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If I recall correctly from my dissections (I'm a bio student, they forced me to do it), there isn't much there aside from the belly and liver and such. The floating ribs do go a bit farther than you might expect, but it's not like they have a big birdlike keel or anything like that. They do have pretty big guts, though. I guess it could feel like a big lump if they had just eaten maybe? How large is the lump? Might just be feeling the bottom of the sternum there.
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Jul 15, 2011 02:03
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On Trudy the spot seems to be about the size of a pea. On Wrinkles maybe a little bit bigger, but then again she doesn't have any hair. It did seem harder to find just now when I tried to touch them, even on Wrinkles, so you're right it could just be sternum or some part of her digestive system. Her behavior hasn't changed at all in the past few days at least. EDIT: In other news, just now for the first time in a while I did the old "shove 12 baby cereal bits into a toilet paper tube and fold the ends over." What did not remember is that Wrinkles is the only one that knows how to solve that puzzle. Trudy was lurking, but apparently the game I was actually playing was "give Wrinkles 10 treats, Trudy 2, and Joan none." Boco_T fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Jul 15, 2011 |
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Jul 15, 2011 02:12
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Oh my god - Molasses is the best thing ever. I use to have such a hard time getting my rat to take his medicine, but now grinding it up to a powder and mixing it with molasses he licks every last drop! I think it might help because he's never had molasses before this point so he can't really tell there's a difference.
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Jul 15, 2011 05:14
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 It would seem my rat adventure is coming to an end. The boys are almost two and one is stupidly skinny, finding it hard to breathe and rather unsteady on his legs. I thought he was going to die in my arms the other night but he picked up again. I'm not sure he'll be around for much longer. Maybe it'd be kinder to put him to sleep? It's difficult when one day he struggles and the next he's brighter. Also, it would seem they all have mites or some kind of little bugs, so tonight I will be bleaching, vaccuming and dosing them.
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Jul 15, 2011 08:10
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He died. :'(
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Jul 15, 2011 18:23
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Pickle Chops posted:
I had a girl who died like that on me, she struggled for a couple weeks, her very last day she seemed full of pep and energy, then, when we were letting her roam, she came to us, and died 
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Jul 15, 2011 20:19
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Pickle Chops posted:He died. :'( Aw, so sorry Pickle Chops
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Jul 15, 2011 21:21
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Sorry man
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Jul 16, 2011 05:05
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Pickle Chops posted:He died. :'(  I'm so sorry. You gave him a good life.e; Now I am fearing for my own rattie's life. Kobe got to my tube of orajel that I stupidly left on top of the dining table. I heard crunching and I found her eating into the plastic. I took it away immediately and gave her some teddy grahams but I am now worried that she ingested some amount of the medicine. I assume she could be feeling numbing sensation because she is nervously trying to wash the numbness out of her face. Should I be worried? Could she possibly be poisoned? snowdoge fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jul 17, 2011 |
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Jul 16, 2011 17:19
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Aw man, every time I read one of those posts my heart drops. I'm so sorry to everyone who has lost a rat. I had to think long and hard about whether or not I could deal with that before I got my boys. On the subject of them, I am wondering if there is anything else I can do to warm them up to me. I've had them a week and we have gone from "HOLY poo poo RUN" to "Okay, maybe you have food, I'll approach you." I treat them throughout the day and they'll grab the treat and run to hide. They won't leave the cage, and they won't come up on my hand, but they will give me licks to see if I taste like food. Is it a matter of more time, am I doing something wrong? I just want them to not be so scared of me.
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Jul 17, 2011 03:15
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Just grab them and force them to hang out with you. Put them in a hoodie pocket and watch a movie with your hand on them, or sit them on your shoulder and surf the internet or whatever you do. Reach up/in every so often to offer a treat if you like. It shouldn't take very long before they're used to being picked up and escorted about, and when they're comfortable with that, you'll find them seeking you out for attention. 
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Jul 17, 2011 06:16
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Olive Bar posted:Aw man, every time I read one of those posts my heart drops. I'm so sorry to everyone who has lost a rat. I had to think long and hard about whether or not I could deal with that before I got my boys. I was in the same position as you when I first got mine. There's really nothing to worry about, it took mine around a month to properly warm up to me. Just keep treating them when you come in the room and picking them up, holding them for 10 - 30 minutes at a time. I've had mine for 6 months now and now they both run up to the cage when I come in, and I pick them up and watch tv with them crawling around me, chattering away. They like to sit on my lap and boggle like mad, get scratched behind the ear, and try to groom me by trying to get in my mouth. You're still very early on so don't worry about it, but I guarantee you you'll see progress in a week or two, just keep at it!
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Jul 17, 2011 10:54
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Yes with rats, you have to "force" them to hang out with you at first. Its just the way they work. Do some googling on Forced Socialisation if you need more tips. Its not cruel at all despite the way it sounds 
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Jul 17, 2011 12:46
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Okay, I was just confused by the OP where it says to NOT reach in a grab them. So... I should just reach in and grab them? They run like mad.
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Jul 17, 2011 14:44
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Yes. They will be fine.
