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shadysight posted:rescuing rats It's probably one of the hardest things I've done in life, but its the only way i get rats now. Their temperament is usually awful towards humans, but rats are smart. As long as you are always patient with them, never shout or get angry with them they will change. It's god drat hard when all they want to do is kick, bite, scratch and get away from you any chance they get. I got two males recently, Booger and Casper. Booger was the most abysmal rat on earth and it never changed till he died. We tried to handle him as much as we could when we let him out of the cage but it was no use, he would attack you the instant you open the door. I dont mind getting hurt but he was trying to kill Casper any chance he got. Washing and reintroducing them made no effect he hated everyone and everything. I was the only person willing to even try to handle him. It got me bitten and scratched up every single time. I kept my fingers away from his mouth but he would scratch and try to jump out. I stuffed him in my shirt, he wasnt as bad in there. When he escaped into my room it would take days to find him. You just had to wait till he went back into his cage for food and water then try to shut the door before he got out. Whenever he found Casper you'd hear the screaming and fighting through the floorboards downstairs. Casper would spend most of his time hiding in my lap or my pillow if i was trying to sleep. The last time he was loose in the room i saw him walking on the table and crept up to grab him. He saw me and i lept over to grab him, but when i got there he hadnt moved at all. I knew something was wrong straight away, so i carefully picked him up. I could feel his heart thumping so hard through his tiny rib cage. I rang my Vet he said try to give him some metacam hes having a heart attack and bring him in ASAP. I put a drop in his mouth and he swallowed it down. He was mostly limp, but juddering every few seconds like a siezure. Last thing he tried to do was run while i was holding him, flopping his legs. Ive never seen anything like it. Anyway after a minute of this he was gone. I never realised how soft he was, he was always tensed like a rock when i was holding him. Thats when i noticed a huge lump deep inside his belly. He had cancer and i had no idea. I still feel horrible for not knowing. It probably explains his behaviour from the start too. Its very rare for male rats to get cancer. Amiss posted:Recommended reading: Booger is a good example of rats that need to be alone. His abusiveness has even affected Casper very badly. Ive carefully tried introducing Casper to other rats but he just screams and runs away. I washed him and put him with a friends baby rats. he just kept screaming and running away. I cant tell you how utterly hilarious it is watching a grown rat run in terror from 5 tiny popcorning baby rats attacking him with kisses. I watched and lolled for a bit till Casper grabbed one of the babies by the neck and threw him back. I've kept rats for years, i know they need other rats to be healthy but some rats are traumatized or violent and cant be around other rats, or anything else. Its rare but it does happen. Rats are so varied, individual and intelligent theres always gonna be exceptions to every rat rule. Also Casper likes to play peekaboo. In the morning whem im getting dressed for work he jumps on my bed and wants to play. When im ready to leave he darts to my foot and tags me, then shoots off and hides. I carefully look around the room to see where his head is sticking out of. When i spot him he "EEP!"s then hides again. If i try to leave he runs up and tags me again or chases me out of the room. I put him in the highest furthest spot in my room then try to run out the door as fast as i can before he catches me. I can hear him scratching on the door as im leaving. I wish i could play with him all day.
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Jun 29, 2010 13:54
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Skutter posted:You have to get a video of this. I'll try. Carebear posted:I've been wanting one of these guys for years. Oh god yes! Theyre really hard to find in the UK and i dont think im ready yet. Mostly im worried they'll kill my other rats. *faint* HOW MANY WALNUTS? Biggest rat i had was called Ketchup. She was loving enormous, 1.3kg, a foot long excluding tail and I had to hold her with both hands. Her hands were so big she could grasp around my finger. She hated being handled but was so big she just couldn't get away. She squeeled whenever you went near her so we called her piggy. She had a minor lump removed but developed a respiratory illness not long after. Thats a cd spindle and disk for scale.   Here she is puffing up and getting aggressive  Balanced on one hand. Im just holding her belly her limbs are dangling.  Shoulder rides were hard  THOUGHT YOU COULD GET AWAY HUH? 
Slidje fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Jun 30, 2010 |
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Jun 30, 2010 17:52
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Apidae posted:pb every morning Be VERY careful with peanut butter. Rats dont produce a lot of saliva so they can very easily choke to death on it. My rats love the stuff but i always chew it heavily before giving them some and i always always always watch them eat it. I've had 2 rats choke on some but not die, and i know one girl that wasnt so lucky. I always save my rats something from what i eat, as long as its not spicy. Mostly they get chicken bones, tuna, eggs, biscuits and chewed toast.
