Ok so those two words really don’t go together but sometimes you just have to turn cleaning into fun.
That’s how it is with my crew or silly ratties. Almost all of them will run after the wet rag, trying to pin it down and then hide it away in some remote corner of the cage. Good luck in retrieving it.
Seriously though, a clean habitat is one of the most important factor to a rat’s health. I do a thorough scrub down of the cage every Friday of every week. But every day I go in and wipe up little messes. I change the fleece that start to smell and always give them a clean dish of food and water. It’s actually quite fun having a half a dozen rats crawling all over you when changing their food dish. Or wrapping a stubborn rat in the fleece when he refuses to get out of the way. Just don’t throw him out with the trash. lol
The most important thing… Have fun when cleaning with the rats.
Back in 2002 I started using echinacea on my little guys. They were not in the best of health and I was hoping this immune booster would work it’s magic. I used it for a few months and then gave up. I didn’t find it to do any difference whatsoever. But recently, I’ve bought a more organic echinacea for me since I haven’t been feeling the greatest ever since my bout with H1N1. Wouldn’t you know it, I feel better with the echinacea so I’ve decided to give it another go for the rats.
RMCA has a good article on it. www.rmca.org/Articles/herbal.htm
it’s best to read up on anything before you give it to your rats. Research is key to greater knowledge. Also the Rat Guide recommends not using it on rats taking prednisone or dexamethasone. Also not recommended for pregnant or lactating rats. www.ratguide.com/meds/herbals_health_supplements/echinacea.php
Do keep in mind that echinacea is an herbal supplement and should never take the place of an antibiotics. If your rats are sick they must see a good exotic veterinarian.
The critters came out, all about, having fun. But lately, I’ve noticed that Bronco has been acting up. I don’t know why at 12 months would he start getting his hormones out of whack. It usually starts much younger than that. Maybe he’s a late bloomer. He’s still a doll with me but he’s just a big bully with his buddies. For a while I knew that Desmond was alpha in that colony. But I think that he’s quickly losing his post with Bronco being all in his face. It will be interesting to see what happens next with those two. If Bronco does become alpha will be the sweet gentle alpha that Desmond was? I’m sure I’ll soon find out.
Coupage is a physical therapy technique used on bigger animals in order to loosen respiratory secretions. Recommended by my vet, I also do this on my rats when they are in a gasping phase of their illness. Rats with severe mycoplasmosis or pneumonia most likely also have pulmonary abscesses. The pus in these abscesses is quite thick so the hope of it clearing the lungs is not realistic but what it can do and what I believe does happen is to displace the pus and allow a better air flow in the lungs. This helps for a short time, it’s not a treatment you want to rely on, it’s something to do when your rat is panicking and gasping. I have seen my rats come out of a fit thanks to coupage.
My method:
I hold my rat next to my chest, I use two fingers and tap firmly on the side of the rat just behind the front arm. Then I turn the rat over and do the other side. I keep doing this, turning the rat over until I feel that he is no longer in severe distress.
The tapping should be firm, like if you were burping a baby.
April 4th has been set for World Rat Day. Today, it turns out to also be Easter. A much loved spring holiday. I hope you didn’t forget your ratties today. Not only is it a time to spend with family and nature but also to celebrate the world of rats.
Today, I put together a fun stimulating game for the young crew. I bought cheap easter eggs at the dollar store and filled them with cereal. On special occasion, I do allow the rats to indulge in some sugar. The eggs were filled with multigrain Cheerios, Captain Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They sure enjoyed it. They had a little trouble opening the eggs. They tried to figure it out and when that took too long they decided to just pick up the egg and run with it. I helped cracking the eggs and all regaled in the sugar feast.
It really was a lovely out time… a lovely Easter and World Rat Day.
I think Darcy pulled an April Fool’s prank on me. This morning, before their out time, Darcy had a gasping fit. He just couldn’t breathe through the congestion in his nose and his lungs most likely filled with abscesses.
I had the phone in my hand, I was about to call the vet to have him put to sleep. But I decided to give him a reprieve! I took out the bottle of metacam and administered a dose according to his weight. My vet has given instructions on how to do this when he needs it.
Sure enough, Darcy perked up and decided it was time to play, he explored, he climbed and even gnawed quite happily away at his snak shak log. I said to Darcy, if you are willing to fight again, we can do this. I started him on a high dose of Zithromax. He will stay on metacam to help with pain and inflammation. Keeping my fingers crossed that Darcy still has a lot of life and fight left in him.
