Abby is a hairless girl that came to me when a friend could no longer keep her girls. Sweet, crazy girl with the biggest ears you've ever seen. Abby started dropping her weight, and then now she's showing signs of a pituitary tumor. She's believed to be around 2, (I thought she was only about 1-1.5, like most the other girls.) so I guess it's to be expected.

I'm majorly depressed over this. We just lost Shamus suddenly, and now this girl is starting to waste away. It looks like we'll be back to the vet in the next few days to see if anything can be done, but I'm wondering if it'd be better to have her PTS now, or to just force-feed her and try to get her weight up/treat her anyway. She's starting to degenerate quickly and while she's still eager to come out or be held, it's hard to judge what the best call is at this point.

( A few pictures of her. )

Hey everybody.

Behind the cut is my rat Billy, who was in the sink the other day. ;)


( RAT PICTURES! )

What, exactly are his markings? Blue merle? I'm not very familiar with rat markings.

THANKS!! :)
Jack

So my two males, August and Sebastian (Sebastian is hairless), have always fought with each other. Usually ending in Sebastian squeaking and then they stop. But today when I came home from work I noticed that Sebastian has a lot of scratches and a bite mark on him. They don't look like deep cuts but they still surprised/worried me when I saw them. I know that male rats are typically more aggressive than female and these guys are my first two male rats so I'm not exactly familiar with male rat behavior, haha.

I'm not sure if I should separate the two of them for awhile or if this is just a normal thing. I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back till Monday afternoon and I don't want anything happening while I'm gone. I just don't want anyone getting hurt!

But I don't think August is doing it to be mean, he has extremely long fingernails..which leads to another question should I take him to the vet to get them cut? He's cut me pretty bad before just trying to hold on to my arm. Or is there a safe way I could do it myself?

Thanks a lot guys!
Lydia

The bite/scratch Sam had on his nose turned into an abscess. Tiny little thing on the outside of his nose looking a bit like a pimple. Anyway, last night it looked nearly to burst and I meant to get on here and ask any good ways to help that along, but it burst today.

So I'm mostly wondering best way to go about cleaning it. My normal way would be to soak it in salt water, but obviously that will kill my rat. :P Just a washcloth, I'm thinking? Or is it fine to just leave it to heal naturally, and keep an eye on it? The placement had me worried, but he's acting same as always and is breathing fine, so I'm mostly just poking and prodding him constantly.

( Pictures, not great quality. )

( Also, pictures of some girls I'm sitting for a few weeks. )

I was wondering if any of you guys have any rats who are 'jumpers'. My two boys are settling in nicely, both are rescues and are a bit skittish. the smaller and younger of the two (I'd guess he's about 9 months old) will jump off of everything, and it worries me.

My rattie free range places are my bed that is connected to a big round chair which they can use to get to a table. My other three love it, and will happily burrow under my blankets and knock things off the table all day. Monet, however, will size up the side and jump off, sometimes he even gets a running start. He even jumped out of his cage the other day when I was putting food in. (Very lucky for both of us) There was a pile of pillows under the cage because I was making my bed, and he landed unharmed. His cage is a good 4 feet off the ground so I spent the next 20 minutes watching him for signs of injury. He sees fine, seems healthy, checked out with the vet.

Thankfully he's manage to not hurt himself so far. At first I thought it was just him not feeling comfortable with me, or his surroundings because he's a rescue. It seems to me, though, that he just likes to jump. Besides this little problem he's a very sweet licky rat.

So Here's my question. Is there anything I can do to make him stop this besides setting up a playpen on the ground and switching the cages so that the boys are down low and the girls up high? It would be a shame, I think to keep Valjean off the free range area too, though, since he likes it so much. I'm at a loss. I dont want him to get hurt, but I dont want to restrict his access to out of cage time either. I've tried making a play pen on my bed but he just pushes right under.

help?

This is a matter of urgency.

I just went in to check my girls, one of them seemed rather lethargic so I turned her over to check her over and she's developed a mammary tumor, and it seems as though she has pyometra [she's got a thick green pussy discharge from her vagina], it's 11:30pm here and as such, I'm flipping out.

Basically, I need to know if this is contagious as I can't find much on the internet about it [whether it's contagious or not] because I need to know if I have to seperate my girls until I can get to a vet in the morning.

I called my local rescue, but it's really late and I don't know if she will call me back. [She has a 24 hr phone number, but I know she works early shifts and might be completely zonked out].

Any help ASAP would be excellent.

Edited to add: I just got a call back from the lady at the rescue who is a bioscientist, she called me to say that YES it IS contagious as it is another form of myco and can be transmitted orofecally. So even if Cinn HADN'T been cleaning Pearls bits, they cannot share a cage.

Have posted this in a comment to everyone who has replied so far in case they don't check this. Just for everyones information.

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but wanted to wait until I was ALMOST out of ratty food..