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Jul 9, 2010 23:12
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First Time Caller posted:go hungry and get dehydrated It`s a bad idea to move his food and water supply around. Once here learns where the food is he wont forget it. If you ever lose him just leave the cage door open and youll find him back inside wherever the food and water is. First Time Caller posted:There's not much room up there where he stays also: Yarn! posted:Thanks to this thread I've been inspired to adopt rats WHAT HAVE I DONE. Try and get the friendlier ones to start with. Bad rats may never change. I`ve got so many tooth shaped scars its unbelievable. The worst injury was Bigguy. He bit my arm in the center, his tooth went an inch down straight though the artery. I was pissing blood everywhere. He settled down though it was worth it
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Jul 26, 2010 10:08
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Amiss posted:RATTY PATTY I got trolled out of the livejournal ratties group and 2 rat forums for posting that video. Apparantly i was abusing my rat by overfeeding him. I told them all to gently caress themselves they dont know what theyre talking about, and got banned from each one for sticking up for myself. It was funny at the time the amount of insane rat ownwers out there. Not one of them ever registered the fact that he was adopted like that and he was huge when i got him, thats why i named him Bigguy. The funniest one was this woman telling me about how his obesity will give him cancer and diabetes and lead to an early death. good advice, except for the fact she was the most grotesque obese horrible blob of flesh I`ve ever seen infesting livejournal.
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Jul 26, 2010 19:56
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First Time Caller posted:He`ll be on the on the top floor cos its a hiding spot. Get an igloo and he`ll hide in there. Give him time and be nice, he will settle down and be friendlier. Male rats are verrrry lazy though. Mine have always spent 90% of the daytime sleeping or hiding unless i grab them for play. Evenings is the best time to get them out for play and when theyre most active.   
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Jul 27, 2010 12:31
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eig posted:When you have males and females in proximity, the males and probably the females will start to get a bit more violent towards each other. When i had lady rats, a friend came with her boy rat. My girls instantly flocked towards him for a sniff and started squeeking. I put them in their cages but they started fighting each other really violently. When she left i let them all loose but they were really fighty for the next 3 days.
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Jul 27, 2010 20:21
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I would pick neutering as my first option so then i would keep them all together rather than seperate cages.
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Jul 27, 2010 23:37
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Squid posted:My girls are quite small at 8 months (fully grown?). Could that possibly be because they were only fed food blocks at the pet store in their youth? Mostly likely means they were seperated from their mother too early and didnt have enough nutrition early on. Their immune system i probably not good, you need to start giving them a good diet. They might just be small but its always worth getting them strong and healthy for the second year of their life. I hand raised an abandoned pinky, i never thought she would make it. 2 Weeks of not sleeping with a little pinky rat in my hand everywhere i went. When she first opened her eyes, i cant explain the emotions i felt, it was too much.  I called her Zoomer because she was always a runt. Zoomer never grew out of the tiny, hyper active baby stage.  She had no fear of anything or anyone. She used to leap off the highest points of my room onto people like a sugar glider. Always in your face, in your mouth looking for food or some rodentistry or cleaning my earrings. Oh god that tickled. I used to throw her in the air or at my brother. She loved it. If i tried to put her down she'd instantly run up the curtains and jump back. Normally when i walk in my room i walk slow and carefully look at the floor, with her it was bat country. WEEEEEEEE!!!  Getting ready to launch  MWUAH    When she got sick nothing worked because she had such a weak immune system. It was hard seeing her go from one of the most energetic creatures Ive ever seen to sleeping all the time on my headboard. She used to jump off it all the time while i was trying to sleep. She only lived for a year. I like to think it was the best year any rat could have ever had. I miss her terribly sushisleeper posted:They made rat love about 20 times in the past hour. Slidje fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Jul 31, 2010 |
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Jul 31, 2010 16:15
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Superconsndar posted:The male is neutered. Superconsndar posted:It's not dominance. I've never had mixed pairs yet but I have read a tremendous amount of stories about them. It does sound all normal to me. If you havent bathed and introduced them try it now. If you have then she might have picked up some wierd smells in the bathroom like Superconsndar said. I agree though, if shes not freaking out leave them to it.
