The Rat Room

Rats love to explore and we love to allow them free range and roam about at will. This is encouraged in a controlled environment. It is very important that the environment be completely safe for the rats. I’ve made posts before about rat proofing your room and yes, I’m doing another one. Recently, we’ve been alerted to a tragic situation. A member of another rat forum had her rats running about, they didn’t realize their over the counter nasal spray was a danger to the rats. It was. Two rats went to work chewing through the bottom of the bottle. Their mom was too late in noticing, the rats ingesting the liquid. Sadly, one died and the other was extremely sick. Rats chew… everything. This is why you must go around your room and be sure to clear it of everything, even plugged wires. Rats will chew. A rat can chew through a cable in seconds, if it’s plugged in, they can electrocute themselves and die. How do you keep your rats safe while free ranging? Be sure to hide all wires, put away all medication and non medication, do not leave about anything that is not rat friendly. Use an enclosed room like the bathroom or make a playpen. Get down to rat level and see for yourself what your rat can get into. Other free ranging dangers are high table tops, rats can try to jump or fall off or sitting/stepping on your rats.
Keep it safe and be alert when interacting with your rats.

Recently, a group who call themselves Mouse and Rat Rights have decided to make up their own ideas about rat food. These people have made no research or take into consideration the nutritional needs of the rat. They decided they wanted to go raw and homemade. That’s fine and all but not if you do not meet the nutritional needs of the rat. This can be absolutely detrimental to the health of your pet. The rat only has a couple of years at best, so feeding him/her an unbalanced, incomplete diet will cause irreversible harm.
The worst part of of all this, this group has decided to publish their unfounded diet on the internet. So again, I implore those looking for information on their rat to please weed out the “bad” sites. Always do the research on your own and rely only on scientific data or trusted studies. Even sites who are supported by commercial retail are not to be trusted. Always double check what you read. Make sure it is supported by a larger rat community. Your rat’s life depends on it.

Here’s a false food pyramid created by the MARR.
It scares me how many people might actually believe that this is the right way to feed your rat.

It’s pretty much what the name suggests. Some rats love to run in their wheels. As a result some of them develop what we affectionately call wheelie tail. They keep their tails up and over as they run. Some run so much in the wheels that even outside of their wheels they keep their tails curled up in some way. I don’t believe this has any effect on their spine nor is there a link to any hind end degeneration once they get older. What running in a wheel will do is keep your rats thin, agile and healthy. But don’t be concerned if you find your rat prefers to sleep on his wheel rather than run in it. I’d say the majority of rats are simply not wheel rats. Wheels should be the big size wheels, at least 12″ in diameter for a safe run. The play balls that are so popular with hamsters are not really a good toy for rats. For one, rats hate to be enclosed and unless you are using the mega ball, then it’s most likely much too small.
Please be very wary of breeders who are claiming to be breeding curly tails rats. This is an anomaly and severe handicap on the rat. Do not support such breeders.

Here are a couple of pictures of Hobo’s behind. He’s showing off his curly tail. He’s a true wheel runner.

Or rather, Spirulina, blue-green algae microscopic greens. If you are still confused, how about Green Mush? It’s a dietary supplement that’s been all the rage for the last few years. People have even been feeding it to their rats. There is actually quite a bit of people buying Green Mush specifically for their rats which has prompted me to write about it.
There is no question that spirulina has some great qualities and health benefits but in the last few years, there have been some alarming studies claiming neurotoxins, muscle breakdown one most recently, liver cancer.
These findings are terrifying especially since this supplement has been recommended for rats for years and people will probably continue to do so, it takes just that one container of contaminated Green Mush and your rat will be adversely affected. It’s really not worth the risk. Throw out your Green Mush until more studies prove otherwise, and I don’t mean websites raving about it’s health benefits, I’m talking real scientific studies.

Too many times new rat parents are faced with an issue they don’t understand and can even have a hard time explaining it. One of our members on the Rat Shack is our go to girl for anything medical and health related when it comes to rats. She’s a rescue and hospice and has seen, treated, comforted so many rats with medical issues. From toe nail wounds to enucleations of the eye. lispaz68 had the good sense to record many of the ailments her rescues have had. I’ve asked for her help and permission to compile her videos and place in them in one spot. You will be able to find them here in the Rat Room but more importantly, it will also be in the Rat Shack in the Reference section.

