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redjenova posted:I WANT PET RATS The only thing I might tack on to this discussion is try your damnest to get two rats if you can. They are extremely social creatures and constant companionship is always a plus. Litter mates are best obviously, if you are getting them from a breeder, but cage mates from the pet store should also work out pretty well! And I can vouch on the subject of personality differences between bred / store rats. Between me and my GF we have had many many pet store rats, all of which have been pretty good pets, but some of them were somewhat standoff-ish all their lives (never had an issue with aggression or biting though) Last year however, we decided to try our hand at breeding. We had a giant ferret cage left over from two sugar gliders that passed away, and it really was just about as easy as 'put boy and girl in cage and wait'. Once the girl shat out squirmy little pink things (9 of them!), we just separated the male (not sure if rats actually eat their young, but its better to be safe) and let momma do her thing until the rittens were naturally weaned off, then put all the females into the ferret cage and the 2 boys off in their own little kingdom. From day 1 we handled the rittens daily, even when they were itty bitty pink turdlets (but be VERY careful with them; they are babies) and I believe it really affected their behavioral outcome towards humans in general: these girls now FLOCK to the cage door any time someone walks by, even if it's not feeding time. Have you ever had your hands licked by 8 tiny rats at once? It's the most  feeling ever.EDIT: UGH NEW PAGE! Here, pictures. These are all just over a year old (born early october of last year) http://imgur.com/yoBA9.jpg http://imgur.com/N9qp0.jpg http://imgur.com/ZR0uD.jpg http://imgur.com/1SRGK.jpg http://imgur.com/KHi5O.jpg http://imgur.com/avlPp.jpg The grey one (brilliantly named Grey Baby  ) takes the initiative and starts chowing down on popcorn before she's even 2 weeks oldhttp://imgur.com/kvVyY.jpg http://imgur.com/DYGBw.jpg This is the only boy of the litter, Ferguson. He is plotting his escape so he can crawl up the cage (just out of shot to the right) and gently caress all his hot sisters. All these pics were taken from my GF's facebook page, and I don't have a working camera right now otherwise I'd get some shots of the ferret cage full of cute Smee fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Oct 27, 2010 |
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Oct 27, 2010 07:17
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Smee posted:Last year however, we decided to try our hand at breeding. We had a giant ferret cage left over from two sugar gliders that passed away, and it really was just about as easy as 'put boy and girl in cage and wait'. Once the girl shat out squirmy little pink things (9 of them!), we just separated the male (not sure if rats actually eat their young, but its better to be safe) and let momma do her thing until the rittens were naturally weaned off, then put all the females into the ferret cage and the 2 boys off in their own little kingdom.  Did you read this thread
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Oct 27, 2010 10:32
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Smee posted:Last year however, we decided to try our hand at breeding. We had a giant ferret cage left over from two sugar gliders that passed away, and it really was just about as easy as 'put boy and girl in cage and wait'. Once the girl shat out squirmy little pink things (9 of them!), we just separated the male (not sure if rats actually eat their young, but its better to be safe) and let momma do her thing until the rittens were naturally weaned off, then put all the females into the ferret cage and the 2 boys off in their own little kingdom. Why did you get into rat breeding and what research did you do beforehand? Because there's a couple erm.. red flags to me in what you say and I'm not even a breeder.
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Oct 27, 2010 11:36
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Smee posted:
Dear lurkers: For the love of god please do not do this
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Oct 27, 2010 19:15
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Right, the two boys (out of 3) are booked in for the 3rd November. The vet said to see how the other intact male goes. He may or may not start dominating the two who are being castrated. So, we shall see. It's going to cost around £80 for the pair, which I was ready for, if not more than that. Is there anything I should do for when they return? I currently use wood pellets to line the pans with. When it gets wet, it crumbles. Should I swap this to material for a while so they heal without getting stuff in their wounds? Also, would the other boy be okay to be left in there with them? Or will they need peace n quiet?
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Oct 27, 2010 19:20
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Don't really see what the big deal is. We had the room and the experience handling rats to decide what the hey, and they all turned out perfectly healthy and pretty gatdam awesome.
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Oct 27, 2010 22:11
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Smee posted:Don't really see what the big deal is. We had the room and the experience handling rats to decide what the hey, and they all turned out perfectly healthy and pretty gatdam awesome. Experience handling =/= experience breeding. Case in point: Smee posted:(not sure if rats actually eat their young, but its better to be safe) I feel like that's something you should know before you get into breeding, which actually IS more than just putting a male and female together. "BUT OMG BABIES COME ON YOU GUISE "
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Oct 27, 2010 23:35
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Smee posted:Don't really see what the big deal is. We had the room and the experience handling rats to decide what the hey, and they all turned out perfectly healthy and pretty gatdam awesome. I did something once and it turned out awesome so it could never go badly! Randomly putting two random rats together to make babies based on zero knowledge of their genetics (and having no loving idea how they raise their young or how to help in the event of an emergency) is a great way to have babies dying randomly of painful ailments like megacolon.
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Oct 28, 2010 01:15
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Speaking of babies, the fish/rodent store near me has baby boys right now and I want all of them because they are so soft  and I have room for a billionty thousand rats (ok, really like 6 and I have 3 already) but I shouldn't get them because they will cost monies and my fattie will probably be mean to them... nnnnggghh please help tell me I can't have them. And I have to go back tomorrow to get an application anyway, so I can't just not see them. gently caress.
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Oct 28, 2010 05:23
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Pickle Chops posted:Is there anything I should do for when they return? I currently use wood pellets to line the pans with. When it gets wet, it crumbles. Should I swap this to material for a while so they heal without getting stuff in their wounds? I had a boy neutered a couple years back for pretty much the same reason as you, he was squabbling with his cage mates over dominance all the time. If it was me I would try to use some other bedding until they are healed OK because as you say the one you have now does crumble when wet. I'd keep them separated for say two days just to get the healing started/get over the anaesthetic and then re-introduce them to the 3rd boy and take it from there. My Rupert healed up surprisingly quick as the vet did a really tidy job with the incision and the stitches didn't seem to bother him. Rupert actually ended up going in with my girlies (I did read up to get an idea of how long it would take him to be 100% sterile) and they got on awesome together. I had three naked girls at the time and they would wait till he was sleeping in their house and then all cuddle up to him, it was super sweet. He got pretty big and his coat went very soft like a female coat. A big, chilled out, affectionate and cuddly boy :3 Related to this I guess, I have a female who is coming up to her 3rd birthday in a couple of months. She has outlived all her cage mates and is sadly alone, is it 'safe' to assume she has gone through the menopause and is now sterile? She has got BIIIIG so I think she has. If possible I would like to introduce her to my two boys for company. ElectricSquire fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Oct 28, 2010 |
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Oct 28, 2010 09:22
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ElectricSquire posted:
Nope. I made this assumption once years ago and it resulted in a 3.5 year old female magically popping out 3 babies. She never showed any signs of pregnancy, and she was very, very lucky not to have any complications at her age. The babies were all very small, and she didn't produce much milk so they had to have supplemental feedings until they were weaned and it was a HUGE pain in the butt. Luckily, this was when I was breeding and she was a rat I'd bred myself and she'd had a litter when she was younger. If she'd never been bred, fatal complications would have been almost certain. Don't risk it.
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Oct 28, 2010 16:47
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Superconsndar posted:Don't risk it. Thank you for the advice 
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Oct 28, 2010 19:02
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So my rats are turning out to be picky drinkers. One of my two-year-old boys has a pretty nasty tumour on his back leg, so he's having trouble getting around, and the shape of my cage means it's pretty hard to make it easier to move between levels. Then, he insists on hanging out in the hammocks on the upper level, even though I put some lower down for him. Since the other boys'll run off with the food and hide it on the bottom anyway, it's of no use to put any food on the upper level. But, I've got a little cup that affixes right to a little door on the upper level of the cage. It doesn't move at all, so I decided I'd at least put some water in it for him, so he's got something up there, even if it's not a bottle like he's used to. So ever since I started doing that, I kept catching all of the boys drinking out of there, to the point where the last time I went to change their water, the cup was empty and the bottle was completely full. Raaaaaaaaaaaats. 
