Pet Rat

[Desert Arabian]

Hello.... I was wondering who has rats?? What is their name? and how many do you have?

I have 5 rats. All girls. Oreo, Peanut, Punkin, Nugget & Sweet Pea

I am currently looking for a female dumbo rat. I can't find any dumbos anywhere. If you know of a good place, PLEASE PLEASE let me know. Thanks!
*~*~*YellowLabLover*~*~*

[Aspen and Misty]

I have two little ratties. There names are Melony and Hope. Melony is a grey hooded rat and Hope is a black hooded rat. They both are so adorbale and I love them so much!

Ash

[lovemymaltese]

We had a class pet rat in elementary school named Peanut, he had a really long tail.

[Desert Arabian]

Apen & Misty- I am very sorry to hear about your ill rat. I just lost my dear rat Skittles on August 3rd, from a viral infection. I know what it's like to have an ill pet. I hope she recovers soon- you have my prayers. :( :) :( :) :( :)

*~*~*~*YellowLabLover*~*~*~*

[Aspen and Misty]

thank you so much! I need all the prayer power we can get. She is doing better but o my is she moody! But I still love her any ways!

[Aspen and Misty]

Do your rats groom you? My do! All the time! LOL I just feel this little wet tongue on my neck when they are up there. It is so weird. At first I thoguth they were attempting to bite me then I read they love to give kisses.

[Redd]

I have a handsome little [well, not LITTLE anymore!] rattie named Master Splinter [from the Ninja Turtles]. He is a little over a year old and is a chinchilla berkshire. He is an absloute sweetheart, he would ride around on my shoulder all day if I'd let him. And yes, Splinter loves to groom me with his kisses! I dont have any pics of huim yet, but I will soon!

[Desert Arabian]

My rats don't lick my neck when they are on my shoulder. But they sure do love to burrow in my hair. They do, however, lick my lips and my fingers. Their kisses are way better than dogs, because you don't get coated with slimy bacteria. I sure do love em!

[Aspen and Misty]

LOL. I refuse to elt my puppy Chewy lick me! He eats cat poo and liks and eat everything! So you never know where that little mouth of his has been! Blah! My little rats are in the carrying cage at the moment as I am adding a second levelt to there cage! I just took a brake, I swear I almost took the thing outside like 3 times to burn it! Grr, its anoying! But I know the girls will love it when its done.

Ash

[Desert Arabian]

That's exactly why I hate dog "kisses"!! One time I was at my neighbors house and their German Shepherd, Sassy, shredded up all the baby diapers. I didn't let that dog lick me for at least two months.


By the way, about the adding a level to your cage, that sparked my curiouisity (sp?). What kind of cage do you have?? I have one of those four-story ferret cages made by Super Pet.


~*~*~*~YellowLabLover~*~*~*~*~


p.s. I have terrible spelling.. if you haven't already noticed, sorry!:mad: :(

[lovemymaltese]

Ya'll do not have trouble with your pet rats trying to bite?

[Desert Arabian]

My old rat Skittles used to be a terrible biter when she was younger (she recently passed away). She would bite me at least 6 times a day- for one month. Finally I started to hit her nose (not real hard!) when ever she bit me. She then stopped. When I got my other rat Nugget, she bit me too. Sweet Pea (nuggets baby) bit me too. Those two still bite me when they have a chance. Those two are real close to me for many reasons. They are so wild and nervous all the time, so I never get to bond with them. I only get to hold them about once every two weeks. They are so determined to get out and run away. One time they got loose outside in the middle of the night. I found Sweet Pea in the garden hose reel box. The next day my mom was looking out the window, and saw Nugget pop out of the chipmunk hole at the base of the tree. So... we had to go to Fleet Farm and buy a Havaheart traps, and set it up. About 5 hours later she came out. When that metal door came crashing down, she had a fit. Chewing on the bars and jumping all over the place. She did not want to be caught. I'm not real close to those two, but my other three are like the blood cells flowing through my veins- we are so close!! So yeah... you could say I have a few rattie problems. I have about 10-15 small scars all over my arms and hands :( :mad: Oh well!

