Never had a hairless rat before....need advice

[bruxxy]

I just rescued a double rex the other day, and up until now I have only had regular haired ratties, so I'm a bit new to what kind of care they require. So any tips on special care or possible health issues I may encounter would be really helpful. BTW I already know they need extra blankets and what not when its cold.

I guess the main thing that worries me is that I know he will be bullied by my alpha. She can be pretty mean especially to new rats and I'm really nervous about the injuries she may cause to him since he doesn't have much hair to protect himself from being bitten.

I guess there isn't much I can do to prevent that from happening though since its just normal rat behaviour. I just hope he will be able to avoid the worst of it.

Also I found this on wikipedia...

"Fuzzy rats are prone to malocclusion, or tooth misalignment - and about half of all males and 75% of all females require their teeth to be regularly trimmed to maintain normal function. However, the leading cause of death among fz/fz rats is ultimately a progressive kidney failure that begins around the age of one. Even in germ-free conditions, all males and 80% of females will die from kidney failure. Their average lifespan is 17 months for males and 20 months for females"

Has anyone ever heard of this?

 

[jorats]

I really don't think today's hairless still has the same ailments as in the past. The only things would be keratin cysts and also eye problems because of the lack of lashes, like debris in eyes. I've heard of a few hairless make it to 2.5 years.

 

[mamarat]

I've had quite a few double rexes and they are like other ratties for illnesses and such. Like Jo said, some do get keratin cysts and their eyelashes can grow inside and bother their eyes. But their teeth were fine. One died of PT at 19 months, the others made it to 24 months plus.

 

[Moon]

The only thing I have ever heard is that they should have standard furred rats around for body heat or something. But, having never had them... I can't really give advice

 

[Fidget]

I've had 3 (1 at the moment) and they aren't the hardiest kids I've ever had but could be flukes as the last 2 came with 2 haired sisters that are 'delicate' too.
From what I've read they have higher metabolisms and eat more and drink more. I believe that they should have (or at least are allowed more) more protein than the furred ones. From all the time I've spent on ratsites it seems only some seem to be more subject to malocclusion than furred, but if they don't have a problem when you get them then you shouldn't expect one to come, it seems to show up pretty early..
Don't know if this was a fluke with my 3 or not but all of them seemed to especially love chewing fabric - especially the brand new sheets I bought to replace my chewed ones :twisted: