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Anyone have a recommendation for chew toys? My rat could not give two craps about anything I have bought her at the pet store besides maybe a Kong filled with treats :/
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Jul 14, 2010 07:03
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CompactFanny posted:Homemade toys! My guys really love toilet paper tubes stuffed with treats and tissues, and the ends folded shut. Also an old sock full of treats hanging just out of reach- they all know "spin" as a trick, and it's soooo hilarious to watch them spinning under the sock trying to get the treats to fall out. I totally forgot about TP tubes! She is going to get a tube within a tube within a tube, with one yogie inside :3
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Jul 16, 2010 05:59
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Ugrok posted: Also my rats all hated Regal Rat. Which is a bummer because it's heart-shaped and adorable and smells like apples.
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Jul 30, 2010 07:10
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How long is too long for dissolvable stitches to stay in? It's been about a month since Peaches had her tumor removed and she still has some stitches left under her armpit. I read somewhere it can take up to two months for them to go away but I just wanted to make sure.
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Aug 12, 2010 22:44
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Superconsndar posted:2 rats are definitely no more work than one. Just make absolutely sure it's the same sex as your current one. Together they are also way more happy and playful with you than just one rat would be.
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Aug 19, 2010 01:54
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Time for an old rat on a fancy blanket! Peaches is two years old and three months and has outlived both her cagemates. She had a mammary tumor removed but she is still pretty active, even though she is a bit of a chub. She was never that graceful but I've noticed she is more clumsy now though. When should older rats no longer be in taller cages? She is like some sort of diva and boggles way more in her bigger cage, but if it is a safety issue I might be moving her to her smaller, one story cage soon.
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Aug 27, 2010 08:10
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I feel like I never get a response but I will try again  What are the differences between symptoms of illness and symptoms of old age? Peaches is two years old and three months. In the past few weeks she has been losing a lot of her limb strength, and I've seen a lot more porphyrin around her nose. Her breathing is fine, and even though she is weaker she still always wants to get out of my lap and explore. She has a healthy appetite, though I've had to switch her to softer foods because she can't really hold foods with her paws. I moved a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not sure if that factors. My room is clean and quiet though and she has all of her familiar toys. She is also solitary because she is crabby with other rats, and her previous cagemates passed away. I give her a bunch of attention though and I see her boggling more now than she used to a couple months ago. I've never had a rat live this long so I'm worried about what I need to look out for. If she is just showing signs of old age that is fine, but if she needs a visit to the vet I will make an appointment. I just don't want to stress her out if I don't have to.
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Sep 7, 2010 05:32
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Carebear posted:Have you looked into the possibility that she may have a pituitary tumor? Peaches definitely has some of the symptoms. Her loss of strength has been more gradual, but I ended up putting her in a one level cage before I moved. First a mammary tumor, then abscesses, now this :/ What happened to your rat sounds horrible, but if you hadn't taken good care of her I doubt she would have even lived to that point. It sounds like you were very good to her, so I hope you don't still feel guilty. Queen Burbleburble posted:The combination of increase in porphyrin, loss of coordination and/or strength, and weight loss definitely warrants a vet trip. Boggling can also be a sign of stress. You would only be stressing her out for a few hours at most. Just remember to treat her with lot of chocolate afterwards. I didn't realize rats would boggle when they were stressed. If I am petting Peaches and she boggles for example, how can I tell the difference between her being stressed and her being happy? And thanks both of you for the responses. I will make an appointment for her this week. Chakattack! posted:I'd love to hear from people who've had female rats, and whether they've experienced it or not. Out of the seven female rats I, my friends, and family have had, five have had tumors. I feel like that number is much higher than average, but these are all rats that came from the pet store or from "accident litters" between pet store rats. So it may be that they were poorly bred. Out of the five tumors though, only one was malignant.
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Sep 7, 2010 19:57
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Also in the rats spiraling downhill boat. Peaches went to the vet and it turns out she does have a brain tumor. She is still a little piggy but she has gotten so much slower and sadder looking. I just want one of those rats that lives to be 4 years old
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Sep 13, 2010 07:17
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I had the same problem with Peaches. What helped was always shaking the yogies jar when it was time to go back into the cage, and then the rats would run over for treats. Even then though, she sometimes still hid. When she was the last rat left I spent way more time with her alone, and I guess she bonded enough with me that it ceased to be a problem.
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Sep 24, 2010 08:37
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^Teach her to be people friendly! Just keep her with you for about 20 minutes a day in a pocket, and give her a favorite treat when she is with you and when you put her back. She needs to learn that you are fun, not scary. My last rat Peaches passed away a couple weeks ago and it broke my heart. She was the crabbiest of the three ladies I had but she ended up being my best bud in the end. It's hard to care so much about pets that only live a few years, but I'm in an apartment situation so I can't have a cat or dog. After coming home to an empty room and getting bummed out all the time I decided to adopt another pair. I named them Skippy and Jif because they look like little peanut butter bros I've never had males, and these dudes are huge. Not to mention they bite sometimes, so it's been an experience. They are neutered though and like to be pet behind the ears. Hopefully they will stop nipping some day?  This one is Jif. He gave my hand a kiss earlier I'm pretty sure he has a respiratory infection though, so I get to freak him out again and take him to the vet this week.
