When rats require surgery, it’s quite common for the rat to remove his/her sutures. First thing you do is don’t panic. It’s has happen a few times with mine and once left quite a large gaping hole. If you are very concerned a call to the vet is always a good idea. But, in most cases, nothing needs to be done. Vets usually use hidden internal sutures so when the outside ones get ripped open, it’s not that big of an issue. You keep it clean, keep an eye on it and within a few days it will close up and heal. Do not put any kind of ointments that promote healing like neosporin or polysporin. This can cause for an abscess to form or worse yet, a deep infection. Rats need to heal from the inside out and not outside in. The wound stays open long enough to drain and slowly closes itself when it’s time. In most cases, a cut will be healed within hours, for surgical wounds, it can take 3 days or more. Make sure there are no foul odour coming from the area, this would indicate infection and a trip back to the vet would be a must.
Some vets like to use staples. If you have a choice, ask your vet not to use staples. Rats rarely leave it alone and will pry them off quite fast and might even cause more damage in the process. I had a rat get his bottom lip caught in a staple. Rats don’t like to have anything on them, they will be relentless at trying to take it off.
If you do find your rat is always grooming the area, or tugging at it, this could indicate pain and pain management would be required. My vet uses metacam. It’s effective and quite safe in rats. Some vets try to use an e-collar on a rat. Not a good idea, same reason as staples, they will stop at nothing to take it off…
A day or two alone, with pain management and a good mom and dad watching over rattie is all it takes to heal properly.
Nakies, naked, hairless, true hairless, some double rexes all need some slightly extra care. I have had a couple of hairless rats as well. My first one was a true hairless named Frisson TiNu and most recently I have little Meeko, he’s more a double rex who has lost 80% of his hair which is quite normal.
It has been said in the past that a certain type of hairless rat didn’t live long and had serious respiratory issues. This was true of my first little guy. Despite my efforts and his good fight, he finally lost the battle at 14 months old. But since then, more and more breeders are making these “fancy” rats, cross breeding, inbreeding, linebreeding, the hairless seems to have gotten a bit stronger and not as susceptible to respiratory issues. But they still have plenty of others. Since the hairless have their skin exposed all the time, they do dry out faster. Their skin can become flaky and dirty. It has been suggested to me by my vet to apply moisturizer once in a while, a favourite is one with added oatmeal. Don’t bathe these guys too often, it will be even harsher on their skin, the water and drying with a towel removes their much needed oils.
Although they seem like little breathing furnaces, they do need extra warmth with added bedding like fleece in the cage. They also love to cuddle with their furred little buddies. Don’t get alarmed if your nakie seems to get cut up a lot, that is all part of not having a true coat. If he had fur, his cage mate probably wouldn’t be leaving a mark on him. That’s no reason for separating the hairless from buddies.
Also, don’t get alarmed if your fuzzy double rexe loses his coat. He might very well find it again a week’s time or even a few months. It’s all part of their genetically altered coat.
Other issues are eye gunk. Without the protection around the eyes, they seem to be prone to a collection of debris under the eye lids. Their eyes might become red and swollen. Sometimes over the counter eye drops can help but it’s highly recommended you bring your rat to a vet for a proper cleaning out and the right antibiotic eye ointments.
Another big problem is keratin cysts. These are lumps on the skin containing sacs or capsules of cells and protein. The lumps are usually harmless but you must keep an eye on them because they could become infected or be part of a blocked gland. In some occasions, they may need to be surgically removed.
There was a time when people recommended feeding your hairless rat extra protein because they have a higher metabolism, but I have honestly never found any documents supporting that theory. All the rats here and at my mom’s do very well on a 14% protein and nothing higher. Don’t believe everything you read online. *wink wink*
But overall, the hairless rat is a lovely pet, with the same unique characters of your furred rats and their body heat is a welcome hot potato during the winter months. Grab your little naked and put him in your neck… you’ll be all set to go.
Frisson
Meeko
Some rats can be aggressive but it’s really not that common. But in females, their moodiness can be misinterpreted as aggressive tendencies. Intact females can be very forceful and determined.
