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.
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.
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.
On June 12th, 2 very good friends of mine, people I met on the Rat Shack forum took a drive north to visit me and my rats. At the same time, Shelagh was bringing me three new boys. These boys are older, one lives alone and the other two are together. Adorable solid boys, I immediately fell in love with them. I have decided to intro the three to my current colony. This one will be different for me because all three boys are intact and I want to attempt intros without neuters. When the rats are older, I like to avoid surgery so I’m giving them a go, giving it a good try before having to resort to surgery. I should add that my vet is most excellent and I know that she could successfully get them in and out and back to happy boys in a day or two. But still… operation intact will be my project. I have decided to record most of it on video and make it available to the public. Intros are scary enough and every bit of guidance is always welcome. So hopefully this works out as I hope it does.
For now… I introduce my new sweeties.
Teddy, an agouti hooded, he’s over 2 years old and lives with his brother George. Teddy is definitely an alpha kind of rat.
In the pic, he’s taking a nap during neutral ground intros.
George, just like his brother Teddy, loves to lick and kiss you. He’s absolutely gorgeous, a black hooded.
Ferdinand, is a huge rat, but not fat, a solid boy. He lived most of his life in a 10 gallon tank with two females. A sad life until Shelagh took him into her rescue. This boy is a sweetheart. He’s scared of bullies but loves to bully the weaker boys. In bullying them, he shows his love for them. I can’t wait for him to be in a colony and learn life as a group.
The beauty of being part of a rat forum, you get all kinds of good ideas on how to entertain your rats. As you know, these little guys are so smart, we need to be imaginative and inventive in keeping their little minds and bodies busy. Interacting with your rats can add months to their life.
So when I saw a couple of the members of The Rat Shack used bubbles to play with their rats, I couldn’t resist and do the same with mine. Their rats were very curious and interested in these soapy floating wonders. Mine were the same way. They tried to grasp and clasp onto the clear balls but only to have them disappear right before their eyes. It was fun while it lasted. They didn’t seem to tire of it either. But I had to stop the game as everything was getting far to wet and slippery. I had a good chuckle at poor Meeko’s expense. The little naked guy was having a heck of a time walking on the slick floor, running was even worse, his legs would slip out of underneath him. *giggle* When choosing your prop(s) make sure you use only items that are also safe for children. It’s also very important to clean up after the fact. I had to make sure I emptied and washed their water dish. I didn’t want them drinking detergent. yuck. I also removed all the fleece and other toys that ended up holding the bubbles, hole or popped.
My sister and I certainly enjoyed the “magical” event as much as the rats.
Rats are resilient. They are strong and adapt to almost any situation. Little Ryder was rescued along with his litter mates by Bird and Small Animal Rescue in Lethbridge, NL, Canada. These rats made it to foster homes and forever homes. Ryder was the lucky guy who was sent along with his brother Badger to Renée Thompson also known as Ratty Momma on The Rat Shack. Ryder was unique… he carried around with him a 300 gram tumour on his neck. His chances were slim, first we didn’t know if surgery was even an option and second, funds had to be raised to get him to a vet. The members on the Rat Shack as well as Facebook pooled together and helped raise enough to cover surgery and after care for Ryder. The vet at Sunrise Animal Hospital in NL, agreed to give it a try. The tumour was removed on April 14th. The surgery was invasive, the tumour was attached from the neck to the chest. It seem to have a starting point at the salivary glands. Ryder pulled through like a champ. He had a lot of loose skin and some mild swelling but he was on the road to recovery. On April 20th, he had his stitches removed and given a clean bill of health. Ryder continues to heal, and he’s looking like a real rat for once in his young life. Ryder is aprox. 10 months old.
The best part of his story, he and his brother were adopted by his foster mom Renée.
Tumours are not a death sentence. With a good vet they can be removed. Surgery is a risk but it’s minimal in this day and age with all the new technology and know how. Ryder would have been put to sleep had it not been for Renée, she gave Ryder a fighting chance.
Ryder with his tumour:
Ryder after surgery:
Ryder healing and looking better.
Ryder after his last vet re-check and enjoying his Easter.
There always has to be an alpha, someone to lead and tell the others what to do in order to maintain stability.
I’ve noticed that Chief didn’t really step up to the plate during intros, not when Max was around. Max didn’t do much either because at the time he wasn’t feeling very well, in fact he was dying from intestinal tumours. So little Meeko took the reigns and didn’t do a good job. He was jumpy and flighty but tried very hard to control Pony. But Pony didn’t need any controlling. He was being respectful and stable. But still without a clear alpha, Meeko was lost. After Max left, Chief took on the role. Although he was always alpha in his colony, he didn’t overstep for Max’s sake during the intros. Now that Max had left Chief in charge of it all, Chief puffed up and sidled Pony. Pony puffed up and sidled back, then both boys relaxed and stayed next to each other… I believe each having a mutual respect of each others place in the pack. When Meeko tried to rule Pony, he did so miserably, Pony ended up in a rat ball fight with Meeko, cutting him up pretty badly. Poor Meeko looked like he had gone to war and lost. The wounds were all superficial but it looked awful on the nakie. Since Chief took over, Meeko immediately calmed down and went back to the happy bouncy baby boy. The intros are going so well, I’m actually amazed at it all. I’m still keeping it familiar ground with toys for another week… then it will be the big cage scrub down… Move in date: Good Friday… let it be good indeed.
I lost two precious boys recently and I feel the emptiness greatly.
Rory passed away early Saturday morning on April 9th at 12:45 am. He was showing behavioural changes a while back but I never picked up on it. Also, his loss of hind end mobility was a symptom of something worse to come. On Thursday, I could no longer ignore the obvious, Rory was dying from a pituitary tumour. I rushed him in to my vet, got him on dexamethasone and bromocriptine. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch it on time and Rory passed away… no longer able to hang on. He was 30 months old.
Tuesday rolls around and I find Max lethargic and his eyes had porphyrin. Thinking back, Max had been slowing down and spending most of his time in the litter pan as well as having gone through a behavioural change. (no longer the bully) Max was also knuckling but very little. I immediately went into panic mode, scared to death that perhaps I had a contagion on my hands… this would have put the rest of my colony at risk. Max died a couple of hours after I found him. He was roughly 25 months old. I rushed him in to my vet so that she could do a postmortem on both my boys.
The results were a relief in that I knew the rest of my crew was safe. So it was simply a cruel coincidence. Rory did in fact have a massive pituitary tumour. As for Max, his pituitary gland was fine, but his intestines were filled with tiny little tumours. One of the tumours had eroded through the intestinal wall which is what ultimately took his life. My poor boy must have suffered…
It’s somewhat a comfort to me that they leave to start their new journey together. These two had become strongly bonded, they loved being together, flipping, grooming and sharing their secrets.
They will be missed.
Max and Rory during intros, at the very beginning of a wonderful friendship.
