As all my faithful readers are aware, I accidentally came across several rats.  The person at the pet store said that I had two rats of the same sex but several weeks after getting the rats, I had little rats coming out of my ears (more literally than the phrase may indicate).  Now that I have all these rats on my hands, I can’t stand to give them up.  I am falling in love with them more and more each day and want the best for them.

Right now, I just have my rats in a few fish aquariums.  When I got the rats, my mom just gave me a few hand me down aquariums.  They have worked great for the last several months but Iv’e heard recently that having rodents in aquariums aren’t the healthiest thing for them.  After doing a little research I found that the only reason some people feel it is not good for your rodent is because it doesn’t provide good enough air circulation if the top is mostly closed off.  Well, I have big aquariums and they both have wire mesh tops.  I also provide my rats with the kind of toys that they can climb up to the top of the cage.  In fact, I often times find my pet rats climbing and hanging upside down from the mesh top.  Crazy little guys.

The number one factor in choosing a rat cage is to just make sure there is enough room for your rat.  The average hamster cage just isn’t big enough for a rat.  Also, if you are considering getting a wire cage for your rat, make sure that the wires are powder coated with non toxic paints.  Just like with birds or any other small animal, you need to be careful that the animal isn’t exposed to zinc or lead.  Humans are less sensitive to these things just because we are so big and we aren’t scratching and biting the cage… But rats will do these things.

I think I do a pretty good job about keeping my rat’s cages clean, blut let’s face it… they are still rodents and they get pretty stinky sometimes.  In the summer months, I stick my rats out in the garage where they get a little more fresh air (and the air in my house can stay fresh too).  My garage is well lit and stays at a comfortable temperature even on the hottest of days.  The rats seem to love it.

The other day, I got home from work and as I walked past the rats, I noticed that they were acting pretty suspicious.  They were all standing on there rear legs and looking out the cage.  They all huddled around each other and were just acting so weird.  I didn’t think anything of it.  Well, I went outside a few minutes later and to my surprise, there was a HUGE snake sitting right outside the garage.  Knowing that snakes eat rats, mice, etc, I hurried and closed the garage and took my little guys back inside.

I live in Idaho so I know that snakes are fairly common but I don’t think it was just a coincidence that the snake was sitting outside the garage.  Those stinky rats must have attracted that snake and brought him closer than comfort would allow.

I think I’ll keep my rats indoors now…. just in case.