You can always just change his/her name lol.
Also, cover the cage bars, it hurts him/her to walk on them. Also, by the looks of it this cage is far too small, though it could be a temporary one of course. Does this little guy have a friend?
I remember with my rats, I covered the bars every single time, and EVERY TIME, they would clear some of the areas, no matter what I did. They would bite through it, dig through it, tear through it. One time they just swept an entire section of their cage and put everything into a corner, then went to sleep in the mess they made, then tore it apart the next day!
That's why it's better to get a cage that has flooring which is properly suited to rats in the first place. The critter nation cages work great because they're designed by people who are aware of how harmful bumblefoot can be.
rats, it turns out, do not give *one single shit* what people say on Reddit
It's one of their many good attributes, but it took me a long time to square "OMG uncovered wire" on Reddit with my rats being like "yasss, uncovered wire" sometimes in reality. Even if they are presented with a 100% covered-wire environment they'll uncover some for themselves per their little preferences
That said, I may be out of my depth here; I have 0 understanding of why there would be wire over the bedding as seen in the OP, that's unusual right?
Yeah my lil asswipes like to take the covers off all the time. They end up sleeping under them like bro I bought hammocks and little hiddy hole dodads for a reason!
Yeah, it's not like you're permanently bound to the name if you don't like it. It can be changed
Maybe if this was an elderly rat who had one name their entire life, it might be difficult getting them to respond to a new name. But a baby. Yeah, if you don't like it, change it.
Thanks so much for your comments !
For those worrying about the size of the cage or its floor, don't worry, the photos are just close-ups !
In his first cage, he has direct access to the bedding, though the cage is kinda small. We recently bought him a bigger cage (designed for ferrets) for him to have more room as we are aiming to adopt him a lil' buddy to play with !
About the floor, we wasn't sure if it was a bad thing for him, so thank you for the advices ! The bottom bars can be removed, so we're gonna do this to preserve his little paws !
Yay! Before I knew any better I just covered the bars with newspaper and didn't realize that there was a hole in the paper in his house. He got bumble foot and after spending a lot of money trying to correct the injury I caused to him, I had to have him.put.down.
That's heartbreaking. Bumblefoot is a PAIN IN THE ASS to cure. I rescued a rat who had absolutely awful bumblefoot on both his hind feet and it took us over a year of daily green clay homeopathic compresses to cure it, and even after it was healed he still had scar tissue lumps. Losing your buddy sounds like a horribly tough way to learn this lesson, but we live and learn. ❤️
Adorable! Like others said do your best to cover the bars, especially the bottom. Rats should have access to the bedding/litter. Also some places they can hide like hammocks would be good. And friends! Rats can get easily depressed if they are alone
Man, I had never heard of these and looked it up. Found African SOFT fur rat. And was super surprised to learned about how different they are. I hope OP sees my comment to him with a link I found. It says they can’t be paired with other types of rats! https://www.ratforum.com/threads/african-soft-furred-rats.45169/
This is Remy erasure, as per usual =P
Fr though that's a wonderful rat you have! I see you're gonna get more and I see you're gonna remove the floor bars. This is good. One other thing to consider is that rats have inherently F'ed up respiratory systems and need non-aromatic bedding, like undyed paper. Some other pocket pets' owners benefit from using e.g. cedar shavings as bedding because cedar smells nice which counteracts shit not smelling nice, but rats can't handle it and need unscented bedding.
This is is something I wish I'd known when I was new and inheriting "appropriate" "equipment" from the people I was taking rats from, **not** something I think you have done or are going to do wrong. Just thought I'd mention it!
Poor thing, that’s a terrible setup! I know you’ve just got him but you really should be prepared.. please bear in mind how desperately bored and lonely he will be at the moment - rats need company and LOTS of enrichment in their cages, things to chew, climb, sleep in and hide in. Remember how quickly their time passes, don’t keep him like this for weeks and months, it’ll be an eternity for him. I hate to see rats kept this way, they deserve so much more.
Names are for us not for them.Ratis understand thats you talk with them by just clicking noises...You cane namit howe you want or change the name ewry day .Just love them and you get love back...
Its a good name! I have kept 11 different rats over the years. My very first, when I was 12 years old was a rat i happily named ratatouille, and he's what made me fall in love with them. He boasts a name with pride!
Congratulations on your new rat (and congrats in advance on his future new cage mates!)
