Boys or Girls? Rat Planet

Boys (bucks) or Girls (does)?

Ah! That is indeed the question. I'm often asked which make better pets, and of course the answer is - they both do. It's very difficult to choose between them, but there are a few differences in general.

First, make sure you know which sex you are getting! It's not always easy to tell when they're babies, but this does come with experience. In older rats, the difference becomes very apparent, which you can see from the pictures below.

On the left, we have a perfect buck's bottom. Well packaged and modeled by the Brad Pitt of the rat world - Morpheus. On the right, our beloved Sheba demonstrates the less well packed doe's bottom. As you can see, Morpheus has quite a lot more of himself packed between his back legs and below the base of his tail. Very proud he is too! Sheba, on the other hand, has no baggage beneath her tail, just perfect cheeks.

I hope that clears up the physical side of things. If not, you need to ask your mum!

Here's a link to a great page - www.rodentfancy.com/myomorpha/sex.htm

Bucks tend to be larger and more lazy than does - no change there then! They also have a woody, musky scent which, although stronger than the does' scent, is not unpleasant. I've kept both bucks and does and I haven't found either to be smellier than the other. Any unpleasant smell almost certainly comes from a cage that hasn't been cleaned often enough, or well enough. All rats will scent mark, the bucks perhaps a little more than the does.

As babies and youngsters, each will be inquisitive and active. As they grow older, does remain inquisitive and active, while the bucks like to sleep and laze about a lot more.

When bucks reach a certain age, usually between 3 and 6 months old, they enter the dreaded teens, and rats are no different to teenage humans. The testosterone rages through their bodies, and they squabble. Each wants to prove to their brothers, and to you, that they are Top Rat. The pecking order needs to be sorted out, so it's best to leave them alone to get on with it - if possible. There is usually much pushing and shoving; fluffing up of fur; siding their bottoms against each other, and the usual boxing. If any fight goes on for more than a few seconds, or if anyone is getting hurt, you can spray the protagonists with plain water from a plant sprayer. Never dive into a rat fight with bare hands. This really is asking to get bitten! Once sprayed, they will slope off to a corner and wash themselves. This is probably due to loss of dignity. Ah, so what? A drop of water never hurt anybody, but those teeth and claws certainly can. Sometimes, the testosterone is so strong in a rat that he becomes a bully. This is not good for the other rats, or for the bully. He's not a happy rat. In these cases, the one thing that can help is castration. This, however, does mean surgery, and you need to talk it over with your vet - making quite sure that your vet has experience of rat surgery. Surprisingly, many do not. If you're not happy, look around. Ask and ask again. It's not something that should be done as a matter of course.

Does, especially elderly does, are very prone to mammary tumors - in fact, I've never had a doe who went through life without tumors ... sadly. Bucks do get these, but it's far less common. Respiratory infections are far too common in all rats. Perhaps it's time that breeders took more notice of health and temperament than interesting colours and markings!