Lone female rescue help

[rakelchidz]

So I rescued a lone female rat. The official story was that she had been abandoned but both me and the girl there think she must have been pretty severely mistreated. She cowers in corners, she doesn't move much if there are people near by, you know that sort of thing.

Now obviously rats need company but it wouldn't be fair to her as she currently is to introduce her to others. My plan is to work with her until she's more confident for however long that takes and then slowly introducing her to a pair of younger rats. I wondered what people thought of this. If anyone had any tips or anything?

[cyber ratty]

A pair of well socialised rats can actually help another rat in ways that you can't, so you could help her more quickly by working as a team - I would look at getting company sooner rather than later.

[rakelchidz]

Fair enough. I just wasn't sure as I don't want to overwhelm her or stress her out more than she already is. I think she's about a year old. Do you have any suggestions for what type of rat would be best for her? As I said was thinking of introducing her to a pair of younger females. Do you think that would be best?

[cyber ratty]

Yes, a pair of youngsters is usually an easier introduction, but I would also consider an older girl if you see one, but one who has lived with other rats (e.g. recently lost her companion).

[Rhian33]

I also agree with Mary. The quickest way most nervous rats come round is definitely confident company.

I would however suggest sourcing rats from somewhere "ethical" such as a good rescue or registered breeder. At the risk of stating the obvious pet shop rats are very rarely socialised so are unlikely to help matters very much.

[rakelchidz]

Yeah I was hoping to do that. She wasn't rescued from a good place but I couldn't just leave her. Do you have any advice for how to get in touch with some good rat breeders? I live sort of south Lincolnshire/Peterborough area and i'm not sure where to find people.

I'm happy to report that she already seems slightly more confident than she did yesterday so i'm really hopeful for her progress.

[Rhian33]

That's great news about her progress.

As far as finding rats goes I would suggest looking at the NFRS breeders list http://www.nfrs.org/NFRS_Breeders_List.pdf . I would also suggest asking rescues too as good breeders will have waiting lists. There's a Facebook group called Rat Rescue Network UK that you could have a look on. I would also suggest contacting Lincoln Rat rescue (have a look on Facebook) as well as Notts Nibblers. I normally suggest Wood Green http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/rehome/small_animals but we don't have confident females at the moment.

[rakelchidz]

I know that the main plan is young females but would a young male work if he was neutered? A local rescue has a lovely young male who is about 10 weeks old and seems very confident. Or would that not be a good idea?

Thanks I will have a look round.

[cyber ratty]

There are breeders listed in our web directory, here, and the NFRS list is here - however neither of those lists vets the breeders at all, so you'll need to ask them questions to decide whether a particular breeder meets your own criteria.

[cyber ratty]

Rats shouldn't be neutered until they are at least 4 months old, preferably 6 months or more. If you find a buck who has already been neutered then it might be okay, but most neuters are done because of the rat having behavioural issues meaning they wouldn't necessarily be the best companion in your case.

[rakelchidz]

ok will keep looking then. I hadn't realised you had to wait so long to have them neutered. I've seen lots of people online talking about keeping bucks with the females so that's why I was curious. I usually have hamsters and haven't really had rats before. I'd been looking into it and doing research but don't feel massively confident hence all the questions. Thanks for helping.