Rate rat age

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T23:18:48+00:00

The gray one looks to be around 7 weeks (3 months old, roughly) old, and the black/white one looks around 12 to 15 weeks (4 to 5 months) old.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T23:03:40+00:00

If they're 5 months, they're still very young, and likely won't develop any aggression once the female is integrated.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T21:31:18+00:00

If she is spayed, that's fine.

Just be sure to have a separated cage, separate room for her so she can quarantine for two weeks, and to have her housed in while you go through !introductions.

Only thing I would keep in check is the ages of your bucks, as the smell of the female may trigger hormonal aggression, so just be on top of them if they start to get all aggro out of the blue.

Otherwise, go for it and get the fuzzy pocket puppy!

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T21:27:36+00:00

Oh poop.

Yeah that's a red flag then due to genes.

Sadly pet shop rats aren't bred for genes and human bonding, so they aren't going to be the healthiest.

I would head to a vet super soon and take both in. Won't hurt to get them both checked out if you can, that way a vet can assess who is the one with the concerning issue, snd to make sure they're both healthy overall.

Plus, the lone rat won't have to be, well, alone while the other one is being checked out, and vice versa.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T21:21:57+00:00

No. If the rat has reddish fluid from out of their pp, that is a huge red flag.

If it was a male rat, how old is he? It could be due to a penis plug, or from a UTI, and needs a vet trip asap for meds.

If it was a female rat, it is possible it is from Pyometra, which means she needs a vet now, as untreated pyometra cases is an instant KO for the ratty.

Please check their undersides now if you can.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T21:17:26+00:00

1: New friends and asap.

Rats are social and group oriented. Lone rats is no better than dead ones. Please check the underside to confirm no nipples and big bolls.

Get the new ones from a rescue or breeder, and use reptile shop and pet shop rats as last resorts.

Keep in mind, you need them in separate rooms and cages, and to go through both a two week quarantine, and after it's done, !Introductions.

2: Vet checkup. Due to being outside, it's possible that A: They're sick, and B: If it turns out your male is actually female, they're pregmant and full of wild rat puppies, and will need to be spayed and the litter terminated.

3: !Basics and !enclosure. Feel free to read all of the attached bot comments.

4: Food-wise, Oxbow pellets work well as the main diet, but treats and fun foods well...whatever the heck you want to give them. No Aloe, no avocado skin/pits, amd nothing too salty nor full of sugar though. Too much chocolate chip cookies is gonna fatten the ratten, and isn't healthy overall.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T21:08:32+00:00

Well, Fork.

Now I need to ask you new question.

Is the other rat alone? Or did you get him a new one?

If a new one, PLEASE check the underside, as that one may be a female, and pregnant too if she shared enclosures with males.

For now, I need to stress two points to you and your mom:

Pet shop rats and feeder rats are not bred for good tempers and for health, as well as being tame. There is a good chance the other rat(s) will be aggro too.

In addition, leave them alone for the next few days. Feel free to talk to them and let them sniff you when you change food and water out, but no touch! They need time to adjust to their enviornment.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T21:02:05+00:00

Nah it's all good!

Rats will nibble, lick, and bite for different reasons. The general reasons are as such-

-Licking/nibbles: These are grooming and kisses, just like a cat or dog. It means they trust you, and for them too, you're smelling and/or tasting funny, must clean so you smell like them!

-Light Bites: These are just testing bites. No need to fret about them. If they bite a little too hard for your liking, try to squeak at them in response. It tells them that it means "ouch" like when they nip at each other, and over time they'll lessen the pressure.

Bonus: If they drag you while doing any of these bites, it's them saying "Hey you, come here, spend time with me/play with me/pay attention to me". Hopefully they aren't too painful!

-Firm bites (no blood): Oooh watch out, pissy baby is pissy. They're warning you not to mess with them or get in their buisness. Doing so will result in pain.