First, I'd like to say that I now make my own ratty mix. I use tri-colored rotini, dried cranberries, wheat and rice puffs, corn flakes, dry rolled oats, sunflower seeds, cheerios, dried banana slices, soy nuts and a little bit of Canidae dog food. They also get yogurt drops, lab blocks, fruit, veggies, ratty croissants, healthy rat-friendly table scraps, etc. as treats.

My 3 babies are picky bastards. They love every new mix I give them, and then slowly grow to hate it. For example, my ratties are free-roam almost 24/7, so I have their food dish next to their open cage in the corner of my bedroom. I'll fill up the dish, and come back in not 20 minutes later to find that Gore has pushed the food-filled bowl under the dresser. Maybe he is trying to "hide" it, so I think he has no food and give him something special? LMAO.

Even if I leave it there, they won't eat almost any of it! If Gore (my fattest) gets really hungry, he'll eat a few wheat puffs, some dried bananas and a piece of pasta and then ignore the food dish.

My only guesses are they are either unusually picky or just so strongly prefer treats like the fatties they are, that they dislike any food that isn't a treat. Which would be weird, because it's not like I over-treat them..

I've tried the bags of rat food from PetSmart/PetCo, and they don't like any of those either. I have also tried a few different ratty mixes I have found on the 'net, and it's a no go.

So, I am posting for any tips you guys and gals might have. Is there a certain mix of food that your ratties just can't get enough of? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

do you guys belong to any really informative and active rat forums? 

would love to join. let me know. 
 
:D

So I borrowed a camera the other day to get a few pictures of my boys. Figured I'd let them show off a bit. May be a bit picture heavy.

( My 8 babies )
 </div>

Ok so I'm low on rat food  and I was wondering what you guys think of 'Reggie Rat' food? My boys are definitely not picky but I was thinking of picking out the corn with any seed mix I get them AND feeding lab blocks as well. Unfortunately I can't seem to get a hold of any high quality foods which really sucks and nags at my conscience every day. They used to sell Mazuri at a pet store in town but it was for hamsters (which sucks cause I got a hamster AFTER) and it's gone now. :\

I've contacted a few pet stores in town and they can't order in mazuri, harlan, or oxbow. I'm in canada as well so the cost of shipping would be outrageous and I know Mazuri can't be shipped here for some reason. (maybe that's what happened with the pet store?)

Anyway what do you guys think about the commercial foods? (lab blocks too) Could anyone give me a ranking possibly? Like number one food, second best, etc

Transportation fell through with my last job, after I got my boys unfortunately. I need a new job so bad. I have a really good feeling about one place I applied at though. :)

I just love Halloween.  I had Picassa out for pictures today with the ceramic skull I picked up at the local dollar store.  The pictures came out rather well I think. =)  I know it's cliche with rats and skulls and whatnot but how k-yute!

EDIT: Found a cute poem I thought you'd enjoy. ( Here )
( Something cute this way comes! )

Once I make an appointment. Unfortunately I've decided to freak out at a bad time, because in three hours I'm supposed to be on a plane and am gone until Monday. :( It also doesn't help that this weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.

I'm going to book an appt on Tuesday, and hopefully get into see a vet (first time ever) this next week. I hope that isn't too much time passing. I also hope the recommended vet doesn't charge a small fortune! (But I'm willing to "break the bank" if need be).

I've taken out Allan's paper/cardboard tube that he literally seems to *live* in, and Miles doesn't... and replaced it with a plastic igloo which is hopefully better. They both have also gotten a bath which they realllllllly hate.

Thanks to everyone for commenting on my last entry!! :D

Rattie Halloween Art (new window)


Awwwww...

Help? Pretty please? Allan (or me) will thank you.

Allan has scabs. A *lot* of scabs. Miles doesn't have any at all.

Allan has been scratching, at the jaw line, under his chin, and just behind his shoulder blades.

I don't know what to do! :( :(

I've tried to cut his nails, but he doesn't sit still long enough and then gets majorly freaked out - possibly because I'm freaked out that I'll hurt him. Any way to sedate a rat to cut the back nails?

I don't know if it's too much protein, because if it was... wouldn't Miles have the same problem?

Could it be allergies? I use Yesterday News and Carefresh (which was frozen) for their litter box.

Miles doesn't seem to groom Allan, but Allan will groom Miles...

Help me. He looks pathetic, and he keeps scratching up the scabs once they form!! :(

I tried making a bandage to go around his neck, and around his middle section, but he didn't like it much.

If ALLAN has a skin problem, and Miles doesn't ... does that rule out mites, since they live in the same cage together?

Help me. Please.

I have some spare cages I no longer need,and I was going to post them on craigslist but decided to check here first instead.(I live in Orlando FL!)Pics of them behind the cut.

