ odour control.
They are fed on my own version of the shunamite diet which is frequently adapted to meet the needs and ages of the rats and to provide variety and enrichment for them. They are also supplemented daily with a variety of fruit and vegetables and also occasionally fresh eggs, sardines, brown bread and a range of other table scraps. As babies grow they are supplemented with extra protein foods as required for healthy growth and development. I would recommend new owners to take a look at the rat rations site for complete rat mixes. I do not advocate a nugget based diet.
The rats are given time outside of their cages every day to allow them to explore, exercise and bond with us. The area that they are confined to outside of the cage is changed regularly by adding tubes, boxes etc and by giving them opportunities to dig, climb and explore. It has laminate flooring so that it is easy to clean up afterwards and has been made rat proof to ensure holes, wires and other dangers have been removed.