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Jul 17, 2011 14:55
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Yeah at some point you have to push it. The "dont reach in and grab them" is solid advice for if you just got them home but your guys have had a little while to adjust and they know that you aren't going to murder them. 
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Jul 17, 2011 22:28
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Haha, they sure act like I'm going to. Any tips on actually catching them? There's only one I can trick into a crocheted bag at the moment, good luck catching one with your hands.
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Jul 18, 2011 03:20
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Does anyone here have experience with mixed-sex (but all neutered) groups of rats? Is it a bad idea? My guy and I currently have three lady rats (Patti, Liza, and Angela) and have been tossing around the idea of picking up one or two more (we easily have the cage space for it). The girls aren't currently desexed, but probably will be in the next month or so. Were we to get a male (or two), he (or they) would also be desexed. Would a mixed-gender group encourage unwanted social dynamics? Would it be a better idea to get one male rat or two? Or is it an awful idea and we should only think about getting more females? ...if we get a boy will my rats not love me anymore? 
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Jul 18, 2011 04:54
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No, mixed sex groups of rats (where one or both genders are altered) tend to do fine. It's generally the females that are jonesin' for some lovin', kind of like with cats, and they're going to do that anyway no matter what kind of other rats are around (kind of like with cats). Go for it! Getting your females spayed is a great idea if you can afford it, it really reduces their chances of certain cancers.
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Jul 18, 2011 05:09
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Yaaaay! We're defs getting them spayed either way, seeing as we would prefer for them to not get cancer. So the desexed boys won't fight over the desexed girls or vice versa at all? We're probably doubling our cage size anyway (even though it could fit five comfortably now...), so really the only thing holding us back is a plan for when we go on vacation (their travel fits 3, but just barely). I want baby boy rats
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Jul 18, 2011 05:18
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So I'm not looking into getting any more rats until my current ones pass, which with any luck will be a year and half or more away (I got them last November). Out of curiosity, though, I'm kind of curious if there's anywhere I could find male rats? For perspective, there aren't any breeders or anything remotely resembling even bad breeders in my state or at least six hours in any direction, and my occasional petfinder searches never seem to yield anything either. As a result I ended up getting my female rats, a pair, from PetSmart last year. Never had a problem with 'em and they are loving and healthy, and I'm glad they didn't have a socialization problem or an illness or anything like that. However, this would limit my future options to just females, as far as I can tell, because no PetSmart I've seen in this state carries male rats. PetCo has them as far as I can tell, but since they cram 20 or more rats into the same filthy tank, it's obvious they treat them as feeders and I won't take my business there. My friend, also a rat owner, found a dead rat that had literally been torn apart inside the tank at PetCo and none of the employees had noticed it for days.  Do people tend to get boy ratties from breeders and such? Also if I got boys I'd prefer to neuter them; is this pretty expensive or difficult or is it a relatively simple procedure? EDIT: Also, my girls have been pretty super small for the entire time I've had them, which I've been happy about. Is it sexual dimorphism that causes some rats to get gargantuan huge, i.e. the males do and females tend to stay smaller?
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Jul 18, 2011 23:44
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Some Petsmarts sell males and some sell females, and they do it across all the species. Like they have all female hamsters, rats, everything OR all male everything. You might be able to find a petsmart that sells males; one of the ones near me has males and another has females. (I guess they didn't think that one through?) Petsmart keeps tubs of rats crammed together in the back. They're kept as feeder animals because they are feeder animals, and nothing is ever going to change that. The majority of pet store rats are going to be eaten by a snake. C'est la vie.Females tend to be smaller than males. Neuters are a relatively simple surgery, but make sure your vet is comfortable doing it first. Rats are tiny. eta: my outrageous vet quoted me $300 for a rat neuter but I have heard stories of them being done for $60-$80 so ymmv.
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Jul 18, 2011 23:51
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Yeah honestly I picked a pair out of a mixed feeder tank when I was left with one, and the only real difference I had between those two and the ones I got from a breeder is that they about a week to understand the concept of a water bottle, and about as long to lose their shyness. Rats make healthy and nutritious meals, that's something I think is good to get your head around as a rat owner. So long as it's not your rat going into that snake's mouth, things work the way they do.
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Jul 19, 2011 02:02
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I've been 100% boy rat for a long time, with me being under the whole "female rats=tumors" scare. Oddly enough my longest lived rat had a small mammary tumor removed, and it came back. By the time it did, my vet wouldn't operate on him because he was too old. He was almost 3 and losing weight, was on a high calorie diet in his last months, but it wasn't enough for him to qualify for surgery. The breeder I got him from def. bred him from a line with a history of tumors. He and his brother had Uveitus. Red flag there. I've have also picked up a pair of rats from her house, lets just say its not the cleanest house with the odor of cat pee holding strong. Another red flag.  I do give her credit for keeping the rat room and the cages all clean. Somewhere back in this thread, a fellow PIer linked to her website, Ratz Realm. She is a very nice lady but for anyone who wants rats from her to just watch out and ask about her lines, I think there is a mix bag in her lines between lines that are OMG colorz, and health based bred. I have had any other rats develop those issues beside the pair I got from her. (Pictured below). Temperament wise they were fantastic, except with other rats.Back from that minor derail, I like big rats, and big cuddly rats. I love boy ratties so much for those things. It's so hard to get away from that especially when they get older and.... I am thinking about getting a pair of females after my two boys pass on in a couple of years. It will bring my rat experience to a whole new level.
