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Good news: the rats are comfortable enough that they'll crawl into my hoodie and hang out. One of them will find a sleeve, crawl through and come back like it's some kind of ride. Bad news: Same rat has also found the arm hole for my t-shirt. And really needs her nails trimmed.
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Jan 13, 2020 07:04
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Ratthew is out of surgery and apparently recovering well. Hopefully he doesn't aspirate and give himself a life-threatening chest infection this time.ThreeStep posted:Good news: the rats are comfortable enough that they'll crawl into my hoodie and hang out. One of them will find a sleeve, crawl through and come back like it's some kind of ride. Mine used to do that with my pant legs when I had my feet up on the table 
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Jan 13, 2020 15:29
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our wonderful vet was able to see finky this morning and took some samples, and she thinks it's vaginitis. so we got her on yucky baytril AND metacam  the poor rat hates me so much right now
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Jan 13, 2020 19:46
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snoo posted:our wonderful vet was able to see finky this morning and took some samples, and she thinks it's vaginitis. so we got her on yucky baytril AND metacam "this [metacam] is honey flavoured so there'll be no trouble getting him to take it", says the vet nurse "I see you've not tried with this rat", thought I.
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Jan 13, 2020 19:58
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Jaded Burnout posted:"this [metacam] is honey flavoured so there'll be no trouble getting him to take it", says the vet nurse Yeah you learn quick that the trick is they only really have front teeth to guard their mouth so you sneak in from the side of the mouth.
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Jan 15, 2020 15:04
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Jaded Burnout posted:"this [metacam] is honey flavoured so there'll be no trouble getting him to take it", says the vet nurse  well, at the very least you gave me the idea to mix the medication with a little honey, and she's taking it without issue!
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Jan 15, 2020 15:38
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Chin Strap posted:Yeah you learn quick that the trick is they only really have front teeth to guard their mouth so you sneak in from the side of the mouth. I don't know how universal this is, but when I have to give meds directly (rare because usually I can hide it in carrot baby food), I hold the syringe in front of his face for long enough and he'll eventually bite it, at which point push that plunger. snoo posted:
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Jan 15, 2020 16:04
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I should've gotten video. She almost ran away with the whole thing.
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Jan 23, 2020 03:44
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Aww she's a real go-getter.
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Jan 23, 2020 08:15
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That reminds of the time I'd gotten home from a terribly long day of work and had no energy for cooking, so I made myself a plain hot dog in a bun, got my guys out for playtime on the bed and started to take my boots off at the foot of the bed. I look up and Tobias was trucking it towards the pillows at the head of the bed with a huge hot dog dragging from his mouth all like "MINE NOW" and it was so funny I had to break off a piece to give him. It was a vegetarian hot dog, but way too much salt for a ratty so it was just a bit. I really wish I'd gotten a picture of that triumphant little guy.
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Jan 25, 2020 02:05
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Jan 25, 2020 23:45
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Ratthew has recovered well from his surgery and is back to his normal self.
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Jan 26, 2020 01:14
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I think my boy's on his way out. Quite laboured breathing and not really moving around much. Still eating and drinking but not super reactive. This is just old age, right? He's just over 2 years old and already on antibiotics.
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Feb 2, 2020 22:28
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Jaded Burnout posted:I think my boy's on his way out. Quite laboured breathing and not really moving around much. Still eating and drinking but not super reactive. Unfortunately despite being rushed to the vet for a few hours, we had to put him to sleep. Thus concludes my 2 year adventure with rats. It was lovely, but, as we all know, too short.
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Feb 3, 2020 19:11
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 Leif (left) and Mina (right) were oddly calm while I took this photo. I don't think I've ever seen them sit still for that long!
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Feb 4, 2020 02:09
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Jaded Burnout posted:Unfortunately despite being rushed to the vet for a few hours, we had to put him to sleep. I’m sorry you didn’t get more time with him. Two years seems so short to us but is a pretty good run for a rat.
