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I'm really thankful that small animal exams from a vet near me are just $40. Surgeries and meds are still expensive as hell, but at least it's not too much to go up there and have them examined if I'm worried about something. So yeah, if you want a "cheap" pet, rats are not the way to go, especially if you're like myself and spend hundreds on a perfect cage, isolation cages, fresh food, grains, toys, things that the rats will eventually chew into nothingness - it adds up fast. I'd definitely say my guinea pigs, parakeets, and dog are all cheaper in general to care for, except maybe my dog's food and meds since he has some skin issues. Even then, his vet bills still aren't as much. Also, I tried out the food dye idea for telling my girls apart:  This was right after applying, but by now I can't even see it.  They groomed it off a lot faster than I was expecting. I'm going to use non-toxic markers to mark the base of their tails today instead.
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Jun 25, 2012 12:36
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The girls cleaning my fingat.  IMG_4530 by cerebruminc, on Flickr
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Jun 25, 2012 15:07
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smallmouth posted:The girls cleaning my fingat. Mine just try and steal my fingernails 
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Jun 25, 2012 16:12
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Invalid Octopus posted:Mine just try and steal my fingernails Are they acrylic? If I put on a disposable glove to clean up stray poops, Garrus will desperately try to get to my hand so he can gnaw on it. Unrelentingly. Something about the material I guess, he just badly wants to tear it to pieces. It's not aggressive, either, he's being totally playful about it and gets very excited.  I know they can be weird about bandaids and such too.
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Jun 25, 2012 17:13
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RazorBunny posted:Are they acrylic? No, but they're usually painted. Even when they're not, though, Angie and Folly will try.
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Jun 25, 2012 17:21
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I sewed the boys a new fleece hammock. It doesn't stay open as well as daggerdragon's, but they can get in and out of it no problem. It's just a sheet of fleece folded in half and stitched up where the halves meet, with velcro on each end to hang it. I thought I would share what I did for their pack lunches while I'm gone. I only chose grains I know they'll eat, so there's not as much variety as usual. I didn't want my friend to have to deal with a pile of uneaten flaxseed or whatever. Each sandwich-sized bag got 3/4 cup of one of these grains: -white rice -brown and wild rice mix -rolled oats -shredded wheat with wheat bran (in biscuit form) Then they got 1/2 cup of one of these greens: -kale -spinach -mustard greens And 1/2 cup of one of these: -mixed berries and cubed butternut squash -peach slices -mango chunks I tried to randomize the combinations. Four of the meals got a hardboiled egg, and he'll space those out over the course of the trip. It could probably be more complete, but it was an easy assembly line to set up and it's all stuff I know they like.
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Jun 26, 2012 02:06
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I happened to accidentally undercook some boiled eggs today so the rats got one. How often is it safe to feed them those? The yolk's a bit runny so it's not badly undercooked, I just wouldn't eat them myself. A friend of mine told me feeding my rats too many eggs might be tough on their systems, but I've only got 3 eggs (fed them one today) split between 6 rats, so that should be fine to feed once a day until I'm out, right? (As in one egg a day for 3 days.) I think they were worried about the amount of protein being given in such a short amount of time, so should I space it out more?
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Jun 26, 2012 02:15
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I feed animal protein every 3 days or so. For four rats (two teenagers, two full grown) I'll generally give them two eggs. I would imagine undercooked eggs are fine, but if you're worried, microwave them. For the number of rats you have, one egg a day sounds fine. Tomorrow I'll need to make a new mix of grain staple. Angie's a bit chubby (vet said not to worry, though), so I've been a little bit more sparing with their grain – feeding it after they're full off veg/protein. She's not that chubby, still in the healthy range, but it wouldn't hurt her to lose a little. When I was a kid I had guinea pigs. My mom took one to the vet to be spayed, and afterwards told me the vet had done "a little bit of liposuction" during. Weird!
