|
I thought I'd come hang in the Rat Megathread instead of derailing discussion in the small animal one! Dog days are over, where is your breeder? I've e-mailed every rat breeder I can find in Scotland and never got any replies, except for those who weren't breeding any more. I don't think I'd mind getting a train journey to somewhere in England to pick up ratties if it came to that - If I do get rats I really want well socialised friendly animals and I feel that may be asking a lot of a pet shop rat.
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2010 13:46
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 18:22 |
|
|
Thanks for your help! North of England probably wouldn't be so bad so I'll look into that - I actually just found what looks like to be an active breeder here http://mayhemrattery.tripod.com/ - and sent in an application for some kittens as it looks like there will be a litter soon! So I'm excited! Also I can't wait to see photos of your rats, they look absolutely gorgeous! Yay ratties!
|
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2010 17:13
|
|
|
Is http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/rodents/cages/rat_cage/13281 a good sized cage for two rats? Now that I'm getting closer to finding myself some ratties I'm starting to look at this kind of thing seriously and I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm sure there's no such thing as a rat cage that's too big, but I read somewhere online that if you have nervous rats having a large cage might make them more difficult to tame. I'm not so much worried about that as to how easy it'd be to clean a big cage though. Is that cage pretty average size, or pretty big? That's the cage I'm probably going to wind up getting if it's alright.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2010 21:25
|
|
|
Pickle Chops posted:Just saying, if you're willing to spend £130 on that, you might wanna look at the Explorer from this site. It's where I got mine. Much easier to clean, loads more space ect, for like £20 more. That looks amazing, but I'm picking up my cage second hand so it's way cheaper than the price listed on that website. If I was spending that amount of money I'd probably go for something more like that! The only bad thing I've heard about the cage I posted is the access is maybe a bit poor, but I was thinking I could try DIY'ing another door on, as I'll have it for plenty of time before I get the rats.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2010 13:16
|
|
|
An update on my quest for rats in Scotland - I didn't hear back from the first place I contacted, but another breeder I contacted is having a litter in Nov/Dec and I'm going to get two girls from her! Very excited. This is the breeder: http://www.northern-lights-rats.co.uk/ The website is great and she's been really friendly and helpful in e-mails, and I feel really happy about sticking to my guns and trying to find a breeder, despite the difficulty of finding them here. The litter I'm getting rats from will be a marked litter with british blue, black and agouti colours. Honestly I don't really mind what I end up getting as long as they're friendly and healthy. The one worry I have at the moment is about mammary tumours. I had boys before so it wasn't an issue and at the time, being a kid, I didn't really know much about animal health and problems like that. If you've had girl rats, how common a problem has this been? Is it more likely that I'll get healthy girls and never experience it, or is it so common that I probably will? I've e-mailed my breeder to ask about the instances of mammary tumours in her rats, but I'd be really grateful to hear some people's experiences in the matter. I'm really keen on the idea of girls because they sound really energetic and fun, and having had boys before I'm curious about how different they'll be (plus the less peeing the better), but this is a real worry for me.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2010 01:22
|
|
|
Just got my Jenny rat cage and I'm really pleased with how big it is! When I get my rats they're going to have so much fun in there. The people I picked it up from were really nice and gave me some pet-friendly cleaning stuff they had left, and a little wooden hut for the rats to hide in. The access IS a bit poor though - I'm quite small so I can get my arm in there easily enough but the doors are positioned a bit poorly so it is a bit awkward to reach everything in the cage. I'm thinking about trying to put an extra door on if I can figure out a good way to do it, has anyone else done anything similar and how did you do it? Also just wanted to re-post my query about mammary tumours in female rats, as it's the one worry I have for when I get them. How common is it? My breeder says she's only had instances of it in pet shop rats, and none of her breeding rats have had any problems, but they're still quite young (18 months) so it could show up yet. I know there are no guarantees about this sort of thing, I guess I just want a better idea than "female rats are prone to this".
