New Rats Different Smell?

[Good Karma]

Hi guys,

As most of you know i recently adopted 2 new adolecent boys. They smell really different from my other boys - far more pungent!

They were eating a dog food when they came to me 2 weeks ago and i have switched them onto the Suebee's mix (until i can get oxbow) plus veggies and extras. Their poops seem bigger and softer, and sometimes i find reeeally soft poops.

Any ideas?

Tara

 

[Melissa]

The smell was probably from their diet. Give them time and they should smell better soon. The same thing happened when I got Starla she reaked.

 

[user 78]

If they didn't have alot of the things you're giving them, that would cause loose stool. Vegetables and fruits are usually the biggest culprits of diarrhea. The change from dog food to Suebee's alone could cause some tummy upset.

Always try and gradually introduce new foods to keep tummy upset to a minimum.

Their smell may be caused from the food they were eating previously. See if it changes after they're on their new diet for a while.

 

[LA]

I second .... er.... or third all of that.

 

[Moon]

When I grabbed Saffi and Fable for Shelagh, they were the two stinkiest rats I had ever met. It honestly smelled like they used manure as bedding... it was revolting. I had them in my office at work over night, and when I opened the door in the morning, the whole room reeked.

Shelagh says they are no longer odorous. Good care can really make a difference.

 

[Good Karma]

Yeah, these guys have seriously stinky poop and their bodies smell as well. Hopefully as they get used to the new food they will stink less! Peee-U!

 

[lilspaz68]

I wouldn't worry, within a week or so they should be smelling more "normal"

 

[Bati]

I got some girls who had been eating different than mine, it took nearly two months before they started smelling the way rats smell with me, so be patient :wink:

 

[mamarat2]

I always notice that when I pick up other rats that I am adopting they have a different odor. Could be their bedding or food they are eating, either way it seems to dissipate after a few days.

 

[PiedPiper]

Okay, I'll bite. What's normal? I don't quite know how to describe how our boys smell, except to say that's it's kinda like warm pee . . . but in a good way. :giggle:

 

[user 78]

Normal is not excessively smelly. If you walk into the room and are bowled over by the smell of their poo and pee, they've got something going on. Usually rats taken in from bad situations are being fed awful diets, so that when they're switched to a good diet it's horrible for a couple of weeks. Their little tums are adjusting and it can get gross.

Then there's a rat's own smell. Unaltered boys, in general, tend to smell like corn chips. Girls usually smell like grape soda.

 

[PiedPiper]

Then there's a rat's own smell. Unaltered boys, in general, tend to smell like corn chips.

Corn chips? As she presses a warm, furry, little body to her nose and inhales deeply. Why, yes! You're right, I do smell corn chips!

Someone pass the guacamole.

 

[jorats]

lol... once they reach sexual maturity, you can really smell it then.

 

[minnow]

Hmmm... Toby smells like grape soda and fresh earth. Apparently, the neuter made him a girl. :lol:

 

[lilspaz68]

Hmmm... Toby smells like grape soda and fresh earth. Apparently, the neuter made him a girl. :lol:

Neutering removes all the hormonal crap which makes boys smell yummy...Every boy here before their neutered gets my nose buried in their cornchip fur. :roll: Thats the only thing I miss, not the buck grease or the occasional foofing.

 

[PiedPiper]

Errrrr . . . what's "foofing"? :lol:

 

[lilspaz68]

puffed up fur and a bit of huffing noise...poufing is just the fur

Its usually a territorial thing, and I have a few girls who do it as well.

 

[PiedPiper]

Okay - thanks. I guess our boys haven't started foofing yet, at least I haven't caught them doing it . . . not yet anyhow.


So much to learn . . .

 

[user 78]

Hopefully it's something they'll never do. It's usually an aggressive move, warning other rats that they're big bad mofo's and not to mess with them. They literally seem to double or triple in size when they do it.

 

[PiedPiper]

Sounds like I'll definitely know it when I see it! :shock: So this is something they'll do only when they mean business? It wouldn't be anything my adolescent boys would do in play?