Raisins

[Petunia]

what are normal rat stools, aka "raisins" supposed to look like?

ie, how big, how soft, what shape?

I know it's an odd thing to be asking but I've had rats with tiny poops and rats with bigger ones (some really big ones!! :shock: ) and everything from very moist and sticky to very hard and dry.
The moist ones usually dry up fairly quickly but some of the bigger ones don't.

and then we have what I call the "poo glue"- when the girls pee on their raisins and then smash em down and they get stuck to the cage bottom like glue. I should patent that stuff, Poo Gloo :laugh4:

but seriously,
what's normal?
what's ideal?


do they ever get watery stools? or is soft mushy stools considered diahrrea?

I was thinking of taking photos of different raisins to post to see which ones are normal size and shape but didn't want to totally gross anyone out.
:giggle:

 

[Godmother]

LOL, we won't be grossed out because we've seen 'em all. Soft mushy ones (without much shape) are diarrhea. I have never seen a rat with watery stools; that would be a real emergency because of the danger of dehydration and probable serious cause.

 

We don't mind seeing poop LOL we all see our fair shares :giggle:

 

[jorats]

I've seen all kinds of poop. The real soft ones are a concern but the size and consistency and shape can have something to do with diet as well.
My old rats that are pretty much only on Ensure have very small, hard and dark poops.

 

[Bamboo]

and then we have what I call the "poo glue"- when the girls pee on their raisins and then smash em down and they get stuck to the cage bottom like glue. I should patent that stuff, Poo Gloo :laugh4:

OMG I hate that lol! I have actually had a few instances where that has happened and I've seriously considered getting a chisel to scrape it off :giggle:

 

[Dazzle87]

I'm not sure what's "normal" especially since moistness depends on freshness lol.

In my house they are the size of a wood stove or exquisicat pellet. The color varies from dark to light brown, except for the one time I gave these blue mineral chews...I'm grateful I gave blue before red or I'd of had a heart attack with the "bloody" stool! LOL

Oh and they seem to come in groupings of three or four.

I've never come across runny poop.

This is a good point though, since it can be an indicator of health.

 

[PitLuvs]

We get average size and they range from light brown to darker brown, depending on the time of day and what they had to eat haha I find around 12ish a night, they tend to be darker brown as they had vegetables at supper time. The rest of the day its usually light brown as we free feed HT. Ours are mostly solid, some tend to be on the softer side but we have quite a few on meds right now.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Diarrhea is extremely scary and gross. I remember a trio of brothers at CCH who had a horrible bout of diarrhea, they just completely lost control of their bowels. We had to resort to Kaopectate and force feeding ensure but luckily they made it. As for normal, size wise it depends on the size of the rat but colour wise if you feed Harlan then their poops should be about the same colour as a HT lab block.