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They're completely adorable, Invalid Octopus! Do you have names in mind? I hope they take to their new home well! I once mixed a male with a female, and had to keep them separate until his balls were removed. Unfortunately, my vet refused to perform the operation until a certain age (I'm not sure, but IIRC it was something silly like 4 or 5 months). They were both pretty lonely during the wait, particularly the female who was in mourning for her litter mate, who died unexpectedly during cancer surgery.  I ended up lying about his age to get him through the procedure early. Luckily he was big for his age so it was plausible.
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May 27, 2015 02:32
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| # ? May 17, 2024 22:57 |
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I think the size is what's important rather than age anyway. Vets are often not comfortable with the delicate anesthesia needed for rats. Octopus, those rats are the cutest. Makes me want more rats. Must resist.
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May 27, 2015 05:56
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No names that BF and I can agree on, at least. Our vet says 3 months, but as long as their balls have dropped he'll do the surgery. They're getting it done in about 3 weeks, because that's when they have an appointment time for us. Should add that my vet is very experienced with rats. 
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May 27, 2015 13:46
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So a week or so ago we got two new rats and they are amazing. The difference between them and our previous pair, upon getting them home for the first few days, was night and day. Our first pair of girls didn't like to be handled or hang out with us for weeks, even months - I remember when I first had both of them on my shoulders at the same time, it was nearly a year after getting them. The breeder was eight months pregnant and in the middle of moving house when she had them, so I'm assuming that they maybe didn't get handled in their first few weeks as much as they could have, which is a shame. Girl rats can also just be like that, of course. This pair, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. Being a bit more confident with handling them no doubt helps too. I feel like I'm betraying Chimay and Kriek in saying it, but these girls are so, so much friendlier and more affectionate "out of the box", it's amazing. We can't wait to spend (hopefully) a good few years with them! Here come blurry phone photos!  Brown one is Smaslug, white one is Dyna.  Smaslug is absurdly affectionate. If she so much as hears footsteps, she launches herself onto the bars of the cage, climbing as high as she can in a desperate attempt to find someone to cuddle.    Dyna is two weeks' younger and is a good bit smaller and way more hyperactive. She's still very good at being handled, but she constantly wants to run around and explore, whereas Smaslug kind of ambles around casually.   Smaslug insists on having a paw on you whenever humanly possible.  hello    I love them so much already
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May 28, 2015 01:40
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Those hammock pics are reminding me of my boys. They just love hanging around in their hammock. That spot doesn't seem to be growing and/or not causing him pain so I'm going to just keep an eye on it.
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May 28, 2015 05:59
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:So a week or so ago we got two new rats and they are amazing. Well socialised snuggly rats are the best 
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May 28, 2015 06:10
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Dyna's gorgeous! Yeah, some rats just don't take to people. I had a pair of males like that, they were okay when they were babies, then when they got a bit older they just became absurdly anxious around everyone. They eventually got over it to a certain extent, but that was a year plus into their lives. Luckily, in my experience that's pretty rare in rats, and even among the ones that are they can learn to get better. One of the friendliest, cuddliest rats I've ever interacted with was abused by his original owner before being adopted by my ex-girlfriend, so when she got him he'd just want to be left alone in his cage and he'd try to bite anyone who got close. With some hand feeding and a great deal of patience, he eventually learned to trust people and even became a friendly, fun-loving rat for the remainder of his life (though he was still pretty territorial about the couch, at least when it came to her pet cat).
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Jun 1, 2015 00:17
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Does anyone have experience with rats that squeak a lot more than usual? Smaslug is a peaceful and kind rat, and Dyna likes to bully her mercilessly (in a friendly way, they're best pals really). Smaslug appears to have taken to indignant squeaking as a defense mechanism. For example, earlier on, I opened the door and they both immediately leapt into my hand, so I tried to reposition them by depositing Dyna on top of Smaslug's head, to which the latter responded with an angry squeak followed by forgetting anything had happened. What's of slightly more concern is that, last night, I opened the cage door when Smaslug was clinging half to it. As usual, the paws that were on the door when it opened flailed at the air for a second then clung to the bars again, no harm done, no real confusion or distress on her part. After a few seconds, she squeaked several times, jumped off the bars (seemingly normally), squeaked once, more intensely and then wandered over and ate food merrily like nothing had happened. I've kept an eye on her and otherwise her behaviour hasn't changed, she doesn't seem to have any areas that are sore to touch and the two of them get on really well with each other and me. Not sure what can be causing this other than that she's just a bit of a squeaker - my previous rats weren't at all, so it's a little unnerving. Lunchmeat Larry fucked around with this message at 13:22 on Jun 5, 2015 |
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Jun 5, 2015 13:19
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Some rats are dramatic. It happens.
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Jun 5, 2015 16:35
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Only one of my rats squeak, and that's when his brother is kicking his rear end.
