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Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010


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Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug

Chin Strap fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Jan 19, 2021

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
My very old one is unable to take care of the claws on her hind feet. She's got feet like Master Splinter now. Anybody ever had any luck clipping a rat's nails? Or is that a fool's errand? She got one of her claws stuck in a fiber of a sweatshirt and was terrified until we could help her out.

Said very old one, napping in a pocket:



Younger cousins acting as blankets:

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Yeah I used to do mine fairly regularly. They weren't super keen on it but gentle persistence got the job done.

I switched to using side cutters instead of nail clippers at one point because you can actuate them with your ring/pinky while using your other fingers to help wrangle the rat, though they don't provide quite as clean a nail trim as proper clippers do.

Sector Corrector
Nov 25, 2020

I'd thought I'd seen most smaller mammals up until today when someone introduced me to a new one. Can someone tell me about: a gerbil? Sorry if the rat thread isn't the right place to ask this, but it seemed right since they were so similar.

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

Wrap the rat in a blanket like a burrito. Makes it easier to hold and also makes less likely to struggle in the first place.

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

Falstaff
Apr 27, 2008

I have a kind of alacrity in sinking.

Animal-Mother posted:

My very old one is unable to take care of the claws on her hind feet. She's got feet like Master Splinter now. Anybody ever had any luck clipping a rat's nails? Or is that a fool's errand? She got one of her claws stuck in a fiber of a sweatshirt and was terrified until we could help her out.

The aforementioned burrito method is a good one for nail trimming. Either that, or get a helper to hold the rat - you don't want to cut too closely, so you need to cut carefully.



A guide to rattie nail-trimming.

And always give her a reward afterward, it will help with future trimmings in my experience.

Sector Corrector posted:

I'd thought I'd seen most smaller mammals up until today when someone introduced me to a new one. Can someone tell me about : a gerbil? Sorry if the rat thread isn't the right place to ask this, but it seemed right since they were so similar.

I got nothin', sorry. My knowledge is very specific to rats.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Sector Corrector posted:

I'd thought I'd seen most smaller mammals up until today when someone introduced me to a new one. Can someone tell me about : a gerbil? Sorry if the rat thread isn't the right place to ask this, but it seemed right since they were so similar.

I've not seen one in person but I've always considered them about equivalent to a hamster in terms of pets.

Dogwood Fleet
Sep 14, 2013

Sector Corrector posted:

I'd thought I'd seen most smaller mammals up until today when someone introduced me to a new one. Can someone tell me about : a gerbil? Sorry if the rat thread isn't the right place to ask this, but it seemed right since they were so similar.

You'll have more luck in the rodent thread, but I kept a pair when I was a kid. They're sweet but flightier than the other rodents I've had and they're FAST. They'll chew their way through anything that isn't glass or metal and they'll do it quickly. There have been stories about a kid getting a gerbil and putting it in one of those tiny plastic hamster cages and there's a gerbil sized hole and no gerbil 45 minutes after they put the gerbil in the cage. I 100% believe this. All of my clothes had holes in them, if you put a paper towel roll in the cage, one would get on one side and the other on the other and they'd chew until it was gone. Wheels are controversial since the metal ones have spokes and the plastic ones are just going to get destroyed/might cause an impaction when the gerbil tries to eat it. They're happiest when they have several inches of bedding, which also isn't great for wheels.

I don't know if I lucked out or they were typical, but they were sweet boys and I still think about them fondly. Probably the least rat-like out of the rodents I've kept.

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
Our more than three-and-a-half year old survived another surgery to remove a massive tumor. Between the time we made the appointment and the time the operation could be done, the thing grew so rapidly, we were really worried she wouldn't wake up from the anesthesia. But she's super-rattus, so only 48 hours later she's already demanding the freedom to run around. Wound healing quickly, staples should come out in a couple weeks. She'll be spending at least a few more days in her special cage away from the others, just to be safe.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Good work that rat!

Falstaff
Apr 27, 2008

I have a kind of alacrity in sinking.

That's awesome. She's a tough ol' rat lady!

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

Aww, good work lil ratty.

Serenity Dove
Jan 29, 2008

If I had a Pikachu, it'd probably eat my stuff.
So I had to take one of my little ladies down to the vet today. Last night we got her and her sister out for general free roam time and a treat and after handling her a bit I noticed blood on my hands. Checked it wasn't me so I checked both Jade and Opal and sure enough Opal was oozing blood from her genitals. I phoned the vet first thing in the morning today and she got seen pretty quickly. Thankfully the vet can't feel any lumps in her abdomen so she feels it's either an infection of the womb or bladder. Opal was a champ and had a couple of injections and she's been prescribed an antibiotic to take twice daily and an anti-inflammatory/painkiller. If there is more blood and/or no improvement after a few days then we can contact the vet again to investigate further as the physical exam wouldn't be able to rule out really small tumours or growths which is understandable. Opal is currently snuggled up to her sister Jade and seems to be alright if a little grumpy.

The vets were so lovely and they mentioned that they remembered seeing Jade last year. Jade had a lump that grew really quickly. And by quickly I mean it must have been within days. She had surgery and was spayed and bounced through the surgery and recovery.