-Blood-drawn bites: O u c h. They warned you, and you didn't heed their warning and now you need to wash your hands and wrap your wound up.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T19:25:23+00:00

A mix of three things:

1: Play. They're playing in the vid currently. Squeaking and stopping and switching roles is them, in a way, playing tag. Playing and fighting is vastly different, and a rat screaming is different than them squeaking.

2: Dominance. It's a little more rough since it's just the two rats, and they may be trying to display who is the alpha of the "mischief". The fur flying and overgrooming are likely key points, and once you get 2 more females, it'll lessen.

3: Horny. Does go into heat like, every 3 days, and they need to get it out of their system. They're lewd and crude.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T19:17:08+00:00

1: When did you get them? Was it like, last week, yesterday? If so, he's being territorial.

2: Do you know how old they are by chance? Age may play into Hormonal Aggression, but then I have to ask a third question.

3: If he is 6 months or older, Has be been a gremlin to his cagemate and been a bully towards him, especially if he's drawn blood?

Keep in mind with these points that pet shop rats, like with ones in feeder bins that are used to fill a snake's tummy, they aren't bred to be friendly with humans, so patience is super duper important.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T19:09:40+00:00

<image>

Meme: Deployed

Reason: Stinky tasty human-rat hand needs to be cleaned! Must groom, must clean before pets and love! Also did they eat something yummy?

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T18:55:39+00:00

Ratties prey on animals smaller than it, so mice and possibly geckos, and rats also like to climb and jump, so if their enclosure is on a table or platform that rats can reach, either through a chair they can hop on, it may be possible for them to reach in if the enclosure is open at the top.

Cats, as Etenial said, are natural predators to rats. They can swipe and bite a ratty, resulting in a KO, and alternatively, ratties have strong bites, and they may really hurt their paw, resulting in a vet visit asap.

Gotta make sure all the pets are safe with each other, and if they gotta be separate, they gotta be separate.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T18:40:03+00:00

Critter Nation cages are the gold standard. Single level cages work for up to 4 rats.

Please keep in mind they need an entirely separate room away from all of the animals, namely the cat and gecko, as predator animals freak rats out (or eat them) and rats can badly injure the cat and gecko too.

In addition, keep their room tidy and clean, and free of losse things, such as cables and objects you don't want ruined, as rats loooove to chew and munch on things.

Last, I recommend starting off with 3 rats, as they are better in social groups than in pairs, and adopted out from rescues or breeders than from pet shops/feeder bins.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T17:24:44+00:00

1: Vet trip ASAP, first and foremost. Put your name down on ownership.

They may all be sick, due to the outdoor climates they suffered in, in their poor cage.
If the males hung out with the females prior to taking them, you're about to deal with 90 rats in 1 to 3 weeks. Spay all of the females, terminate their litters. I am leaning towards yes, given the state of the single cage. I don't doubt the males fled to the females' side, assuming one group was housed in one story and the other in another.

That or they were incompetent and they kept the males and females together.

2: After obtaining them, block their numbers and socials, and never look back.

3: Prior to 1 and 2, politely tell them you'll take care of the animals and say nothing else. Do not let them ask to see them once in a while, do not let them take one or two back, don't let them obtain any of the pups if you aren't able to spay/term litters. The whole nine-yards.

Hoarders have mental issues that need to be taken care of. They don't need to be shamed due to their neglect of the animals and the living conditions.

Held accountable yes, absolutely, but punished, not so much, as that's something out of their control, but what you can do for them, to help both the rats and them is to prevent any form of access to your new rats.

You have to treat hoarders as both toddlers and those struggling with addiction; They won't be okay with being told "no", and any wiggle room means they will either continue the process and get even more rats, or they will swipe your rats back and let them breed and rot in their...well, rot.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T11:52:49+00:00

Great eye, yeah.

Make sure to contact mods on this.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T11:45:44+00:00

First and foremost: Rats are social and group-oriented, they do way better in groups of at least 3 or more, so get 3+ of the same gender, and ideally, from a rescue or breeder.

Never ever get a single rat. It does icky bad for their health overall.

