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Rats do best in a temperature range of 65 - 75°F (18 - 24°C), with around 70°F being ideal. They're pretty sensitive to heat and cold, so staying within that band keeps them comfortable and healthy. Anything above 80°F starts getting risky - rats can overheat quickly and don't have great cooling systems like we do. Below 60°F and they'll get sluggish and stressed, plus their immune system takes a hit.
Humidity matters too; aim for 40 - 60% to avoid respiratory issues. The big thing is avoiding sudden swings - if your room temperature bounces wildly day to night, that stresses them out more than a steady temperature that's slightly outside the sweet spot. If you live somewhere hot, a fan pointed away from the cage (so they get air circulation without direct drafts) helps, and in winter, keep the cage away from drafty windows and heaters that create temperature pockets. Bedding also plays into this - proper absorbent bedding helps regulate their immediate microclimate a bit, though it's not a substitute for room temperature control.
Keep your rat cage between 65 - 75°F (18 - 24°C) for their comfort and health. Rats are pretty sensitive to temperature swings and heat stress, so avoid anywhere hotter than 80°F if you can help it. They also don't do well in cold drafts, so position the cage away from windows and air vents. Humidity should stay around 40 - 60% to prevent respiratory issues.
That's solid advice. The bigger thing people miss is humidity though - you want it between 40 - 60%. If it's too dry, they get respiratory issues, and too humid means mold and bedding problems that'll get them sick fast. Temperature and humidity go hand in hand; one without the other doesn't cut it.
The other pitfall is thinking a single thermometer tells you everything. Rats have different spots in their cage - near a window gets colder, near a light gets warmer. Put a thermometer in a few places and actually check it regularly. Also watch for drafts from AC or heating vents. Rats hate sudden temperature shifts more than a steady cool or warm environment, so if your place fluctuates wildly throughout the day, that's worse than keeping it consistently at 70 all the time.
The range everyone's already mentioned is solid - 65 to 75°F really is the sweet spot. But what matters just as much is *consistency*. Rats get stressed out by sudden temperature swings, so if your room fluctuates wildly between day and night or season to season, that's actually worse than being a few degrees off the ideal. I've seen people nail the temperature number but then leave a cage near a window where it gets blasted by sun in the afternoon, and the rats get all wound up from the unpredictability.
One thing that doesn't get talked about enough is where you're placing the cage. Direct sunlight, drafts from AC vents, and spots right next to heaters are all traps. Even if your room is technically at 70°F, a cage in the wrong spot will feel like a sauna or an icebox to them. I've had better luck keeping cages in interior rooms away from exterior walls - takes the guesswork out of temperature control and keeps things way more stable for them.
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