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Jun 26, 2012 02:27
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Look at all you awesome people not feeding lab blocks I am so gosh darn excited 
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Jun 26, 2012 03:50
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I feel like a jerk for moving our rats to blocks (this was probably 6 months after we got them) instead of grains, but they are picky little things and most of the grains weren't getting eaten, while the blocks always get snapped up. They do get lots of veggies and the grains they do like for dinner every night, at least.
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Jun 26, 2012 04:26
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smallmouth posted:The girls cleaning my fingat. That is a really good photo 
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Jun 26, 2012 05:24
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RazorBunny posted:Are they acrylic? A couple of our girls will try to trim my nails sometimes. I wouldn't mind, but there have been a few times where one has managed to make a nail break straight across.
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Jun 26, 2012 06:58
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 26, 2012 16:33
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How long are you going to be in a living situation where you cannot have another rat? What will your parents do if you just bring another one in? You should really read up on rat nutrition. Every day she should be getting grains, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. Every three days or so she should be getting animal protein. What do you mean when you say kibble? Dog/cat food? Because any good dog/cat food is too high in protein for her. You shouldn't be giving her junk food. Obesity is very harmful for rats. Lab blocks are a formulated block food that are nutritionally balanced for rodents. However, the ingredients aren't very high quality and your rat would do better to be eating a grain mix instead. Even if you feed lab blocks, you should still give her regular veg and fruit. Have you read the OP yet? It goes over nutrition. Your rat needs a better diet, and your rat needs a friend. If you can't sneak in a second rat like you did with the first, I honestly think you should start looking at rescues/shelters in your area. Rats tend to get adopted pretty quickly.
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Jun 26, 2012 16:46
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 26, 2012 17:03
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How old are you that you can adequately look after/pay for/care for a rat, but you can't get another because your parents might say mean things?  I'm not even touching the 'lol I snuck a living animal into my room cause I wanted to' thing.Your rat needs a diet of different grains, and daily veg, (with other things as treats). She also needs a buddy. If you are unable to provide these things then you are being irresponsible and doing your rat a disservice. To reiterate someone earlier: the pet shop you got her from won't even house solo rats, and I bet they get fed lab blocks at least. The pet shop is doing more to provide for their rats' base needs than you are at the moment. E: I should refresh before I post, though what on earth is rat kibble? Fraction fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Jun 26, 2012 |
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Jun 26, 2012 17:34
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snoo fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Jun 26, 2012 17:40
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Eighteen is old enough that you should know better than to sneak animals into your parents house. Have you sat down with them and explained that rats are social creatures? That they *need* the companionship? Alternatively, like Invalid Octopus said, what would happen if you just brought another rat in? The food thing was a misunderstanding. I've never heard 'kibble' used to refer to anything but dog/cat dry food, my bad. Since you have this rat now and you don't want to get rid of her, you have to do right by her. Which means, you do need to get her a companion.
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Jun 26, 2012 17:49
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If you read over your last few posts it really sounds like you don't know what to feed her. Is "kibble" lab blocks or a seed mixture or something else? Either way, it's not the best thing you could be feeding her. You're being selfish. You don't want to put her up for adoption? Tough poo poo, that's what happens when you get an animal you can't adequately care for. Her need for a healthy social environment is more important than your desire for a pet. You screwed up. You know this. You got an animal without doing any preparation or reading and without the financial ability to take care of it. However, it's not too late to fix it. Find her a home with someone who can take care of all of her needs. This isn't the right time to put your foot down and act childishly, because you have someone entirely dependent on you. Edit: or, alternatively, get a lovely minimum wage job instead the animal job you want, and start saving up for the hundreds of dollars worth of vet bills you have coming your way. Edit 2: and seriously, stop letting your rat dictate what she gets to eat . Yes, rats will pick out things they like best, and often what they like best isn't the healthiest thing for them. But she'll eat the stuff she doesn't like as much if she gets hungry! Don't fill her up on treats/unhealthy food or let her pick out her favorites and ignore the rest. She's not so picky that she'll starve herself.
Invalid Octopus fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Jun 26, 2012 |
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Jun 26, 2012 17:51
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Get a second rat that looks the same, only take one out at a time? Problem solved. 
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Jun 26, 2012 17:54
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Reading this crap is starting to piss me off.  You have arguably the best online pet rat resource in front of you right now, and your response to learning that you hosed up is "I guess I am a bad owner lol my b" and continue doing the same poo poo? If I were your parent I would take the rat to a shelter myself. It's their house and you are being extremely disrespectful to them by (badly) keeping a rat there. By all means keep posting pics of her. That's what's important, really.
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Jun 26, 2012 18:47
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Angie is Best Rat. She's the one who will just nap right next to me on the couch. She bruxes and boggles if I so much as say hi to her. Best rat friend. 
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Jun 26, 2012 18:54
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Also hopefully you have her some climbing things and levels built into the bird cage you've got her in?
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Jun 26, 2012 18:55
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How much wetness do rats produce over all? If I'm building a liner for a cage, does it need to be completely waterproof, or can I count on the bedding or whatever to contain it away from a non-welded seam? I'm not concerned so much about them draining the water bottle and having to contian that so much as urine or the 'wet' part of food, or saliva, etc. For those that have made liners from scratch, what did you use?
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Jun 26, 2012 19:04
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Generally speaking, the liners will hold most of the moisture. However, rats will drag them around and go under and so some drops will go straight on the plastic instead. I generally give the tray a quick wipe-down when I clean the cage and swap out the liners. I've made quite a lot of liners, and generally what has worked best for me is just two layers of fleece sewn together, with clips at the corners to hold it in place. Mine all like to burrow into and underneath the liners, so for the newest one I did I added an extra strip of fleece about 8" wide across the middle, to hopefully encourage them out from under the liners. It helped a little, I guess. I've experimented with fleece, flannel, microfiber, towel material, etc, and 1/2/3 layers of fabric. Two layers of fleece have held up the best. With four rats I generally clean the cage every 4 days or so. Do you have males or females? What kind of cage do you have?
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Jun 26, 2012 19:14
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I used incorrect terminology. I'm asking about the piece of plastic that holds the liner, I think. The thing that is part of the cage itself on some cages, I don't know what to call it I guess. What I want to know is if that part needs to be completely water tight, or if tiny gaps in the corners don't matter so much. I can do steel if I have to, but plastic or pvc sheeting would be a lot lighter. I don't have rats yet, and I'm converting a pentagonal corner shelf unit into a cage.
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Jun 26, 2012 19:30
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Unless your water bottle leaks out completely there shouldn't be any problems.
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Jun 26, 2012 19:32
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Picked up a new boy named Quartz a couple of days ago. He is massive compared to Ruby. I hate to join the ongoing bandwagon, but unless your parents are willing to help pay for veterinary bills, what will you do if you need to take them in? How will you pay? If you can't, are you going to let the rat be and let it suffer? I just had a rat who had to go to the vet 4 times within the past 2 months, here is his bills. 1st visit: 30.00 (examination of cysts, biopsy) 2nd visit: 85.00 (removal of 2 cysts + 3 days worth of metacam for pain) 3rd visit: 120.00 (removal of two limabean sized mammary tumors + 3 days worth of metacam for pain) 4th visit: 70.00 (exam, urinalysis, 10 days worth of baytril and doxycyline) My vet was extremely generous in his pricing with all of our visits and got a huge deal compared to other clinics in the area. Pet care, even rats is expensive and you should expect to fork out a couple of hundreds for each rat. Try your best to get a job now, do it for your pet.
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Jun 26, 2012 20:03
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I have a problem-rat. Wiley is a bit over a year old and since 8 months old has been initiating fights with his brother (they've been together since birth). I've been waiting for them to grow out of it. Lately though, since they are both hugeass rats, they're more violent. He scratched his brother's face and pulls his hair and whatnot. I'm having to give them time-out more often because they get pretty nasty, kicking, squealing whirlwind type fights. His brother is a sweet boy and never initiates fights - today I put him in with my younger boys and he just let them beat him up and jump all over him. So I'm thinking a neuter for Wiley might help them get along. He's not agressive toward people, just other rats. Anyone have direct experience with neutering their rats, does it help most of the time? I know theres a certain risk involved but I think it might be worth a try. The offender: 
Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Jun 27, 2012 |
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Jun 27, 2012 05:05
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Big Bug Hug posted:Anyone have direct experience with neutering their rats, does it help most of the time? I know theres a certain risk involved but I think it might be worth a try. I have all my boys neutered because I keep mixed sexes, they are very chill. At ~8 mos it could well be hormone-related. If the choice comes down to neuter or potentially isolating him, I would go for the neuter with an experienced vet.
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Jun 27, 2012 06:55
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Should I not be giving my boys mango? I was under the impression that it was just the skins that were dangerous, but a couple of websites said the flesh is just as bad. I hope it's okay, a third of their meals for my trip have mango in them and I'll have to totally repack them if they can't have mango
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Jun 27, 2012 23:46
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I hear mixed things about mango, some places say you can feed it and some say not to. I think it might be one of those things like orange, where its really the skin which is poisonous but a lot of people stay completely away from it. I found this (I know its a crappy yahoo article but it cites some studies you can look at and I'm lazy) http://voices.yahoo.com/pet-rat-health-why-male-rats-not-orange-7987088.html?cat=53 which has a bit on mangoes in it, and conclude that if I were in your shoes, I probably wouldn't repack lunches, but might avoid mangoes in future.Jin Wicked posted:I have all my boys neutered because I keep mixed sexes, they are very chill. At ~8 mos it could well be hormone-related. Yeah I am thinking I'll give it a go, I made an appointment for a couple weeks' time. After time out yesterday he settled down. He missed his brother SO much and Sparky wanted to go back in too, now they are best buddies again. FOR NOW. Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 09:34
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 EDIT: vvv My bad! Here is a cute rat picture instead of this worthless post. J A V A fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 15:37
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J A V A posted:What? No, not "oh well". Failing to properly care for an animal is a reckless and lovely thing to do, not a silly mistake to shrug off. She banned, yo. And if she ain't got the ten bucks it takes to take care of her rats, I hope like hell she ain't got the ten bucks to rereg.
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Jun 28, 2012 20:36
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Action shots of Folly.  
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Jun 29, 2012 03:21
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See, that's a rat you could lower on a string to retreive your keys or some treasure from a storm drain.
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Jun 29, 2012 15:40
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Invalid Octopus posted:Action shots of Folly. GO ON WITHOUT ME
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Jun 29, 2012 16:15
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I was reading an article that was linked to me on Facebook about the ageing process in Humans when I read:quote:Repeating the trick in humans will be more difficult. Mice make telomerase throughout their lives, but the enzyme is switched off in adult humans, an evolutionary compromise that stops cells growing out of control and turning into cancer. Raising levels of telomerase in people might slow the ageing process, but it makes the risk of cancer soar. article I'm not a scientist and this is more of a logical leap, but would this help explain why rats/mice have such high cancer rates?
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Jun 30, 2012 07:12
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Nice booze cart. I have one of those too, though mine looks different. Nice rat, also.  Lord Windy posted:I'm not a scientist and this is more of a logical leap, but would this help explain why rats/mice have such high cancer rates? Makes sense to me. I figure their bodies tend to go haywire because they rarely survive to old age in the wild. Though it is probably coincidence, we have had fewer cancers since switching to bottled water. 
Jin Wicked fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Jun 30, 2012 |
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Jun 30, 2012 08:03
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So how do I tell if my rats are having fun? We've had them for 3 weeks now, and they're definitely better at being handled. If I get them out and sit on the sofa, they mostly hide behind cushions in between rushing madly around. They will take food, so presumably they're not too stressed. But I don't know what rats are supposed to do  .Should I be trying to pick them up more? I thought it might be good for them to zoom a bit since they don't use the wheel in the cage.
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Jun 30, 2012 09:41
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