Rehoming FAQs. How you can help Sponsor Leaving a gift in your will Give in memory Amazon wishlist. Volunteer in our shops. Our charity shops Online shop Donate your items. Urgent support. How many rats should you keep? Share via. Rat companionship Rats are extremely sociable and really thrive when they have the companionship of other rats. Introducing your rats to each other Unlike the other small pet species, introducing rats is best done in a smaller neutral space, this reduces the chance of potentially dangerous fights starting out and encourages mutual feeding, grooming and the building of strong relationships quicker.
Typical acceptable behaviours likely to be seen include: Bottom sniffing, Sniffing and Shuffling round the bedding, The more dominant potentially fluffing their coats and regularly placing their paws on the back on the others to try to be assertive.
Self-grooming, Small amount of squeaking. Submissive rats will move around less All rats choosing to sit apart after a few moments of initial full on activity. Eventually falling asleep curled up alone during the first few hours Sleep bundles when they are more content In most cases the rats will need to stay in this small space for 24 hours and in some cases when doing a tricky mix with rats known to be strong characters 48 hours is needed. Keep a close eye on your rats for the first two weeks Health check each rat regularly throughout the first two weeks of introductions to monitor for any injuries.
When unfamiliar adults are housed together there will be a period of high aggression, however, if they establish a dominance relationship, aggression levels should drop.
Introducing new adults may cause fighting whilst they decide who's dominant. This usually doesn't last long. Rats may suffer if they cannot escape from others they don't like. When unfamiliar adult rats are housed together there will be a period of high aggression, however, if they establish a stable relationship the levels of aggression should drop. You can help reduce aggression if you:. Having multiple levels in their home cage can also help act as barriers to aggression.
Make sure that shelters have multiple exits to avoid particular rats stopping other cage mates from leaving the shelter. If you see increased aggression in a group of usually stable rats, this could indicate that there is a problem, check the health of your rats and that something has not changed in their environment.
Monitor your rats carefully. If you are concerned seek advice from your vet. Aggressive grooming indicates social stress in groups of rats, as does strong vocalisation during an aggressive encounter.
If levels of aggression remain high between newly introduced rats, especially if it results in injury, this may indicate that those rats are unable to reach a stable dominance relationship and so should not be housed together. Consider separating your rats if one is hurt or frightened by the other and the problem lasts for more than a few days. Rats in pain can also show aggression towards their cage mates. Mask the sounds, sights and smells of animals they may be afraid of such as cats, dogs, ferrets and birds of prey.
Rats are a prey species and these animals can cause stress to them. Rats can build close relationships with owners and be successfully trained. So a bigger one or another cage would be the solution here.
Now, of course, it can happen that one of your male rats turn a bit more aggressive and territorial once they come of age. This can happen towards their companions and even you.
But this situation is also very easily handled by neutering them. Once neutered, your pet rat should be back to his friendly behavior in a few weeks. They accept each other very quickly. Neutered males will easily accept other male rats. Of course, you should always go slowly with introductions. First, let them meet through cages, so they can get used to the smell.
Later some actual greet and meet in the same space and finally, when they know each other well enough, they can live happily together! Of course, it makes it easier if your pet rats were already from the same litter or were living in the same cage together already. Especially if your rattie is already an adult!
But, all in all, female rats can live together just like male rats can live happily together. Yes and no. This means that even if you want to breed them, you should join them occasionally and separately from the others unless you want a sudden battalion of pet rats! A neutered rat can live with rats of the opposite sex!
So, are your male rats neutered? If so, they can live among female rats. Can a pet rat live alone? Pet rats are very sociable and get their energy and stimulation from other rats.
Are rats expensive? Are rats clean? Very much so!
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