Rats?

[echoskybound]

Any rat owners around here?

I've been wanting a rat for a few years now, but just haven't had the space or time. I'd like to think about getting rats in the next year or two, but I'm concerned about how well they would get along with my little feathered friend. Since my green cheek conure Wheatley is always with me while I'm home, and I'd love it if I could get a pet that would be able to have safe, supervised interactions with Wheatley. I don't let Wheatley near my mice because he's way too curious with his beak and I'm afraid he would injure them... but with a rat, the damage could go either way. Does anybody have small parrots and rats that interact?

I also hear mixed stories about whether or not rats are likely to be bitey. I have a few mice and have had mice in the past, and they were all the most sweet, gentle creatures on Earth (but I've heard some stories of people with mean, biting mice, which is very strange to me.) Would a domestic rat from a breeder have a docile disposition like my domestic mice?

 

[Sadie]

a rat will NOT get along with a bird. They mean well, but a rat will bite at toes because of the smell and it doesnt take long for rat to take off a bird toe.

i have had rats my whole like and they make wonderful pets and they are very friendly, smart, and clean. But they will nibble if something smells good to them or they think something is edible. i just wouldnt take the chance, it can happen so quick.

handling at a young age is what makes a rat friendly. My newest rat is a feeder from a pet store, he was younger but not a "baby" after about 4 days of handling he became tame and will come to me or prefer my shoulder over walking around.

hope that helps

maybe i shouldnt say never...but my father in law was in town and his grey come for a visit. He got spooked by my daughter and landed on her rats cage. the rat went at the poor birds toes so quick! And in another experience, my friend a few good years ago called me crying when she thought it would be cute to let her rat and keet play together. the rat took a toe off the keet so quick she didnt know what happened. (we were about 15)

 

[mandolynn]

Rats do nibble everything. They make awesome pets but would not be a good friend for a bird. Im not sure what would honestly. A russian tortoise maybe, but no small n fuzzies i dont think.

 

[TortoiseLady17]

Rats do nibble everything. They make awesome pets but would not be a good friend for a bird. Im not sure what would honestly. A russian tortoise maybe, but no small n fuzzies i dont think.

I was going to mention a tortoise. Ones in the Testudo genus stay relatively small.

 

[echoskybound]

Thanks guys! Do you rat and bird owners find it challenging to spend time with different companion animals who can't interact with each other?

 

[QuackQuack]

I had a rat for a while. Let me just say that in addition to peeing on your hands they will want to eat your birdie! They are big escape artists, as they are very smart. I would be fearful for my bird if I had one of my rats on the loose. The rats only lived a few years and are gone now, so I don't have that worry anymore.

 

[cdog]

I wouldn't have a rat in the same house let alone interact with a bird. Rats eat birds so what makes you think it wont eat yours.

 

[echoskybound]

Maybe if I had THIS rat ;]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbMHigXA1L8]My Parrot Loves a Rat - YouTube[/ame]

I think the rat is the one in trouble here, lol! I guess the bottom line is that birds aren't really safe with any other animals in the house... even a fish tank that a bird could land in. It's tough because I love cats, dogs, rodents etc. but probably won't be able to have any of them until I have a big house where they can be totally separated.

 

[Sadie]

i dont really handle our rat. It is my daughters and she plays with him. I do have to make sure he is fed and has a clean cage though.
i would never bring my bird into the playroom (where the rat cage is) in fear of him flying and landing on the cage. Its not worth the risk. Her rat only has about another year or 2 left though and i think were going to get her a parakeet or cockatel this time. Rats cages stink within 2 days no matter what bedding material you use.
I love them, and they are cute, but im such a clean freak i hate when my daughter has it out lol!

 

[Mare Miller]

I had a friend in high school that had a rat and a cockatiel. She let them both be loose in her room during the day while at school, don't know why but she did. She came home to a pile of feathers one day and a happy rat.

 

[QuackQuack]

Even if the two species did get along well - we know both species can nip/bite when they are irritated or threatened and that could spell a death sentence by infection for the other.

 

[Ginkai]

I have four rats. And two dogs and my galah. I dont let the rats and bird interact, like everyone said there are to many risks. But rats are easy to care for, their cage doesn't smell after two days, and they can be trained to not pee on you. They are very cuddly and if you have multiple rats and plenty toys in tge cage they only really need about 2 hrs play time with you each day.


I strongly recommend them they are great pets

 

[TurquoiseMel]

That's a pretty cute video lol. I think the bird is trying to mate with it.

For some reason when I hear "rat" the stigma still follows it in my mind but when I see one they're just the most adorable things. It's so crazy how pet mouse/rat can be so loved yet the "wild" or urban ones people still see as disgusting and dirty /:

I have no experience with rats at all but I wanted to ask you , since you said you own mice, what's that like? I heard females do not stink, would you say this is true in your experience??

