Like dogs and cats, pet rats can be spayed (for females) and neutered (for males). During these surgeries, the reproductive organs are completely removed.
Spaying or neutering lets you to keep males and females together without the possibility of surprise babies! It also has other health implications, both good and bad.
Spaying and neutering rats significantly decreases their risk of developing certain tumors and hormonal problems. It may also increase their lifespan. With that said, surgery itself can be risky for such small animals and is not always worth it.
The best time to spay or neuter is when your rats are between 4-6 months old, though the surgery can be performed any time. As we’ll cover below, choosing a vet who has experience performing surgeries on small animals can make a huge difference in the outcome as well.
How much does a spay or neuter cost for rats?
You can expect a professional spay or neuter to cost around $250 – $450, depending on where you live. Some animal shelters offer less expensive spays and neuters. It’s still very important to choose a provider who has experience with rats and other small mammals.
Spaying female rats
Female rats don’t need to be spayed if you don’t plan to keep males and females together. But with that said, spaying can greatly reduce mammary and pituitary tumors, both of which are extremely common in rats.
Mammary tumors aren’t normally painful on their own, but can impede your rat’s movement and quality of life. When they grow too big, they can become fatal.
They usually show up around 18 – 25 months of age, at which point surgery becomes even more risky. Elderly rats can have a harder time recovering from anesthesia than younger ones, so your vet may recommend just leaving the tumor.
Pituitary tumors are also sadly very common in female rats as they age. They can have very unpleasant symptoms like loss of coordination, head tilts and seizures. Because they grow in the brain, they can’t be removed, and are eventually fatal.
Spaying early on can significantly reduce both mammary and pituitary tumors later in life. In scientific studies, spayed rats also tended to live a little longer. But with that said, given the risk of the surgery itself, there’s no “right” answer for whether or not to spay.
Your vet can help you decide if it’s best to spay, remove tumors, or to let your rat live her life without risking surgery.
For more on tumors: The Dreaded Lump: Causes, Treatment and Care of Tumors
Neutering male rats
The main reasons you might want to neuter males is so that you can keep them together with females, or to curb hormonal aggression. Most male rats never develop aggression problems, so it doesn’t really make sense to neuter unless problems do show up.
Keep in mind that any rat may still be territorial when introducing a new rat, so make sure to follow the introduction process closely. If two males just can’t get along after trying several times, you could think about having one or both neutered.
Do neutered rats live longer?
As with female rats, neutering males might extend their lifespan. In one study, neutered males lived 2 – 4 months longer on average than intact males. With that said, other factors like adequate exercise, healthy weight and diet had a much bigger effect on their lifespan than neutering.
Neutered males don’t mark quite as much or get as oily, so it may help to reduce their smell slightly. With that said, if you don’t like the smell of rats, it’s hard to completely avoid it! I wouldn’t get my males neutered just for odor control.
A neutered male can live with females, regardless of whether the ladies are spayed or not. Alternately, you can keep spayed females with an intact male. In fact, living with females has been shown to help lengthen his lifespan too!
It takes 2-3 weeks before the neuter becomes effective, so wait for several weeks after the surgery to introduce your males and females. (They probably appreciate the recovery time as well!)
When would you spay or neuter rats?
There are a few reasons you might want to spay or neuter:
- So that males and females can live together without reproducing
- To curb aggression in hormonal rats (against their cage mates or against you)
- To prevent tumors in female rats
There’s some evidence that spaying and neutering can extend your rats’ lifespan. But surgery itself can also be risky for rats.
Spaying or neutering also makes both sexes more prone to weight gain. With exercise and good diet, this is easily manageable.
Ultimately, spaying and neutering both come with their pro’s and con’s. A good vet can help you weigh the risks and benefits for your rats. Depending on their age and how healthy they are, your vet may recommend treating other health conditions first or avoiding surgery altogether.
Choose your vet carefully!
It’s critical to pick out a vet who’s experienced with rats. Ideally, you should choose your vet long before you even bring your pets home. Many vet clinics might agree to look at your rats, but don’t see them often enough to safely do surgery on them.
Anesthesia and surgery always carry a small risk of death for any animal. This is especially true for small animals like rats. Making sure the animal recovers safely from the anesthesia can be especially tricky when they’re so small.
Ask your vet if they perform a lot of surgeries on small animals, how often complications happen, and what steps they take to make the anesthesia safer for them.
Exotic vets who are knowledgeable about rats may be more expensive, but it’s well worth the cost.
Rat rescues, breeders, and Facebook groups can usually point you in the direction of a good vet. Look for one who has successfully operated on rats before.
Keeping male and female rats together
A very common scenario is bringing two or three rats home from the pet store, only to find out that one is a different gender. It can be tough to tell male rats from females when they’re just babies. (Roman Rattery has an awesome guide to telling the sexes apart.)
In this scenario, you have a few options:
- Rehome or return one of the rats.
- Keep the males and females in separate cages. Your male and female rats will have to be kept totally separate – they can’t have any play time together!
- Spay or neuter so that they can live together in one cage.
You can choose to either spay all of the females in your group, or neuter all of the males if you want them to live together.
A caution against breeding rats
Unless you’re specifically planning to breed rats, you should never keep males and females together without spaying or neutering. Rats can produce a lot of offspring, and you can quickly end up with more rats than you can look after:
- Rats are capable of breeding as young as 6 – 8 weeks old.
- Rats have big litters: 8 – 18 kittens at a time!
- Female rats can get pregnant again very shortly after giving birth.
Source: Merck Manual – Breeding and Reproduction of Rats
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s no one perfect answer to whether you should spay or neuter your rats. There are risks and benefits to each, so speak with your vet to decide what’s best for your rats.