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Oct 28, 2010 19:25
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I just came back from the vet with one of my rats. I noticed a tumour under her armpit that grew to about the size of a marble over the course of a week, so I made an appointment today to get it checked out. It turns out her body is riddled with mammary tumours and there is nothing the vet can do in terms of removing them. The vet gave her a morphine injection, and gave me enough morphine to give her for the next week, but the vet doesn't think she's going to last much longer. One thing I didn't ask the vet is whether I should put her, in this drugged state, in the cage with her sister. Her sister has been pretty rough with her over the past few days and is about twice her size, and I'm wondering whether I should separate them so she doesn't get picked on?
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Oct 29, 2010 07:34
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Its a shame but I would probably seperate them 
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Oct 29, 2010 23:24
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Big Bug Hug posted:Its a shame but I would probably seperate them I left them in the cage together overnight and they seemed okay, in the end. I think Eli (the fat one) knows something's up, she kept nudging the other ratty (Nico) with her head last night. Watching them today, she seems pretty disinterested in her except for cuddling up, and I saw her grooming Nico earlier.
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Oct 30, 2010 03:22
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Is it normal for male rats to make a lot more noise than females? It isn't loud but Zinc does this really low almost-squeak, mostly when he seems to be happy. It varies between the almost-squeak and a sort of "hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo" laughing kind of noise that I've never heard from my girls.
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Nov 2, 2010 00:10
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Indigestable posted:Is it normal for male rats to make a lot more noise than females? It isn't loud but Zinc does this really low almost-squeak, mostly when he seems to be happy. It varies between the almost-squeak and a sort of "hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo" laughing kind of noise that I've never heard from my girls. I user to have one super noisy rat and one super quiet rat, both boys. I think it's a personality thing.
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Nov 2, 2010 01:30
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Haha, I have boys, and one of them is a real squeaker. Whenever they're playing or tussling, squeak squeak squeak. His brother rarely does, but his is quite low as you describe and mostly when taken by surprise or when one of the others has him pinned. Maybe the low squeak is because he is bigger? The youngest one is deaf and barely makes a noise. But when he does, it sounds really retarded. I guess he doesn't know what a rat is supposed to sound like?  Also be sure he doesn't have a respiratory problem, though I'm sure you probably can tell the difference between squeaking and wheezing. audrey posted:I left them in the cage together overnight and they seemed okay, in the end. I think Eli (the fat one) knows something's up, she kept nudging the other ratty (Nico) with her head last night. Watching them today, she seems pretty disinterested in her except for cuddling up, and I saw her grooming Nico earlier.
Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 13:23 on Nov 2, 2010 |
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Nov 2, 2010 13:19
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Thanks, RazorBunny and Big Hug Bug! I was worried it might be respiratory but it's not all the time, only when I tickle him or he's sitting on my shoulder. He is really pretty big so that must be why it's low-pitched. Despite him being 2-3x their size, one girl or the other always has him pinned on his back
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Nov 2, 2010 19:10
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Can rats get cataracts? One of my boys has had like permanent red eye since I got him. Not crusty or anything, actually behind the eye. Then I come home today to see the other eye has the same issue, except white. It's like light glistening on his pupil all the time, except it's in the eye ball. No swelling/crusties. The other two are due to be neutered tomorrow so I will get him checked out. Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue?
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Nov 2, 2010 20:43
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Big Bug Hug posted:Aww, thats good. Rats can be sweet with eachother I had to take Nico to the vet to be put down the day after that, so at least they spent some quality time together before she died. 
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Nov 2, 2010 21:06
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Well, as soon as it has gotten cold one of my boys is making the saddest wheezes ever And he doesn't decide to do it this morning, nope, I didn't see it until around 4:30, so all the vets are closed/ can't get him in. Oh, and I'm supposed to be going to a 3 day conference tomorrow. Please don't die Mr. Fredrickson! What can I do for him until I can get him in tomorrow morning? I have some water bottles that I could heat up to put in there if he wants them and he's been huddling in his hammock. He's still eating, not terribly lethargic and he's not mucousy.
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Nov 2, 2010 23:05
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All of my guys have had wheezing probs at some time or another. If it gets bad I always give them steam. Just take them in the bathroom and shut the doors and steam up the room while the rat sits with me for about 10 minutes wondering what on earth we're doing. But try warming him up first, I say. Indigestable posted:Thanks, RazorBunny and Big Hug Bug! I was worried it might be respiratory but it's not all the time, only when I tickle him or he's sitting on my shoulder. He is really pretty big so that must be why it's low-pitched. Despite him being 2-3x their size, one girl or the other always has him pinned on his back audrey posted:I had to take Nico to the vet to be put down the day after that, so at least they spent some quality time together before she died.
Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Nov 4, 2010 |
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Nov 4, 2010 09:23
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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. sighnoceros fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Nov 4, 2010 |
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Nov 4, 2010 19:57
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GOONS ARE MEAN
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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. Don't get rats. They really do need daily attention, even if it's minimal. Plus, they have a tendency to knock their water bowl over, or the water tube could malfunction, or run out of food, or get their foot caught in a cage/toy/hammock and break it, or or or... If you're not going to be there daily for the next 2-3 years, it's not really fair to them. Vacations are fine if you have friends come over once a day (or bring your rats in cage to friends for daily attention and to make sure they stay alive and well), but that's an awful lot to impose on friends regularly.
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Nov 4, 2010 20:05
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I figured as much Maybe some day.
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Nov 4, 2010 20:07
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gos_jim posted: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. Agreeing with daggerdragon. Some rats don't really care about their owners, but many more do. They need about an hour a day of playtime. They also have a tendency to get sick or develop complications overnight, and could end up seriously ill over the course of a few days if left untreated. One of my rats ended up bonding with me really strongly, and when I had to leave her for a day or two she would be really crabby when I got back
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Nov 4, 2010 20:10
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So you occasionally travel but when you do its for a couple of months at a time? I am guessing it wouldn't be practical to take them with you when you go? Just a thought. I agree that it doesn't sound like the best situation for rats. I have left mine alone for 5 days once (with people checking them) and I was worried about them. They clearly missed me, too They will get attatched to you and pine when you are gone, so its just not nice for them.
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Nov 4, 2010 23:49
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Big Bug Hug posted:All of my guys have had wheezing probs at some time or another. If it gets bad I always give them steam. Just take them in the bathroom and shut the doors and steam up the room while the rat sits with me for about 10 minutes wondering what on earth we're doing. Sorry for the rant, the vet just really pissed me off and I felt bad for bringing my poor boy to an idiot when he felt bad. And I can't even take care of him right now because I'm at a conference until Friday afternoon. I love my bf, but he is not as good with them as I am and I am worried about them (mostly because the space heater I have going may burn my house down  )
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Nov 5, 2010 00:00
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Big Bug Hug posted:So you occasionally travel but when you do its for a couple of months at a time? I am guessing it wouldn't be practical to take them with you when you go? Just a thought. I usually have to fly and stay in hotels. Often I fly and then drive directly to the client site, and then leave the client site to go directly to the airport. I really just don't think it would be practical to do. I will do what's best and just pass on getting a pet. Maybe I will volunteer at a local animal shelter or something instead.
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Nov 5, 2010 03:32
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Explosions! posted:bad vet I hope your little guy will be ok. I actually have used Tetracycline from a pet store (packaged as bird antibiotics) for my rats in a pinch. It worked well for me. Maybe your bf could get hold of some of that? The stuff I have is mixed with their drinking water and they seem to like the taste fine. edit: missed the part where you said you got Doxycycline(?) I'm sure he will be fine!
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Nov 5, 2010 22:36
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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.
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Nov 6, 2010 23:45
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Big Bug Hug posted:That sucks, I don't blame you for being cheesed off. I have birds as well as rats and its surprising how many vets don't know how to handle or treat birds either. I always ask "do you have experience dealing with rats(or birds, as applicable)?" Before making an appointment. Yeah, the first question I asked when I called them (back in June, right after I got them) was if they saw rats/ had rat patients. I'm guessing now they just said yes so they could get my money, or they assumed it would be like a tiny dog/cat He's actually just fine now, he was pretty much 100% by Wednesday afternoon. I think he was just cold so now there's a space heater in my room (my goddamn roommates and our thermostat war is a whole other issue). I'll have to keep the bird antibiotics in mind if I need some again, but by the time I make it to town to buy them (~ 1 1/2 hrs to a well stocked pet store) I could probably just get more from the vet. On a better note, my bf learned that you cannot leave the baby food in the cage if you are not directly watching it. When he looked back/when to get some more Percy had his whole head stuck in the jar and was covered in carrot puree. Silly rat that is for sneezy, not you!