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2010 14:34
|
|
|
Slidje posted:Every time you handle your rats give them a good feel underneath. You want to check from their front limbs to the rear, thats where their nipples/mamories run across. Female rats have 10 nipples, 5 on each side with one in each armpit. Thanks for this, I'm sure it'll be very helpful! That's not really what I was asking though, I'm not worried about how to find the tumours if they occur (I'm always very hands on with my animals and my cat at home is victim to me running my fingers through his fur endlessly checking for scratches), what I really want to know is how common people think the mammary tumours are. I'd love to hear from people who've had female rats, and whether they've experienced it or not. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 7, 2010 16:45
|
|
|
I think I might've asked this before, but thought I'd give it another go! Has anyone ever DIY'ed another door onto their cage? I have a ferplast jenny rat cage that's a great size but has poor access, and am wondering if I can put another door on it/enlarge the door on the front without screwing up the whole thing! I got the cage cheap secondhand which is why I didn't mind so much about the access problems. Man it's excrutiating waiting to get my girls! December 4th can't come soon enough. :]
|
|
#
¿
Oct 23, 2010 18:46
|
|
|
ElectricSquire posted:Yeah I have done it on two cages now, quite easy to do. That is such a good idea! I never thought of taking the doors off another cage, makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much! I already have a hamster cage I picked up super cheap (£3 I think) for popping them in whilst I'm cleaning their cage, I'll keep looking for more. I really appreciate your advice. :} Whilst I'm here - rats and the cold! I'm living in a pretty cold flat at the moment (I'm in Scotland), you can see your breath inside kind of thing, how are rats with a not-so-warm environment? The reason it's so cold in my flat at the moment is because we haven't switched the heating on (cheapskate student types), which will no doubt have changed by the time I get my rats, but it's a really old flat with high ceilings so it's going to be hard to heat properly, and too expensive to have it on all the time. Will my ratties be ok? They'll be away from draughts and we won't be leaving windows open or anything, but I'm still a little worried. If it's a problem I'll have them live in the kitchen during winter, which is the warmest room in the flat. Not sure how flatmates will feel about that though - although it is a massive kitchen so they can be far enough away from food preperation areas.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2010 19:00
|
|
|
So there's baby pictures of the litter I'm getting girls from! http://northernlightsrattery.wordpress.com/ - the two latest posts. They are so squishy and velvety looking and adorable! I'm not sure who I'm getting yet but apparently find out/get to pick next week. I love the variegated spotty cow ratties but I think they're probably going to stay with her... fingers crossed on the probably! So very very excited. I love that I get to see their embarrassing baby photos. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 6, 2010 23:45
|
|
|
So it's less than two weeks til I get my girls! http://northernlightsrattery.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/baby-photos/ Black berkshire girl 1 and the black variegated girl are coming home with me! I'm really pleased as I wanted one of the variegated babies but originally looked like the breeder was going to keep them all. The blue variegated girl is absolutely beautiful. I was wondering if someone could give me some more info about freezing bedding? I'm not 100% sure what bedding I'm going to go for - I've been looking at Carefresh but it's really expensive for a small bag, so I've also been looking into equine beddings that are reccomended for small animals (this for example: http://www.megazorb.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3). At any rate, mites sound like a really annoying problem and I'd like to avoid them whichever bedding I get, so I want to understand a bit better about freezing it! How long do you leave it in the freezer - I assume not that long? I'd be worried about it getting damp when I took it out to defrost, so I'd really love some more info about this and what people tend to do.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 22, 2010 16:47
|
|
|
The megazorb bedding is made from "natural fibres" - I'm not sure whether that means wood or not, but I'm aware of the problems that phenols cause and it's something I want to avoid. I found the reccomendation for it on this website: http://www.erodent.co.uk/Bedding.htm - they seem to be aware of the problem with wood shavings too so I'm fairly confident it wouldn't be harmful. I'd probably call them and find out for sure before buying any though. I'm willing to spend money on my rats, I'd just rather be thrifty if it's possible, so am trying to avoid really expensive commercial beddings. On a side note I'm in the process of painting my second hand cage (with non toxic child friendly paint!) and it's looking great! So much cleaner and fresher.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 22, 2010 21:03
|
|
|