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Aug 1, 2010 02:01
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Donkey Darko posted:Free time comes carefully later. I'll open the cage and sit in front, if they try to run past me or behind the cage I'll pop them back in. If they come to me and sit in my lap its belly rubs and treats. They'll only play with toys when they're bored in their cage. I've had a whole bunch of rat toys but the only things they've liked are wine corks, wood chews and those bird seed things you hang in bird cages. They HATE feathers. Mine dont like toys probably because I don't keep my rats locked up once they're settled, they have a free run of the room. They go back to the cage for food and sleep. Rats are very destructive so I don't recommend them running free all the time unless you dont care about what they break in your room. Boys are significantly less destructive than lady rats, but boy rats will pee on stuff when they're new. They stop scent marking after about a month. Buy some odor neutralising drops if you have males. Squid posted:Slidje, I can't believe you raised a pinky rat, holy poo poo. You are the rat master. I'm sure Zoomer did have the best year any rat ever had. Sleeping was hard I always thought I might crush her in my sleep. Set my alarm every hour so i can see if she wanted food. Kept expecting her to give up at any moment. I woke up once and she wasnt there, as i got up she had wriggled under my neck and squeeked when i moved. Slidje fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Aug 2, 2010 |
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Aug 2, 2010 13:49
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Boco_T posted:hairless rat. Theres been a change in pecking order so all the rats will fight till they establish a dominant rat. Your gonna need to wash them all and scent them with something powerful so they all smell the same at first. You should always bathe new rats with your existing rats once you are sure they don't have any transmittable diseases. If you wash them the fighting will continue but it wont be fights to the death. Keep an eye on them. For my rats the fighting usually dies down after a few weeks. Separate cages are not a long term solution because you'll have to keep them separated forever. RatMachine posted:What is the best treatment for mites? Ivermectin. If you can get something called Xenex Ultra Spoton, thats what i use. With Xenex you gotta weigh them and be exact in how many drops you drip on them per 100 grams body weight. If you use too much it causes muscle spasms, then you gotta give them tranquilizers till the spasms stop.
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Aug 3, 2010 13:53
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Rodent Mortician posted:Welp I didn't know any of that. I've only had a problem with it once when i used too much. My rat was pancaked, shivering so i had him doped up till the next day and he was fine after that.
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Aug 3, 2010 17:56
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Apidae posted:Edit: Now that I look closer at her other eye, it's a bit runny too. Could she be sick? It`s called porphyn and its mostly normal. It can be an indicator your rat is sick, but there will be other factors. Almost every single rat I've had will wake up with crust around their eyes, this is normal. Read more about it here and make a judgement call
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Aug 12, 2010 06:25
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Febtober posted:First she thought she'd read up on a brochure that came with her cage. One of my first rats, Pokie, used to try and drag chicken bones into her cage horizontally. Would ram and push and keep trying to get the thing through, bouncing off every time and sitting there dazed and confused, wondering why the hell she cant get it into nest for eating. She was an adorable retard. Snowball used to steal all the loose paper and even tore out most of my rooms wallpaper. Still havent put any new wallpaper up  
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Sep 1, 2010 19:18
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Boco_T posted:Rat back feet look like disgusting dead shrimps. naww
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Sep 4, 2010 03:52
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Chakattack! posted:I know there are no guarantees about this sort of thing, I guess I just want a better idea than "female rats are prone to this". If you feel any lumps bigger than a pea, check them the next day. A tumor will double in size every day till its about the size of an egg but obviously you'll get surgery before then. It wont be a chore, it should be part of the normal way you pick up and play with them.
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Sep 5, 2010 22:56
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daggerdragon posted:I've had 10 (pet store or adopted) rats. Only one of them has lived past 3 years, and that was due to sheer stubbornness on his part. You and me both, buddy. Pokie was about 5 years old when her body finally gave up. She had a massive tumor, which never seemed to bother her, one of her bottom teeth was a different colour and very brittle, always growing at a weird angle, she had one ear always full of pus no matter what i gave her or tried to treat it with. She was 3 and a bit frail when she got her final tumor. I decided not to risk having it removed because she was so old but she held on and never stopped being a silly bouncey female rat. She used the tumor like a leg and bounced on it as she ran around. Stubborn little bitch. Really should have had that loving thing removed, she might have even lived even longer. She was always active and trying to carry on like all the other rats till one day she just couldnt move or eat, raise her head, she couldnt even blink on her last day. I held her her close, kept my finger on her heart so i knew when she was gone. Gave her lots of love and talked to her as much as i could. Thanked her for staying so long. If i could have kept her the rest of my life i would have. I have recurring dreams where she comes to visit me. CompactFanny posted:It pretty much comes with the territory, imo. I can't decide if a four year old rat would be really cool, or if it would be like having a 110 year old grandma. She just isn't fun any more now that she can't walk, eat solids, poop in the toilet or remember your name.
