Hi all - sorry if this is a bit morbid, but I'd appreciate some advice. I have two ratties, both girls, and they're pretty much inseparable. However, Polly, who is a year and a bit old, is about 4 months older than Peanut. Both rats are healthy and happy at the moment, but I'm dreading the day when Polly inevitably kicks the bucket, since she's likely to go first. Rats are really social animals, my girls are especially so, so what do I do with Peanut? Get another rat? It seems like a perpetuating thing, trying to always have a pair, or group, so that the remaining one doesn't get lonely - I can't bear to think of poor little Peanut on her own, she's so shy and relies on Polly for exploring and stuff like that.

Anyone have any experience? It makes me teary just to think about having to deal with this!

I've got a single rat right now because my other girls have died. It is really depressing but thankfully (kind of?) she was already kind of a loner because she had been kept alone for the first year of her life and is kind of nuts. I still feel bad and try to spend as much time with her as I can. She has a tumor on her throat that I'm opting not to remove (her last surgery didn't go well and I'm not doing that to her again) so I know that sooner or later shes going to have to be put down. I've cut out her pellets and am pretty much letting her eat what ever she wants and stuff like that, just trying to make her last bit of time more fun.

when my little zebra finch died, his cagemate pined for him, so i left him alone for about 5 days (to grieve for his friend - do birds grieve? i don't know, anyway...) then i got him a new friend to keep him company.they get along just fine, i think it's good to give them a while to miss having a friend so they are more ready to accept a new one.
hope your ratties stay happy & healthy for a long while yet! :)

I've never had a pet rat, but I've kept a few gerbils. I had 4 females- 2 pairs: Jitterbug and Leia in one cage, and Lindsay and Jaime in the other; they didn't get along in a large group.

After I'd had them about 2 years, one of each pair died so I had 2 lone gerbils. I've heard that single gerbils aren't as happy as pairs, but Jitterbug and Jaime both did OK before dying of old age a year later.

If the worst happens, I would try to help the survivor adjust to being alone before trying to introduce her to a friend. Adjusting to another companion can be stressful, too. Maybe you should make sure both of them are bonded with you so that they'll still have a friend if one of them dies before the other.

One other thing: although your rats differ in age, you can't be sure the younger, shyer one will outlive the other. I once had a hamster whom I adopted from the shelter at the same time I had a cat 3 years old (the hamster lived in a room with the door shut so he didn't have to worry about the cat). The cat died at the age of 5, when the hamster was only 2 years old; the hamster lived another year. Who would have expected that? But it happened.

Take care of your rats, but please try not to worry about something that may never happen (easier said than done, I know). :)

Tiny - every time I get down to 2 rats, I adopt one or two more to avoid the situation all together. One of mine just passed yesterday...

"and then there were three...." :(

One of mine just passed yesterday...

"and then there were three...." :(


:hug:

:hug:

Thanks... :) Although I'm not happy he's gone, his death was much easier to deal with then others I've lost just because he suffered so hard before he went. It was actually harder to get up every day and see him still alive and just wasting away... I just wanted him to be at peace.

Sorry about your loss Katt Fink. The worst part is when the one looks for the other. That is really hard to watch. I don't know if that happens with rats, but I watched it when one of my cats died. It's tough.

Sorry about your loss Katt Fink. The worst part is when the one looks for the other. That is really hard to watch. I don't know if that happens with rats, but I watched it when one of my cats died. It's tough.

Awww, I know.. it certainly does happen with rats. They get it bad because they are sooo social and become such great buddies with one another. There is only one left of my 4 original rats, Fang, and he is a mess right now. Over the past 6 months, he watched his 3 brothers get sick, suffer, and die and it's definitely taking a toll on him right now.

Now, Fang is very old and getting pretty sick himself (he has multiple growths, terrible lungs, and his legs are completely paralyzed from arthritis and atrophy), but the other day, just a few hours before Ghoulie passed, Fang literally dragged himself up to the very top of the multi-level cage where Ghoulie was resting in his hammock. Mind you, Fang is a rat who has not even walked on his own in about 4 months, but he made it all the way up there just to say goodbye to his buddy. He definitely "sensed" it was Ghoulie's time and when I saw him doing that I then knew something was up. It was so heartbreaking, but really amazing at the same time. In the end, Ghoulie climbed down to the bottom where the other 3 guys could gather around him as he passed. They are just amazing creatures...