Because of the snow in the UK I'm not getting my rats this weekend as the rat show I was picking them up at has been cancelled! Luckily my breeder is a very nice lady who is going to bring them to where I live from the very north of Scotland. So fingers crossed the roads are clear by then.. I am too excited and just want my girlies now. For those in the UK who litter train - what do you use in the litter tray? I really want to litter train my girls when I get them if possible, but I'm having a hard enough time deciding what bedding to use never mind litter!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2010 13:56
|
|
|
I'm planning to try making some hammocks this weekend - seems a good way to get into sewing too! As to the litter though, I meant litter specifically for training them to go to the toilet and not substrate/bedding. Does it matter what it is or is it just important that it differs enough in texture from their bedding that they can associate it with pooping?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2010 16:58
|
|
|
I'm not an expert, but have you considered neutering him? I know small animal surgery can be risky and expensive, but if he isn't responding to any training and his biting might be caused by hormones and being territorial and aggressive, maybe it's something to think about? I think it's great that you're trying so hard with him, it must be really frustrating. I think though that if you give him back he might find it difficult to find a new home if he's super bitey, which is the only reason I'd suggest thinking about neutering him.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2010 15:41
|
|
|
Oh, I'm sorry, that makes it even harder then.  You sound like you've done everything possible and have tried really hard with him. Maybe some people with bitey rat experience would be more help than me - I only posted to suggest neutering as I've heard a lot of similar situations where it's helped.When he bites you, does it seem like it's triggered by anything or does he literally just try biting all the time? Would he approach you to bite you if you weren't trying to handle him? I've heard that true aggression in rats is quite rare, does it seem like he's attacking you or just defending himself out of fear?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2010 21:38
|
|
|
Aww! Itty bitty! I really liked that about going with a breeder, seeing the baby photos of them growing up. I still haven't actually got my rats, because of the snow here in Scotland. My breeder lives at the very north of Scotland and has had to postpone coming twice now. I might be able to get them next Friday if I drive two and a half hours to meet her but I think it's supposed to snow again on Monday so if the roads get bad again it won't happen. I'm really bummed out, I've been waiting so long and I just want my rats. I spent this evening decorating their cage, and I just want girlies to put in it.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2010 01:33
|
|
|
I've heard with new young rats some people don't give them anywhere to hide for the first wee while because it encourages them to not be nervous and forces them to be more social - if they don't have the option of hiding from you they'll adjust to being handled etc a lot quicker. Maybe something to consider?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2010 00:15
|
|
|
I can't say from experience, as I've not had nervous/hidey ratties, but waiting for my girls to arrive I've been reading nearly everything posted on the fancy-rat.co.uk forums and when this situation comes up that always seems to be the reccomendation, so I thought I'd pass it on. The logic behind it seems to be that if you do have nervous young rats and they can hide instead of learning to deal with scary new situations, then they will just choose to hide. Not allowing them the option might seem a bit mean but long-term they will be happier and more confident quicker, because they're forced to face up to situations they would usually avoid. It's also reccomended that they still have comfy warm places to sleep (hammocks!), just nowhere they can hide from you.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2010 01:56
|
|
|
I got my girls! They are so sweet and I am enjoying them a lot! It's exciting having rats again. Mishka (black variegated girl) is a little curiosity monster who has to be in everything you are doing, has loads of confidence and energy and has decided that her favourite thing to do is climb all over me. I've been making elaborate free-range set ups with logs and boxes and fun things to do and they don't seem to care too much - me and my dressing gown are the most fun thing to explore. Evie (black berkshire I think) is a bit less confident than her sister and I'm working on that, she seems a lot more nervous with the change in her environment and isn't so keen on being picked up. She squirms away a lot and sometimes tries to hide when I put my hand in the cage, but sometimes she's absolutely fine and very chill when I pick her up so I guess it will come with time. I think part of it is that she's more independent than her sister and so doesn't like being disturbed when she's doing something - it's not always fear. Can independent ratties ever be totally okay with being picked up against their will? I really want both of them to be very handleable. Anyway, thought I'd post some pictures! Sorry for the lovely cage they are in - they were only in there for a few days whilst I picked them up from the breeder and had loads of free range time every day to make up for it. They're now at home in a massive cage with loads of fun things to do and climb.  Mishka, climbing the bars.  Evie!  Evie being sleepy - they spend more time sleeping than I thought they would.  Not a great photo of the two of them cuddling up. Hope these photos are not too big - I'll change it if they are. I'm away for New Years so my mum is looking after them - can't wait to get home and take them to my flat and their permanent home! I love my little girlies.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2010 14:45