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Sep 15, 2010 10:12
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Olifanten posted:I think Vet is a bit extreme, give her time and treats. She should pick up in a few days. Some rats never get over it and their health declines fast. Keep an eye on her and don't panic yet. Vet visits always stress my rats out way too much to be worthwhile unless it's an emergency. One thing you have to watch for is over-grooming. They'll start losing the fur around their arms from grooming them too much. Weight loss and not eating after a week is very bad.
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Sep 16, 2010 12:04
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Serella posted:If I had rats, they'd probably get tiny platters of what I make at every meal. Having animals with strict diets is no fun. Thats what I do. I wont eat anything without saving the rats something. I get stared at when I wrap up bones in a tissue to take home. At work if I see someone throw a sammij in the bin I`ll dig it out and take it home. People waste so much loving food it`s unbelievable. I catch a lot of flak for feeding my rats junk but I want their short lives to be the happiest. I don't give them too much sugar and never give them anything spicy. Don't want them pooping everywhere 
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Nov 27, 2010 12:16
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eig posted:
Thats so loving cute I'm almost in tears
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Dec 5, 2010 00:11
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redjenova posted:Agh, any tips on clipping their razor nails? When holding like this and talking to them I use a nail file to scrape a few times. A stroke or two is enough to wear them down to acceptable levels.
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Dec 25, 2010 18:41
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Magic Hate Ball posted:RATS EVERYWHERE When I was really depressed I got my first rats from a pet shop. 2 females, one was pregnant. Must have ended up with about 30 in my small room. I did my best to care for them and a local rescue helped me out. I kept 16 of them in the end, it was hard but I managed. When one of them gets sick, you gotta treat them all. It gets very expensive very fast. I didnt do it on purpose like this guy. Hes seriously mentally ill
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Jan 7, 2011 20:57
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nazitra posted:Can be hard to tell without handling and seeing him myself, but from the sound of it he`s in some kind of pain. Rats will bite when hurt and he might think the pain will be coming from you, or that you may hurt him if you handle him. I adopted a pair of rats 2 years back. One was a loving horrible monster and I just couldn't ever handle him. Before he died I managed to pick him up and he was completely limp. After he passed I gave him a good hug, thats when I felt some huge mass inside his stomach. He probably had intestinal cancer, thats what caused his massive aggression. If he`s drinking lots of water he might have the same problem, or he might just be constipated. See if you can grab him and squish his belly. Anything solid there isn't normal.
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Mar 5, 2011 15:23
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Enzer posted:Short of learning more about rats than my Vet and telling him what he needs to prescribe, I don't really know. I learned the hard way. I wont think about getting more till I save up about 500 per rat. Insurance may cover them but it never seemed cost effective to me. Red discharge around eyes can be normal after sleeping. Excessive amounts means something is irritating their eyes. Can be a sign of a deep infection but usually is in the nose as well. If thats the case they usually have the same stains on their paws/arms. Stress from rehoming them will also cause this for about the first 2 weeks. Are you sure it's blood? Not really sure how you would find out but try smelling it. Dip it in a q-tip or use your finger. You should know what blood or pee smell like, its pretty much the same sort of smell in rodents. Might be pee with blood in, but both those things are very very bad. Could be cancer, but a tumor you can't see or feel is a tumor you can't treat. Depending on where she got them from, might be a pregnancy. If they're confined to the cage check for babies and blood on a gathered section of bedding. Usually when theyre gonna have babies they pad out every wall or a corner with bedding to make a safe nest. Infections = Antibiotics = a 2 or 3 week course of them so try and get a bulk bottle to save money. Baytril is the most widely used one and relatively simple to administer. You can get a bottle full, they use it to treat pigs, for cheap. measure out the doses carefully. Don't stop treating the day they feel better, stick to it for a week or 2 weeks till its a few days clear. If you don't do a full course then the bacteria will become resistant to the antibiotics. Give them yoghurt to help deal with the loss of gut flora. Honestly I need to see it, get pictures or hit me on AIM if you have a cam set up and I`ll see what advice I can give. Automatically going to a Vet isn't the best option. They should be experienced and confident with rats. Look around for reviews and try to get recommendations from other rat owners in your area. I only know of UK forums and Vets so if you are stateside google something in America and ask there. If you really can't afford it then wait a week and see what happens. This is by far the worst option. If they don't appear to be in pain and behave friendly then that would tell me they're not in pain. If you think they're in pain you have to do something about it. Its not fair on the rats and you shouldn't be keeping them if you ignore their suffering.
