Just to let you know- you want to get two rats at least. Cages also can get quite pricey, my own cost around 200 dollars (a ferret nation), you want at least 2 - 2.5 square feet per rat MINIMUM, and you also want a cage with at least one level, taller than wider, as rats love to climb up and down their ladders and levels. Food is pretty cheap if you go through a rescue and get something like harlan teklad, or make your own mix as is suggested by many rat owners.

I also reccomend looking for a rattery or rat breeders in your area, and finding a good vet before you get a rat (or ANY pet). There are lots of good sites with lots of information out there, and this one: http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/.....nfopacket.html actually links to lots of great resources.

Would I be okay if I were to use a relatively large cage that once housed my bunny? Of course, that would take out the cost of both the cage itself and the water bottle, but I'd have to get a platform and a little ladder for it.. And with my parents, being weird as they are, I'm sure they wouldn't want to take the time to go buy different foods and everything for me to make my own mix, or to go drive around and help me find a rattery or a breeder... I'm sure, the furthest they'll take me, if they even let me get a rat, will be to petsmart or petco. :/

Also, I'm not just trying to shrug off your advice, I promise! I love getting advice from people who know what they're talking about! I'm just.. kind of short on money, and short on... driving ability... I'm a seizure ridden teenager who can't drive until I've been seizure free for at least 6 months.. it's been... three weeks, I think.

If it's a storebought "hagen" cage, likely not. If it's one of those nice ones, sure. You can often hand mod cages though, so def look into it.

I actually have no rescues close to me, but I'm able to order food from relatively nearby ones. :) Shipping isn't too bad and the food itself (harlan teklad) is exceptionally cheap, and it's laboratory grade, so it's some of the best you can get. Do a bit of googling around and I am sure you will find a rat rescue able to give you a hand. :)

If you get rats from a pet shop, well... it's not the best especially if it's one like petco that get farm rats- but take some time to look at the rats and make sure that the ones you select are healthy- and check yourself to see if you are getting a pair of boys or a pair of girls- I would honestly reccomend boys, as they are often intermingles in stores and well, you may end up with more babies than you can handle as a first time owner.

How are your parents for helping you with your pets? Mine are great- I am a 21 year old college student. Money can be tight. If I need a spot of cash to pick up crickets for the lizards or seed for the bird, whatever, they will spot me. Consider that about your own- if you were low on cash would they spot you the money, or lend you the money to get something your rats absolutely needed? :)

And I don't mean to sound negative at all, for the record. My first rats were given to me by a work friend who no longer could care for them- I was given a barren guineapig cage and hamster food. Those free rats ended up costing me well over 1k in getting food, toys, and even a vet bill for one of the girls who had an abscess to be removed... and even then, I was bitched at for not being a 'good enough' rat owner! Hah... Well, I learned the hard way what rats need in their daily life. Sounds like you were about to go into a blind purchase, so any advice I can offer to help you an your future ratlings I'm glad to give! LEt me know if you have any questions, you can pm me too. :)

Ah.. I wish I had someone like you really closeby.. I'm not really sure what my cage is.. if I could have someone look at it and tell me if it was acceptable for rats..

Iunno.. I get five bucks a week from my dad, so I have a feeling that shipping alone would get too expensive too quickly.. until I can actually get a job somewhere, would it be okay to get FOOD from a pet store? I'm sure it would be as good as to make a hand made mix for them, but my current money situation isn't the best for things like that... :/

I was reading around earlier, and someone said to get females, since the males can get territorial.. D: That doesn't sound like fun.. (vet bills and all if they get into a fight and end up hurting each other), but a whole bunch of baby rats sounds like even less fun..

If I were to ask them, right now, my parents would say "No, we wouldn't lend you any money for YOUR pets." But, in knowing my dad, he would never let an animal, even MY rats, die. He wouldn't do that. Ever, so I'm sure that in a tight spot, he would be okay for going in and buying me a little bag of food or a hiding den thingy if the last one got eaten. (why is it that all of the hiding places that I was finding for rats earlier were edible?)

That's alright. I couldn't really go into a blind purchase or anything, since I still have to convince my mom to let me do it.. Can I continue to bother you, even after I get my rats? (if I do end up getting some, that is..)

But.. with the cage, when I was adding everything up, and was talking to my dad about it, he said, very sternly, "You are NOT getting another cage." and then walked off into the garage to try to find me a cage we had used for my hamsters or my rabbit or someone.. we found the rabbit cage, and it looked the closest to the one that they were advertising on the website I was looking at.

if you can take a photo/get measurements I could prolly let you know.

I actually ordered several pounds and froze most of it, thawing what I needed when I needed. Lasted a year! That is very nice. Food from a pet store is usually HORRID, to be honest. Oxbow regal rat is sometimes reccomended but I dunno if it is available at all stores.

Males rarely get AGRESSIVELY territorial- even my girls would have tussels and dominance fights, but generally they won't seriously injure each other. :)

A lot of hiding dens for some reason ARE edible- idk why, because they go around and charge you 15 bucks for something that won't last a week. Rat hammocks are the best thing ever though, and can be made out of old t shirts, even!

And absolutely. :) I don't mind giving any advice that I can offer!

Well.. It's been outside for almost a year now, and would probably need a good bath before I could bring it into the house and get any good pictures of it, or measure it.. or you know, and it's already 8:30pm, so I can probably go get it tomorrow morning and have some pictures of it up by tomorrow afternoon, and if not, it'.. be up eventually.. (I procrastinate.. badly. :<)

Oh.. that's kind of a cool idea. Would be really nice if I had any open freezer space.. -_- (Again, has to do with my parents.. my mom is a hoarder, even when it comes to stuff in the freezer, and we have two... both of which are jam packed with stuff.)

Hm.. okay. If you say so. I just don't want to have to put up with my animals getting hurt. :<

Hammocks? Explain, please. (I'm an idiot.. you'll have to excuse me..)

http://www.dapper.com.au/hammocks.htm Rat hammock! :)

Oh.. that's actually really cool! When you mentioned a hammock, I thought like.. just a hammock, and not a place where they can actually hide.
And.. I asked my mom about getting a rat. And she said no. :< She said "No, Brittany, we're not getting another small animal." And I say "Why not?" And she say "Because we're not killing another one, and that's been our luck with them.." Which isn't really true, but... oh well. :<