Rattie Summehouse

Question
Hello Sandra,
I am planning on keeping my baby pet rats outdoors in a wooden shed/summerhouse that will be specially kitted out for them-they'll have lots of space to roam around. Unfortunatelty, I am not allowed to keep rats in my house otherwise I would FILL the house with them. But since I am not the owner, I am not in position to have my house as a 'rattie haven'.
I am planning on buying heat lamps to maintain a healthy temperature for the ratties-and thermometres, so I can assess the heat in the summerhouse at all times.
However, I am not sure what kind of heat lamps to buy and how many? I live in Scotland therefore, winters are cold and I want to make sure my babies are nice and cozy. What is the optimum temperature for fancy rats' living environment?
Also, I have never kept pet rats before and I'm not sure on how to correctly lift and handle them-could you help me with this please? I should add that my rats (will be born in 2 weeks!! I am soooo excited) are coming from a reputable breeder so they will hopefully be tame and not too difficult to handle.
Thank you for your time, your advice will be very much appreciated.

Answer
Hi Angela

I have to ask you this...does the breeder know that you do not plan on keeping the rats indoors and plan on keeping them outside?
I say this for a few reasons: Fancy rats are nothing like wild rats. They are not programmed the same as wild rats since they are born captive. Fancy rats should never be kept in cold and damp temps and temps should not fall below 74 degrees in the winter and should never rise above 82 in the summer since they cannot adjust well to heat. Rats can suffer from pneumonia very easily and also from heat stroke in the summer.  
One way to pick up a rat is to simply scoop him up in your hand and when they are babies, you should always sit down while holding them so they dont get away from you. The area you have them in should be totally rat proofed so they cannot escape through any holes and get away. Its a good idea to keep them in a penned area while you play with them. Never lift rats by their tail. Doing so can pull the skin off of the tail exposing the raw bone and this can be very painful and cause a serious and deadly infection.
Please check out my website about proper nutrition and husbandry for rats.
I am happy your so excited about getting rats but I do worry about their over all well being.  Fancy rats should not be kept outdoors to be honest, since they do not adjust well to extreme temps.  Wild rats are rarely seen in winter since they either burrow deep underground, seek shelter in someones home between the warm walls, or end up dying. Fancy rats are not like wild rats and they do not have the natural instinct with remarkable survival skills since they are born captive.  I cant really remark on how many heat lamps to use mainly because I dont generally use them for rats since they are kept indoors. I dont know how hot they get etc...but I would assume you would need plenty depending on how big of an area you need to keep warm.
Truthfully, I would be a bit skeptical about keeping them outdoors in a shed. I wish you were able to convince the homeowner that rats are clean and do not carry disease contrary to popular belief and would not hurt anyone by being kept in a cage indoors.