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Mar 9, 2011 20:17
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DorianGravy posted:eight days Illness will have a variety of symptoms like chest sounds, lathargy and loss of appetite. He might have allergies but don't worry about all that yet.
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Mar 10, 2011 18:15
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Nebalebadingdong posted:Its a good idea to stop for a bit. You are grieving and you need to recover. I lasted about 3 months without rats and I was 100% certain I would never own them again. I just loved mine so much I couldn't deal with the death any more. Every time I ate something I would save a piece for my babies, then remember I didnt have any. I`d go home and sit down not really thinking about what I was waiting for, but it was my none-existant rats to pile me. Take a break and see what your heart tells you. You might want them again, you might not. Its not a bad thing if you don't. You can always come to this thread to remind yourself and look at cute pictures
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Mar 22, 2011 18:55
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daggerdragon posted:It really is a shame that they don't live longer or healthier. I forget to clean the cages for weeks or change the water in their bottles. The only difference I can think is chewing up the food I give them if its stuff they will selectively eat, like the buttered side of toast. I chew it all up and roll it into a ball before I give it them. I never get sick so it must transfer to them. daggerdragon posted:And I keep finding myself tucking away the fortune cookies from Chinese food restaurants to bring them home to give to the (non-existent) rats, then getting all I need some kind of life running around my dank dark bedroom and what the gently caress else can you do with chicken bones. poo poo I just remembered I had some chicken ribs saved in my bag but that was from a month ago I was at a party a while back and stashed some pizza for the rats in my coat. I found it 2 months later while digging for change. The horror neongrey posted:Yeah... Aryselin's back legs are starting to go My rat Ketchup gradually got worse till he could only move one arm, but I made sure he could reach things in his cage when I wasnt around and coddled him when I was
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Mar 23, 2011 00:47
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Pickle Chops posted:Give him baby food before you start introducing meds into it if he does turn out to be sick. Might be too much protein as well
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Mar 23, 2011 22:38
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Beluga Smoothie posted:are the seeds dangerous? They usually pick out the seeds from watermelon, I don't think they like the taste. They love white melon seeds though. The only bad foods for rats in my experience: Anything with chilli`s in. Not bad for them per-say but you don't want them making GBS threads everywhere. Sunflower seeds. They LOVE them and you always get them in rat food packs but if you give them too much it tends to cause tumors. I used to get whole bags full and treat the rats with them, but it just made them cancer factories. Don't know how much of that was genetics. Sweetcorn is supposed to do the same thing. Never had that problem myself so I give them the odd cob of corn after eating most of it. Both of these foods are only a problem if you give them abnormally high quantities. I've heard but not experienced that oranges give male rats cancer. Never understood that but I never give my boys anything with oranges in. Only affects males too
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Mar 24, 2011 22:28
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Chakattack! posted:intoxicating substance Choko got into my stash once, ran off with a small amount to nibble on. She spent a few hours perched on my bedpost staring at random points in the ceiling like she was hallucinating. She was fine after. Not sure about smoking it but my friends budgie would get ANGRY if you didn't let her sit on your shoulder while smoking a joint. I've never smoked anything near my rats so I wouldn't risk it unless your rats are intent on sitting with you while you 
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Apr 12, 2011 20:57
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polyfractal posted:*faint*
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Apr 26, 2011 19:26
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Rodent Mortician posted:Check with the vet obviously, but 14 days is a pretty standard course of ABs for rodents. I've rarely had one on them for less than that.
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May 3, 2011 00:11
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polyfractal posted:Are chicken bones ok for rats? I know you are supposed to keep chicken bones away from other animals (cats, dogs) because they can break into sharp splinters, is this a problem for rats too? Hell yes. The sharp bones aren't a problem for them, I always crack open the bones before I pass them around. They will gnaw on the marrow but not swallow anything sharp.
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May 10, 2011 16:41
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Bophf posted:Off topic, but Slidje, do you remember some guy years ago whose username was Qualjyn? He's my husband. He never had rats but once we moved in together, he fell hard for them. I think he actually broke a little bit when he saw the babies for the first time. I never heard him so high pitched before. Big Bug Hug posted:Tissue boxes are the best! Everyone gives me their empties because they know my rats love 'em 
Slidje fucked around with this message at 06:58 on May 16, 2011 |
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May 16, 2011 06:55
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They always get so excited when they get a new box.
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Glasgow posted:I have no idea how old they are or how much time I have with them Cant look at it like that. It might be a week, might be months or years. Enjoy the time you have. I had a rescue rat that was skin and bones when I got him. The friendliest little thing I`ve ever seen. Cant imagine how bad his last owners were, but I know they were loving heartless monsters. He was abandoned at a Vet I go to, so they rang me up. I got there expecting some abused, savage. As soon as I opened his pee soaked cardboard box he started licking my hands, ran up my arm and licked my face. He was so skinny I just cried, and he licked the tears off my face. Who could do that to such a harmless adorable little bastard. I kept him with me at all times, even at work cos I needed to make sure he was kept safe and fed. Kept him in my coat sleeve when carrying him around, he just curled up and slept there. Sat him on the shelf when I showered. The steam helps them breath when they have respiratory problems. He grew more and more lethargic but tried his best to eat what I gave him and groomed me whenever I gave him a rub. One day carrying him back home I went to get him out of my sleeve and he had passed away. I`m certain he was peaceful when he went. I had him for 2 weeks. I don't like talking about it because it always makes me cry. I`m not crying cos he died before I could give him name, I get upset about the condition I got him in and the abuse he went through before that time. Those were 2 of the happiest weeks of both our lives. As long as you can give them a better life before the end it shouldn't matter how long you had them for. Don't get adopt a pet and think about how it affects you. You are rescuing an animal to give them a better life. If that isn't your intention in the first place, you shouldn't be adopting.
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May 24, 2011 21:37
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Jin Wicked posted:Awwwww, thank you so much. That made my night. Holy crap I remember seeing one of your comics years ago. It was you shouting and screaming with the rats asleep in the background, making all sorts of noise, then in the last frame you are carefully opening a plastic wrapper and the rats instantly wake up. It was loltacular
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Jun 3, 2011 17:52
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Amiss posted:if it's super hot, you might see your rats lying on their backs with their feet in the air to cool off 
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Jun 6, 2011 16:26
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dustbin posted:But I've heard kind of conflicting info about their first couple days As long as you show your rats you like them and wont hurt them, there isn't much you can do wrong. If your rats are scared of you, you don't wanna rip them out of their new home and carry them around. That`ll scare them even worse. If they're not scared then the sooner you start carrying them around the better. It all depends on the rats you have. Just make sure you give them treats after every time you handle them.
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Jun 15, 2011 06:45
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dustbin posted:Trust training is slow but very rewarding. Watch them, try to put yourself in their place and wonder what is going through their heads. Learn from them and they learn from you. Every rat is very distinct and different. Theres no single way to trust train any rat. You need to figure out their personality before you know how to train them. Buy a hoodie with a front pocket you can stuff them inside when they are a bit more comfortable with you. Mine love to hide in the sleeves. Try and keep the cage next to your PC, Bed or anywhere you you sit stationary for a length of time. The very first thing they need to learn is your smell and that you aren't a threat. When I start out with new rats I keep them in the cage on a high shelf next to my PC and bed. Its high enough they wont jump off, not till theyre comfortable around me anyways. I leave the door open so they can get out when they want to. Every time they feel curious about me they approach. If they don't run away when I approach I let them sniff at me and I make sniffy noises back. If that works I pick them up for a fondle then treat. If it doesn't work then I keep my hands near them and try to follow them wherever they run to. Yoghurt drops are the absolute best treat you can give them, but don't overdo it. They're very fattening so no more than 5 a day. They LOOOOOOOOOVE them. Give them a treat whenever they do anything desirable. Its like crack for rats, they'll do pretty much anything for one. Chew up some buttered toast, roll it into a ball. Make a fist but leave your thumb open enough so that they can get their head inside your hand and nibble the breadball. I find thats the easiest way to stop them biting fingers and not fearing your hands. If they bite you, never ever ever hurt them or shout at them. You can give them a gentle nose tap or pinch their bum. Don't do it in a way that will hurt them. If they draw blood, show it to them. Try to learn a rats pain squeel. Every rat I`ve had, even the worst tempered one will clean the wound and feel bad about hurting you. This happens to me a lot because all my rats are rescued and cant find homes because of their behavior. It shouldn't be a problem for most pet rats but I always get the rats no one else can handle. If they're rough rats, get a drat tetanus shot.
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Jun 15, 2011 16:45
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