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Jun 6, 2015 08:58
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Got a couple large feeders out of the bin last week. They are extremely friendly and cool, and taking to the litterbox amazingly well! The albino's name is Max and the hooded one is Penny, they are both females. The cats adjusted instantly, too. Overall I'm super impressed with how well they're doing.  
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Jun 10, 2015 22:07
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Sounds like one of my rats is breathing super loudly (wheezing?) and I may have my first significant mycoplasma problem on my hands. Is this a straight to the vet issue? Is there anything I can do for her at home in the meantime? The other one is fine and normal and Cream, the sick wheezy one, is otherwise normal. Just super squeaky when breathing!
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Jun 20, 2015 15:14
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There's not much you can do yourself, no. With some luck, a vet can prescribe antibiotics that can treat the symptoms and even make them go away for a while, but nothing can actually cure the condition. That's the bad news, sorry. The good news is that in its earlier stages it's not particularly uncomfortable for the rat. If it's just started, then it's probably still pretty mild, and will likely come and go depending on the rat's overall level of health and stress. Even with this disease, a rat can live a long and fulfilling life - even untreated, it likely won't become debilitating until a more advanced age. It's also easier to treat if caught early, though again it can never be completely cured so you should fully expect it to reappear eventually. Good luck! (And don't feel too bad - you did nothing wrong, a very large number of rats contract the disease at some point in their life.)
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Jun 22, 2015 01:39
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Thank you! I scheduled a vet appointment for Tuesday so hopefully I can at least get an antibiotics subscription. Weirdly it seems to have completely subsided and she is totally quiet and normal now, but it's still the worst I've seen in my rats so I want to keep on top of it. Poor squeaks 
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Jun 22, 2015 13:30
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We have just added two eight week old babies to our clan of 18 month / 2 year old girls. Introductions are going well (hence the tiny cage they're in for this part of the day) This then led to my favourite picture ever taken of my rats: 
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Jun 22, 2015 20:45
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So adorable.  I really want to get more than two rats but I'm not sure if I can take care of all of them properly. It's kinda scary. I've had 2-3 boys for a while now but I wish I could have a giant ratty herd.
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Jun 22, 2015 20:51
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I love it when introductions go well. I really wish I could get rats with roan/husky coats - I think it's a gorgeous pattern, but there's none available in this part of the world.
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Jun 23, 2015 03:03
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Our rat is really depressed. The other rat she's lived with her whole life died last week, and we've tried to keep her engaged, bought her more toys, but she still seems less energetic and active than before, and I think she might even be chewing on her tail. Is there anything we can do to help her, aside from getting another rat? We were hoping to wait until after they both passed, because they both have mico. We got them from craigslist, and I'm pretty sure they were pet store rats. We want to get a pair of breeder rats next, so they are more healthy, but if we got one now mico would get passed on from our current rat. If there's no other way, we'll definitely consider getting a new rat, but if there's any other option, we would probably prefer that.
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Jun 30, 2015 05:10
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Pretty much all rats have myco. They just display it/ tolerate it differently. Some have constant flare-ups and some barely suffer from it. Your rat might adjust. I have a lone boy who lost his cage-mate and he was depressed for a while but sees to have perked up. I would have gotten him a friend, but I knew this group was going to be my last. If she is self mutilating though, I would think about bringing in a companion. Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Jun 30, 2015 |
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Jun 30, 2015 05:30
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Well, we are getting two baby rats to join her. Which means a new cage, because our spare cage is only big enough to hold them while we clean their main cage. Nowhere near big enough to hold two while we acclimate them to each other. And we are taking Tina, the old one, to the vet to get something to make sure her tail heals and doesn't get infected.  E: She insists a breeder wouldn't sell us rats if one has mycoplasma. From what you're saying, that sounds like BS, and I know she hasn't asked any. Should I email some around here and ask? 22 Eargesplitten fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Jul 3, 2015 |
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Jul 2, 2015 18:59
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Yeah, I'd just go ahead and ask anyway. I don't think it would be a big deal to most breeders.
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Jul 3, 2015 02:05
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I should clarify, supposedly all pet rats carry myco, but not all display symptoms. Some are vulnerable to flare ups or even constant problems. So passing it from one to a other isn't an issue, but it still pays to get them from a breeder who has bred the healthiest rats that have the least respiratory issues. If that makes sense.
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Jul 3, 2015 02:10
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That makes sense. She found some on craigslist that I guess we'll go see, but I'll email a breeder in case they don't work out. I never thought I would own rats, but our current one is really sweet.
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Jul 3, 2015 02:45
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Most rats are pretty sweet, it comes naturally to them. They can be brats sometimes too, though. Had an issue yesterday where one of my girls tried to get away from me when I had her playing in the backyard. She tried to get under the neighbours' bushes, and actually hid from me when I went to get her. I think she thought it was a game, based on how she acted when I finally caught her (plenty happy).  A panicky 30-40 seconds, that was.