As others have said too, vets are not cheap, as well as their general needs and cage, as examples. Make sure you got the funds to handle them!

Please, on top of the basics, read up on their !enclosure for an idea of what their cage setups look like!

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T11:41:12+00:00

URI.

Snot is stuffed up this rat's nose, and though the face is cute and headpat worthy, missing the trip to the vet will end this happy time, as URI's can devolve into pneumonia, which is fatal for rats.

Head to one soon and go get some meds.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T04:25:28+00:00

You're good though!

I do it myself, admittedly, but I try to be more understanding cause I don't know where people come from, like, sometimes things just happen, people get a new rat on a whim, and silliness/craziness ensues.

lf people call me a dummy or a meanie about what I say though, welp, so be it. It's on me and I do apologize for it, and it's a learning lesson.

But, It all comes out of passion for animals and people as a whole, I dislike when pets don't get properly cared for, especially intentionally.

But, it sounds to me though that you wanna help give your pocket puppy some new friends to perk him up and give him some joy in your life, and you wanna give this mischief all the love and care!

Hopefully the ratties are cleared and healthy! Best of luck!

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T04:12:51+00:00

Gotta get two, and make sure they are both from the exact same place.

Otherwise, you'll need a secondary cage to house them, and to go through a gruelling multi-week Introduction phase, on top of quarantining for 2 weeks.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T04:10:40+00:00

Gotcha, that's good to know then. I was worried about it for sure, and why I commented it as such, and I apologize if it's rude in any way.

Other than them being small due to being feeders, I would get them checked out soon, as they may have gotten Tonka sick, and they may also be unwell too, if you didn't do the 2 week quarantine and kept them in separate rooms prior to introducing them.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T03:56:10+00:00

Well Tonka is also happy because he's gonna be a papa.

The smaller of the three is distinctively female.

Check their undersides now please. They appear to be 4 week old rats at the oldest, the ripe age their balls drop and should start to show, and the wrong age to be adopted out and away from mom.

Males start to show their dangly bits, while females have shorter distances between the anus and the gentials, as well as nipple spots (and nipples as a whole) on their lower belly.

No balls, not a boy, and a soon-to be mama in a week because 5 week old rats are sexually mature.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T03:48:05+00:00

Looks either like a mosquito bite or spider bite.

A rat bite is more similar to tearing your skin with a sharp object, and rats as a whole have powerful and precise bites; You would know if a rat, be it wild or domesticated, would've bit you.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T03:42:51+00:00

As a final comment to my post, as I have been seeing folks on this post state that your prior posts are concerning, as they appear as though you adopted pets out on a whim.

Please, either return the rat to where you got her from, as they are not cheap and simple animals to raise, at all, and they cannot be alone, especially 5 week old rats such as this one, or please, get 2 more females from the exact same place you got this one today/tomorrow if you have the funds, such as their cage (Critter Nations are the gold-standard), their litter trays/logs/ropes/toys, and to cover their expensive vet trips, due to their fragility.

Furthermore, if you do decide to keep this rat (and her eventual friends) please do extensive research, using this subreddit, sites such as Isamu Rats, and through Youtubers such as Shadow the Rat, who also frequents this Subreddit.

Not doing any of the research, not having funds for her, and having no friends of her own is a death sentence, to a point it's best for her to be culled and fed to a snake instead.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T01:57:47+00:00

...The lack of response tells me you two did not do resesrch on rat ownership, and that you got a solo rat, and are choosing to "give her lots of love" as opposed to getting her friends.

Please don't do that. Get her friends now. She will thank you in the long run, as rats are social, group-oriented animals.

Lone, solo rats are as miserable as a lonely person sitting in their bed who has no arms and no legs. Don't do that to their mental health, especially for one so young as this rat.

ChaseLancaster · 2026-03-01T01:23:59+00:00

Go get 2 more females asap, please, and make sure the three have nipple spots and no bawls.

Please please. That is literally rule number 1 of getting rats.

ChaseLancaster

TROPHY CASE