Illness and Ratties

[debbienlca]

Can anyone tell me why they seem so prone to tumours, eyes problems , breathing issues, and other illnesses?
Are there things you can do to prevent them?Is there an age that they start getting sick?
I have had most rodents over the years and ratties seem to be more prone than all the rest.
Still rats seem to be prevalent in all countries, and see to survive anything in the wild ?????
What's up with that????

 

[eagle]

Sadly it due to bad breeding for the most part. Rats are breed for looks not health at least in the BYB circumstances. There are a few breeders that are breeding good rats, but even those most be monitored for generations to determine if any health issues will show up down the line especially tumors. Diet plays a part in the health of our ratties, feed crap food and you have a rat with health issues. Resp issues go hand in hand with rats they are born with myco, nothing you can do about that.

 

[victoria]

Rats survive in the wild because they breed quickly and die young. (A doe can have her first litter at two months of age.) I read somewhere that the average age of wild caught rats was 6 months, suggesting that their average lifespan in the wild is one year.

Like eagle said, breathing issues are common because they are born with Mycoplasma and it weakens their ability to fight off secondary infections. Mammary tumours in females are likely related to the fact that they are programmed to reproduce quickly and that potential to grow can go haywire. Eye problems are not very common in general (at least in my experience) but they seem to be much more likely in hairless and double rex rats.

Any issue can be made worse by poor or careless breeding. Many undesirable traits - aggression, susceptibility to tumours or respiratory infections, cataracts or other eye issues, etc. - can have a genetic component. An optimal diet, habitat, and socialization can help correct some of these but it can't fix it all unfortunately. All we can do is try our best and enjoy our amazing little friends for as long as we can.

 

Can anyone tell me why they seem so prone to tumours, eyes problems , breathing issues, and other illnesses?
Are there things you can do to prevent them?Is there an age that they start getting sick?
I have had most rodents over the years and ratties seem to be more prone than all the rest.
Still rats seem to be prevalent in all countries, and see to survive anything in the wild ?????
What's up with that????

Genes, breeding, diet & Habitat!

A lot of rats are inbreed ..or sick rats are breed.

A low fat, low sugar and low protein (14% to 16% is best) diet is very important.

Fresh veggies are also important - daily

Also rats age very very fas.

 

[debbienlca]

Thanks lady's.
People just can't get to through their heads you need breeding quality animals to breed!!!!!
Pet store animals are pet quality, and I'm blue in the face trying to get people to understand. :sick2: