# 2 Bored Rats



## mmcdonough2306 (12 March 2013)

Hey,
My 2 pet rats are bored, is there any toys or things we can do to make them happier and tame? 1 you can pick up but the other one runs away?


----------



## moosea (12 March 2013)

Hi 

I kept rats for years - they are brilliant pets.

They have pretty poor eyesight, but I always found them very easy to tame and train.

Make sure you have contact with them every day.
I used to go to diy stores and buy ropes to thread things likes grapes onto so that they had to climb to reach them.
There is a lot of good toys available these days for rats from most of the big pet shops.

Use food to tame them if you need to ... but be careful about feeding them through bars on cages as it often causes them to bite anything that goes near including fingers!!

How old are your rats? are they male or female and what sort of cage do you have for them?
post up some pics please!


----------



## mmcdonough2306 (12 March 2013)

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/album.php?albumid=5619&pictureid=21609

Hopefully that will work!
Both Male
Unknown Age. Think there 1-2
They have Paper they tear and bedding is straw?
I might pick up some stuff from Jollies Superstore
Thanks


----------



## sandi_84 (20 March 2013)

mmcdonough2306 said:



http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/album.php?albumid=5619&pictureid=21609

Hopefully that will work!
Both Male
Unknown Age. Think there 1-2
They have Paper they tear and bedding is straw?
I might pick up some stuff from Jollies Superstore
Thanks
		
Click to expand...

I would change their bedding because straw can poke them in the eyes or in one of my late rat's cases get snuffled up his nose!  I thought he was going to die with the noises he was making so I called the vet who told me to take him to the bathroom and whack the shower on as high as it would go and close the bathroom door. Steam and rubbing his face from eyes to nose eventually helped him snot it out - I swear I don't know how he got a bit of straw that size up his schnoz! - and then as I tried to recover from my heart attack he happily bruxed away, quite chuffed with himself  Needless to say I changed his bedding sharpish! 

You can get little wooden balls/blocks to let them nibble and roll around. check out youtube videos for great videos of rats playing/doing tricks to give yourself ideas


----------



## Floxie (20 March 2013)

They'd probably appreciate a little more room, they're chunky lads! You can make toys from all sorts, and buy stuff from places like wilkos. Rope dog toys are good to climb on, wooden wine racks, tubes etc. Scatter their feed in their bedding so they have to spend time foraging rather than just stuffing their faces from a bowl. Make food packages in paper bags or egg cartons so they have to get in to get the food. Give them the run of a (ratproofed!) room for daily free range play. Consider trick training (but don't expect too much from boys)


----------



## Floxie (20 March 2013)

Bedding -dust extracted cardboard is ideal (buy online from Finacard, or other horse beddings). Consider food from ratrations.com (pre mixed or make your own) and wrt handling, just stick with it and be brave, gently-gently often just takes longer!


----------



## Kadastorm (21 March 2013)

Definately change the bedding, im about to get rats and have a large cage and back to nature bedding. Also, add in ropes, toys, chews. change it every now and again as animals become habituated to the items quickly. i would try and get a larger cage too, i have a ferplast one which currently has a 20% discount if you reserve or buy online. but you could also try ebay or something?


----------