Females go through a heat cycle every 4 to 5 days. In some rats, it’s not noticeable while in others, it’s quite obvious. A rat in heat will do funny little hops, flutter their ears and even arch their backs dramatically when you touch them. Some females like to do back kicks at their buddies, hoping to convince them to join in the chase and do the courting dance.
It’s also not uncommon to have females get pushy and cranky during their heat. The desire to procreate is very strong. It’s 100 times worse if you happen to have males in the home which is why I always strongly advise against having both sexes. It’s stressful and not fair to the rats, either male or female. The rat will constantly and desperately try to reach the opposite sex. Rats can sense them from far away, they can “talk” to each other as well and will spend their every waking moment trying to reach their “honey”. This is another reason why spaying your rats is highly beneficial.
Spats or fighting can also occur with food. Some rats and I’ve seen this mostly in females become obsessive with stashing. The rat might even hunt down, flip and pin another rat in order to remove the food from their mouth so they can then stash it in their special spot. This is not necessarily aggression, simply an addiction. You can try to alleviate it by free feeding your rats and offering several dishes with food. Also, finding the stash in the cage and dispersing the food several times during the day will help keep the peace.
All these little quirks make our rats unique and so very lovable.
Rats don’t rely much on their sense of sight. Their eye sight is weak so rats depend on their other senses like the sense of smell and feel (whiskers) to manoeuvre their way through life. Rats can have either black eyes, red eyes or pink eyes. The lighter the eye colour the weaker their sense of sight, which is why many red and pink eyed rats sway from side to side to gauge depth and to focus.
Eyes should be bright and clear of any porphyrin which is a sign of stress and/or illness. Rats also have a third membrane. Sick rats or very old rats’ eyes may sometimes appear to be dull, this is their third membrane staying up because it no longer retracts easily.
Some rats also have cataracts. There are several causes for cataracts: trauma or injury, congenital or spontaneous.
Most rats are not bothered by their cataracts; it rarely affects them since eye sight is not all that important to them to begin with. But in some cases, rats with cataracts develop chronic inflammatory in the eye, secondary to lens associated uveitis. If that occurs, long term anti-inflammatory drops would be required.
It is also not uncommon for rats to get a scratch in the eye. Most times this does not require too much care other than putting antibiotics drops in the eye, twice daily. The eye usually clears up fast enough.
A lump behind the eye is also a possible concern although not very common. This can be a tumour or an abscess which can be treated by trying antibiotics and a steroid or other recommendations by your vet. One of the first symptoms you’ll notice is a very unpleasant odour around the eye. Finally, the eye begins to bulge and starts to pop out of it’s socket. In some severe cases it may require an enucleation of the eye. I have seen a few rats undergo this procedure and came out of it quite well. Rats adapt amazingly well without their eyes. In fact, I’ve known a wonderful rat named Boo who was born with no eyes. Of course this fact had destined him to become snake food but he was saved this fate by my mom. Boo lived a full productive life, all without ever having the sense of sight.
Boo
Charlie with a congenital cataract.
Angel with a cataract due to trauma to the eye.
A couple of days ago, I noticed Gera was holding up his leg and wasn’t moving much. I waited it out hoping it was a simple sprain but the swelling never came. So I packed my sweet Gera up and off to the vet we went. The vet suspect cellulitis. He’s now on Clavamox for the next two weeks. We hope that this will treat it and he’ll be right back to normal. Gera also has a small lump in his groin. We are hoping it’s only a neuter abscess which can sometimes happen. Clavamox should take care of that as well. 
Gera has been enjoying the extra coddling. He especially approves of his Cozygloo which I gave him when it’s out time. This way he can be out with me and I can watch him so the other rats won’t bother him. The girls don’t seem to understand that Gera needs some recovery time.
We are back at the vet’s next Tuesday for a follow-up. Wish us well.
Get well soon Gera.
