I am getting rats and wanted to make sure I did tons of research first. I looked online and was impressed with Debbie Ducommun's website so purchased this book.
This is the most complete collection of information I have found on rats. She covers all aspects of rat care and ownership. I am so glad I read this before getting my rats and will keep it as a reference.
Rats: Complete Care Guide While a good basic information guide, I have found several incorrect and misleading facts in this book. While being highly detailed in the nature of rats I found the health and diseases section quite misinforming. She paints the picture that mycoplasmosis as a horrible infection, and that the symptoms progress quickly, and misstates that rats squeaking is a form of wheezing. A better book to learn about mycoplasma, and how it can cause secondary infections and over long periods of time effect your rat is Rats. Another troubling mistake I found that worried me was her statement that humans can transmit strep throat to their rats, and cause the rats to die "In three days". This is false, there are two strains of streptococcus and the one that causes step throat in humans cannot infect rats. However streptococcus pneumonia, a second strain, can be transmitted, but if you had this you would be in the hospital. All in all Rats: Complete Care Guide had me running to my vet too much for my liking, and I would recommend to rat owners to skip this one.
Great book
Very helpful, full of everything you need to care for a new pet rat. It includes a lot of detailed information that the pet store didn't know about (cedar chips are bad, for example). Also, there are some interesting things about rat behavior that are helpful in understanding a new pet. We were worried that our new rat was "chirping" while grooming himself, but according to the book this is very normal. I feel much better about the choices we make in selecting bedding, food and fun for our new pet after reading this book.
Good book but it's by a rat enthusiast
My daughter begged for a pet rat. We read lots of books and bought this one. None of them really let me know ahead of time that the males pee on each other and are stinky, even if you wash them they smell like pee. I got her the rats and that's how I found this tidbit out. She adores them and they are every bit as intelligent and charming as the book says, but they are dirty and gross me out sometimes with their hygeine (or lack of it). If you want rats and have never had them before, be warned. But if you'll get them anyways, this is a good guide to how to care for them.
The females aren't dirty and are cleaner.