Sniffle. Katt Fink, your story is so sad... reading your post yesterday made me think about this. I hope you are feeling a bit better, and I hope Fang is OK! It's amazing how intuitive animals can be sometimes - when I'm low, or a bit quiet, it's my girlies that come and sit in my armpit (nice, I know) for a snuggle, before dashing off all over the floor sometimes. Or maybe I'm just imagining their sympathy!

So do you think we should get another rat? The cage could take one more - I'm just not sure my boyfriend could. He loves them, but is so much more matter of fact about it than I am - he's adamant when P&P go, that's it, no more.

Tinygirl if you're in the position to get more rats (financially if they get sick, space, time, etc.) then it can't hurt, but if there is a reason (like your b/f) you can't get another rat then thats ok. It isn't fair to the new rat if you can't care for him, having one rat lonely for a few months seems better than sick rats w/ no $, etc. to me.

Thats why I'm not getting more rats, I have a cat and an iguana to care for, both of whom are now considerd seniors, and at high risk for renal faliure, etc. I can't get more pets when the ones I have could be costing me thousands in vet bills tomorrow.

The finances don't bother me... last month we rushed Polly to the vet 'out of hours', and paid over the odds for - well... It sounds silly now but she puffed up in the space of an hour, all her fur stood on end, she could barely waddle so we drove her up convinced she was about to pop, were pestered by some TV crew filming a programme about vets while the vet basically told us she was swollen because she'd been too lazy to go to the toilet in the bottom of the cage, so she squeezed her and Polly pooped all over the table. That'll be £50, please.

So, long story short, the money is no object for my furbabies. And I devote 2 hours every day to playing, chasing and cuddling (I think I need some more 2-legged friends!). I'm just talking myself into this now. The only thing that is stopping me is that during the holidays, the rats go to the BF's house, because my mum isn't keen, and he just doesn't get as soppy over them as I do. Though I am definitely going to have to talk my mum round - last time we were at his house, he put the spare cage in the loft next to the rat poison his mum had put down to try and kill the wild ones, then someone knocked the bag of poison over and didn't tell me till I came to put the girlies into the cage ready to travel. I was not happy. Actually swore at his mum. This is of course hot on the heels of being fed goose fat on my roast potatoes. Silly cow.

And, breathe. Rant over.

They've got some rat toddlers (8 weeks old) at Pets at Home right now. Gah!

Oh, I've rushed to the emergency vet before, I spent $200 to find out that herbert had sprained her ankle and would be fine in another day, I've still got the x-ray, she looks beautiful :lol:


I would kill someone who let my kids get near rat poison, don't **** with my babies, I turn mean :devil:

I know! The stupid thing is, the loft is at floor level, rather than up a ladder, and religious as she is about shutting the door, everyone's human, and she has two beautiful harrier hounds! No idea what rat poison does to dogs but I'm sure it isn't pretty. And it's the fact that BF put the cage in the loft, knowing that if there's rat posion, there are likely to be other rats, disease carrying wild rats - I think his whole family just has moments of complete ineptitude. But yes, I was spitting - I'd already got the cage down, put the girls in it, then [silly cow] shrieks "Get them out! It's got poison in!" Followed by lots of swearing by me. Don't think I'm out of the bad books yet, oh well.

Big :hug: for Katt Fink.

If you've got the space, and plan to continue keeping rats, then you could consider getting another pair of babies, either now, or when Polly passes away. It's always better to get a pair since they'll fit in with a group much more easily. Back in September I introduced two baby boys to a group of 5 adults, and the introductions were very smooth. This week I took on a 10 week old boy who's owner had bought him on the spur of the moment then didn't want him. He's in with the other boys, but things aren't going quite as smoothly. He doesn't have the back up of a friend to give him confidence, nor does he have another pingy baby to play and explore with.

Babies are usually very easy to introduce to adult males and females, so you should have no problems in the future if and when Peanut needs a new friend.

Thanks for your replies everyone - Jessica, your advice is always so smart! I think that's the way I'm going to go... the cage isn't big enough for 4, but would be good for 3, but I don't want to introduce another single rat right now, since my girls would probably gang up on her. They so territorial! So I'll wait (with dread) till one passes, then expand the group.

Thanks all!