How old are the youngest rats you'd find in a pet store?

I've got some orphaned wild rats that I'm hand raising and was wondering when they'd be big enough for our smaller rat cage (http://www.petco.com/Assets/product_imag鈥?/a> I'm sure some of you rat fans will recognize this cage, no problem. It seems that any rats I've gotten from the pet store are large enough not to fit through the bars, so I'd like to use that as a reference. These babies are about four weeks right now and I know I'll have to seperate them soon, as breeding age can start as early as five weeks.How old are the youngest rats you'd find in a pet store?
Sounds like you know your stuff on raising ratties :) %26lt;smile%26gt; That's one of my dreams is to raise wilds one day.





Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to talk about wild ratties. Oddly enough, when wild rats are brought into a captive situation, where their living conditions and eating habits are made cleaner, the diseases that so paranoids people no longer become relevant.





Since wild rats and pet rats are the same species, Rattus Norvegicus, you can treat your wild babies as you would domestic rats. Their growth rate and developement is the same.





I'm assuming that they are Rattus norvegicus? If they are Rattus rattus then you will have to be more careful about what cage you keep them in. Rattus rattus are quick, jumpy, more like mice then rats, and terrific escape artists.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattus_norv鈥?/a>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattus_ratt鈥?/a>





I'm sorry but your link does not work for me so I can't comment on the type of cage you are referring to. Cages that hold domestic Rn at 4 weeks old will hold wild Rn of the same age.





For those who don't understand wild rats:


http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Wi鈥?/a>





Some wild rats as pets true stories:


http://spazrats.tripod.com/heiri.html


http://spazrats.tripod.com/bghs.html


http://spazrats.tripod.com/ikeola.html





Edit:


Time to mess up your school history lessons concerning the ';plague';.


http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bd鈥?/a>


The Oriental Rat Flea carried the plague Bacterium known as Yersinia Pestis. This flea used various hosts to get around. One host was Rattus rattus, the Black Rat, but other hosts were cats, dogs, and horses. Humans, in their infinite wisdom (note sarcasm), killed off the cats and dogs in hopes of stemming the spread of the plague. With fewer hosts to attack, the fleas chose humans as their next victims. Humans at that time were a filthy lot, throwing their toilet water and household refuse into the streets, and they rarely bathed. Yes, this attracted the rats, that fed on the filth. Bottom line, humans were responsible for the spread of the plague, not the rats. The rats suffered the same horrible symptoms, and died the same agonizing deaths right along with the humans. Wild Rattus norvegicus never carried the rat flea, therefore they had nothing to do with the plague. Our pet rats are decendants of this species of wild rat.





Edit:


http://www.petco.com/product/8335/Coast-鈥?/a>


Found it :) I love the cage! But I'm concerned about the bar spacing for Rattus rattus. Make sure it's no more then 1/2'; wide. Truth be told a cockatiel cage would be a more secure cage for rattus. I bought one of these cages second hand and this is the cage I use for moms and their babies when the babies are 3 weeks + of age. There's never been an escape from this cage.


http://petchauffeur.net/Merchant2/mercha鈥?/a>


I modified it by adding another shelf.





spazrats


';my life has gone to the rats';How old are the youngest rats you'd find in a pet store?
i think its like a day or two days
maybe they are about 30 to 60 days old
My newest rat Micky was 5 weeks old when we got him. As long as they can't get their head through they should be fine.
I just want to agree with spazrats, your link didn't work for me either.


Also agreeing with everything she said about wild rats. It would be great to rescue some wild rat babies, like from a store back-room or the like, if it would keep them from being killed by hideously cruel poison or glue traps.
2 days
New born.
usually rats are able to be bought at about 2-4 weeks. thats when they are seperated from their mothers.i got my rat when she was about a month.i think its great that you are taking these rats in. rats are wonderful pets!
id say that any rodent you get from petco is about 1 1/2- 3 months. if they were any older what would be the use of buying them if you would only have them for like a year.................................hop鈥?i helped!
You do realize that wild rodents carry an inordinately large number of diseases? And also that it is totally illegal to keep wild animals as pets? I realize you like rats, but you really need to let wild animals be wild animals and stick to domestic bred rats as pets. Bubonic plague still has outbreaks from time to time- always spread by RATS. Wild rats. And like I said, it's illegal and if anyone found out they'd be taken, killed, and you'd be fined. I'd rethink this if I was you.
what the hell would anybody whant rats for was wrong with you kid get help u need it