by Shayna Smith

Created on: April 14, 2010

Both rats and hamsters can be great pets. It just depends what you're looking for in a pet, your budget, and how much time you have.

Diet

Both hamsters and rats should be fed a diet of lab blocks, fruits, and vegetables in small amounts. A good brand of lab block is Harlan Teklad. Be sure to stay away from kibbles that have sunflower seeds, little treat looking things, or corn in them. Also fruits and veggies such as raw potatoes, raw sweet potatoes, raw artichokes, green bananas, raw onion, and anything citrus should be avoided. Foods such as crackers can be given as treats in small amounts, but shouldn't be part of their daily diet. Any sticky foods, like peanut butter, or overly processed foods should be avoided.

Housing

Rat and hamster housing varies quite a bit. Rats need more space and different living conditions than hamsters do.

Since rats are social animals you'll need to adopt more than one. For both of them the cage should be no smaller than 24" tall by 12" wide by 24" long. The cage bar spacing should also be no wider than 1" or 1/2" if the rats are smaller. The bottom of the cage should be solid and flat, not wired as this can cause bumble foot. Aquariums should never be used as housing without a topper attachment. Solid plastic cages are also a bad idea, because rats like to chew. Both aquariums and solid plastic cages have very little ventilation which can trap ammonia causing health problems. A good place to get cages from is Martin's Cages. Make sure you get them powder coated, because galvanized rusts easily and won't last as long as powder coated cages.

The best kind of cage for a hamster is also a wire cage (solid bottom) with wire spacing no bigger than 1/2". Aquariums are more a possibility for hamsters as they are more tolerant of it than rats. Many pet stores advertise all those tubes attached to cages which can be entertaining, but be prepared to clean the cage more often as hamsters have a tendency to have "accidents" in the tubes. Also if your hamster is on the chubby side, he's more likely to get stuck in the tubes.

Toys and Cage Accessories

Rats are very intelligent pets and require toys to keep them stimulated. Toys can be home made such as paper bags or toilet paper rolls. This is a great website for toys ideas. Some people get wheels for their rats, but most will not run on them. If you want to try a wheel out do not get the wire kind. Make sure it's solid or your rat's tail could get stuck. Every rat cage should have a water

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