Please give reasons to my mum why Dave does or doesnt need his bro !

[JackAndDave]

Hi Guys , i showed my mum this forum and she is pretty impressed about how helpful you all are. So heres the plan, If you want Dave to have his brother in the cage with him. They will both have enough food, ( separate bowls and hammocks ) etc. Please explain to her why it is so important, thanks. I dont mind if you think he doesnt want one. But i think this is the only way i can convine my mum. Thanks

[pheebs79]

Umm..I think this question has been answered in your other threads already, although I haven't thoroughly read through them all...but I'll give you a little list of reasons why Dave absolutely needs his brother in the cage with him:

-Rats are social and they usually need same-sex companions. Once in a while you may have a rat that prefers to live alone, but this is definately not the norm.

-When you're not home, or you're too busy to play with Dave he'll be bored. Think about it this way: Imagine you're only allowed to spend time with one person. But that person has a job, or goes to school, or maybe both. That person also has other friends, family and of course needs to sleep. So while this person is busy with their life, you have to sit alone in one room. How would you feel? Probably insanely bored! And that's how Dave will feel too.

-Having a friend will make Dave more confident, which will make trust training a lot easier!

-Having two is no harder than having one. It's not much more costly for food, they don't need too much more space (although they do need at least 2 cubic feet per rat), and it's just as easy to carry around two rats as it is to carry around one (that's why you have two shoulders!)

-You won't even need two food bowls- rats will share, and if you do have two bowls they'll eat out of each other's anyway. Two hammocks is a good idea just to give them more options or a place to go if they need a little space, but you'll probably usually find them curled up together for naps. I have seven rats, and one of the cutest things in the world is seeing them all squished into one hammock together...which further proves that they need and love the company of other rats!

Basically, it isn't fair to Dave to make him live in solitude, and the sooner you put his brother in there with him, the better. Re-introductions are easier the sooner they're done.

I don't know how long Dave has been away from his brother, but you probably will have to do introductions if you want them to get along. There's A TON of useful introduction information on this site if you just look around for it!

Hope this helps convince your mum!

[JackAndDave]

Ok thanks , the reason i made a new topic on this matter was because then i could show my mum that people who have rats, not just the RSPCA website and so on, that it is pretty important for them to have company. So i wouldnt have to search through each of my threads finding what people said. Thanks

[pheebs79]

Well, I hope it helps convince your mom! I know that everyone else on this forum who has rats feels that rats shouldn't be kept alone- they probably just haven't responded because they'll be saying the same things I did!

Let us know how it goes!

[happybat]

Dear Jack's mum,

Giving Dave a friend will not only make him a happier rat, but a much better pet. Also, keeping two rats will be almost as affordable and easy as keeping one.

Hope this helps,

Catherine

[crazyratlady]

It comes down to the basics. Your rat has emotional needs no human can fullfill. Only another rat can do that. Mom, imagine having to live totaly isolated from other humans and only being able to interact with a pet.We need human companionship and rats need rattie compainionship.They may be animals but they have feelings and emotions too. So make that poor boy happy!
Theres a bonus as well, watch them play and interact, hours of fun and enjoyment for the humans in the house too.

[dwankrista]

I actually believe keeping two rats to be cheaper than one.  A lone rat, from my experience, is more likely to develop health problems due to the stress of being alone and will require veterinary attention more than rats who are social.  Mind you, it could just be a coincidence from what I have seen but if someone else has seen this pattern it would be great to note it here.  I have seen a lone rat mutilate himself and the only diagnosis given from a vet was the stress of being alone.  A buddy cleared him right up.

[Dearpie]

What they all said!

Btw, they won't need separate food bowls or hammocks.  Rats love to share!  It's part of being a family, and they love doing things together, having someone to share with. 

[JackAndDave]

My mum is understands now how important it is for the rat not to be alone. But she sais what if they fight. If we have to separate them i will have to buy another cage. ( I - Jack )

[Popcorn]

If they are introduced properly fights shouldn't be an issue.  They may have little tussles but they will most likely be of no consequence.  It's just like when you fight with your brother or sister.  I have 5 boys in one cage and 4 in another and they all live happily together.

Come on Mom - would you separate twins?  Let those boys live together!!

[pheebs79]

The chances are that they won't fight. They might play fight, but they most likely won't do any serious fighting where you would have to separate them. A little bit of fighting when they first meet is normal, and after that playfighting is normal. Dave really needs a rat friend. The chances of him fighting with his cagemate so badly that you have to separate them are very very slim. The chances of Dave being lonely, depressed, and unhealthy because he has no friend are much much greater.

Edited to add that I have seven male rats, living in the same cage who absolutely LOVE each other :)They have never had a serious fight and they were all brought in (in groups of two or more) months apart from each other from different places. Hope that helps a little to ease your fears of fighting rats

[KoalaLou2]

The important thing to remember about rats fighting is "no blood, no foul."  In other words, if they don't draw blood, there is no reason to separate them.  Rats will have normal struggles and you may hear a lot of squeaking and shrieking going on, but this does not necessarily mean they are getting hurt.  I have some VERY vocal rats who love to complain.  At first I overreacted and would separate them and worry but finally I just quit because they would just look at me like "what did we do, we were having fun!"  You will need to have a travel carrier in any case, for trips to the vet, trips to family, etc.  This also works great as a separation cage if they ever drive you nuts at night with squeaking.  There is no need to separate them for very long if they have a bad fight, usually they forget they ever had it.  Of course, some rats never get along and that is a separate problem, but most rats will get along if you properly introduce them and give them plenty of space and play time.  Rats who are cooped up, same as humans, tend to get grouchy.   I also find two (or more!) rats are less work than one because they entertain each other and are more entertaining to watch! 

[Dorasmommy]

rats are like little party animals.  The more, the merrier. 

[lilspaz68]

Do I need to say more?  As Dorasmommy said "The more the merrier" OR "The more squooshed in a hammock the better" 

[JR1030]

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here!  I have two boys (brothers, I think...got them from the petstore, and they didn't seem to know  ).  I was actually thinking about rehoming one of them, because he was biting, but a very kind person from this forum persuaded me that it was so good for the other boy to have company that it was worth keeping the biter.  Working with him doing trust training has helped a LOT.  He has still bitten me a couple of times, but not drawn blood, and I love to see the two boys cuddled up, or wrestling, or grooming each other.  It's worth it to have two!!