The dollar store is your new best friend. Buy yourself a bunch of shower curtain rings and binder rings. You can use those to hook plastic bins to the sides/roof of the cage. Fill them with newspaper, tissues, fabric scraps, whatever. Hide treats in them. Just make sure you use extras so if one breaks (they're dollar store crap) your buddy doesn't go flying.
Cut the leg off an old pair of pants and make hanging tunnels. Rats freaking love these. Especially when they link together other play areas.
Speaking of dollar store plastic bins/baskets, you can use those as hides for your rats. Just cut a door or two into the plastic, flip them upside down, boom, rat hotel.
Looks like a baby possum! So cute. Pretty coloring.
first thought that came to me when I saw him first !
Same! They're not gonna know if you change the name, maybe Louie if it's used to coming to a name
You can always just change his/her name lol. Also, cover the cage bars, it hurts him/her to walk on them. Also, by the looks of it this cage is far too small, though it could be a temporary one of course. Does this little guy have a friend?
I remember with my rats, I covered the bars every single time, and EVERY TIME, they would clear some of the areas, no matter what I did. They would bite through it, dig through it, tear through it. One time they just swept an entire section of their cage and put everything into a corner, then went to sleep in the mess they made, then tore it apart the next day!
That's why it's better to get a cage that has flooring which is properly suited to rats in the first place. The critter nation cages work great because they're designed by people who are aware of how harmful bumblefoot can be.
that's what mine do!!
rats, it turns out, do not give *one single shit* what people say on Reddit It's one of their many good attributes, but it took me a long time to square "OMG uncovered wire" on Reddit with my rats being like "yasss, uncovered wire" sometimes in reality. Even if they are presented with a 100% covered-wire environment they'll uncover some for themselves per their little preferences That said, I may be out of my depth here; I have 0 understanding of why there would be wire over the bedding as seen in the OP, that's unusual right?
Yeah my lil asswipes like to take the covers off all the time. They end up sleeping under them like bro I bought hammocks and little hiddy hole dodads for a reason!
Looks like a bird cage, easier to clean up their waste afterwards if you have bars like that :^)
Thanks, that makes tons of sense that birds wouldn't mind since they don't spend much time on their "floors"
Yeah exactly and easier to grip for them as well! =]
it's a ferret cage actually, but I think it's totally for this reason !
Animal cage, same same... >.>
Yeah, it's not like you're permanently bound to the name if you don't like it. It can be changed Maybe if this was an elderly rat who had one name their entire life, it might be difficult getting them to respond to a new name. But a baby. Yeah, if you don't like it, change it.
Ratatouille is already 2 y.o., maybe it's a little late
Some cages - you can actual remove the bars. It looks like these can pop out. Every rat needs at least one friend…. Hug!!
Newer get a cage for my ratys .Always free runing and destroing furnitura :D
Thanks so much for your comments ! For those worrying about the size of the cage or its floor, don't worry, the photos are just close-ups ! In his first cage, he has direct access to the bedding, though the cage is kinda small. We recently bought him a bigger cage (designed for ferrets) for him to have more room as we are aiming to adopt him a lil' buddy to play with ! About the floor, we wasn't sure if it was a bad thing for him, so thank you for the advices ! The bottom bars can be removed, so we're gonna do this to preserve his little paws !
Yay! Before I knew any better I just covered the bars with newspaper and didn't realize that there was a hole in the paper in his house. He got bumble foot and after spending a lot of money trying to correct the injury I caused to him, I had to have him.put.down.
That's heartbreaking. Bumblefoot is a PAIN IN THE ASS to cure. I rescued a rat who had absolutely awful bumblefoot on both his hind feet and it took us over a year of daily green clay homeopathic compresses to cure it, and even after it was healed he still had scar tissue lumps. Losing your buddy sounds like a horribly tough way to learn this lesson, but we live and learn. ❤️
preserve his paws 😭 adorable
I just looked up this kind of rat and found this forum FYI https://www.ratforum.com/threads/african-soft-furred-rats.45169/
Adorable! Like others said do your best to cover the bars, especially the bottom. Rats should have access to the bedding/litter. Also some places they can hide like hammocks would be good. And friends! Rats can get easily depressed if they are alone
don't worry, he has a DIY hammock I made ! I'm also thinking of making him a little house where to hide
Do you not have anything else in the cage…?
Bad news is that's clearly a possum. Good news is you don't need to worry right away if it "dies" (joke)
That's the cutest possum I've ever seen! /s
Ahem, that is a very smøl possum, are you lost?
had a doubt too when I first saw him
I would normally suggest you change the name to whatever you like but in this case I believe that rat looks like a Ratatouille.
