Can young squirrel be housed with pet rats?

[nevrenufanimals]

Stubby a tree squirrel is a very busy tree squirrel. My daughter has two male pet rats. She is wondering if they can go into the big cage together for awhile until its time to release the squirrel. Maybe the rats would give the squirrel some company and a playmate. Has anyone every tried this? I cant find any information on the subject anywhere on the internet. Will they fight? Get along? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Mrs Skul]

:wave123 nevrenufanimals
No!:nono Rats carry a disease that is contagious and It is fatal to Squirrels. :shakehead If releasing the Squirrel he could infect all the wilds. :nono
I can't remember what it is called. If I think of the name I will post it later.
That is if no one comes up with it.
Hope this helps.

[nevrenufanimals]

rats get a disease called mycoplasma pneumonia that is contagious with each other. It is a respiratory disease that is deadly for the rats too. but considering we've had the rats for over a year, and they are fine because they were treated with antibiotics when they were little. I didn't know if the squirrels were susceptible.

[gs1]

no, they'll kill each other they're natural enemies....:sanp3


squirrels and guinea pigs get along... :)

[LyddicleaveBurrow]

Hi,

Please don't do this. Either the Squirrel or the rats would be killed. Rats should only be housed with other rats. They will kill other rodents.

Please keep the young squirrel away from the rats.

Heather.

[DipityDane]

Bad IDEA! Word of warning, rat's are sweet and intelligent, HOWEVER, they aren't always accepting of other critters and in a lot of cases will kill them. I had a rat who killed a litter.....yes, a litter, of 6 week old kittens we had taken in temporarily. I also had a non release starling who was amazing and the light of my life....2 other rats jail broke his cage one night and completely devoured him.....then just last week I got a tearful call from a friend who has rats and had recently adopted a kitten....she allows the rats a lot of out of cage time.....they killed the kitten. SO, based on this, I would never let any of my other critter's cohabitate with my rats.

[nevrenufanimals]

thanks for all the responses! Wow! Didn't realize the rats were such devious little critters!! They will definitely not be put together, even though the squirrel is bigger than they are!! thanks!

[gs1]

Bad IDEA! Word of warning, rat's are sweet and intelligent, HOWEVER, they aren't always accepting of other critters and in a lot of cases will kill them. I had a rat who killed a litter.....yes, a litter, of 6 week old kittens we had taken in temporarily. I also had a non release starling who was amazing and the light of my life....2 other rats jail broke his cage one night and completely devoured him.....then just last week I got a tearful call from a friend who has rats and had recently adopted a kitten....she allows the rats a lot of out of cage time.....they killed the kitten. SO, based on this, I would never let any of my other critter's cohabitate with my rats.


omg i'm sorry... i had no idea they were so bad... no wonder many people hate them around their chickens/livestock.....

rip kittens/starling/kitten .... :sad

[DipityDane]

omg i'm sorry... i had no idea they were so bad... no wonder many people hate them around their chickens/livestock.....

rip kittens/starling/kitten .... :sad


Thank you! The whole kitten thing floored me....they were staying in the guest bath temporarily....also the rat rat "Nina" was a rescue who had a litter of 9 and she was also in the bathroom in her cage on the vanity....She escaped...it was awful...Frankie the starling....that was just a case of a too insecure of an enclosure and houdini rats. I love my rats but jeez, sometimes it's hard not to get angry!

[gs1]

Thank you! The whole kitten thing floored me....they were staying in the guest bath temporarily....also the rat rat "Nina" was a rescue who had a litter of 9 and she was also in the bathroom in her cage on the vanity....She escaped...it was awful...Frankie the starling....that was just a case of a too insecure of an enclosure and houdini rats. I love my rats but jeez, sometimes it's hard not to get angry!


:grouphug i love rats too but i think i've found my limits... it would be hard to keep them after that ... it's too much.....

i know not their fault... but omg.....:grouphug

but glad you told us in case i ever do get rats... didn't think they were that bad....i thought it was mostly squirrels and rats ... not all animals...:grouphug

[Scooterzmom]

:wave123 nevrenufanimals
No!:nono Rats carry a disease that is contagious and It is fatal to Squirrels. :shakehead If releasing the Squirrel he could infect all the wilds. :nono
I can't remember what it is called. If I think of the name I will post it later.
That is if no one comes up with it.
Hope this helps.

