EVG posted:

One thing I saw that was incorrect in the OP - Harlan Teklad does sell their blocks to retail consumers now. You can buy a 50lb bag for $25 (about $40 shipped) from Amazon under the name "Native Earth".

http://www.amazon.com/Native-Earth-Protein-4018-Rodent/dp/B00132ROS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1277337135&sr=8-1

Cucarachita posted:

Ya know we asked about that. We were picking up some cat food, and we happened to see another little cutey, she looked like Peaches but with brown instead of the peach splash, and I immediately thought 'that's my Princess Daisy!' but we were afraid since we got her from a different store, that perhaps there would be fighting issues.

quote:

We asked how good of an idea it was and were told if we give her enough attention and socialize with her she shouldn't need a friend and boy do we ever.

quote:

Side note though, something I have noticed and has worried me a tad about her is a sneezing fix she seems to have acquired upon arrival. At the pet store they had her in what looks to be a papery bedding, and I bought her wood shavings because I find it easy to clean. Could dust from that possibly be causing it?

RMCA posted:

Both cedar and pine shavings contain phenols, the oils in the wood that give them their fresh and woodsy smell. Phenols are poisonous, caustic, acidic compounds present in soft woods, and are routinely diluted for use in disinfectants (such as Pine-Sol and Lysol) and cover the smell of animal urine. Because phenols are caustic, they constantly irritate the nasal passages, throat and lungs which gives an easy opening to bacteria. Phenols affect the kidneys and liver, the organs responsible for filtering blood and urine and eliminating toxins from them. Long-term exposure to phenols can cause liver damage and make the animal very sensitive to anesthetics. Exposure to phenols can also depress the immune system, thus causing lowered resistance to diseases such as respiratory infection. Pine and cedar shavings are toxic to small animals and should not ever be used.

Unfortunately, cedar and pine are the easiest to find in pet stores. Under no circumstances should they be used. Hardwood shavings are the best, such as aspen. Other acceptable litters are paper products such as Bio-Flush, CareFRESH, and Yesterday_s News. Corncob bedding is okay but when it gets damp it can start growing mold, thus requiring frequent changing. Rabbit food pellets can also be used. It is absorbent and breaks down easily, but is safer than soft woods or corncob.

Skutter posted:

That makes us sound so professional.

Rodent Mortician posted:

Yeah, they did it when they unbanned prairie dogs. Unfortunately they're still pretty rare. I think they breed kind of slowly comparatively and are fairly expensive. But one day, I'll have one too.

Until then, I sponsored one of the mine seeking rats at http://herorat.org

squidtarts posted:

Apidae posted:

They're both crazy for oatmeal, it's hilarious.

shadysight posted:

Bee&Jay

Superconsndar posted:

The female I bought a few weeks ago is starting to show as of today. I'm moving her into a maternity tank tomorrow. I know this is a ~pet~ rat thread and most people here will be barfy about hearing about feeders but since it has been literally years since I have so much as seen a litter of rats, I am in fact very excited. I can't get too attached for obvious reasons, but I am very much looking forward to getting to watch a bunch of little eepers grow. I'll be keeping one or two of the babies from this litter to breed, so once I choose them I'll at least have one or two I can allow myself to get attached to.

Babies!

dog days are over posted:

Thanks for the answers about bumblefoot/second-hand cage. I've bought a second-hand savic freddy 2 which looks awesome and seems a good size for a pair of rats. The seller is an avid rat owner herself and said she has given it a good clean already, but I'll clean it again when it arrives just to be on the safe side.

Talking to a couple breeders and one has two litters of roan dumbos:

Click here for the full 800x812 image.

Gawwwd I can't wait, look at them

Superconsndar posted:

BABY RATS

Superconsndar posted:

ADULT RATS WITH FRANKIE

Rodent Mortician posted:

Once a week, not once a day. The life cycle of the mite is ~10 days so you're basically dosing to kill all the new hatchlings since the last kill off. I typically do 3 doses, one week apart, but if there are super bad mites it may take 4-5 treatments.

CompactFanny posted:

He hates it so much.

Dr. Spaceman posted:

I just want one of those rats that lives to be 4 years old

gos_jim posted:

I am interested in maybe getting a few rats. I have never had a pet of any kind, ever. Recently I've been really feeling like I want one, but I travel for work occasionally and I wouldn't want to leave a dog or cat alone for a week at a time on any kind of frequent basis.

I know rats are social and affectionate, how bad would it be to occasionally be out of town for a week? I am always back on weekends. I also don't travel all the time. I have not traveled at all the second half of this year, but when I DO, it's usually 2 months or so of being gone during the week and home on the weekends. I could conceivably get friends to check in on them occasionally while I'm gone, but probably not every day. How big of a problem would this be? Would this kind of life still be more desirable than being at a typical rescue? I would definitely be getting at least 2 rats, would a third help out with making them not feel lonely if I'm gone for a while? I would like to get rats, but I will tough it out and not get them if it means I would not be able to treat them properly.

Edit: The other part of this is that when I'm not traveling, I'm working from home. So I would be around them even more often, and I worry that would make it that much worse for them when I'm gone.

Skizzles posted:

And we have three cats and a big dog. I know rats and cats can get along, but what should I do if there's trouble?

Skizzles posted:

But if the cats try to get at them through the cage

Chakattack! posted:

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.