I've been thinking about getting 2 -4 (def not more than 4) female mice & setting up either my 15 gallon or my 55 gallon tank up for them (I'm getting sick of keeping fish lol.)
If I decide to empty the 55gal I'd probably turn it into a mouse heaven! lol

 

[Ginkai]

In my personal experience turquoisemel, I've had both and rats are by far more affectionate intellent and human friendly and smell much less. But I may have had all bad mice...but if you want a rodent I strongly suggest rats, they can even be taught tricks.

 

[lene1949]

I've had a rat, while I had birds... They didn't interact, but were housed in the same room... In my opinion - a tame rat is better than a tame cat!

 

[goalerjones]

I owned 2 rats while I was in the military and they were both awesome. Buzz, my first one loved to play at night and after he would jump off the shelf onto me while I was trying to sleep a few times I had to put him away for the night. But letting him out at night kept our cricket problem under control. I didn't know if they ate crickets until I dropped one in his cage. It jumped ONCE, and Buzz caught it mid-leap and ate it so quick I was amazed. And they never bit me once, plus all the girls would see him riding on my shoulder and it would get me dates...

I do find that I have exactly the same kind of relationship (other than the talking of course) with my macaw as I did with my rats.

 

[solobaby]

i dont suggest it - rats kill birds

 

[Mayden]

I have a gerbil and I'm not worried about my Gerbil going for Merlin, but I'm worried about Merlin taking a good nip at my Gerbil, those poor toes, tails and eyeballs are easy prey to a grumpy/jealous beak!

 

[echoskybound]

That's a pretty cute video lol. I think the bird is trying to mate with it.

For some reason when I hear "rat" the stigma still follows it in my mind but when I see one they're just the most adorable things. It's so crazy how pet mouse/rat can be so loved yet the "wild" or urban ones people still see as disgusting and dirty /:

I have no experience with rats at all but I wanted to ask you , since you said you own mice, what's that like? I heard females do not stink, would you say this is true in your experience??

I've been thinking about getting 2 -4 (def not more than 4) female mice & setting up either my 15 gallon or my 55 gallon tank up for them (I'm getting sick of keeping fish lol.)
If I decide to empty the 55gal I'd probably turn it into a mouse heaven! lol

Goodness... I meant to reply to this but have been so busy! Sorry for the delay

I have a sweet pair of little girl mice, and I had a little trio of girls a couple years ago. They don't smell terrible, but it helps to keep an air purifier around them. They aren't super interactive pets, but my mice are super sweethearts who run right to the door and wait for me when they see me come into the room. It's lots of fun to watch them explore.

I have a friend who says she had pet mice once who were "evil" and she eventually got rid of them because she was sick of being bitten. That sounds crazy to me because I've never been bitten, I don't even know what an aggressive mouse looks like! My mice are the sweetest, most docile little creatures I've ever owned. They're not cuddly or anything, but they're very gentle, and they just love all of the little hammocks and tents I make for them. They also love to climb, so a cage is generally better than an aquarium for mice, if you can find one. I like to get cages with wire levels and ladders, and cover them with fleece or newspaper so they're easy to clean. You need very small bar spacing (but to be honest, every time one of my mice escaped, she eventually found her way back. They really like their nests and don't have a strong desire to leave it, and if they escaped, it was just because they got a little lost while exploring.)

I love my mice because they come up with funny little projects. One day, they'll decide to pick through all their bedding and decide what their favorite pieces are, and throw the undesirable ones through the bars. The next day, they decide to carry all of the paper towel tubes to the top level. It's always something with those little ones

 

[jonahsmom]

I have 9 pet rats (6 neutered boys and 3 girls). They are great pets. Ours have never bitten us. They will nibble if our hands smell strongly of food, but they're more likely to lick us to death. LOL They're amazing pets. And after being neutered, our boys do not mark on us and they are all litter box trained (mostly). They're like little dogs - they can learn tricks, learn their name, etc. We just got a green cheek yesterday and are not planning to introduce them to each other. Our rats have giant cages, but when we're home they're rarely in them. They have an 8' x 8' room to "free range" in when we're home. And that is in another room. We're able to go in that play area to play with them. I do like to have the rats spend time on the couch with me, but Buddy can play on his playtop while that's happening. I wouldn't introduce them, just for safety's sake.

But rats do require a big cage (2 cubic ft of space per rat) and a lot of out of cage play time. They're not a pet you can just put in a cage and leave (not that you can really do that with ANY pet). They are also prone to upper respiratory infections and it's likely you would have to take them to the vet for antibiotics on more than one occasion.