|
|
|
Lord Windy posted:I've wanted rats as pets since I was about 13, but I've never had the chance to get any due to my mother's intense dislike of the creatures. More recently because both the place I'm renting now doesn't allow pets on the lease and I just really haven't had much time to devote to a pet even if I was allowed one. My flatmates were pretty easy to convince by explaining how intelligent, social and awesome rats are, and by promising they wouldn't smell (and if they did, they'd live in my room). Also that the rats would obviously be my responsibility, they wouldn't be required to look after them at all, and if I was ever away I'd be happy to pay them to pet-sit. Now that I have my rats my flatmates have pretty much fallen in love with them and so it worked out well. I do put a lot of effort into spot-cleaning the cage every day and wiping up puddles so it doesn't get smelly. You could ask your landlord whether they'd consider letting you have a caged pet? My lease also said "no pets", but when I brought it up (however this was before I signed it, as getting rats was really important to me) they said that was more to stop people keeping dogs/cats, and a small animal would be fine. I made a big mistake by not getting their permission in writing though, and we've since fallen out (the flat is in terrible condition and they never fix anything, so we're constantly at odds) and I worry a lot about whether they'd use the fact I'm keeping rats against me. As a result, whenever they come round now I hide the cage and take the rats to my boyfriends. Luckily here in the UK your landlords aren't allowed to visit without prior warning, so it's not too difficult. Stressful, though!
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2011 13:10
|
|
|
If I think something might not be terribly good for my rats but want to treat them anyway, I just give them a teeny tiny bit! My friend made red velvet cakes for me the other day and my girls got a really tiny corner each to try. I like giving them treats. They've been getting a lot of really good things too because I tend to buy healthier stuff now that I know I can share it with them if I don't finish it all! We have been eating lots of blueberries recently. I felt really bad today because I accidentally gave Mishka's head a whack when I was closing the cage door. It's always such a nightmare trying to close it without trapping paws or bodies but she just stuck her head out at the last minute and got quite a dint. I fussed over her and she was totally fine but I felt very guilty. Poor little rattie head!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2011 18:15
|
|
|
Mongoloid Joe posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7end071b3zA Out of interest, people with more rat experience than me, do these rats look like the average size/weight a rat can be? The one who appears first in the video looks really fat to me, but I can't tell whether that's because my girls are still only 6 months old and very active and svelte, so I'm used to seeing comparitively skinny rats. I definitely feed them enough and often (although I tend to leave the food in for a while after they've eaten all the 'good bits' to encourage them to not be so picky and eat the bits they don't like as much - no point feeding a varied mix if they only eat the kibble and pasta!) but they are much sleeker looking than a lot of photos I see of (presumably older) rats. I know being overweight is pretty unhealthy for rats so it's something I'm keen to look out for. How fat is too fat for a rat? A lot of rats seem to tend towards chubby but I don't know whether that's natural or the result of not enough exercise/too much food.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2011 22:08
|
|
|
Super, thanks for your reply. I actually had boys before, a long time ago, and remember them being a lot bigger in build. I am really delighted with what nice figures my girls have - not that I'll mind if they turn into squishy lumps somewhere down the line! I love how round and silly they look when they are sitting on their haunches compared to how loooong their bodies get when they are stretching out. I do keep thinking they should be a lot bigger which is probably because of having boy rats first. I also didn't know what age the boys were when I got them and am pretty sure they were full grown, whereas my girls are pretty young I guess, they really do seem teeny tiny sometimes. I think the weight thing is something I'm sensitive about picking up on because I post on a UK rat forum where a lot of the pictures of rats I see seem to be pretty drat overweight, and I do worry that rats are prone to it and don't want my girls to get overweight if it's dangerous and unhealthy for them. Not having girls before (or rats in years) I do worry about not being able to tell down the line that they are getting fat rather than just... normal. Pet owner paranoia!!