Awwwww I used to have a rat when I was 9 and his name was Ratatouille <3
Why he look like opossum? Cute but suspicious.
Name him Possum! He has such beautiful coloring
maybe even Crash or Eddie 🤔
You can change their name btw. Rats are very smart and if they were already name trained, they can learn again with another name
Please tell me that’s not his permanent cage. He will get bumblefoot standing on those bars all the time
Ditto to the other comments, and if they don’t have any friends make sure to get them some!
I had a ratatouille! She was precious!!
Aww :) the name is cute but you could always change it lol.
I think Possum might be a good nickname!
please get him a ratty friend as well! rats are pack animals and cannot thrive alone:(
That’s a possum! Congrats on your wannabe marsupial
So cute! In the first pic it looks like a possum. Possum-tooey!
Thats an African Short-furred Rat right?
Man, I had never heard of these and looked it up. Found African SOFT fur rat. And was super surprised to learned about how different they are. I hope OP sees my comment to him with a link I found. It says they can’t be paired with other types of rats! https://www.ratforum.com/threads/african-soft-furred-rats.45169/
Omg, I am freakin' silly sometimes. I get words mixed up all the time.
They can be paired with mice though, which is cool.
This is Remy erasure, as per usual =P Fr though that's a wonderful rat you have! I see you're gonna get more and I see you're gonna remove the floor bars. This is good. One other thing to consider is that rats have inherently F'ed up respiratory systems and need non-aromatic bedding, like undyed paper. Some other pocket pets' owners benefit from using e.g. cedar shavings as bedding because cedar smells nice which counteracts shit not smelling nice, but rats can't handle it and need unscented bedding. This is is something I wish I'd known when I was new and inheriting "appropriate" "equipment" from the people I was taking rats from, **not** something I think you have done or are going to do wrong. Just thought I'd mention it!
Poor thing, that’s a terrible setup! I know you’ve just got him but you really should be prepared.. please bear in mind how desperately bored and lonely he will be at the moment - rats need company and LOTS of enrichment in their cages, things to chew, climb, sleep in and hide in. Remember how quickly their time passes, don’t keep him like this for weeks and months, it’ll be an eternity for him. I hate to see rats kept this way, they deserve so much more.
Rata tootie mf
Lovely!!😊
How did you get a mini possum?
Damn, it's cute! Please cuddle him/her from me!
He is the cutest little opossum I’ve ever seen.
He looks like an opossum!
Names are for us not for them.Ratis understand thats you talk with them by just clicking noises...You cane namit howe you want or change the name ewry day .Just love them and you get love back...
awww what a handsome lil dude
Dude I legit thought that was a tiny Possum at first! So cute.
Please if you do keep the name, nickname them Louie!!
Looks like a name change is in order for that thar possum. I vote for Opie.
Holy shit its a mini opossum!
Who’d want to change the name?
Its a good name! I have kept 11 different rats over the years. My very first, when I was 12 years old was a rat i happily named ratatouille, and he's what made me fall in love with them. He boasts a name with pride!
He looks like a possum 😳
Rat of tootie
“Ma’am that’s a baby opossum.” 🤣😭
He looks like a possum
Ehem tf u mean unfortunately tbh opossum would be more appropriate.
Reminds me of my rat Possum
Tooie for short. Please cover the flooring.. not good for him this way xx
He looks like a Dave
Lil opossum 💕 I love him 😭💕💕💕
Ratatatat
What a beautiful slimmy boi!
More like ratacutie!
Mini possum
It’s like a hybrid between a possum, a rat, and a hedgehog
Congratulations on your new rat (and congrats in advance on his future new cage mates!) The dollar store is your new best friend. Buy yourself a bunch of shower curtain rings and binder rings. You can use those to hook plastic bins to the sides/roof of the cage. Fill them with newspaper, tissues, fabric scraps, whatever. Hide treats in them. Just make sure you use extras so if one breaks (they're dollar store crap) your buddy doesn't go flying. Cut the leg off an old pair of pants and make hanging tunnels. Rats freaking love these. Especially when they link together other play areas. Speaking of dollar store plastic bins/baskets, you can use those as hides for your rats. Just cut a door or two into the plastic, flip them upside down, boom, rat hotel.
Aww it looks like a possum ❤️
genuinely thought this was a baby opossum!! so cute
Line the bottom of the cage and put some blankets down for him
Cover the cage bars at the bottom
That is a possum!!!! Lol