Angelwolf posted:

Following the advice of Big Bug Hug, I decided to make a hammock. They're not sure what to do with it at the moment but I am sure they will learn. Originally I bought some cotton woolish stuff (like the stuff used for hamster and mice) but they don't seem that interested in it.

Serella posted:

How the gently caress did all of that fit inside one little rat?

CONCLUSION: RATS ARE MAGIC

neongrey posted:

I'm not sure what I should be doing... It's very clearly Idresti's time, his back legs are pretty much gone and he's struggling like crazy to get anywhere, and he's just getting smaller... but, it's just so cold outside, there's no way he'd survive any trip to the vet's. He'd definitely not make it to the bus stop, and frankly in his state, I'm worried he wouldn't even make it to the car if I got a ride.

I don't know what to do, I wouldn't want him to freeze to death, even on a trip to put him down.

e: well, I called the small animal vet, and apparently they do do house calls for situations like this. The next question will be if he'll make it until payday or if they'll let me defer payment for a week...

neongrey posted:

I do have paypal but going from paypal to a bank account takes something like a week regardless for me, or at least did last I tried it. I think, or hope, that he can hold out a week and be okay; he's still eating and drinking fairly well, and if I shuffle stuff in the cage I can make it easier for him to get around.

Can probably borrow it from my dad, too. It's not a whole lot they want for it, I just have a lot of bs going on lately that means I just don't have it this second.

I appreciate the offer, though.

neongrey posted:

Well, my dad was going to take me to the vet tomorrow, but as I was doing headcount this morning, I could see through the side of the hammock pretty easily that he wasn't breathing at all. So, at least this means when Idresti went, he was somewhere warm and soft and he was curled up with at least one of his buddies.

Despite that, it kind of feels worse than the ones that I didn't know were coming.

redjenova posted:

What happened to my rat's whiskers?

Both of them had long whiskers when I first got them. About a week ago I noticed that suddenly, only ONE of them had long whiskers--all the whiskers on Amelie were completely gone!

Now she has whiskery stubble, so it's obvious they're growing back, but I can't figure out what happened. I thought MAYBE somehow they'd been pulled out in a tussle or something, but even the 'eyebrow' whiskers seem to have been gone. Neither of them have been sick or under any kind of stress, and Squiggles is still totally fine. I have no idea what could have happened.

Enzer posted:

Now if I can only get people to stop giving me weird looks when I tell them I have pet rats.

Slidje posted:

Its a good idea to stop for a bit. You are grieving and you need to recover. I lasted about 3 months without rats and I was 100% certain I would never own them again. I just loved mine so much I couldn't deal with the death any more.

Every time I ate something I would save a piece for my babies, then remember I didnt have any. I`d go home and sit down not really thinking about what I was waiting for, but it was my none-existant rats to pile me.

Take a break and see what your heart tells you. You might want them again, you might not.

Its not a bad thing if you don't. You can always come to this thread to remind yourself and look at cute pictures

polyfractal posted:

So what kind of treats do people give their ratties? Mine have eaten basically everything I've given them, but seem to especially like peanuts and cheerios. I don't want to give them too many peanuts as treats. Any other tasty but healthy things they might go crazy for? I'm looking for stuff that will help me train them

neongrey posted:

Yeah... yeah, he's gone. Li'l Varael is looking very confused right now, the longest he's ever been alone was the transportation from the breeder to my cage.

GenericOverusedName posted:

I know rats can eat just about anything, but is there anything I should avoid giving them? I know peanut butter should be mixed in with things since it is so thick, and spicy foods = horrible poop nightmares, but is there anything else I should watch out for? Last thing I'd want is for a well-intended treat to end up hurting the lil' guys

Chakattack! posted:

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?

quote:

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.

ElectricSquire posted:

Erlend

CompactFanny posted:

A rat that lays in a loaf with its face on the ground is a herpderp.

Olive Bar posted:

I lied, I have one more question. How often should I give them vitamins? Is it an every day sort of thing, or like weekly? I looked back over the OP but couldn't find it.

Big Bug Hug posted:

Oh my god. Look at those guys.
I love boy rats.

O'riginal posted:

Sounds like they're licking friendly-like; they'll come around.

I agree, losing a rat sucks. We've done it 97 times in the past ten or eleven years, and it hasn't gotten easier on my wife. She bawls every time.

tse1618 posted:

I'm wondering if it's time soon to euthanize my old man rat, if he doesn't pass on his own soon. He's almost 3 now, and he's outlived his (younger) cagemates. He hardly ever comes out of his igloo anymore, might be completely blind, and won't let me touch him at all. He doesn't have any lumps and his breathing is normal. I'm worried that he's in pain and it's why he's acting so strange, but if he is blind is it possible he's just scared of me and navigating his cage because he can't see any of it?

He did seem improved today, he came out of his igloo and climbed up 3 levels to get to his hammock. He hasn't been eating much, if anything, lately, but I saw the rice was gone out of his bowl so I offered him some baby food. He's been rejecting that too lately, but this time he ate spoonful after spoonful and begged for more. I'm just afraid that he'll relapse even worse and stop moving and eating altogether.

Chakattack! posted:

And a cute picture of them snuggling up to my boyfriend's feet in bed one Sunday morning

Jin Wicked posted:

At his age I would just keep him alone and shower him with attention if another rat is absolutely not an option.

Alone in a loving and familiar environment is preferable to dying of old age in a shelter, in my opinion.

Again -- just my opinion -- I could not upend the entire life of an elderly rat like that.

Big Bug Hug posted:

Yes pics please!
My little guy looking contrite