I am not entirely sure but I think - if my memory serves me right, that is - that the disease you are referring to may be bordetella. :thinking I was warned about that... by a vet in fact.

[LyddicleaveBurrow]

Hi,

Rats can and do kill other rodents and small animals, but should not be thought of as villans because of this. It is a natural instinct that can be worked around by owners.

Accidents can, and do happen, and the results can be tragic and very upsetting. However, most of the time the safety of other animals can be safeguarded by giving the rats very secure enclosures.

Rats are wonderful creatures and make fantastic, highly intelligent and interactive pets.

Heather.

[Pierre]

Hi,

Rats can and do kill other rodents and small animals, but should not be thought of as villans because of this. It is a natural instinct that can be worked around by owners.

Accidents can, and do happen, and the results can be tragic and very upsetting. However, most of the time the safety of other animals can be safeguarded by giving the rats very secure enclosures.

Rats are wonderful creatures and make fantastic, highly intelligent and interactive pets.

Heather.

Agreed. Rats are wonderfully sweet and many rats live happily with cats, dogs, even budgies. Their behavior in part depends on how they are introduced to the other animals, and how well they were socialized as babies, too.

That poor rescue momma was probably sorely afraid for her babies, and tried to do something. She probably felt trapped in that small room with the enemy and was trying to protect her babies. As a rescue rattie, she probably had a really rough and poorly socialized life.

There are many animals that will kill or injure a predator's baby to try to survive. Water buffalo kill baby lions if they find them! Just acting according to nature.

[DipityDane]

Agreed. Rats are wonderfully sweet and many rats live happily with cats, dogs, even budgies. Their behavior in part depends on how they are introduced to the other animals, and how well they were socialized as babies, too.

That poor rescue momma was probably sorely afraid for her babies, and tried to do something. She probably felt trapped in that small room with the enemy and was trying to protect her babies. As a rescue rattie, she probably had a really rough and poorly socialized life.

There are many animals that will kill or injure a predator's baby to try to survive. Water buffalo kill baby lions if they find them! Just acting according to nature.


I don't know much about her previous life as she was a turn in at a local petstore but she was a super sweet critter and not poorly socialized at all....I dunno if she truly feared for her babies...I mean it's possible...but the fact is, babies or no babies, rats kill other animals, it isn't unusal at all. She killed the babies, and dragged one back to the nest and quite frankly devoured it...I saw it as a matter of an opportunistic meal...The pair that killed Frankie definitely had NO babies as they were males and were super socialized as they were handfed from the age of 6 days and went into the complete opposite side of the house before attacking and killing him. I don't know the details really on my galfriends rat and baby kitty but do know that the rat also is SUPER social and goes to work with her everyday. I have even known rat's to kill other rats. It's a terrible lesson to have learned but I still love them nonetheless and realize it's not their fault, it's just how they are...kinda like cat's and birds. As said above, the only real way to prevent these problems is secure enclosures and also strict supervision when there is any sort of interpecies interacting going on. Fortunately for me it happened only twice, 9 years apart....but still is too much to endure....the 3 rats I currently have are all sweet lap babies....but I'd still never trust them around any other small or helpless critter

[scoobysnack]

Animals are animals and they aren't "devious". They operate by instinct and in domestic animals sometimes those instincts are "off". They aren't honed skills like the wilds so they go haywire at times. We see this all the time with dogs. Pack mentality is different in domestic dogs than in wild dog or wolf packs.

Anyhow, I can't demonize rats for being what they are. I love my domestic rats and would never consider putting them with my squirrel. Frankly Scooby outweighs them by two times and I'm sure she would kill them not the other way around.

I was just saying to my mom that when Benny and Joon are gone I will rescue another pair of rats. They are wonderful creatures though I admit NOT in my feed room by the the dozens. Like anything else their populations explode when unchecked and it's not good for anyone the rats included.

[MaryNGordon]

no, they'll kill each other they're natural enemies....:sanp3


squirrels and guinea pigs get along... :)

Guinea pigs?? You have done this?? Lol