My boys...

Question
Hey Sandra, my question is split up into parts. First, I have had pet rats for ten years. I currently have 3 males, and a single female. My 10 year-old daughter and I did breed once, and were prepared to keep them all. Between the four we kept and my friends keeping male pairs, they all found great homes and I get to visit them. I kept the father, Sammy (he is from our local animal shelter) and he lives alone (hes aggressive) in a 10-gallon aquarium with a 2-story Martins topper. Hes my favorite. :) His only daughter, Emma, lives in the same housing alone. (Her mother, Caroline, escaped- my daughter got grounded.) His sons, Reese and Francis live in a large 3-level Martins cage. They are the current problem. My fiance has recently started complaining about the overall space my rats take up. I defend them and have refused to downgrade my two boys (my Bubbas, I call them) to a smaller cage. My first question is, through all I've read, and the money I spent providing big homes for my rats, should I consider a downgrade? With the cages and play table they do take up a lot of space but I love them! My second question is, does Emma absolutely NEED a female companion? They've never been exposed to new rats and I don't like supporting pet stores that feed reptiles when they can eat raw meat and supplements. For a lot of reasons, I don't want a pet store rat. Also, can you recommend a shrink to teach my fiance that my rats mean as much as his dog? Lol, just kidding, but really they do to me... Sorry for being long-winded. Thank you very much.

Answer
I wouldnt down size it now, no. They are used to the extra room and this will only add stress.  Rats need alot of cage space even if they have alot of free time out of the cage. The play table, though, can  be possible changed up some.  Perhaps take that down and instead, construct a cardboard play pen you can take down, fold up and put out of sight until play time comes again for the rats.

As for the female having a friend....because of all that I have learned about rats being social, I cant really say that she shouldnt have a friend, but rats can do fine solo esp if they are raised solo.

As for your fiance, I wish I could give you some advice, but I cant. My husband is awesome when it comes to my rats, never says a word....now that doesnt mean he doesnt think things being my back, though, but knows better than to say it out loud!  LOL  My boys have their own room, but they do live in cages and come out for play time in the rat room.  All three live solo, by the way ,and are brothers. They used to live together (they are from a good breeder too...I have no idea how it all started, but they hate each other! They cant live together and fight terribly. This all began when they were around 8 months old (good old puberty) and they do fine alone, all three live in large roomy cages. I think room is important esp because of the fact they need to keep clean and you dont want your rat sleeping too close to their litter pan and waste.