[Aspen and Misty]

My rats never ever bit me! I have used to have 25 mice to and none of them bite either! I am surprised that your ratties bit! I have a 20 gallon turtle tank. I don't like it and want to get them a bigger one but can't afford it. I think I will always have rats. My friend also might be giveing me her 3 story bunny cage. But I have to buy it for 5 dollars! LOL. Sorry ok. What kind of toys do you have for your rats? My rats dont' liek eanythign I give them so I need to think of new things to give them!

[Desert Arabian]

My rats love to play with bell balls, tubes, boxes, string, cable ties, each other, and any other thing they can get their little grubby paws on!!!!

[Aspen and Misty]

I need to go out and get some of that stuff. My rats at the moment have pratically no toys in there cage so they are aloud out all day, on my shoulder. They love to be out but like yesterday I wasn't able to hold them yesterday and they were just laying in the cage bored. So I felt real bad but with everythign that went on yesterday I couldn't hold them. So I held them late at night but only for a half hour each. So I really want to get teh msomething in there cage for them to play with.


Ash

[Desert Arabian]

I am really sad! On friday I took my rat Oreo to the vet, to have her tumor checked out again. We had x-rays taken etc. Let me tell you, looking at a rat x-ray you can't help but chuckle 'cuz it looks so silly!!! Anyways, her tumor has gotten much bigger, about the size of a tangerine. It is between her back legs, by her butt. It is not cancerous, thats good. But the one major problem is since it is by her butt and it is so huge, it is pushing her anus and vagina way out of place. Her anus is actually on the side of the tumor, by her hip!!! She can still pee and poo, but the vet said in about a month or so, it will get so big that her anus will be blocked and she will have to be put to sleep. We looked into surgery for an option. The total??? $570.00 + !!!!! Plus... she would have to endure about 3 weeks of recovery etc. I am afraid that it will stress her out way too much. Plus she's getting pretty close to her life expectancy, even with out her tumor. They said she could die during the surgery, and another tumor can grow back in the same place. She is really happy and normal right now, when she decides her time is near, we will have her put to sleep. I just hope and pray that I don't come home from school to find her dead in the cage. Oh geeze, let's not even go there!! I will update everyone if anything pops up.

~*~*~*~*~YellowLabLover*~*~*~*~*~

I included a picture of Oreo at Punkin (her daughter) & Peanuts birthday party. You can see her tumor.

[Desert Arabian]

I just had to put this picture of Punkin and Peanut on here, 'cuz it is just too cute!!

Peanut is Skittles daughter, Skittles died in my arms on August 3rd. (Lilac and white)
Punkin is Oreos daughter. (Black and white)

[Aspen and Misty]

O I will keep Oreo in my thoughts. I pray the poor girl will live a happy life till the end. I am glad you deced to let her live out her days and put her to sleep when it gets to be to much. I am so happy she has a loveing owner liek you. ::hugs::

Ash

[Aspen and Misty]

Taht is so cute you had a birthday party for your ratties!!! They are lucky they have such a great owner! What did they have as a birthday cake? Hee hee. I just migh have to have my 2 girls a brithday party dureing may. Hmm something to think about.

Ash

PS: How did you get them to wear the ccute hats?

[Desert Arabian]

Thank you so much for thinking of Oreo and I.

Yes... they did have a little slice of birthday cake too. I also wraped them a present full of little goodies. They loves walking all over it, and tearing at the paper. For the birthday hats... I took an index card and curled it up. I then took a hole puncher and punched holes in it. and threaded rubber band though the holes. They stayed on good and tight. Oreo had a loose rubber band, so hers kept on falling over her eye, so she pulled it on. The other two didn't seem to mind it much.

[Desert Arabian]

Aspen & Misty-

On "How do you travel with a fish" you asked me what I used to travel with my rats. I figured I'd answer it here, seeing that it deals with rats. Anyhow, I have two different "travel cages" I use. It depends on where we are going, and how many rats are coming with us. The wire cage was only $38.00 and the little fabric one was $11.99. The wire cage is made by Da-Mars and the fabric one is made by Super Pet. I like the little one best. Inside it is extremely tough plastic, with thick screening for vent holes. I put a little cardboard box inside with bedding, for when they have to go potty. I usually put them in the small one, until we get to our destination, then I put them in the big one. The rats don't seem to mind the small one, when I have them in the big cage, they are piled on top of eachother, crammed in the corner anyhow. Here are some pictures.

