Pet Rat Care Information

Here are some wonderful articles written by pet rat owners around the world.  
In some cases the titles are duplicates, but the documents and authors are different.  
 
 
Table of Contents (click on the underlined words to be taken to a section)
General Care
     Information for New Owners
     Cages and Bedding
     Diet
     Toys

Socialization
     General Info
     Introductions
     Fearful Rats

Health
     General Info
     Quarantine
     Respiratory Problems
     Tumours
     Spaying/Neutering
     Surgery
     

Health (cont.)
     Skin, Ear, Eye and Foot problems
     SDA and Sendai viruses
     Drugs
     Geriatric Care
     Euthanasia

Responsible Pet Ownership

Breeding
     General Info
     Sexing Rats
     Orphans
     Genetics

Miscellaneous

Books

 

 
General Care:
 
       Owning Pet Rats in Canada - general rat care + a few Canadian details
       Rat Care Guide - large site with lots of info (menu on the left-hand side)
        Choosing and Obtaining a Pet Rat
        Choosing a Rat
        Rat Care for Beginners          
        Why Rats Need Company
        The Case Against Single Rats
 
Cages and Bedding
        Toxicity of Pine and Cedar (with a list of safe bedding)
        Cedar and Pine Toxicity Articles
        Cage Bedding and Litter
        Litter and Bedding
        Caging
        Cage Hygiene
        Do it Yourself
        Litter Training Rats
        Cage Accessories
 
Diet:
        Suebee's Rat Diet
        Rat Food
        Can I Make my Own Rat Diet? - includes Recommended Daily Allowances
        Diet and Dangerous Foods
        Chocolate and Rats
        Recipes (part 1)
        Recipes (part 2)
        Corn in the rat diet
        Dangerous and not-so-good food items for rats
 
        Plants that are poisonous to small pets - in some cases, some parts of a particular plant are poisonous (eg. foliage) whereas other parts of the plant are completely safe (eg. fruit).  This is the case for avocado (foliage is poisonous, ripe fruit is safe if fed with caution.
 
Toys:
        Rat Toy Ideas
        Rat Toys
        Toys
 
Socializing:
 
        Why Rats Need Company
        The Case Against Single Rats
        Handling your Rat
        Trust Training
 
Introductions:
 
      Introducing Rats
        Introducing Rats
        Introducing New Rats
        Introducing Pet Rats
        Introductions
     
 
Health:
 
General Info:
 
         Rat Health Guide - large site with lots of info - index on the left-hand side
 
        Common Health Problems

        RFC FAQ's
        Finding a Good Vet
        How to Find a Good Rat Vet
        Nursing Care
        Echinacea
 
        Bacterial Infections of Rats

        Common household items hazardous to small animals
        
        Choking
 
Quarantine
        Dos and Don'ts of Sendai and SDA Quarantine

Respiratory Problems:
        Rat Respiratory Disease: What Causes it, and What you Can Do About it - by R.S. Hines DVM, PhD
        Respiratory and Heart Disease in Rats
        Respiratory Infections in Pet Rats
        Informative email about Respiratory Disease
        Vibravenous: A drug option for aggressive respiratory infections
        Respiratory Disease and Albuterol Treatments
        Mycoplasmosis in Rats
        Herbal Help for Respiratory Problems
        Mycoplasma pulmonis Fact Sheet
        Cilia-Associated Respiratory (CAR) Bacillus
 
Tumors:
        Tumors
        Spaying Helps Prevent Tumors
        Tamoxifen to Prevent Tumors
        Tumors in Rats
        A Tumor Study
          
Spaying/Neutering:
        To Spay or not to Spay?
        The Great Spay Debate
        Alteration Risks and Benefits
        Spaying Helps Prevent Tumors
 
Surgery:
         Surgery in Rats
 
Skin, Ear, Eye and Foot Problems:
          Skin Problems and Hair Loss
          Ear Hematoma
          Skin Abcesses
          My Experience with Abscess
          External Parasites - Lice and Mites
          Bumblefoot (Ulcerative Pododermatitis)
          What is Bumblefoot?
          Bumblefoot
          Trimming Toenails
          Cataracts (scroll down, near bottom)
          Itchy Rat
          Scabs and itching
          Heat Tilt - often a sign of an ear infection

SDA and Sendai Viruses:
          Sialodacryoadentitis in Pet Rats
          SDA Virus in Brief
          Sendai virus
          SDA devastation
          SDA and Sendai Outbreak Tracking Data from the RMCA
          Dos and Don'ts of Sendai and SDA Quarantine
 
Drugs:
 
        Medication Guide - lots of info here
 
          RMCA Drug Chart
          
          Medicating Your Rats
          Gentamicin and Tylan
          Albuterol and Respiratory Disease
          Medications
          Vibravenous: A drug option for aggressive respiratory infections
 
 
Geriatric Care:
          Care of Older Paralyzed Rats
          Weakness in Older Rats: A Paralysis Primer
          Arthritis in Rats: A Remedy?
          Caring for Older Rats
 
Euthanasia:
          Euthanasia
          Euthanasia Alert
          The Right to Live

 
Breeding:
 
          Why you shouldn't breed
          ratguide.com Breeding Section -lots of information here
          Breeding - Can YOU Live with it?
          Breeding - Beyond the Basics: Ethics
          Rat Reproduction
          Breeding Ethics
          Of Rats and Men... Playing God
          Rat Pregnancy and Birth
          Baby Rat Growth and Development Journal
          Reproduction in Rats
 
          Inherited Rat Agression
 
Sexing Rats
 
          Sexing Young Rats
 
Orphans:
          Raising Orphaned Rats
          Caring for Orphaned Baby Rats
 
Genetics:
 
          Fancy Rat Genetics 101
          Rat Genetics
 
          ratbreeding.com
          Rattus database
          
          Markings - diagrams and photos
          Colours - photos
          Varieties

          The Pink-Eyed White (PEW) Rat
          Rex Rats

Miscellaneous:
 
          The Laboratory Rat: A Natural History
          Moving with Rats
          Tips for Photographing Rats
          Photographing Rats
          Rat Facts
          Ye Brife Histore of the Ratte 
          Litter Training Rats
          Traveling with Rats
 

Books:
        PRC's Recommended Reading

 
Disclaimer:  I did not write these articles and cannot guarantee their
contents.  I am simply organizing links that lead to articles in order to
help those of you searching for information about pet rats on the world
wide web.