Posted by jorats on Monday Sep 5, 2011 Under Daily with Rats
A member of the Rat Shack is quite a dedicate rat girl. She’s worked hard and put in some time with her rats in training them. We were all treated to a video of their tricks. All I can say is it was AWESOME! These rats are certainly healthy rats, with one of her boys reaching 3.5 years old… that’s what mental and physical stimulation will do to them.
The training keeps the rats on their toes, keeps them thinking and working… Rats are very intelligent, show them a way and it will be done.
Most recently, I’ve just seen pictures which a member has shown on the Facebook group The Rat Shack, from 1953 where scientist studied rats and their behaviour. They have found the rats to work together to accomplish a common goal. Teamwork! Of course us rat lovers already knew that rats need their buddies.
Then don’t get the pet. Yes, I’m preaching today.
I don’t think it can be said enough… when you adopt or buy a pet, you must set aside a vet fund. These animals will get sick. It’s a given. At some point, your healthy pet will need vet care, by a professional doctor of veterinarian medicine. Rats truly are resilient and adapt quite well but when they are hit by something like mycoplasmosis, they need the proper medicine for a quick and complete recovery. There are many websites out there that give alternatives to vet care, these sites are WRONG. Please, don’t give your rat, fish medicine when he is sick. Don’t give your rat, bird medicine that you can buy in pet stores. They don’t work. They simply alleviate the symptoms but it will come back stronger thus making it even harder to treat. On average, I’d say a rat will run you about $500, that’s if you don’t get your rat altered, or get check ups or any surgeries. On average rats remain healthy until about 18 months of age. That is not an old rat. That is a middle aged rat. Rats can live beyond 2 years, they have the potential to make it to 3 or even 4. There are circumstances where even the most dedicated pet owner with all the vet care in the world still can’t prevent an early death but the point is that some rats, many rats will live beyond 2 years old.
Lets talk vet prices for altering your pet, tumour removals… you are looking at an average of $300 for spays, $200 for neuters, $500 for tumour removals. In some areas, it is much cheaper but the bottom line is, it’s expensive. So when you pick up that sweet, tiny baby rat(s) do yourself and your baby a favour and start your vet fund immediately. Put away $15 a month. By the time they reach 18 months old, you’ll already have over $250 saved up. You’ll feel better about yourself and you’ll know your rat(s) will get the care he/she deserves.
Recently on The Rat Shack, a member brought up the question about moving rats. Is it stressful on them, is it a good idea? From my experience, it all depends on the rat or the colony. Some rats are so bonded they really shouldn’t be moved away from their cage buddies. Yet there are other rats who really aren’t attached and don’t mind going through changes. There are also rats who need the simple routine in their lives and a change causes them much stress.
There comes a time when a move is necessary. This would be the time to observe your rats and really make sure that the move is required and that you won’t be posing too much stress on them. When should one consider a move? Some aging rats develop Hind End Degeneration. Once a rat has HED his habitat should be changed to accommodate him. A lot of people choose to create a retirement home for their oldies. Of course you shouldn’t pull your rat away from the colony to live alone but you observe your rats and find a buddy that would also benefit the move.
There might also come a time where in some cases, like what I chose to do was to pull a rat from a colony to pair up with a rat from a different colony in order to avoid a rat living alone. This I do with a lot of thinking and planning. I am usually totally against breaking up a colony. Rats bond and it would be a shame to break such bonds. So you observe your rats and you make sure that the rat has a good stable energy and temperament and wouldn’t mind so much the change.
Soon, I will be moving three girls from their single Critter Nation home into the colony cage. Intros are going so well, I know that the transition will go smoothly and will most likely be welcome by the three.
Here are some pics of the cages and of the rats exploring each other’s cages.
I’ve always been a huge advocate of only one sex homes or altering different sexes. It is human nature to want to reproduce and hook up with a mate. I’ve always had my females spayed so it was never an issue in my home. The primary reason for me was always to be very secure so accidentals litters are 100% prevented. In June I adopted some older males and didn’t need to have them neutered since my one female is spayed. But then I adopted 3 females, middle age I would say but certainly in their prime. They are awaiting their spay which is this coming week. (thank god) My rats are safely separated in proper cages so I’m not worried for an accidental mating. But… more so than anything else, is the changed behaviour in rats. They are constantly trying to get to each other. The one intact male is getting all stressed out over the smells of the girls. He is relentless and has become quite the bully. I’ve also noticed a slight change in the girls. They too are stressed out and needing to visit the intact males. People might not think their rats are stressed out due to the intact two sexes in the home, but don’t be fooled, they are. All animals left intact will have the natural need to mate. It’s a strong need and can change behaviour into an aggressive determination. All I can say is I can’t wait for my girls to be spayed. I’m not used to this kind of havoc, it’s quite unpleasant for all involved.
Posted by jorats on Saturday Jul 23, 2011 Under Daily with Rats
My mom gets a call from our vet clinic. It seems our local SPCA was trying to contact us, the rat people. They had two girls come in. Of course we just couldn’t say know. When I saw them, gauged their age at about 15 month, I knew they would be perfect for shy little Bree. Doing an intro eventually with the whole group will be less daunting for Bree if she already has a couple of girlfriends to support her.
