Pet shop Gloucester top tips on keeping rats

Pet shop Gloucester top tips series. We will be producing a series of top tips blogs for all the animals we sell, so make sure you subscribe to our email list to get notification of these blogs. Our pet shop Gloucester now also has a YouTube channel you can subscribe to.

Five Top Pet Shop Gloucester tips on keeping rats

Pet shop gloucester

  1. Be very sure of your source. Don’t buy from just anywhere. A common scenario goes like this: chap goes to a “pet supermarket” and buys two “male” rats. Takes the rats home and a week later one of them gives birth. He’s now stuck with the babies so he sells them through friends or the local paper. What the buyers and probably the seller doesn’t realise is that the parents were probably brother and sister, so the babies are going to be genetically weak. This can lead to growth problems, organ failure, early onset of tumours and ultimately shortened lifespan. He may even sell them to another pet shop Gloucester. In our pet shop Gloucester, we only get our rats from reputable breeders or breed them ourselves.
  2. Make sure you get an appropriately sized cage. Rats are active animals and need some space. If the supplier tries to sell you something that’s only really suitable for a hamster, walk away, they don’t know enough about rats to be selling them. In our pet shop Gloucester we have a range of excellent cages well suited to the most discerning rat. We also stock all the suitable ancillary equipment such as houses, bedding, wheels, water bottle etc.
  3. Think about where you are going to house your new pet. Rats are very sensitive to high pitched noises that we can’t hear. The only time I have had reports from customers that their rats were fighting was when they had placed the cage too near a television. Moving the cage stopped the problem. Imagine having an insessant high pitched whine in your ear all the time, it would make you iritable. If you’ve got young children, you will know what it’s like ! At our pet shop Gloucester we have the knowledge to be able to advise you on all these things about rats that most people wouldn’t realise. Other things that can emit high pitched sounds inaudible to us but audible to your rat include, computers, kettles, games consoles, telephones, even some energy efficient lighting.
  4. Feeding too much protein can cause problems. Rats are omnivores, they eat anything but feeding too much meat products can cause renal problems and will cause their wee to smell quite strongly. At our pet shop Gloucester we stock a range of excellent rat foods and treats.
  5. Rats are rodents and their teeth grow constantly. They must have something to gnaw on to keep their teeth worn down or they will suffer from overgrown teeth. In extreme cases they will no longer be able to feed. In our pet shop Gloucester we stock a variety of wood gnaws, mineral blocks and toys designed to take care of this for you. It’s a good idea to change toys and chews regularly. Take them out, put in some new ones but don’t throw the old ones away. Keep them and change them back in a week or two. Keep swapping them round to keep them interested.
  6. A bonus point, we always like to give a little extra at our pet shop Gloucester. Always wash your hands after handling your rats. They are very clean animals (considering the reputation of their wild cousins) but they can carry e.coli and other bacteria in their guts. In our pet shop Gloucester we have anti bacterial hand washes for customers who have handled our animals. As a minimum was thoroughly with soap and water.

For more advice from our pet shop Gloucester team on keeping rats, contact us, post on facebook or better yet call in the store.

See you soon

Richard Angell