A rat’s teeth is constantly growing. Usually rats are able to keep them straight and trimmed on their own. Even without any wood chews or blocks rats will trim their teeth by bruxing. But do continue to offer wood chews because rats really do love to chew. You can try boxes and tissues as well. Once in a while you’ll come across a rat with bad teeth. Either they are born with malocclusion or they develop an infection or illness which caused the teeth to become white, weak and brittle.
Trimming teeth at home is possible but you must be careful and know what you are doing. you need two people for this job. One to do the trimming and the other to restrain the rat.
I strongly urge you to visit your vet first. Some people have a hard time seeing the difference with normal teeth and overgrown teeth.
Also the vet can show you how to do the trimming the right way. It’s always safer and easier to have your vet do the procedure.
In some cases, trimming rats with white and overgrown teeth can result in injury especially if there is an existing infection. The slightest torque can cause the root to break.
Make sure to educate yourself first and have the proper tools and methods.
Today was the day for Chief and Doc to be neutered. This will take away all their hormonal stress and worries. It also calms down their need to be territorial. Both boys did very well during surgery and are now recovering well at home.
We must always remember that every surgery is a risk. If the rat has any hidden ailments like heart issues, they probably won’t pull through or could become very sick for the rest of their lives. It’s a gamble you take but if you have a good experienced vet, the risk are not as high. There are rats that don’t make it out of surgery or barely make it out of recovery. I’ve had several rats go through surgery with my vet, only once did I lose one. Young Max was 4 months old. The vet figured he had a weak heart which is why he had a cardiac arrest in recovery. I never felt guilty for poor little Max. He was very aggressive and never would have been a happy boy. And with heart issues, he would have been a very sick rat throughout his life.
Make sure to weigh your pros and cons when deciding on surgery… and remember, there are worse fates than death.
Doc:
Chief:
In my oldies cage I have four sweeties who have survived the nasty bout of CAR B. I have no doubt that they still have that bacteria in them but it’s not affecting them like it did their cagemates. Anna Banana is one of them. At almost 26 months old, she’s now declining fast. We suspect a pituitary tumour. It seems so unfair to beat the odds and fight the good fight only to be struck down at still a young age by an unbeatable monster. Anna started to show symptoms about a month ago, subtle symptoms like slight confusion, loss of coordination and balance and thinning fur. Prednisone and Dexamethasone will slow the progress but in the end, we can’t win this one.
We are now entering the syringe feeding stage. She walks in her food when doing the constant circling but worse, she finds it difficult to groom herself and if you are a rat lover, you know how important that is to them.
I will feed you and clean you my little Princess, but you just show me the sign and I will set you free.
I’ve had several people ask me how old do rats live till… the average lifespan is quite shocking and a reality check.
Rats have an average lifespan of 2 years. If you do everything well as in healthy diet, clean and proper habitat and lots of mental and physical stimulation then you might get them to reach 2.5 years to 3 years.
And if you are really lucky and your rat has some amazing genetics, then you can have them live to 4 years.
I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had a few rats reach 38 to 45 months old. It’s a bittersweet blessing having them with you so long. When they reach a certain age, most rats require special care. Most lose their hind end mobility, some more severe than others. Some develop what can only be described as dementia. Some develop cataracts and kidney disease… but these strong rats with their strong will to live certainly makes you see the world in a different light.
My Davis will soon be 38 months old on June 23rd. He’s the last of his litter, a little guy with good strong genes.
A member and moderartor on the Rat Shack forum wrote this article on water. It’s very well done and should be read by all.
We’ve had questions about what water should I be giving my rats. There are a lot of opinions and personal choices. Here is some information on the different types of water so you can make a choice. I used to work for a water purification company and learned a lot during that time.
There are many sources of water such as Town/City, Municipal Wells, Private Wells, Lakes, Wells, and Bottled to name the main ones. Each source can be very different. Also the ‘ingredients’ in the water can also be very different, they can range in hardness, total dissolved solids, chemical level, bacteria level and pH.
