Mental Wellbeing

Rats are extremely intelligent, friendly and social animals that make great pets, but they're not for everyone. 

Before adopting a rat, examine your lifestyle. Are you able to interact with your rat every day? While they're enclosure pets, rats need stimulation and require at least an hour outside of their enclosure every day. You'll also need to regularly clean your rats’ enclosure.

Also keep in mind that although rats are cheap to purchase and relatively cheap to feed, they will most likely require veterinary care in their lifetime. If you cannot afford or you're not prepared to pay for medical expenses, please reconsider getting a rat. Just because a rat is inexpensive to purchase, that doesn't mean they don't deserve the best care possible.

Never keep rats on their own.  

Rats are very social animals and can get depressed if alone. Even with lots of human contact, rats need to live with other rats. Rats kept with other rats are just as friendly with people. 

Rats can develop abnormal behaviours if left without company and nothing to do for long periods. 

Rats need other rat company at night when they’re most active and when humans are asleep. They are able to use their sense of smell to recognise other rats, finding out about where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing. 

Rats are social animals and require the companionship of other rats. Even if you are able to have your rat out of the enclosure several hours a day, there will still be time when it is alone and in need of company.

Your rat will want another rat to groom, play and snuggle with. Remember, in the wild rats live in groups. It's their nature to have company and domestic rats aren't any different.

Rats should be housed together from a young age and ideally be siblings. Always try to introduce enclosure-mates to one another soon after weaning (three weeks of age), as this will result in less fighting. 

Keep rats in all male or all female groups. Whenever possible, avoid adding or removing individuals from a familiar group as this will disrupt their social groupings and can lead to aggression. 

Never house unneutered males and females as they would most likely have pups (baby rats) and finding good homes for rats is very hard. 

Two rats, three and even four rats aren't any more difficult to take care of than one, and it's very entertaining to watch them play and interact. Having more than one rat also won't mean they'll bond with you any less. Since they're happy, they will most likely bond with you even more.

‘Scritching’ is the collective term for petting, rubbing, massaging, scratching, cuddling, grooming, tickling and otherwise showing your rat just how much you care about them.

Some rats will happily relax for hours during scritching sessions and often end up falling asleep peacefully in your lap. Don't be upset if your rat isn’t really interested in scritching sessions, in particular females and young rats – they are constantly on the go, having things to do, places to see, stuff to chew, etc., but they'll still enjoy a quick scritch in between their wee missions!

Here are some scritching techniques:

1- Massaging 

• Gently grab a handful of your rat's loose skin (best on the back and sides) and rub firmly between your fingers in a back and forth motion.
   
• Massage your rat all over his back with your fingers in a slow firm circular motion.

2- Scratching

• Sit your rat on your lap so that they are facing you and seated on their bottom, holding their body upright with your thumbs under his armpits. Using your fingernails, scratch gently along each side of their spine, running up and down their back.
   
• Scratch your rat just above their tail – this is a hard to reach area for them!
   
• A single fingernail scratch just behind your rat's ear is a firm favourite.
   
• Many rats love a scratch on their cheek, just behind where their mouth ends.
   
• A fingernail scratch along your rat's furry sides is always welcome.
   
• Try a good firm scratch on the shoulder blades, just above where the front leg attaches to the body.

3- Rubbing

• Favourite rubbing locations include around the ears, head and above the tail.
   
• Place your rat on the floor/sofa/table in front of you and place your palms along each of his sides. Then move your hands up and down quickly, like you're warming them up on a cold day.
   
• Try a firm circular motion with your fingers, getting right down to the skin and mussing the fur.

4- Stroking

• Many rats love a long slow stroke from nose tip to tail tip.
   
• When rats are sleepy, they often enjoy a soft, slow smoothing of the fur on their face, whisker area and head. Use the soft pad of your thumb for best results.
   
• "Velcro" your rat to your chest (i.e. let them cling to your chest) while you rapidly and firmly stroke them from head to butt with your whole hand, one hand after the other.
   
• A backwards stroke from butt to head, firm and against the fur growth, is loved by many rats.
   
• A grooming with a soft bristled brush, firm so it gets right down through the coat, is a great way to scritch your rat and keep their coat looking spiffy at the same time.

5- Tickling

• Flip your rat over so they're sitting on their butt in your lap, facing away from you. Hold them upright with your thumbs under their armpits. Now tickle their belly, chest and under chin area with your fingers. This should be combined with much giggling and cheerful smoochy baby talk.
   
• A quick light pat on your rat's butt will send them bouncing off playfully during free range time.
   
• Lay your rat down on a soft cushion/pillow/bed. Place your hands either side of their body and then roll them lightly from side to side. This should be combined with much belly kissing for best effect.
   
• Hold your hand palm up and, with fingers tickling madly, advance the hand under your rat from the front. You will end up with a rat on your hand, squirming cheerfully as you're tickling their chest and belly.

Remember that all rats are individuals and what one likes, another may not. You need to try each of these techniques (and any others you can think of) on your rats to find which ones they like the best.

Not only is it really important to establish a gentle, positive relationship with your rats for their health, but it's also important for their mental wellbeing. 

Handling your rats gently every day from an early age and being relaxed and calm around them can help them learn to feel safe and enjoy your company.  

It's important to never grab or scare your rats. A calm, gentle manner is always best and be sure to support their whole body. You can even train your rats to walk into your hand, using positive, reward-based training!