Fancy Rats Archive forum: 2002 - 2011

i free-range my rats in the hallway so there are no wires for them to chew. one of my rats (no longer alive) was a terrible wire chewer... he managed to get through two pairs of headphones in short succession... now they don't have any access to wires!

for my boys, the abcess came up in slightly different places but the smell was what made me realise it was the same. it has such a distinctive vile smell that i think is probably the most accurate diagnosis process. with both boys the smell from their ears were present a while before any sign of tum...

aw that's great to hear, well done her. x

give me more information, girls or boys? petshop or breeder, from a rescue etc? what do they do when you try and pick them up? do they squeak, bite etc? are they friendly in other ways?

thinking of you. x

mine are sleepy in the day in the cage, but are pingy when they get some attention and are very active outside the cage. granted my boys aren't the most agile but they definitely make up for that with enthusiasm! i think the best thing is having a cage that's interesting and having a free-range area...

i'm so sorry it has to come to it, trust your judgement and treasure him whilst he's with you. x

when i am really struggling with whether to let one of my boys go, i ask my vets opinion. i trust her opinion, i know she is straight with me, i also know she will tell me if she feels it's too soon.

it's a terribley difficult one, it tends to be a toss up for me as to quality of life, long term prognosis and level of pain amongst other things. certain illnesses i am inclined to PTS at an earlier stage than others...ZGT are one i pts sooner rather than later. only you can make that final call, h...

what i've been finding effective is scatterfeeding, limiting the amount of food available...we now have periods where there is no food available to them and also removing deimos sometimes at the beginning of the feeding time to give the others a head start.

he's a couple of grams under 600 now...he's looks better for it too. the others look fine which i am relieved about because given that rowan and elvis are prone to being on the thin side, i was scared they might lose but they don't seem to be. alijane, the vegetables are a good idea. i have to say t...

oh ann, i am so sorry for your losses. just know that you made such a kind and brave decision for them. sometimes i think you get to a point where things really are going to go downhill fast and i think it's kinder to let them go.
i am thinking of you. x

i had a tilty boy, Obe. i didn't change anything in the cage purposely and despite the fact that he always had a really bad head tilt, he did adapt well eventually. i think it's good to expose him to as many challenges as you can, it's good for him learning to adapt his balance. i don't think there ...

my experience is that even rats who are related can be compleatly the opposite (like human siblings). kale and rowan are both from a breeder and so were handled since birth, however right from the start rowan has always been compleatly in your face...kale has always been a little more retiscent and ...

((secretpennell)) thankyou, i've now been doing that since you suggested and it seems to be working well. x ((emma10)) it's difficult isn't it, i have to admit i don't eat around them because i always end up with a rat in my food. plus the things i eat i would rather they didn't have....that says an...