Hardness is the amount of Calcium and Magnesium in the water. The higher the number the more ‘hard’ it is. You can see hardness as calcium deposits on sinks, baths, showers, dishes. It’s what makes your shower head spray all crazy. Now I have heard studies that have shown someone who is prone to kidney stones and drinks hard water can get more because of the calcium deposits in the water.
Total Dissolved Solids is the amount of microscopic solids in the water. It can be linked to hardness, normally if your water is very hard the TDS will be very high. But you can find times when the water is not hard and the TDS is very high, it just means there there is something else in the water.
Chemical Level can range from chlorine/fluorine to other chemicals that can be very harmful. Chlorine/fluorine is present in all town water and municipal wells as a combatant against bacteria. Other chemicals can be the result of leaks from another source (this most often occurs if you have a private well)
Bacteria most often occurs from private wells. Most often you will see E Coli and Coliform, but there can be other bacterias in the water as well that can make you very sick.
pH is basically the level of acid or alkaline in the water. Water should normally be about 7. But can range depending on whats in the water.
SOURCES OF WATER
Town/City water
This water can range in quality from town to town, city to city. It really depends on what the starting water is like. Town treatment only removes sediment (larger particles), bacteria and chemicals in the water, but it also adds chlorine and fluorine to the water to kill the bacteria.
Municipal Wells
These are wells found in rural areas but are used by multiple houses. These are also normally treated with Chlorine to ensure safe drinking water.
Private Wells
These wells are on your own property, it is your own responsibility. These wells can be any hardness, any colour, any smell etc. They also can carry bacteria. Some wells have the best drinking water. My suggestion is if you have a private well to get it tested yearly for bacteria. Especially if you are drinking it or giving it to your animals to drink. In Ontario and Canada the public health units do free testing, not sure about anywhere else. Also when it comes to selling a house a water test must be done to ensure safe drinking water. So if you want to sell it’s probably best to know what you are getting into in the first place.
Lakes
Most often cottages use this water and normally there is TONS of bacteria in the water. However most often lake water is very soft (no or very little hardness).
Bottled Water
There are different types of bottled water, spring water, distilled and Reverse osmosis water.
Spring water is treated water with no bacteria, but it can be high in hardness and TDS. Some people say that minerals in the water are good for me. Not so, we cannot ingest minerals from the water. We need minerals from fruits and veggies. It’s like thinking eating dirt is healthy.
Distilled water is water that has been boiled and the steam is collected. This is probably one of the purest forms of water you can find. But it is also expensive to make. Some people say it has a flat taste, I didn’t find that. Distilled water has a pH balance of neutral.
Reverse Osmosis water is water that’s pushed through a membrane with microscopic holes. Pure water is mainly the only thing that can get through the membrane leaving the other stuff behind. pH of R/O water is about 6-7.
Both distilled and R/O water have low TDS.
For fish tanks when I had one I used R/O water until I realized that the pH was too low, but because I had a private well with 20 hardness (VERY HARD) I used the R/O water and raised the pH. I don’t think Distilled water is suitable for fish tanks however.
Now with that all said, what do I give my pets. I personally give R/O water because that’s what we drink. If you choose to give tap water I recommend you use a carbon filter (brita) to remove the chlorine content from the water. If you have a private well I recommend you get your water checked regularly to make sure there is no bacteria.
Remember pets and rats in general are little and things that would not affect us normally can affect them. Used your best judgement when choosing water.
Note: this info is basically Canada based and can apply to the US as well. Other areas have other issues and different legislation.
And by another member, SQ writes:
Rats need to be given water that does not contain either chlorine or fluoride.
Chlorine is linked to cancer & other health problems. Fluoride has been linked to brain damage.
Chlorine can be removed from the water by some types of filters.
Fluoride can only be removed from the water by distillation, reverse osmosis, or de-ionization.
If your water contains fluoride, you will need to give your rats fluoride-free bottled water.
To reduce the amount of lead in tap water (from pipes & faucets), let the cold water run for awhile before using the water. Never use hot water from the tap for cooking or drinking.
Note: it is also very important to clean water bottles and the sipper tube well every couple of days