Some people ask me how my husband and I could spend so much on vet bills for rats. The surgery/spay for Jade was about £220 and the check up and meds for Opal was £80. Last year I had to stop working because I was diagnosed with Bi-polar Type 2 and I have a lot of other long term health issues. You can have real companionship with rats and I think people often discount them because of their size. Without fail if I feel upset or am having an anxiety attack I can go up to the cage and they will immediately run up to see me. If I sit there with my dressing gown on they'll spend ages just lazing about in it. So here, have some rat pics of two very special little ladies. :3:



Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
Today Antimony can't fully use her back legs. :( She's probably one of the oldest rats in the world now. We're giving her some of the leftover anti-inflammatory meds from her last surgery. Yesterday she was running around quite well, for a blind old lady. Good days and bad days, I guess.

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

Animal-Mother posted:

Today Antimony can't fully use her back legs. :( She's probably one of the oldest rats in the world now. We're giving her some of the leftover anti-inflammatory meds from her last surgery. Yesterday she was running around quite well, for a blind old lady. Good days and bad days, I guess.

Aww, how old is she?

Scholtz
Aug 24, 2007

Zorchin' some Flemoids

A month ago she was "over three and a half" so she's a wise ol' gal.

Hand deliver her a yogie for me!

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

That's a venerable old ratty for sure.

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
Guinness claims the oldest fancy rat on record lived more than seven years. I find that unbelievable.

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

Animal-Mother posted:

Guinness claims the oldest fancy rat on record lived more than seven years. I find that unbelievable.

Yeah, with how there's seemingly no information about that rat at all, I suspect Guinness have been duped.

Falstaff
Apr 27, 2008

I have a kind of alacrity in sinking.

Anecdotally, I've seen people claim to have had rats six, seven, even eight years old. I never call them out on it but I think it's bullshit, too. Unless they were gambian pouched rats or something and they just didn't know, which is even more unbelievable.

Prism Mirror Lens
Oct 9, 2012

~*"The most intelligent and meaning-rich film he could think of was Shaun of the Dead, I don't think either brain is going to absorb anything you post."*~




:chord:
There’s some supplement which claims to double rats’ lifespans and even they only claim the rats lived for an average of 4.5 years. Seven/eight years, no way.

GlyphGryph
Jun 23, 2013

Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.
Don't rats live surprisingly long when on special calorie restricted diets? Something like raising the average to five years or more if I remember correctly.

No idea how happy the rats were with their longer lifespan though.

Anyway my own girls are doing great but god drat how do I get them to go and do things, all they want to do is sit on my shoulders and sleep in my clothes during what should be free roaming playtime.

ShiroTheSniper
Mar 19, 2009

I see dead arrows.
Lipstick Apathy
Hi! I've a question for you all. I've a female rat (1.5 years old) who is now alone, her sister died some days ago. She'll need some companionship soon because she's starting to show some grieving signs. She had a suprelorin 4.7mg implant about 3 weeks ago because of a little mammary tumor. It stops estrogen and she is now sterile, according to many medical papers.


I'll love to have 2 new young males because I had females for a long time now. Is it a good idea to have them in the same cage (the cage is big enough)? It's safe to assume she won't be able to conceive but what about mating, will this be too much for her? Do you know if she will keep producing pheromones with that implant (I don't find any info on that)? Will the males be attracted to her?


Thanks for your input!

Falstaff
Apr 27, 2008

I have a kind of alacrity in sinking.

As long as she can't conceive, that will be fine. I've housed females and fixed males together before, they're perfectly capable of making friends regardless.

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
Good old Antimony has probably taken a turn for the worse. It's hard to tell from this photo (and she's not in the mood to be a good model) but she has a lump swelling up on the right side of her face. Started a couple days ago. Infection? Tumor? We don't know, but we know she's very tired, very old, and almost certainly in pain. Tomorrow we'll try to see the vet.

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
The funeral. Catrina, copal, coconut thing she loved to nap in, a few of her favorite treats, and a little liquor. Rest in peace, Antimony. You were the greatest mammal that ever lived. Her very last act alive was giving kisses to the vet.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


:(

RIP antimony

Scholtz
Aug 24, 2007

Zorchin' some Flemoids

She's bangin' out the tunes with Neil in heaven



15 years Neil... 15 years...

RoboRodent
Sep 19, 2012

Scholtz posted:

She's bangin' out the tunes with Neil in heaven



15 years Neil... 15 years...

A true icon.

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


New ratto?

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
No, we've had her for about a year and a half. She was just holding uncharacteristically still on my lap for a while, so I got a closeup.

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

Cute baby. :3:

Here's my boys having a mandatory friendship time, while I'm cleaning the cage, because they're been butts to each other.

Animal-Mother
Feb 14, 2012

RABBIT RABBIT
RABBIT RABBIT
"I slep. Itz comfay."

ThreeStep
Nov 5, 2009
Lost one of my girls today and now I'm down to one. I'm feeling like poo poo because while I don't want her to live alone, I also don't think I have it in me to get more rats right now. Which probably means finding a new home and that is going to hurt.

Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


ThreeStep posted:

Lost one of my girls today and now I'm down to one. I'm feeling like poo poo because while I don't want her to live alone, I also don't think I have it in me to get more rats right now. Which probably means finding a new home and that is going to hurt.

If it helps at all my last rat was OK living alone because I was around all day; he was right next to my desk in my home office. Not sure if that applies to you?

Jack Trades
Nov 30, 2010

I adopted a pair of rescue boys and got another pair of babies. They're all adorable.






Animal-Mother posted:

"I slep. Itz comfay."



Rat egg. :3

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Jaded Burnout
Jul 10, 2004


Jack Trades posted:

I adopted a pair of rescue boys and got another pair of babies. They're all adorable.



I thought that was his open mouth and I was all like "what's wrong with your dog"

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