~*~*~*~*~*~*YellowLabLover*~*~*~*~*~*

[Desert Arabian]

Here's the small cage, close-up.

[Desert Arabian]

Here's a close-up of the larger cage.

[Desert Arabian]

Here's a close-up of the inside of the small "cage"

[Desert Arabian]

Since we're on the topic of cages: here's a picture of their indoor cage. I must add.. it is way more cluttered with toys, this is an older picture.

[Desert Arabian]

Ok... LAST PICTURE POST... I SWEAR!!!

Here's their outdoor cage.

[Aspen and Misty]

I love the indoor cage! My 2 rats just live in a 10 gallon turtle tank. I recently built a second story though. I don't like how small it is but my parents are refusing to buy me a bigger one and I am atempting ot raise moeny to buy a bigger one. My friend is giveing me her old bunny cage but I am afreid the cage sides will be to big. I think I just might cover them in chicken wire, as its not that expensive. I hate the travel cage we have at the moment and really want to buy a new one but don't know ehre to get one. I am going to type in the names you gave me in yahoo search thing and see what coems up.

Thanx

Ash

[Aspen and Misty]

I went to Super-pet.com and I think I found what I want. It is a cat carrying cage but I checked it over and it looks good. I am going to the pet store tomrrow and I will look at some cat cages. Here is a picture of the one I might order.

[Aspen and Misty]

i also found this one.

The one story cage is 10.09
The two story cage is 13.90
and the threee story cage is 17.00

Im ight buy the three story one, and depndeing on the size make it there home or traveling cage. I also might conect tubes (I alreayd have these) to the aquirium to the cage.

[Desert Arabian]

That's really cool! I used to have a cat carrier for the rats too. It has circles for air vents, instead of the slashes, like the one you want. In a matter of 15 minutes, they had one hole that was the size of a quarter, and turned it into the size of a plum. It was rediculous, they did that to two of the holes, so finally I had to think of a better thing to transport them in.


~*~*YellowLabLover*~*~*

[Aspen and Misty]

So you think I shouldn't get a cat carrier? Hmm goo thinking though. I never though atbou round holes. Hmmmm

Ash

[Desert Arabian]

Well... if they can fith their mouth/teeth between the slits... I wouldn't- but if they can't fit their mouths between the slits, it might be a good idea. You could also duct tape some chicken wire on the inside, making it impossible to chew the plastic. Its totally up to you. :)

[Aspen and Misty]

Thanx for the tips! I will check it out!

Ash

[lv4dogs]

Currently I have 2 females about 4 1/2 months old. Suechi is a siamese straight haired rex dumbo and Hiwa (pronounced Hee-va) is a self black curly rex dumbo. I am looking for a young female hairless!!

[Aspen and Misty]

Aww i think hairless rats are cute! Do you have any pictures of your kids? Here is a picture of mine.

[Aspen and Misty]

Melony (grey hood) Hope (Black hood)

[lv4dogs]

I hope this works as this is my first time attatching a file but it should be pic. of my siamese before I brought her home from the breeder

[lv4dogs]

Hooray for me, he is another!!!

[Aspen and Misty]

awwww!!!! your rats are so cute! Awww!!!!

[Desert Arabian]

I like the little boot that they are in... its really cute. My rats would chew it down to a little purple nugget :p

[Aspen and Misty]

LOL. My rats don't chew on stuf to oftne. What are your rats fav treat? There is eitehr Bleu berry's, o they love htem! Or un cooked spaghettie! O boy they love both so much!

Ash

[Desert Arabian]

My rats love just about anything I give em, that's healthy, but I'd say they love bananas, noodles, and baby food the best. Along with some Kaytee products nouse and rat treats.

[Aspen and Misty]

My rats HATE bannan's LOL. I always give them to them and they are like no. what kind of baby food do you feed them? I never treid/thought of it. We are going out to get some mroe rat food tongith as I was sick all week and unable to get them any so they have been liveing the good life of a fresh salad everyday and wha tever else I can scrounge up to tide them over for a bite.

Ash

[Desert Arabian]

I usually get the banana and strawberry, chicken noodle, and vaggie mix gerber baby food. They love it A LOT!!