Muesli says "Anybody needs a spare cages?..Or has food for Muesli?"
( Pics )

I've been debating on posting anything but I figured I would to update those that may have been concerned. She healed up nicely after the mammary tumor removal, however last Friday night things took a turn for the worse. After dinner, my sister noticed that she was acting a little strange. I took her out of the cage and placed her on the bed and she was extremely lethargic. She kept turning in circles and losing her balance. She had a seizure, where we still do not know if it was related to the tumor or the small growth on her chest. I kept her on the bed with me, as both my mom and sister came to join in watching. Throughout the next few hours she would brux extremely hard and continue to walk around in circles. She finally cuddled up into my arm and fell asleep. She woke up after about ten minutes or so and seemed to be fine. After watching her for another hour or so, I put her back in with her sister and continued to monitor over the weekend. We noticed that she was still having problems balancing and using one of her back feet. We made a call into the vet's and got her in on Monday morning. They looked her over and talked to us about a number of things. They gave us an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory. They said that the worst that could have happened was a seizure or that cancer has spread to the brain either from the tumor that was removed or the small grown on her chest. She did lose some weight over the weekend, but she was still eating and drinking. We stopped and bought her some baby food, which we figured would be easier for her to eat. Over the course of Tuesday she seemed to get a little better, which got our hopes up. Wednesday however, she seemed to get a little worse. It was getting a little harder for her to walk around and her back foot was now clubbed. She was still eating, but she was not wanting to take her meds (which we had to try and force her to take). Once again, today she did not want to take any of the medication, and it was getting harder and harder for her to move around. The blood tears (which she never had much of a problem with since she was a PEW) were really bad. It was almost as if her entire right side of her body was paralyzed. After my own doctor appointment in the morning, I called the vet back and made an appointment. They really wanted to see her since she was getting worse. Both myself and my fiancee (she's both of our babies) took her right up. The vet came in and looked her over and told us that she was already on the strongest medication that they had. We both had a feeling that her time with us may have been up. We had to make one of the hardest decisions right then. We both felt that with the way she was; not being able to move around and continuously losing weight; that we did not want to see her suffer any longer. Our little 'Holy Goddess' as we called her, has moved on to the rainbow bridge. Her sister, Shadow whose healthy as can be, knew when we came back that her sister was no longer with her. My fiancee, myself, Shadow, my parents, and my sister had a short funeral for her. The both of us are still quite torn up about losing one of the first rats that the two of us got together but she lived a very eventful 2 1/2 years. I never knew that one little rat could grow on a human this much. I'm really going to miss her, but I know that she's no longer in any sort of pain.

Here's some photo's of her under the cut.
( Spirit- November 14, 2006- October 09, 2008 )

I'm afraid my two ratties may be dehydrated. I've been extremely busy lately, so it's been my boyfriend's job to look after the animals while I finish up my work for midterm exams and whatnot. I remember noticing their water getting low, then mentioning it to my boyfriend. After that, I got really caught up in things, and I honestly don't remember if he filled it or not. This couldn't have been more than two days ago. I checked their water bottle tonight, and it was bone dry! They never go through a full water bottle in two days, so I'm afraid they finished off what was in it and it wasn't refilled until tonight. They aren't acting any different, and they were just as curious as ever when I took them out for their daily play time (I've missed them, so they got extra time with me and are currently attempting to help me type). I can't ask my boy when he refilled it, or if he did, because he's at work and this seemed kind of important. They didn't even race to the water bottle when I filled it, so I'm not horribly worried, but what signs do I need to look for, just in case?

Also, I was so proud of myself for getting the rats a new and bigger cage, come to find out it *still* isn't big enough (I know, I'm a bad owner, but I knew nothing about rats until I finally found this community). In fact, according to the calculator (that I didn't find out about until after I ordered it, of course), it's barely big enough for one rat. :( Plus, I have boys, so they're on the big side. We had them in an aquarium for a few weeks while they were babies, and I knew it wasn't near big enough. I upgraded to a Martin's Cage, the highrise one. Now that they've grown, I can see how it isn't big enough. I have a ton of things for them to do in it, and they get out every day, but I still want to upgrade when I can. How do you all afford your new cages? To get a truly good sized cage (which is what I want to do), maybe even one that has some room for a rattie or two more (I'm addicted!), I'd need to save up for awhile. However, I don't want my rats to suffer while I do so.

I hope I don't get flamed for this post. I'm really a newb at all of this, and my boy learned how to care for rats from his parents (who definitely weren't going by the book). I thought we were doing everything right until I found this site, so I'm slowly but surely making everything right. Thank you all for your help!

HELP! HELP! THERE'S A RAT IN MY SINK!!

HELP! HELP!

Oh, wait, I put it there.

In case anyone is interested (not sure if it's already been covered) Midwest Homes, the makers of FN are in the process of making a cage better suited to critters like rats. They will be calling it Critter Nation. They are basing it off of the FN but making some modifications including smaller bar spacing (1/2 inch). This information was given to me by someone in their development department. I'll let you know if I hear anything more.

can I make a FN 142 into a single story? I'll only have 1 rat for awhile, and don't think I'll need the top one since I'll only have 1 rat.

thanks


after I wrote this, my Marlee passed :(