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2011 01:15
|
|
|
When I had rats before we had three cats, and never had any problems. Whilst initially interested I think after a few exploratory poking-paws-through-the-bars-and-getting-bitten they lost interest and never really bothered. They were quite young though so maybe part of the growing up and learning stuff experience. Honestly they just didn't really care. When we had canaries though they were absolutely fixated and couldn't get over their fascination, so it wasn't just a 'things in cages are boring' association. I guess it really depends on your individual cat, though.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2011 13:39
|
|
|
Congrats on your girls! Looking forward to the pictures. My girls are the same - they love the top corner and make nests there all the time. They have a hammock which they use sometimes but not as often as the nest. I usually take out the nesty torn up paper piles they make every couple of days though as they don't leave the bed to pee and paper + rat pee is the biggest contributing factor to a smelly cage, I think. Rebuilding it often gives them something to do, though! I give them lots of newspaper as I can get it for free thanks to my boyfriend's job. I'm sure your shy girl will come out of her shell a lot as she gets used to her new environment and person! I have one super confident rat and one who is a little shyer, she's just more independent and not as into people as her sister is.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2011 18:10
|
|
|
Yeah, I occasionally feed my rats cherry tomatoes, I'd never heard it was bad for them. Why is that? Also the uncooked vegetables thing seems really odd to me - what about carrots, bell peppers? Cucumber? Peas? My rule of thumb so far has been that if I wouldn't eat it raw, neither will my rats, so things like uncooked potato/sweet potato etc are out, but otherwise they get most things raw. Have I been doing wrong? Oh, another thing: I asked this question in another rat-related thread but I don't think it ever got answered. I would never give my rats any sort of intoxicating substance, but I live in a pretty stoner flat and worry about them finding/nibbling little remnants of weed when they are free ranging on the sofas or places where people have been smoking (I don't let anyone smoke around the rats, the room they live in is a smoke-free zone and everyone smokes out of windows in other rooms so there isn't a horrible smokey atmosphere for them), I noticed that weed is mentioned on the list of things to never give them so I'm a bit worried. Chakattack! fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Apr 11, 2011 |
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2011 17:03
|
|
|
Slidje posted:Not sure about smoking it but my friends budgie would get ANGRY if you didn't let her sit on your shoulder while smoking a joint. Pretty sure smoke is really bad for birdie lungs. I would never smoke around my rats, they always go into the other room when people are sparking up, and nobody is allowed to smoke in the kitchen (rat room) anymore. I'm pretty obsessive and terrified about the thought of making my rats unwell!
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2011 23:16
|
|
|
Delta-Wye posted:Right now they are living in a 10g aquarium which is already too small and it's only going to get worse. I'm going to try and see about building a cage for them because the nice cages are too expensive I also have a rat called Mishka! She's a gem.I don't know where you are, but I couldn't afford a brand new rat cage so I looked for ones second hand and found a really big, decent cage for under a third of the original price. I was looking on Gumtree (maybe UK only?) but I'm sure there's similar websites wherever you are. Definitely worth a look! I think aquariums are a not reccomended for rats because the lack of ventilation is bad for their poor respitory systems. Hope you find something better for them soon.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2011 00:37
|
|
but I think I can build something relatively nice for a lot less.
|
I was wondering if some of you guys could give me some information regarding treatment for respitory infections? My rats have been a little bit congested sounding (audible kind of 'squeaky' breathing, the occasional 'hoot') on and off, and next time they have a flare-up I'm going to go to the vet. I went the first time I suspected they were a bit respy but the vet couldn't find anything wrong after examining them and listening to their chests, said they sounded healthy, so I've left it for a bit. I've been putting it off because they only sound respy some of the time, at random, and can sound completely normal for days at a time. I'm worried if I take them to the vet again when they don't sound bad I'll be wasting money, and stressing them out for nothing. Anyway! When I spoke to the vet about bringing them in, she sounded like she'd be prescribing antibiotics to go in their water which I've heard is a really bad way to administer them (My rats have unlimited water, I don't know how I'd measure how much they'd drunk and that they were getting the meds) and I also know that a lot of vets don't prescribe the right amount so it doesn't actually do anything. Can you helpful rat people tell me how much the vet should be prescribing, and whether I can insist on not putting the meds in their water? I'm in the UK if practices are different here. Also, if anyone has any information on being allergic to rats and how you cope with it would be great - my new flatmate has had allergy flare-ups since she moved in with me and my rats and we think it could be them. If it is, what can we do to minimize her reaction to them? I am a very light sleeper so I can't have them in my room, so they'll have to stay in a common area where she will be somewhat exposed to them.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2011 23:51