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Feb 4, 2020 03:20
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Jaded Burnout posted:Unfortunately despite being rushed to the vet for a few hours, we had to put him to sleep. I'm sorry to hear that. We feel for you. We had to put our little Katja to sleep a couple weeks ago. She was about two and a half. Her sister is currently growing a tumor and we're debating whether or not we want to go through with surgery again, especially at her age. Their little cousins appear perfectly healthy. Here's Katja on her last day, looking sweeter than ever. Those last couple weeks all she wanted was to rest inside my shirt, feeling my heartbeat. 
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Feb 7, 2020 23:42
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tomorrow i'm going to call and make the appointment to have our two older rats pts. i feel like it might be better to have them go together. we've been wary of it because of how 'well' they've been doing, but the tumors have emaciated doshiko, and not only does finky have malignant-looking tumors (very very dark) on her sides, but most likely some in her lungs as well. they are still eating and drinking fine, mentally they are all there, but i have to bathe them frequently, doshiko chokes on food she never had a problem with before because she has a tumor on her throat, and finky has labored breathing all of the time. they are both on pain meds. i'm going to try to have the younger pair of rats be there so i can let them see that they're gone, and say their ratty goodbyes. i'm hoping to have a set date next week for it. my vet has been so wonderful and she's told us a lot about what she does, and i feel extremely comfortable with her at our side. in the mean time, is there anything in particular i can do to spoil them, especially the day before and of? besides all the yogies and snuggles and stuff. should i let them go to town on a whole chicken carcass? a whole bag of yogies? let them chew my bracelet just this once? e: i'm also going to finally make some bonding pouches so we can just let them hang out with us as much as they'll tolerate snoo fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Feb 10, 2020 |
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Feb 10, 2020 07:00
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Rats find pudding delicious and easy to eat, I'd often spoil mine with chocolate or banana-flavoured pudding when I knew the end was near.
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Feb 10, 2020 11:41
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So I've always wanted to own rats but never really had the chance until now. I picked up two rat boys and I'm following the advice in the thread. So far they're pretty happy, they like hanging out with my wife and I and will generally just chill on our shoulders or watch us through their cage. I have one problem though. They love to hide their food and I don't want to make them overweight, but how do I know when to feed them if they're hoarding their food? They generally get a few treats of fresh fruit a week, but their pellets almost always vanish within a few hours of being put in the food bowl. If I put the food bowl anywhere other than the bottom of their cage, they remove all the food and hide it in the shavings on the bottom level. Should I just give them a few pellets a day or is there a better solution?  Sam and Pascal, my good boys.
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Feb 13, 2020 19:25
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Food hoarding is a natural instinct for rats, it's very difficult to curb it. As long as they're getting enough out-of-cage exercise (I usually give my rats an hour of free range playtime per day), weight really isn't going to be an issue. Also, as long as their diet is balanced, it's unlikely they'll overeat. Basically, don't worry about it, just feed them at a consistent time each day and they'll be fine.
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Feb 14, 2020 17:25
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Today we're going to end our two eldest rats' suffering. They are full of painful tumors, they can barely crawl, breathing is hard, and yet their eyes are still so clear and bright and if their bodies weren't failing I'm sure 100% they would be happily climbing on things and being cute little mischief goblins for years to come. It's not fair, their lot in life, so short but so close to our hearts. We feel it's best for them to go out peacefully with us by their side instead of painfully and slow in the night due to respiratory problems or a seizure or something else and oh god the tears won't stop Through thick and thin, our first two babies of almost three years Finky    And Doshiko   
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Feb 18, 2020 14:11
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I'll make more of an effort post later, but for now:
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Feb 18, 2020 16:08
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   I love my two rat idiots.
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Feb 20, 2020 16:35
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I love their lil sleepy poses I don't know if I can make much more of an effort post than clockwork chaos did about our babies but god I miss him so much. they are no longer suffering but I would give almost anything to have had more time with them. I needed to make a design for a work thing so I made a rat pile of our girls, both the angels and the ones currently still with us 
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Feb 21, 2020 06:27
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I'm sorry for both your losses. Saying goodbye is always hard, even when it's the right thing to do. Snoo, I love your rat designs, they're downright adorable.
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Feb 21, 2020 13:18
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So, uh, are their butts happy? I can't find any other way to interpret that.
