Small animal special | PETS
http://www.petsmagazine.com.au 33
SHOWING YOUR PET
It can be enjoyable to show a pet you own,
and the good news is you can show both mice
and rats. Wendy says some shows are all about
fun (the speediest treat eater, most inquisitive,
cutest costume) and others are more about
breed standard.
Andrew agrees that whether you have
a mouse or rat, going along to shows and
showing your pet is great fun. “It’s certainly
gaining popularity as something the family can
share,” he says. At mice and rat shows, you’ll
meet others who enjoy owning mice and rats
just as much as you do. You can make new
friends, swap stories and share tips on caring
for your pet.SO, WHO IS THE WI ER?
Each pet has its own unique characteristics
and personality. They’re both lovable, fun to
own and relatively inexpensive to buy. When it
comes down to choosing which pet is right for
you, only you can decide — but we do know
that both are cool pets to own!and they can even be toilet trained to use
a litter box, just like a cat!
PERSONALITY PLUS
Rats can have big personalities. “I’ve had
lots and lots of rats and no two are ever the
same,” Wendy says. “Boys tend to be lazy and
cuddly and girls tend to always want to be
doing something.”
Mice can be a little more quiet and shy —
but not always!
LET’S HANG OUT TOGETHER
Rats thrive on company and time out of their
cage. “They need at least an hour or two out
of their enclosure each day or they’ll get
depressed,” Wendy says. Mice don’t necessarily
need much cage-free time. Andrew says mice
make awesome pets mostly because they’re fun
to watch. “They love to tunnel and dig,” he says.
“Also, let them out of the cage and give them
some treats and they’ll stash them away.”
Before you let your mouse or rat out of
the cage, make sure the area is safe; you do
need to keep an eye on them to make sure
they don’t nibble something they shouldn’t!
Given rats need more human interaction than
mice, you need more free time to commit to
owning a rat.
ONE, TWO OR MORE?
If you plan on getting mice, you can’t put two
males in a cage together. “They will fight each
other,” Andrew says. “You need a single male
or two girls, and not a boy and a girl as they’ll
reproduce very quickly — every 21 days there
will be babies.”
If you’d like a rat, Wendy says you need more
than one. “Rats need at least one friend,” she
says. “And, unlike mice, male rats get on fi ne
together so you can keep all males or females
but if you want to keep boys and girls together,
you can get them desexed.”
Perhaps you can’t decide whether to get a
mouse or rat, and want both? They are diff erent
species so, no, they cannot be kept together in
a cage as they won’t play nicely with each other.
Both rats and mice aren’t long-lived pets. Rats
live for two to three years and mice generally
live around the same length of time.
For more information, visit
australianrodentclub.com
and ausrfs.org.auMice can be fun to watch.