Caring For Rats

When purchasing a cage for your new pet rat, it is best to avoid wire flooring as this can cause the rat to develop ‘Bumble foot,’ where rats develop ulcers on the soles of their feet. At Elms Pets, we advice having horizontal bars to allow the rat to climb if desired. It is best to avoid cedar and pine shavings for beddings as these can cause problems for rats. However, other hardwood beddings are now widely available.

Rats have incisors growing continually and need to gnaw these down. If a rat does not gnaw these down, the veterinary can file them down easily. Rats are omnivores and fair best of wholegrain foods along with some animal proteins. Readily mixed rat food can be purchased from most pet stores.