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Feb 24, 2020 07:51
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Any recommendations for a carrier for 2 rats? I have this and when I wasn't looking they chewed a decent-sized hole in the mesh. I was thinking the Living World Hagen carrier, but even the large seems a little small?
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Feb 25, 2020 17:45
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I have a plastic cat carrier with a metal gate; I bought it for a rat of mine ~22 years ago so I could bring her with me on a flight, and it's still in decent condition. Unfortunately, they don't seem to make that model anymore, but you should get similar functionality from most similar-sized plastic carriers. One thing to be aware of though, you want to get one with bars relatively close together. If a rat can fit their head through, they can fit their body through too. Mine can't hold babies because they can just slip right through - the earliest that I can trust it with is young adult rats.
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Feb 25, 2020 18:10
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i use this in the smallest size and it was more than enough to transport all 4 rats, and definitely great for two. i've even hung hammocks inside of it which uses some of the vertical space. i use a small water bottle on the front and line it with lots of fleece, and it comes apart for easy cleaning. we've been using it for ~2 years. we transport the rats from the bedroom to the living room for floor time in it, too, so they're used to it and get excited at the squeaky noise of the door opening. 
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Feb 25, 2020 22:27
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snoo posted:we transport the rats from the bedroom to the living room for floor time in it, too, so they're used to it and get excited at the squeaky noise of the door opening. Oh my gosh, cute kids.
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Feb 25, 2020 22:57
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 They're tucked in.
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Mar 8, 2020 17:29
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I had an idea for a little rat activity. You take some toilet paper tubes, cut 'em into thirds, tape them together in a little cluster and tape them to a cardboard backing. Then you fill each tube with a little bit of bedding and hide some little treats in them, like bits of tortilla chips. You end up with little foraging tubes that the rats can dig through for the tiny treats.  The rats seemed to catch on pretty quickly and seemed to enjoy digging through them. And then everybody gets grapes afterwards.
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Mar 12, 2020 17:28
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That's so cute. 
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Mar 12, 2020 18:41
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Last Visible Dog posted:I had an idea for a little rat activity. You take some toilet paper tubes, cut 'em into thirds, tape them together in a little cluster and tape them to a cardboard backing. Then you fill each tube with a little bit of bedding and hide some little treats in them, like bits of tortilla chips. You end up with little foraging tubes that the rats can dig through for the tiny treats. I tried that with my rats using a single tube and they just chewed a hole through the side of the tube to get directly to the treat. Maybe I'll try this method but they'll likely flip it over and eat the bottom.
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Mar 12, 2020 18:51
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A few questions. I'm planning to adopt three female rats and I want to make sure I start right. Is there a recommended cage brand? I'm looking to get three rats and there seems to be a lot of large cages on Amazon and Walmart for cheap, but I'm assuming there is a reason they are cheap. Id like to be as generous as possible with the space, but I'm limited to $250 for the cage. I'm looking to get the stuff below before I get any rats. Is there anything I'm missing? Cage 2x hammock 2x rat house Chew toys 2x Water bottles Water Bedding Lab pellets Wheel I'm in Des Moines Iowa. Anyone know a good place to get unchlorinated water?
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Mar 13, 2020 17:22
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thehoodie posted:I tried that with my rats using a single tube and they just chewed a hole through the side of the tube to get directly to the treat. Maybe I'll try this method but they'll likely flip it over and eat the bottom. There are no wrong answers 
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Mar 13, 2020 17:33
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-Zydeco- posted:A few questions. I'm planning to adopt three female rats and I want to make sure I start right. Despite how Web 1.0 this website looks, these guys make great cages: http://www.martinscages.com/rats.html I have three females and they're quite comfortable in the "tower" with a couple hammocks, a couple igloos, and a Quaker Oats box. quote:Wheel
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Mar 13, 2020 20:57
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Joda posted:There are no wrong answers Yeah it was totally adorable and I was a very proud rat papa for their ingenuity. Here's a picture of Mina and Leif('s butt) eating carrots on my shoulder: 
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Mar 13, 2020 21:20
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Animal-Mother posted:Despite how Web 1.0 this website looks, these guys make great cages: http://www.martinscages.com/rats.html our Our rats run the wheel all the time. No hamster ball things though.
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Mar 13, 2020 21:24
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