These two girls will be a great addition to the crew, especially Jenny. I can already see she’s another Chu. Full of life, stable and brave… she’ll be the glue the group needs. My crew have suffered through a few losses, adding buddies will be a welcome change for them. Sansa is a bit more laid back but doesn’t take no crap. She’s not in your face but there’s no pushing her around which will be perfect for Teddy and George. George is already quite fascinated with the newcomers. I can’t wait for the spays… I really hate having two intact sexes in the home. That’s just asking for trouble, especially with how I see George is already reacting to the scent and heat of the new girls.
So… Please welcome Jenny a black variberk and her sister Sansa, a pearl merle hooded.
That’s the title on a kijiji ad. Might as well have put up a big neon sign saying: SNAKE FOOD.
So I emailed them and went and picked up the little biter. The female silver fawn rat is an older rat, already with muscle loss near the spine and darkened under feet. I’m placing her at about 18 months old. She’s shy but that’s to be expected but definitely not a biter. This sweet little girl will cuddle and close her eyes while enjoying head pats. She’s tiny, only 230 grams but otherwise she seems in good health. I’m having her spayed on August 2nd… and then she will be introed to the colony. I’m sure she will be a most welcomed addition especially for Ferdinand. I’m sure Teddy and George will forget he exists with this beauty around.
In June, I adopted 3 older rats to add to the colony. Buddies Teddy and George are bullies but not in a mean way. The hold up right now I’m having is Ferdinand. He can’t seem to accept Teddy and George. I can’t seem to figure out why that is. Ferdy is quite fine with the residents, even young buck Doc. So why are Teddy and George on his no friends list? I’ve been observing T and G for a while now, sure they are big and strong, and some rat might even say a bit of a bully but they don’t hiss, they don’t hit, they don’t grab, bite or scratch. They do however command the space. Teddy seems to have a very strong presence in the cage, not a bad thing really. He’s the alpha for sure. George however is turning out to be quite the gem. He’s a bit shy with me, although he’ll lick me to death, he also doesn’t really like noise and sudden movements. But one thing he does like… rats. He’s now the cage guardian. A couple of weeks ago, Meeko, one of the resident rats was struggling with a nasty URI, most likely pulmonary abscesses. George took care of Meeko. One day, as I gave them all their veggies, George grabbed a big piece of romaine and ran up the ramp with it. He deposited within a few cms of Meeko’s nose. He waited for Meeko to pick it up and start eating it before turning around and joining the others downstairs gorging themselves on their food. It melted my heart to see George who is relatively new to the group take on such an important role. A few days before that, during intros, he threw himself between his bro Teddy and Ferdinand. Ferdinand had been whining and screaming like a little girl… George knew he had to move in to calm the situation. I might go as far as saying that George is like Gera, except Gera has no fear of anything. He lives in the moment and accepts all things. This colony is shaping up to be another awesome group.
Things were not progressing as well as I liked. Although Teddy and George really aren’t mean rats, they are still bullies and this worries Ferd to no end. So instead of waiting to do a move in with all the rats, I moved Ferd in with the residents right away. I didn’t want him alone any longer than needed be. Well it was a hit. Ferd and Doc did have some issues at the very beginning but Doc almost immediately let it go. Ferd’s best buds are Chief and Bianca. He loves his Gera too but Gera is not attached to Ferd. But all in all, it was a smooth move and exactly what Ferd needed to help him gain confidence. I’ve already noticed some changes in him in the out times/intros with Teddy and George. Ferd is such a sweet guy, sensitive and loving. A dream pet really cause he runs to his human each time he’s worried, he really cuddles… not just lay there, but presses hard in your hand. What a love!
I moved everything to familiar ground after only 3 days of neutral. Things were moving along well. I did a partial familiar ground where almost all the toys were blocked off. Things got more tense with Ferdinand. He really has low self confidence and is really bothered by the bully boys Teddy and George. I wouldn’t want to see him with real alpha boys. Teddy and George although bossy are really sweet and if the rat submits, they become great friends. My resident rats are awesome and really couldn’t care less about the newbies taking over, this made things much easier. So my real focus remains on Ferd. I decided that the only way I could move forward was with full familiar ground and that worked out much better for Ferd cause he has much more room and it took the focus off of him. Teddy and George love to run around, explore and claim their land. I knew though that beyond this point it was going to be a challenge as the next step is move in. That will not happen for some time, poor Ferd just can’t handle it. So instead I decided to try Ferd with the residence all the while continuing intros.
Day one of intros was on my bed, a neutral area, big enough for the rats to wander around but not so big that they wouldn’t run into each other. Day one went very well. Ferd had some issues but still not enough to stop anything. They are living beside each other so they can continue to smell each other all the time. The intros are lasting one hour daily. It was a good first day.
Day two was much of the same but better interactions between the group. Ferd really took to Pony and Chief, probably because they are weaker than he is.
Day three was on neutral ground still and it went great. In fact, I figured that it might even be time to move things along. I don’t usually like skipping ahead but I can tell when everyone is ready for the next step which is familiar ground.