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Jul 19, 2011 04:39
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Oh, I didn't mean to imply that rats aren't bought as feeders at PetSmart, just that as far as I can tell, the PetSmarts in my state are much cleaner and only have two or three rats in a tank than 25+. A lot of the time I'll pop into one a few times a week and there still won't be any new rats in there either, as opposed to PetCo's 25 dirty matted rats all swarming around together in a two foot aquarium. There's really no hope of getting a handraised-with-tender-love-and-care rat from a petstore, I just preferred their ostensible living conditions out of my two choices. And unfortunately there are three PetSmarts I've been to here, two in the city I live in away from school and one in my college town, but they're all female only :/ however I will keep my eyes peeled when the time comes!
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Jul 19, 2011 07:56
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Baika posted: I love boy rats.
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Jul 19, 2011 12:20
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Big Bug Hug posted:Oh my god. Look at those guys. Boy rats give no fucks whatsoever about anything - that's why they're awesome!
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Jul 19, 2011 15:50
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So, Jack had his first super fun trip to the vet yesterday morning. The sneezing was getting worse and it just looked so uncomfortable. The vet said he might have a little infection going on, no wheezes but his lungs were working a littler harder than she would like. She gave him 2 weeks of antibiotics and I'm trying my best to get it into him. So we've regressed from "Hey Cheerios! Yay!" to "Jesus gently caress why are you coming near me, I hate you so much." Only 12 more days. 
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Jul 19, 2011 20:18
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daggerdragon posted:Boy rats give no fucks whatsoever about anything - that's why they're awesome! I don't have a cage of rats, I have a cage of fratboys, they run around teabagging each other.
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Jul 19, 2011 22:18
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neongrey posted:I don't have a cage of rats, I have a cage of fratboys, they run around teabagging each other. yes! - mine like King of the Castle, where one is up on the shelf, and when one of his brothers wants to climb up, he nips at his hands and/or nose so the poor guy has no choice but to fall/go back down. This is done by all of them, the little poo poo stirrers. Its always fun to watch a surprise attack/humping as well.
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Jul 19, 2011 23:39
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Nevermind. Sorry. I am stupid and didn't read the rules.
Amarie fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Jul 20, 2011 |
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Jul 20, 2011 04:30
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Amarie posted:I kind of need help with this rat. he's got a mystery sore that keeps spreading and his owners (my good friend and her fiance) can't afford a vet visit right now. They're pretty tight financially right now, so a sick rat's the last thing they need, if they can just buy the medicine they could avpid a vet visit. I figure this is the thread to ask so here goes: You should really tell them to take their rat to the vet. Also, just so you know, it's against forum rules to ask for vet advice. A lot of vets can split up the vet bill into a more manageable charge plan. That sore looks really nasty.
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Jul 20, 2011 04:51
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buffybot posted:You should really tell them to take their rat to the vet. Also, just so you know, it's against forum rules to ask for vet advice. A lot of vets can split up the vet bill into a more manageable charge plan. That sore looks really nasty. Ah, I'm such a tard for not reading the rules. I tried to make them, but I guess the rat will have to die.
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Jul 20, 2011 05:03
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The rat doesnt have to die - buffybot just said that many vets will help out with payment plans/easier options. We can't really diagnose from a photo anyway, unfortunately.
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Jul 20, 2011 05:29
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Jesus Christ, on that wonderful note, have some happy rats.     My personal favorite sleeping position       
Olive Bar fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Jul 20, 2011 |
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Jul 20, 2011 06:13
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Olive Bar posted:Oh my, that face. Too cute. Send him to me now, please and thank you.
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Jul 20, 2011 12:13
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You're more than welcome to borrow him for the next two weeks while he's on antibiotics, but then I want him back, even if he hates me. Oh god, it's medication time again. This rat better love me eventually. Time to get pooped on and screamed at.
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Jul 20, 2011 14:31
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Olive Bar posted:You're more than welcome to borrow him for the next two weeks while he's on antibiotics, but then I want him back, even if he hates me. Oh god, it's medication time again. This rat better love me eventually. Time to get pooped on and screamed at. Aww, you can't mix the meds up with something? Yogurt or pudding or put 'em on bread..? It sucks to have to force them.
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Jul 20, 2011 20:03
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My future rats were probably born today (the breeder's expecting another nest in a day or two, and I've got free choice). Just six more weeks of waiting.
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Jul 20, 2011 20:17
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Amiss posted:Aww, you can't mix the meds up with something? Yogurt or pudding or put 'em on bread..? It sucks to have to force them. I tried that, and all he does is stare at it like it took a poo poo on his mother. I left him with it for a couple of hours, nothing. Today was rough, but he got his meds. I'm going to try watered down jam tomorrow I think, he loves sugar.
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Jul 20, 2011 21:41
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