Many many thanks to Lilspaz68 for putting this together for us to learn, research and do better for our rats.

HED Hind End Degeneration. There can be a number of reason why a rat develops this progressive condition, pituitary tumour, arthritis, spinal tumour to name a few.

Here is Declan, starting his HED, not fully developed yet. This can progress slowly or quite fast.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/Declan/?action=view&current=DeclanwalkingHED.mp4

Head Tilt due to a neurological event. Head tilt is sadly becoming more common than it once was. It is a common symptom of an ear infection as well as early pituitary tumour. Most rats will adapt and live full and happy lives with their head tilt.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/Lilith/?action=view&current=JillsneurosymptomsSep24.mp4

Severe head tilt and spinning. This condition can be caused by an ear infection, a pituitary tumour or some other neurological event. It is imperative that you seek a vet for antibiotics and even steroids to help alleviate the symptoms.
Here, Fred is showing a tilt and spinning.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/Fred%20and%20Marley/?action=view&current=DSCF6068.mp4

Hind end spasms. These are quite common, mostly in aging rats especially those with spinal nerve degeneration. In the video, Asha has a nerve twitch in toes and haunch.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/medical/Videos/?action=view&current=DSCF5169.mp4

Anesthetics side effect. It’s always a risk when going through surgery. Anesthesia can have side effects but even more so when the right combo of drugs is not given correctly or in too high a dose.
Here is poor Wilbur recovering from a simple neuter. It took him several hours to overcome the effects of anesthetic overdose.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/medical/Spays%20and%20Neuters/?action=view&current=DSCF4214.mp4

Open mouth breathing. Gasping is a progressive symptom of a serious respiratory infection. Pinta, a five week old baby is struggling with her congestion. It is necessary to bring your rat to a vet before it gets to this point.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/medical/Videos/?action=view&current=Pinta5weekoldbabywithresp.mp4
Another rat Bradley with gasping and panicking movements, coastal breathing.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/medical/Videos/?action=view&current=DSCF9657.mp4

Babies on Board! This is a great video. You can see Lilith’s babies moving about, hours before they were born.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/Lilith/?action=view&current=DSCF7530.mp4

In Estrus. Here’s a funny video of a female in heat. They flutter their ears as part of their mating dance.
Bella is demonstrating her skills.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/rattiluv/medical/Miscellaneous/?action=view&current=Bellainheat.mp4

Please visit the Rat Shack, it contains a wealth of information and experiences from long time rat lovers.

Hairless rats are prone to all kinds of ailments. One of the worst ones is eye gunk. The hairless rat has no way of protecting his/her orifices, and eyes are no exception. In fact it’s a pretty good reason why hairless rats really shouldn’t be bred. When you think about it, it’s an anomaly. It’s a defect in the pet rat. The hairless rat is cold, has a faster metabolism to try and stay warm, they are prone to multiple skin issues from dryness to keratin cysts. They get cut up easily and gashes are always deeper and more serious on a hairless. Most hairless seem to remain smaller which I would think is a stunted growth. In the past, many hairless barely made it to 2 years.
But breeders need to make their money. So they make these lovely babies with these issues and don’t give it a second thought.
A Rat Shack member Lilspaz68 rescued 4 hairless rats with extensive and critical eye damage. They were rushed to the vet who was able to clear them up, clean them from all the debris buildup and save the eyes. Due to lack of immediate vet care, sweet Melvin had to have his ruptured eye removed and might very well lose his other one.
Fortunately, the other members rallied and helped Lilspaz68 because vet cost is not cheap. These rats will have a lifetime of special care living in a cleaner environment. During their treatment, these rats are on antibiotics, they need special drops and daily cleaning. Their cage must remain lint and debris free. My sister and I from The Cozy Corner will be donating special hammocks for these babies. We have found broadcloth that is a blend of 35% cotton and 65% polyester and hopefully this will be better suited for them. Fleece and flannel are completely out of the question for these special rats. And worse yet, they can never live with a furry buddy since the fur can actually become debris and affect the eyes.
If you have a hairless rat and you notice any kind of changes around their eyes, even excess porphyrin, it is imperative that you see a vet as soon as you can. Eye gunk can accumulate and damage the eye in no time at all.
Take special care of your hairless, so they can live healthy and happy lives.