|
|
|
Poor white boy. :{ I'm sure it wasn't your fault, just one of those things. You should definitely get more friends for your remaining chap, he'll be so much happier and I can't imagine 3 rats being that much more work than 2, once you get the cage sorted. Thought I'd post some pictures of my girls Mishka and Evie now they are all grown up!     And a cute picture of them snuggling up to my boyfriend's feet in bed one Sunday morning 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2011 11:42
|
|
|
I'm scared about losing my girls. They are such entertaining little creatures and so full to the brim with personality and humour. I'm so attached to them even though they are 'just rats'. Here is a video of Mishka stealing an apple from my bedside table and then trying to find it when she rolls it off the bed. Silly rat! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAvh36nOAS0
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2011 00:52
|
|
|
Fraction posted:I'm thinking of getting rats in a year or so's time. I have some questions though Hi Fraction, a little late to reply to your post but as you say you're planning a year in advance maybe it doesn't matter so much! 1. Honeyduke Rats looks like a great breeder - I've read a bit about the Tabi Initiative they are involved with and it sounds very worthwhile and admirable and definitely a plus for you if you want healthy rats! 2. I'm currently using Aubiose for my girls and it's good at keeping the smell down, very good value for money, but I find it a total nightmare for getting EVERYWHERE in my flat. Maybe you know this if you have mice, but if you keep them in a tank (not sure how mice are generally kept!) you may not have noticed. Everytime my girls jump down or up from the cage bottom it sprays everywhere. I have heard great things about ecobed/ecopetbed (cardboard squares basically) and as I'm at the end of my bag of Auboise I'm going to try it. I'm skeptical about cardboard keeping smell down, but everyone I've talked to says it does so fingers crossed! 3. No personal experience but pretty sure that's a good cage. It's huge! Assuming the trays slide out for cleaning - otherwise maybe a bit of a pain! The cage I have (old Ferplast Jenny) is a bit hard to clean and the doors are very small - I've replaced a lot of them myself. From my experience you want something that's easy to clean and that is easy to get into so you can get your rats out easily.4. I've always heard males reccomended as beginner rats but that's more for children, I think, as girls can be so pingy and fast, maybe harder to handle for kids. I think honestly just weigh up the pros and cons and go for what you think you'll like best. I wish my girls were a little cuddlier but you do get cuddly girls. I would say though that before I got them I thought one of the big differences between male and female rats was that girls didn't scent mark/pee dribble all the time and boys did. I have one female rat that does and one that doesn't! So I think that point is moot. I am scared about my girls getting tumours, that is a big worry. The boys I had previously were very healthy until they died of old age, and I've had one UTI with my girls already, but that's maybe just bad luck. 5. I think my girls are fairly odourless, and I don't remember my boys being very smelly, but they were a bit greasier and maybe, as other people have said, slightly 'musky'. If you feed them well and keep the cage clean, they shouldn't smell. My girls only smell if there's been something like a puddle of pee on a shelf and they've been walking through it, or have somehow peed on one another. Or made a big nest and peed in it and slept in it. I feel like owning rats is one big battle against pee to be honest! Seeing as you're in the UK, I would highly highly reccomend signing up to http://www.fancyratsforum.co.uk/ and asking any more questions you have there. They also have a web directory of active breeders on the forum which might be helpful to you, if you decide to 'shop around'. It's a bit more... not sure how to say it, "furbaby"esque than here (lots and lots of references to the rainbow bridge, for example) but the people are very friendly and incredibly helpful, and the community is lively and active so if you post needing help with anything you often get helpful replies astonishingly quickly. Keep us updated with your quest for ratties! Always nice to have more UK rat folks.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2011 00:33
|
|
|