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Nov 8, 2010 05:23
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Sgoast and I are considering getting on the waiting list for the next litter at Sweet Genes Rodentry in Naperville, IL. http://www.sweetgenes.com/ Do any of you have any experience with them? They seem to care about the health of the rats that they breed instead of breeding for appearance only.
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Nov 8, 2010 07:03
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Hi, I have some rats. I've owned rats on and off since I was six. It started when the science teacher at my elementary school convinced my mom to let me adopt one of the baby pink-eyed whites he kept around to feed his snakes. Freddy was a good rat, and amazingly long-lived for being kept in a 10-gallon aquarium, alone, on cedar chips. Since then I've learned a thing or two about keeping rats. For my current group I built a grotto-styled bookshelf cage that's 40" high by 30" wide by 18" deep. It has 3 levels and one partial level that's 8" deep. It's all been shellacked, the edges sealed with non-toxic silicone and the floors covered in vinyl contact paper. The levels have towels velcroed down. If down the line I decide the spot cleaning is too much trouble and/or I never get my boys to use a litter box I'll probably build aluminum litter trays to slide in and put plastic sheeting on the insides of those. Why not just buy a cage? I dunno, I got it in my head I would do this after looking at the Dapper Rat grotto http://www.dapper.com.au/grotto.htm. I just got these rats on Saturday and they are super sweet. There are two 6-week-olds, a dumbo blue self and a dumbo seal point, and two 5-month-olds, a standard ear beige hooded and a black berkshire dumbo. The babies live at the top level and the older two rats live at the bottom, for now. They hang out together during playtime and have been getting along better than I could've hoped for, so far. The big hooded beige guy let the babies try to nurse on him last night, he just flopped on his side and they mobbed him! He is probably the most chill of the group. Tatonka fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Nov 9, 2010 |
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Nov 9, 2010 01:41
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Explosions! posted:I'll have to keep the bird antibiotics in mind if I need some again, but by the time I make it to town to buy them (~ 1 1/2 hrs to a well stocked pet store) I could probably just get more from the vet. It would really piss me off if a vet said they knew about rats just to get your business >.<
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Nov 9, 2010 01:51
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kitty-go-meow posted:Sgoast and I are considering getting on the waiting list for the next litter at Sweet Genes Rodentry in Naperville, IL. http://www.sweetgenes.com/ Do any of you have any experience with them? They seem to care about the health of the rats that they breed instead of breeding for appearance only. I didn't get rats from Sweet Genes, but one of my close friends did. She had a couple boys from them who were just awesome. They'd been really well socialized and had outgoing, funny personalities. Plus they were all soft and squishy, more so than any other rats I'd met. I think one died of myco related issues at a little over two years and the other lived to be almost three, but they were healthy up until their age caught up with them. I haven't been in to see the breeder and her (his?) setup, but my friend said the place was clean and she definitely recommends them. My last couple of girls came from Dumbo Tree, and I thought they were a good rattery, but seeing as how that breeder is no longer in the business I'll probably be getting them from Sweet Genes when I can get rats again.
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Nov 9, 2010 03:00
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This is probably listed in some beginner rat FAQs, but since this is the first time it has ever happened with mine, I'm unsure what it means or what steps to take. I have two relatively young'uns (females under 9 months) who have been socialized and are now housed with my older lady (roughly 3 years old). They all get along together, and the older lady and one of the younger girls are just fine in their cage. If I'm in the room, they still come to the doors, all but demanding for free range time. However, the other young one chews on the bars of her cage when I'm in the room. Incessantly. I've recently found shavings on the surface outside the cage below where she's been chewing. It's like a nervous tic of some sort, or her way of begging to be let out? Advice on causes and solutions to this are welcome. Is there something I could put on the bars that would make it taste nasty for her to chew without harming her? If the chewing is of no danger whatsoever to her, just say so and I'll forget about it. I don't want her being frustrated over being caged, but she gets over an hour of free range time each day! Greedy little thing. [Edit: shavings are metal shavings, not plant matter]
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Nov 9, 2010 10:00
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Only one of my rats has ever chewed on the bars, its really weird, and usually in the same spot. Funnily enough I found something he likes to chew (rawhide strips) and peg it to the side of the cage and he will go to town on that instead. I think he just wants to chew and wear down those teeth. Have you tried different fun chewable things?
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Nov 9, 2010 10:28
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