Rats and mice are comparable creatures, each being rodents and each being in style pets. Pet (fancy) rats are of the classification Rattus Norvegicus – the brown rat whereas pet mice are Mus Musculus.
Whereas they give the impression of being comparable in bodily phrases (other than their dimension), which could make folks suppose that they will reside collectively in a cage, rats and mice are certainly very totally different and as such shouldn’t ever be stored in the identical cage collectively.
Can You Preserve Rats and Mice Collectively?
The brief reply is no, you may’t – and by no means ought to, for any cause.
The largest cause to not preserve rats and mice collectively is that rats will hunt and kill mice in the event that they get the prospect, and will even eat them.
This isn’t as a result of rats are imply or vicious (quite the opposite, they make completely wonderful pets and are virtually at all times very loving) however fairly as a result of it’s instinctive.
Mice within the wild are hunted by rats as a result of they compete for a similar sources, which means they eat the identical meals, occupy the identical areas and many others. Due to this, mice are instinctively afraid of rats (much more so than bigger predators) and even the scent of a rat alone can terrify mice and trigger a lot of stress.
Rats will instinctively chase and hurt mice due to this, so it’s very important to by no means preserve them in the identical areas, not even in separate cages in the identical room.
Whereas they’re each rodents, there’s a giant distinction of their husbandry so if you happen to’re trying to preserve rats or mice be sure that to do your analysis into the way to look after them to maintain them pleased and wholesome.
Can I Preserve Rats and Mice as Pets on the Similar Time?
You’ll be able to preserve rats and mice on the similar time, however they need to at all times be in separate cages and never in the identical room as one another.
It’s because, as we stated earlier, rats will instinctively hunt mice, so the odor of a rat to a mouse may cause enormous quantities of stress, and the urge to get to the mice may cause stress to the rat as nicely.
That is additionally true without spending a dime roam, don’t ever attempt to free roam rats and mice collectively for that reason as it would virtually at all times finish in bloodshed, and don’t ever attempt to introduce them.
For those who deal with rats and mice one after the opposite, hand washing can assist to maintain every rodent calm (as this lessens the odor of the opposite), as can ensuring rats and mice have their very own toys, cage furnishings and many others.
One of the best factor to do can be to solely preserve one kind of rodent at a time, both rats or mice, to minimise the danger of damage to both celebration or pointless stress. Our article can assist you weigh up the choices when contemplating rats or mice as pets.
Can Rats Cohabit With Guinea Pigs, Hamsters or Different Pet Rodents?
You shouldn’t home rats (or mice) with some other sorts of rodents.
Measurement variations, pure predation, differing dietary wants and the necessity for various housing varieties (e.g. the kind of cage wanted for rats vs gerbils) all think about to why rats (and different rodents) ought to by no means be stored with totally different species. However these rodents which might be social ought to completely be stored with members of their very own species. The exception to this could be rodents comparable to hamsters, that are solitary and like to reside on their very own.
As a result of rats don’t cohabit with different species of rodents (together with mice) within the wild, they shouldn’t be stored collectively as pets both. Nonetheless, there’s one exception to this rule, and that’s with regard to African Mushy Fur Rats.
Mice and African Mushy Fur Rats
Regardless of the identify, the African Mushy Fur Rat is definitely a multimammate mouse (which means it has a number of nipples – 18 the truth is!) and attributable to their shut kinship with fancy mice, they can typically be housed with them.
Whereas rats mustn’t be housed with them, ASF’s can be housed with mice if nice care is taken to introduce them in a protected, gradual means, together with loads of supervision and respect for his or her particular person wants.
ASF’s are social animals (the identical as mice and rats) and must reside in a gaggle of 3 or extra to thrive. There was some success in cohabiting ASF’s and fancy mice in teams and if they’re of reverse sexes, there’s no want to fret about sudden litters as fancy mice and ASF’s can not breed (though don’t preserve similar species male and females collectively of both species in the event that they’re not neutered!).
The perfect ratio for this mixture can be one male fancy mouse to 2 or extra feminine ASF’s or a gaggle of fancy mouse and ASF females.