Fraction posted:Is the dribbling pee with males a Really Big Deal? I'm really tempted for getting a good chance of cuddly, lazy boyrats but I don't want streams of piss all over me. I've got mice now and have had rodents before and they've peed a little and its fine buuuut I don't know how much male rats generally pee on you. I don't think the pee dribbling is a big deal, honestly. Just thought it was worth mentioning because I was so sure that girls wouldn't do it and turns out, they can do. It's not constant (in my experience) and it usually becomes less so the older and more used to you they get. My girl that does it seems to do it more if she's excited or in a new area/with new people, and I think she does it more when she's in heat. It's not a constant dribble, just every now and again when she's scurrying around, and she seems to do it more on bare flesh (she'll be running around with no pee dribbles for ages and then will run over my hand, and oh! little drop of pee) and she definitely does it less now that she's over a year old.Otherwise, she and her sister are really good about not toileting outside the cage and I think that's the norm for rats. They've only ever pooped once whilst out, and though they occasionally they might do an actual puddle (usually if they've been out for ages, or I've grabbed them when they've been sleeping for a while and haven't gone recently) it's a pretty rare occurance. Fraction posted:One of my friends has had a lot of rats, and swears that hers (both males and females) start to smell really bad once they hit a few months old. I did visit her not so long ago, and got to smell her rats literally the day after they'd been cleaned. They did smell pretty gross, but I don't know if that was them (as she says they themselves smell horrible) or the cage. I assume it's a food/substrate problem, but apparently they've tried a bunch of different foods, from pellets to homemade, and they've tried different substrates, so I dunno. That's really weird because I've heard a lot that young rats (especially boys) can be really stinky when they're young but tend to grow out of it. I haven't noticed a real change in smell levels as my rats have grown up, except maybe I'm less vigilant about spot-cleaning their cage as I was when I first got them (and it was all new and exciting and not boring routine!), so it can get smellier quickly. One thing I have noticed with my cage is that the actual cage itself holds the smell the most - it had uncoated metal bars and I painted them (with rat-safe paint!) to coat them but don't think it worked too well, so the cage bars always have a faint ratty smell. Maybe your friend has the same issue? Cleaning that part of the cage is a nightmare for me because I can't put it in the bath/shower without scratching it as it's so big, and I live in a rented flat on the 4th floor. Also, just wanted to say don't be intimadated by how in-depth the breeder questionnaires can be - you obviously know your stuff and I think the fact that you read and post somewhere like PI means you have a much better level of knowledge than your average pet owner. The breeder I got my girls from had a really huge form to fill out, but she was really great and friendly. She was even going to bring the girls down for me from the very north of Scotland to Edinburgh where I live! Unfortunately this was last winter when we had all the epic snow so I ended up getting them at Christmas when I was up north to see family anyway, which was great because I got to see her epic heated rat shed with a massive free-range play area and lots of adorable rats. Edit: As to rat pee, I don't think it smells that bad initially (my girls pee doesn't stink I don't think, if they've pee'd on my hand I can barely smell it) but the problem is when it's stale or been sitting for a while, or soaked into something. The issue I often have is they don't seem to pee on the cage substrate, they like peeing on the nests they make or the plastic shelves where it can sit for ages (or even dry up, if I've been out for an evening) and start to really reek. Chakattack! fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Jan 4, 2012 |
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2012 14:19
|
|
|
What causes UTI's? One of my rats had one a couple of months ago, I took her to the vet and got medication and it cleared up just fine. Free-ranging my rats just now, noticed the other girl has blood on her lady bits. Bummed out about this, I feel so panicky when they are unwell because they are so small and seem so fragile! I'm giving her medication I have left over from the time before but will take her in to the vet asap.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2012 17:19
|
|
|
Sorry to be adding another kind of depressing 'sick rat' post, but I'd really value any opinions or advice you more experienced rat people can give me! I noticed a hard lump on my girl Mishka last week, right next to her lady parts, and took her to the vet to get it checked out. My vet thinks it's likely that it's attached to her reproductive organs, and if it is then it might be too difficult to remove. Vet told me to wait a few days and bring her back in for another look, to see if any change might give a better clue to what is going on with her. Mish has also had a little bit of bleeding from her vulva (I think, I don't think it's coming from where she pees) but the blood is fresh and clean, no discharge or weird colour/smell. I'm going back on Tuesday and will have to decide what I want to do. My options are either leave it be and when it becomes obvious that it's affecting her in any way to say goodbye then, or go in for surgery now. If she goes into surgery and it turns out to be inoperable, vet would not wake her up. Mish is totally fine in herself, no change in personality, eating and drinking and still bouncing about 100% normally. She's about a year and a half old and has her sister for comapanionship. I'm basically stressing because I don't know what to do. I am really serious and dedicated to my little girls, and I did huge amounts of reading before I got them and I know I am well-educated about keeping rats, I just don't have the experience of a situation like this because they are my first rats since childhood. I know that a lot of vets may