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Jul 4, 2015 15:12
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Some rodents. Merle one is Pongo, masked one is Pan.     
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Jul 4, 2015 16:33
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Falstaff posted:Most rats are pretty sweet, it comes naturally to them.
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Jul 4, 2015 17:57
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Our one that died recently wasn't very affectionate. It was nearly blind, though, whatever it's called when they have red eyes. We got them from a family who couldn't take care of them anymore. I think one was the boy's and one was the girl's. So one probably got more attention than the other, too. Albinos are sometimes more nervous than the baseline due to their near-blindness (and their other senses are dulled compared to normal rats, as well), so the world can seem extra scary and mysterious to them. This can be made worse if they're ignored or abused by their owners. Even then, though, in my experience most of them can be turned around. So! I accidentally left a package of yogurt drops on the top of my girls' cage.  They chewed a hole in the bottom, all sneaky-like, to pull out the yogurt drops while leaving the bag looking more-or-less intact. Only noticed it tonight. I have no idea how long the little gluttons been gorging themselves on yogurt, but I couldn't find any of them stashed away anywhere, so they must have eaten them all. Rats.
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Jul 5, 2015 02:52
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This little guy has grown into his coloration and his ridiculous harley coat. He rolls over for tummy rubs and comes when I call him a shitlord. Lennyyyyyyyy 
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Jul 5, 2015 04:26
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OMG look at that fluffy rat! hes gorgeous. Would love to see more pictures of him.
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Jul 5, 2015 10:08
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Wanna pet Lenny, he looks soft. Won't pet him hard, I promise :3
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Jul 5, 2015 16:18
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What an adorable shitlord.
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Jul 5, 2015 18:18
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Invalid Octopus posted:Some rodents. Merle one is Pongo, masked one is Pan. !!!! ohmyGOD
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Jul 8, 2015 10:06
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Welp, Ratigan's arm looks like it's swelling up. I can see what looks like a scab at the center of the swell. And the spot on his back had finally shrunk too. 
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Jul 8, 2015 17:52
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I bought my rats a new ball and they HATE it. All my past rats loved the old ball I had and loved rolling around the apartment. My rats are still not the most affectionate guys in the world, but ever since I let them run around on the floor they spring at the chance for out of the cage roam time. I thought the ball would be great for less supervised outside-cage time but I can barely get them in it, and when I do they panic. Inky bites furiously on the inside and breathes really loudly and frantically. is there anything I can do to help them understand what it is exactly? Or is it just a no go on the ball front?
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Jul 10, 2015 00:51
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redcheval posted:I bought my rats a new ball and they HATE it. All my past rats loved the old ball I had and loved rolling around the apartment. My rats are still not the most affectionate guys in the world, but ever since I let them run around on the floor they spring at the chance for out of the cage roam time. I thought the ball would be great for less supervised outside-cage time but I can barely get them in it, and when I do they panic. Inky bites furiously on the inside and breathes really loudly and frantically. Christ, just stop putting them in it already.
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Jul 10, 2015 01:37
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Invalid Octopus posted:Christ, just stop putting them in it already. Come on now, of course I'm not putting them in there after that! I started leaving it in the cage with the ends off to see if they'd get used to it, and wondered if anyone had had a similar experience. I'd like for them to get more free rein of the apartment. There's no need to act like I'm sealing them inside like some kind of weird chokey situation 
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Jul 10, 2015 02:02
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redcheval posted:Come on now, of course I'm not putting them in there after that! I started leaving it in the cage with the ends off to see if they'd get used to it, and wondered if anyone had had a similar experience. I'd like for them to get more free rein of the apartment. There's no need to act like I'm sealing them inside like some kind of weird chokey situation Like, do what you want with your pets and I don't think you're abusing them. You just really don't need to stress about your rats not liking the ball, it is okay, there's no great benefit to having rats in a ball.
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Jul 10, 2015 02:08
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No, I understand. To be honest it was more shocking than anything else and I felt immediately lovely for them obviously being upset by it. Having four past rats just take to it naturally, it took me completely by surprise. My past rats have all also been more interested in loafing around on my lap and all these guys want to do is explore. I don't want to force them into it, I just thought I was doing a nice thing for them and feel bad that it didn't work out? But I'll probably just scrap it entirely, if I leave it in the cage they just stuff it full of bedding and toys 
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Jul 10, 2015 02:18
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Rats aren't hamsters, they don't really need a ball when they're out playing and they have a lot more fun exploring without one.
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Jul 10, 2015 02:21
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Falstaff posted:Rats aren't hamsters, they don't really need a ball when they're out playing and they have a lot more fun exploring without one. Balls are just as bad for hamsters as they are for rats *flees back to hamster thread*
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Jul 10, 2015 02:43
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