Here are a few pics of these rats before they were brought to the vet.

And thanks to their guardian angel Lilspaz68, these rats are looking so much better.

It’s never a good thing. Rats who develop a tumour in the face have a very poor prognosis. Facial masses can be abscesses in the bone, nasal cavity, sinuses, eye socket, ear or tooth. None of these are very treatable and most end up in severe pain and in need of euthanasia. These masses can also be tumours, cancer and in which case, euthanasia is the most gentlest thing to do for the rat.
My Jenny has a facial mass. It’s very hard and bony. My vet believes it could be a tooth abscess or bone cancer. It’s affecting her left eye slightly as well as her nasal cavity. Jenny is highly stressed out, sleeping more and in obvious pain. My vet has recommended we try clavamox, hoping the abscess will respond if it’s an abscess and metacam. Since giving her the metacam, Jenny is more alert and eats on her own again. She has lost a lot of weight. But, I’m not holding out much hope for her. The lump is still there, it has not gone down in size, it is distorting her face… I fear the worse. Jenny may need to be put to sleep early next week. I won’t make her suffer much longer.

Edit to add: Jenny didn’t make it. She died early evening on Dec 31st. Be well sweet Jenny.

Of course we already knew that.
But scientists put it to the test and have found rats to have empathy and pro-social behaviour. In the study, they trapped a cage mate in a tube, while the free rat had the choice to release the cage mate or move on to something else. On average the free rat, released his cage mate before doing anything else. The article goes more into details. There is also a video to show the difference the rats faced with a trapped cage mate, a trapped stuffed toy or nothing in the tube.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1427.full.html

Over the years, I’ve experienced my share of rat empathy and social capabilities. I remember once, my old girl Bijou was being harassed by 3 young bucks. My Mielle out of nowhere during out time must have sensed Bijou’s worried signals because she bounded back to the cage and found Bijou at the bottom. Mielle pushed the big bucks away and convinced Bijou to enter a tube by nudging her gently into it. When Bijou was in it, one end was already blocked, Mielle dutifully placed herself at the open end, daring any of the young boys to come near. That day, I knew just how special rats truly are.

Klebsiella is a little known bacterium that hides away in your rat’s gut as part of the flora living a comfortable life until for some reason it decides to flourish. A heavy growth of this bacterium along with other factors can kill a rat, factors such as a weakened immune system or in combination with another bacteria like staph.
Klebsiella is not a contagion but it can be spread via acquired contact from rat to rat. It is imperative that you clean your cage and disinfect the habitat regularly when maintaining large colonies or rats.
It should also be noted that klebsiella can be transmitted to animals from humans or from a hospital type institution.
Klebsiella pneumoniae can present itself with pneumonia like symptoms along with mycoplasmosis as we all know causes havoc on the lungs.
But klebsiella is also seen in abscesses where it can become an opportunistic infection.
No amount of quarantine can safeguard a colony from a rat susceptible to a klebsiella outbreak. There are drugs available to combat this bacteria and infection if caught early. A long term treatment and at high dosing seems to be the most effective method of treatment.

http://www.criver.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/rm_ld_r_Klebsiella_Spp.pdf

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/urinary_tract_infections_lower.php

http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php

Having helped raise a handful of litters and watching them raised by a friend, I’ve long since realized that mom rats have a definite impact on the social and behavioural development of the pups. Happy moms will have happy pups. Scared moms will instill that fear and anxiety in the pups as well. A pet rat will do better with a happy mom but in the wild, moms must raise their pups to deal with all the many stresses found in their environment. Mom’s effect on the pups is in part due to epigenetics as we see from this study. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/rats/
Mom rats lick their pups which causes a change in the rats’ metabolome altering their epigenome which results in more docile behaviour. So in essence, if you have a female rat with a calm and gentle nature she will nurture her babies into becoming more docile rats.
This might explain how some rats are naturally skittish and why in some cases no amount of human interactions and socializing will change your pet rat into a more social rat. It’s up to you to manage your friendship with this rat as best as the rat can handle. Many skittish rats live happy lives listening to their humans talk to them, sing to them or just being near them. They don’t need the constant cuddling and touching that some rats do.
All in all, you must accept your rat for who he/she is… because in the end, it’s how he/she was raised.