not have a lot of experience with rats, and taking rats to the vet is something I don't have a lot of experience with either. The first vet I took them to was really cheap, which suited me at the time, but I switched to a more expensive vet because the only similar experience the cheap vet had was with ferrets (and I felt uncomfortable about that because to me they don't seem that comparable). My vet now I really like and trust, and I know she has some small animal experience, but is by no means a rat specialist. Unfortunately I can't find anyone who is in my city. I do feel that I am doing the best I can for my girls, but feel bad that it might not be enough? I really want to hear your opinions on my situation, PI rat people. If Mishka was your rat, what would you do? I'm also stressing about what I do if Mish doesn't make it now, because I'll be left with one rat and have to make some decisions about getting her company which seem really hard to face. I guess I'll need to cross that bridge when I come to it, but I do feel it's something I should maybe start looking into just in case.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 31, 2012 13:21
|
|
|
Thanks for all your kind and helpful words guys! Definitely feel reassured hearing your similar experiences. I will bring up spaying/x-rays with my vet on Tuesday and see what we can do. Haven't noticed any change in Mishka's lump the past few days except she seems to have stopped bleeding, or at least is bleeding a lot less frequently. I had them out for free-range yesterday and she spent a good half an hour trying to get into the one place she wasn't allowed so she at least doesn't appear different than usual or knows anything is wrong.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2012 09:07
|
|
|
My rat Evie was exactly like that, and she never really changed despite how much time I spent with her or how many tasty treats she got hanging out with me, so brace yourself for the possibility you have a rat who just doesn't care about people that much. If I had her out she'd always want to be doing her own thing and sometimes would hang out or crawl over me, but didn't really like to be picked up or have interaction forced on her. Sometimes when she'd been out for a long time, she'd actively come and see what I was doing and hang out a bit, but that was about the extent of it. Her sister was an absolute love and adored spending time with her people. I just accepted it as part of her personality and learned to love her anyway. Even if she wasn't a people rat, she was still an interesting little lady with her own quirky personality and funny little habits. I'm sure your girl is the same.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2012 15:49
|
|
|
I don't have PMs, but I have owned breeder and pet shop rats - in the UK too, which is where I think you're from? I'm kind of torn about the whole thing, because I felt really good about getting my 'first' pair of rats (I previously had rats when I was a child, which I don't count) from a breeder, especially considering it was a massive hassle here in Scotland where there don't seem to be that many breeders and finding the active ones is even harder. Add in to that that the breeder I ended up with lived in the very north of Scotland whilst I reside in Edinburgh, the whole thing was a really huge effort. Both of my breeder rats died pretty young :\ Mishka, from a really severe growth/tumour on her reproductive tract which turned out to be inoperable and Evie shortly afterwards, from unknown causes - just found her dead one day. They were both around 18months old. After Mishka died I was left with my one old lady rat who was obviously quite lonely and depressed so rather than go through the invariably long process of trying to find some breeder/rescue babies, I caved and picked up a couple from the local lovely petshop. So far (had em about 4months now) they've had no health problems and have been incredibly friendly and were obviously quite well-handled. They were quite wheezy/respy when I got them, but it actually cleared up without treatment - I did take them to the vet but they were SO TINY when I got them she wanted to see if they'd get better on their own first, out of the pet shop environment. I guess we'll see how they do as they age, but honestly at this point I don't feel like I made a bad decision for my circumstances at the time, although I am loathe to support the pet shop trade. Also, the rats I had in childhood were both crappy pet shop rats and they both lived past 2years and died of what was apparently old age. So eh. If you do want any more information from me you can always email me - whistlekettle at gmail dot com.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 16, 2012 12:50
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 18:22 |
|
|
Photos of my "baby" rats! They are about 6 months old now. Going through some sort of horrible teenage phase where they are super energetic and crazy and want to destroy everything and piss each other off and generally be trouble. It's a huge change after my senior lady rats - forgot what young female rats are like. NUTS. Field Commander Mouse! How many other people here have/have had a rat called mouse?  Baby Blue, being pretty  Mouse is a badly mis-marked agouti hooded and Blue is a blue dumbo. Mouse and Blue were originally a literal description of what they looked like when I got them (Mouse was the tiniest ball of fluff), until I'd thought of better names. But they stuck. Sorry rats!
|
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2012 14:29
|
|