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Oct 5, 2010 07:22
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I need some help! My rats are about 9 months old, neutered, and I adopted them two weeks ago. One is a sweetheart but the other is really nervous and bites HARD. My dilemma is that the biter (Skippy) is sometimes cool with me and sometimes not. I try putting my hand in a fist and letting him sniff it, offering treats, giving him ear scratches and being all around gentle with him. But sometimes he will get riled up when I am cleaning the cage or trying to pick him up and he will bite me hard enough to draw blood. So I know I probably need to work on trust training him, but that would mean he does not come out of the cage until he is comfortable, and that could take a while. He has so much energy though and already goes bonkers at night chewing on the cage bars even though he has a wheel and a million TOYS to chew on. It keeps me up too much as it is, and I worry that if I do not have him out to play he will go berserk at night and I will never get any sleep Any advice? (Can't put the cage in a different room, sadly.)
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Oct 16, 2010 01:01
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Superconsndar posted:Rats that bite often and hard are usually aggressive rather than truly fearful, especially in males. Does he bite even when he's out of his cage, or just when he's in it? If it's just when he's in it, it may be territorial aggression and that can be fixed to an extent, but if he bites at random, that may never really stop. If that's the case, I would try forced socialization (put him in a hoody pocket or on your shoulder and carry him around with you for an hour or so twice a day) and see if it helps, but in my experience, males who bite hard enough to draw blood at random kind of never stop completely. He's only drawn blood in his cage. It seems more like a territorial thing but I'm not really sure. When he is out for play time he sometimes will come up and mouth my fingers, but I can't tell if he is trying to play or being aggressive. I had him out for a long time yesterday and he was much more mellow at night, so I will follow your advice with the forced socialization. I just glad he has an adorable brother that gives me kisses
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Oct 16, 2010 19:46
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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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How do I put just one of my rats on a diet? Jif has gotten pretty chubby, but his brother is just fine. They get a Suebee's diet with fresh fruit and vegetables daily. They run around for an hour a day too. I don't know how he managed to get so fat, except maybe by stealing 80% of the food. Chubby pets are so cute though
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Nov 13, 2010 03:00
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RazorBunny posted:I was reading a book recently where one of the footnotes mentioned that a researcher who was being interviewed in the book had previously done experiments that involved dressing male rats in tiny pants and seeing how the type of fabric affected their mating habits. This book sounds rad.
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Nov 18, 2010 08:12
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Having a dilemma. I adopted a pair of rescue rats a while ago, and I had posted that one of them is a biter. Well, two months later I have been nothing but sweet to him and he has started biting me more than ever. It's come to the point where Skippy will run up to me when I have them out for playtime and just chomp down really hard for no reason. I've tried squeaking, tapping him on the nose, or just putting him back in the cage, but nothing has helped. I've tried giving him space at first, then spent a lot of time trust training, and I always shower him with treats and headscratches. But he is still a huge dick and I'm tired of being bitten for no reason. It really hurts I think he might have been mishandled when he was young, and I am fine with having a shy or nervous rat, but he seems genuinely mean. The sad part is I LOVE his brother Jif. He is the opposite, basically a total sweetheart that gives me kisses and is happy to hang out with people. I am just worried that if I give Skippy back to the rescue that Jif will miss him too much, even if I found him another friend. It makes me mad that I am spending all this time caring for a dick rat though when there are like those 1000 potentially nicer rats in San Jose that need a home. I'm not really sure what to do
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Dec 9, 2010 09:03
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Chakattack! posted:I'm not an expert, but have you considered neutering him? I know small animal surgery can be risky and expensive, but if he isn't responding to any training and his biting might be caused by hormones and being territorial and aggressive, maybe it's something to think about? He already is neutered :/ That's part of the reason why I think he might never get better. The thought of giving him back to the rescue makes me feel really bad, but then the thought of having to leave him in the cage as much as possible also makes me feel bad. He will bite me basically everywhere but my face (thank goodness) when he is on my bed. When I have let him free range he doesn't bite me as much, but he starts going nuts on shredding my furniture. This would make sense if I didn't give them tons of boxes and chew toys to play with each day, as well as much out of the cage play time he can get before he starts biting.
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Dec 9, 2010 19:39
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Aw, thanks for helping me out guys. I think he is definitely "a poorly-socialized neutered male." I got in contact with the rescue I adopted him from and the woman gave me some tips I am going to try out, like having a separate time out cage and not letting him use his biting to dictate how I act. I would feel really bad if I gave up on him without trying everything. He will come after me even if I completely ignore him, so it makes it hard to predict when he will bite. But then when I put him back in the cage after he bites he BEGS to come out again. Sometimes too he will sleep in his cage all smushed up next the bars, as close as he can get to me. If I am sitting in my chair he will be in one corner, and then if I am on my bed he will be in the other corner. So sometimes I think he likes me and is a little cutie, and then other times he is a little dick out for blood. The rescue woman also brought up the possibility that he has a brain tumor or something else going on, which could be the problem given how different he is from his brother. So I guess I will keep trying and hopefully report back with good news in the future.
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Dec 9, 2010 23:42
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I gave my last old lady rat the glucosamine-chondroitin and she didn't seem to hate it. I got one of those pill grinders and mixed up the pill powder in some baby food. But then again, she passed away shortly after from a brain tumor so I can't really say how effective it was :/
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Dec 30, 2010 07:41
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One of my rats has a respiratory infection and has been wheezy ever since I adopted him. When he's on Baytril he is relatively fine, but once I take him off he goes back to sounding like a sick puppy after a few weeks My vet said he might have to be on meds forever. Has anyone else had a forever medicated rat? Also, here is a rat inside pajama pants. 
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May 9, 2011 19:21
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