[lv4dogs]

My rats eat almost everything I eat but limited amounts as they pack on pounds (or ounces or grams they are so little) fast. For a staple diet they eat a rat/mouse seed mix w/ the lab blocks but everyday they get fresh veggies/fruit, a bit of cereal and a little of our dinner. My rats favorite is meat (only limited as it is hight in protein). They love cheese too! I keep a string of raw pasta hanging in the cage most of the time they love that too. There is not much that do not like! lol

[Desert Arabian]

Exactly the same here. What kind of seed mix do you use?? I use Kaytee Fiesta for Rats & Mice. Just wondering, because I know there are different varites out on the market. I personally love Kaytee food lines & equipment (water bottles, toys, etc)

[kingrattus]

I currently don't have any rats, but I did just over a year ago. I had 7 or 8 (some were breeders so it was hard to keep count of them. but 3 of them were 100% pets & I loved them ALL until the day they were all murdered. Enough of that before I cry, or cause a flash flood again.

About the food, feeding them veggies & seeds is great, but they also need meat. Find a good dog food like that new Purena veggie dog food with chicken. I found that cat food made mine have diarea. just buy a 20 pound bag of good dog food

[kingrattus]

was cut off from last post

...NOT KIBBLES & BITS!!!!!!! unless u want ur rats on a sugar high (learnt my lesson by going the cheap way). Chicken bones are also ok for rats & beef bones aswell, pork has too much fat so stay away from that. Oh the bones must be cooked & just a little bit of meat on it, not too much.

I kept my rats in a homemade 2 story wire dog kennel. I gave them boxs to sleep on, grass, hay, a wheel for the younger rats, a med. dog food bowl, sticks, a bouncy wire ramp ( going from the first floor to the second. I bought a ferret ball (the type of ball they run inside).

don't feed them too much apple, it can kill them by getting them drunk & will lead to poisoning them. an old friend went through 3 rats before she was told that it was the apples. give then one 1/4 once a week or less not more. Too much sugars is bad for them, mainly for there teeth & there hyperness. Having 8 rats running around non stop all night will drive you mad. If you r gonna give them an odd sugar high, do it during the day or when ur not home!!!

I have one worry. I read some where that someone is keeping there rats in a Tank, I don't get me wrong but please read what I say & consider it....

When rats (like other animals) pee, there is a toxcin that is in the pee & when it is breathed in, it slowly starts to cause lung/ breathing problems leading to death (I've been there, its a horrible thing to watch).
If u have no choice but keep the rats in a tank, change the shavings/litter every day, keep a fan blowing away from the tank (the wind cannot be blowing into or on the tank at all), a screen needs to be ontop so the toxcins can leave the tank.

I hope that bit of info helps.


Jess


P.S. to read the sad story about my rats go to my website /photos/pets/rats the story is on the 3rd page.

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by kingrattus
I have one worry. I read some where that someone is keeping there rats in a Tank, I don't get me wrong but please read what I say & consider it....

Hee hee. I am so mad, trying to save my rats life :rolleyes: , gee who do you think you are ;) . No just kidding! Hey thanx for being worried about my ratties! I put clean shaveings ontop of there old ones wensday and then I clean out the whole tank on saturdays. Like really clean it out really good and it usually air dries outside to get some of the aspen shaveing smell out. I am getting a new cage soon! Hopefully this weekend. The only bummer is it cost 45 doallrs for this really neat cage I want, and business has been slow latly so I can't afford it :( . I am going ot try to smooth talk my paretns into getting it for me :D :p .

Ash

[kingrattus]

I said the same thing in a rat chat on yahoo & they freaked out at me & did say who the hell do u thing u are!! So I ended up getting mad & tormented the group for about a month, but they were really mean people & didn't like advice from a "kid" (I was 18, I think I was a bit too old to be called a kid)...

& by mistake I found this chat group & thought I'd give it a try & WOW what a big difference in attitides, people here like to give & get & arn't mean :D

I finally have something to do at night besides fiddle with my wedsite & lay in bed doing nothing.

