my partner’s little sister bought a pet rat for herself a few days ago. she bought a single rat and i got told they require pairs and a fairly large cage. she is never here except on the weekends to care for her animals and i’m getting yelled at by my mother in law and another forum about whether or not he needs a a friend or a bigger cage. my mother in law doesn’t even want him here so she made me take him over to our apartment. she is also a neat freak God forbid a little food from the animals gets on the floor. sorry for the bitching but i am just frustrated.
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We’ve had 3 Rats at different times in the house while growing up. They require neither pairs, nor a fairly large cage. They were just fine without either and lived long happy lives…all of them.
Do you ever get the feeling that you should maybe look into plans to start building an ark?
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lol yeah. i don’t mind caring for the rat its just i’m the only adult that doesn’t mind holding him. so he became my responsibility.
If she’s old enough to buy a rat for herself, she is old enough to accept full responsibility for anything living she brings home.
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Hey. It really sounds like your in laws are taking advantage of you. I think they think cos renting elsewhere is expensive they have you over a barrel and they hold all the cards.
@Anna has many rats, maybe she can give you advice
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Is it a male or female rat? How old is it? If it is still a baby I do recommend getting another rat. If it is an adult male I do not recommend getting another rat as adult males can fight with one another if they weren’t raised together.
Rats don’t actually need a great deal of space but I don’t know what your cage looks like, if you posted a pic I could tell you? If you need any more rat advice feel free to ask. They can be affectionate and wonderful pets so long as you handle them daily. (I’d say at least an hour a day is ideal)
Sorry your sister impulse bought a pet and now you have to deal with it though. That sucks.
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The rat TG is about 18 weeks old, he is a male. The cage they got him in is meant for hamsters. My mother in law thanks he is going to stay tiny even after I told her he could reach up to two pounds
A rat shouldn’t be in a hamster cage…you don’t need anything giant but I would say minimum size you need is about this
18 weeks is…around 4 months? Mmm it may be safer to just keep him alone then. I consider 6 months to be pretty much a fully grown rat, but he’s like a young adult rat at this point now and has probably already reached sexual maturity so he may not take to well to another male.
If your mother in law thinks it won’t get any larger she is probably confusing it with a mouse. (A mouse would be comfortable in a hamster cage) Many people think they are the same thing and they are not. (Rats are actually predators of mice!) A rat can potentially get as large as a small rabbit. Look up pics of fully grown rats on the internet and show her! Male rats especially get larger than females. I’m honestly surprised a 4 month old rat is fitting in a hamster cage now. Are you sure it is a rat and not a mouse?
I could be mistaking his age but I’m sure it’s a rat. I know he hates his cage. I take him out a couple times a day and interact with him. He knows I’m the one who feeds him so he’s sweet to me
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Shouldn’t the sister, or mother in law buy the bigger cage?
Our last rat we had in a tiny square cage, but left the door open during the day. It only wanted to come out when some one brought it something to eat or to play with it, so the size was not a big deal.
all i can say about the little sister or mother in law buying the cage is good luck with that, once the animal is over at our apartment it is our responsibility to take care of it and buy its food, bedding and cages. it happens every time an animal comes over to our apartment.
They bought the rat. They brought it home. They should look after it.
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