& thanks for not ripping off my head heheheh :D :D

Jess

[Aspen and Misty]

I'm still trying to locate you. SO if you hear a angry mob of people in front yard its just me :D . I usually dont' rip peoples head off. But there are those occasions! I agree some groups are so mean! I once posted on a bird forum and asked them to state therebird food formula and they said that if I don't understand it that I could just take my bull**** somewhere else and that they don't need a cocky teenager on there board :rolleyes: . Geesh. So, I no longer post my age on chat boards as I get attacked as just another stupid imamture, reckless teenager who does nothign with there life :rolleyes: . Well anyway. Thanx for teh great advice, and next time try not to save my rats life ge some people :D ;) .

Ashley

[kingrattus]

hehehe :)
do u still need help with birds?? I have some experience with baby/hatchling birds.

any questions u have just ask & I'll say what I know, which sometimes isn't much, ahwell, what can I say, I really do enjoy helping when I can & admit when I can't.

Jess

[Aspen and Misty]

No, but thank you for asking abotu the birds! You will have to ask me next spring and summer. We have a pair of bad momies and dadies who live right outside our house in our porch. Almost everyday therei s a new baby out there! So we nurse them and hope to return them but it doesn't usually work. untill I foudn this great website of people who have raised Starlings from babies and they have givein me great tips!

Ash

[kingrattus]

I nemed my starling Peetree, he fell from a 2 story house & was being carried away by ny friends cat, he rescued it & told me to care for cause he knew I would do anything to keep it alive. I raised it to a young adult, taught him how to fly (but he couldn't stop well cause his tail never grew in right, so he would fly around until he found my dads chair & fly into it to stop, it was funny to watch. I would wake up & he would hear me come out of my room & start to scream & holler to be let out of his cage to be fed. I would open his door & run to the kitchen & try to open the fridge & get his food before the bombing started. The silly bird would zoom past my head over & over until I would run out into the livingroom & sit on the coutch beside the chair & he would flutter to the couch to be fed on my lap. He was such a sweet heart, but one day my dog startled him when I had him outside & he tried to fly ontop of my neighbours house but he didn't make it & he flew back towards me, but he was going way to fast & I couldn't grab him & he flew right over the main drag infront of my place & was hit by a car.

My dad tried to find his body, but he couldn't find it anywhere, I was in my bedroom balling my eyes out & I thought my dad was gonna cry too cause he also loved that bird. Peetree was my last bird & my fav. I use to have a webpage but I had to format my hard drive & I lost his pictures, I'm trying o find the printed copies so I can atleast put thoses on the net. I really miss him :(

Jess

[lv4dogs]

I also use the kaytee fiesta mix!

[Aspen and Misty]

That is such a sad story! I am sorry to hear about your bird. :( My birds never make it for some reson, I don't know why :( .

I also use Kaytee Fiesta Mix!

Ash

[Desert Arabian]

Hey Everyone-

If you go under "Pet Health"- I placed a post about my rats tumor. I just thought I'd put a post on here to let everyone know- don't know why.

[Aspen and Misty]

I am so sorry to hear about your rat. i am glad that you are willing to take her to the vet to help her along her way so she doesn't have to suffer. You are a great owner. ::hugs::. I know you are going through alot right now and all the worrying is probly driving you crazy, but she knows you love her and she knows you only want the best for her.

Ash

[Desert Arabian]

:) Thanks Ash!

[lv4dogs]

I know this has nothing to do w/ rats but I saw a few posts that mentioned this here so I just had to respond!

About everyone who is a tenager who had problems on prev. boards, what rude groups you visited. If you are truly an animal lover you should help anyone learn more about proper care and accept everyone as they are not by age. That is age discrimination. Hey when I was young I was always wanting to learn more and I am sure those mean people were not born w/ all their smarts. I am glad you found this board and like it here!!!

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by lv4dogs
I am glad you found this board and like it here!!!

Like? Did you say I'm glad you like it here?? Hee hee I LOVE it here. It is my fav place to visit! What would I do wihtout ya'll??? Hee hee. The starling board I belonged to seemed liek such a nice place, but when I was finished surfing I found out that they were just a bunch of "older" people. So they didn't want a teenager in on there boards. Glad no one is like that here!!!! This has to be the best board I have ever found. We hardly ever fihgt and when we do it usually ends good. Thank you everyone for your help, love and concern.

Ash