Small Questions- Any Ideas?

[Aida]

Hey RatShack!
I came up with a billion tiny questions that I always forget to ask, and sat down to stick them all in here. Don't answer them all- just the ones you can, I know there's a lot!

- How bad is the scent marking with male rats? I've had a female that did it like everywhere, and it wasn't THAT bad. Do males have a stronger scent? I couldn't even notice hers, except that she always got me soaked.
- Do you guys have anything you use on ratty scratches? Mine always itch and get red/swelly.
- Where do y'all get those treat balls? I can't find them ANYWHERE!!!!
- NONE of my rats ever used a hammock, and they all had a bunch of different types. Charolette even used one at her old owner's, but not with me. Do you train yours somehow, or is it just a matter of the rat liking/not liking it? Is there a special way to hang them?
- I'm really up poop creek without a paddle when it comes to bedding. I can't use fleece, it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive. I've tried EcoBedding, and that's what I'm mainly using now, but it's not as great as I wanted it to be. I loved Carefresh, but it was dusty and made my rat sickly- so I'm not going back to that. Does anyone know any good aspen brands?
- How much do you pay for spays?
- Does neutering have any health benefits? (Like tumours&spays)
- Any ideas for in-cage toys? I've seen all the ones on Dapper rat, and use them sometimes- but Matilda is still bored all alone when I'm asleep/at school. I know the best entertainment is another rat, and she'll be getting that soon, but I still feel horrible now- when I see her begging to come out the second I put her back in. :sad3:
- What do you guys do with your rats when they are out of their cage? Matilda's already explored my whole huge room, and bathroom, and porch, and I think she can locate every freckle on me. She loves chasing cat toys and the like, but she gets bored of them after a few days.
- Any idesas on how I can find out how much food my Matilda has? She hides everything in her nests the second I feed her, and I never know if sh'es hungry ior not unless I ruin the whole nest. ):


thanks in advance. guys. I know there's a thread for quick questions, but I have a trillion and keep thinking of more- so I just wanted to group them all here.

 

[Joanne]

- How bad is the scent marking with male rats? I've had a female that did it like everywhere, and it wasn't THAT bad. Do males have a stronger scent? I couldn't even notice hers, except that she always got me soaked.
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]All my males have been neutered, so they don't scent mark any more than my females so I don't notice it.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- Do you guys have anything you use on ratty scratches? Mine always itch and get red/swelly.
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]Mine do to. I just rinse them off under running water and that seems to be enough.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- Where do y'all get those treat balls? I can't find them ANYWHERE!!!!
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]I dunno, I was wondering the same thing![/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- NONE of my rats ever used a hammock, and they all had a bunch of different types. Charolette even used one at her old owner's, but not with me. Do you train yours somehow, or is it just a matter of the rat liking/not liking it? Is there a special way to hang them?
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]My rats like to be under cover, so the hammock has to be covered. They won't sleep in the open in a hammock. If you've tried different ones and they don't use them, then don't worry about it. Give them huts or whatever they like instead.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- I'm really up poop creek without a paddle when it comes to bedding. I can't use fleece, it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive. I've tried EcoBedding, and that's what I'm mainly using now, but it's not as great as I wanted it to be. I loved Carefresh, but it was dusty and made my rat sickly- so I'm not going back to that. Does anyone know any good aspen brands?
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]I don't find fleece that expensive. You don't need a lot if you do washes more often. A cheap 3' x 3' blanket is $2 at the dollar store. And I don't throw it out when it has holes in it - I may just cut it down into smaller pieces.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- How much do you pay for spays?
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]There are a couple of vets around here that will charge $75 for a spay. That would be the lowest I think, and go up from there.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- Does neutering have any health benefits? (Like tumours&spays)
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]Aside from a better attitude and less buck grease, I don't think so.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- Any ideas for in-cage toys? I've seen all the ones on Dapper rat, and use them sometimes- but Matilda is still bored all alone when I'm asleep/at school. I know the best entertainment is another rat, and she'll be getting that soon, but I still feel horrible now- when I see her begging to come out the second I put her back in. :sad3:
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]I don't think that any toy will solve that. She just want's live company.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- What do you guys do with your rats when they are out of their cage? Matilda's already explored my whole huge room, and bathroom, and porch, and I think she can locate every freckle on me. She loves chasing cat toys and the like, but she gets bored of them after a few days.
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]My rats don't go exploring too far. They are afraid of the cats. I think that once she has company, she will be entertained.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]
- Any idesas on how I can find out how much food my Matilda has? She hides everything in her nests the second I feed her, and I never know if sh'es hungry ior not unless I ruin the whole nest. ):
[highlight=#ffff00:ve47xpiu]I would ruin the nest a few days in a row to get an idea of how much food she is eating. Count the number of blocks that you give her, and see how many are gone after 24 hours. Once you have a good idea, I like to give extra, just in case. So maybe a few more. Then when you clean her cage out you can see how many she has stashed, and adjust from there if there are too many extra.[/highlight:ve47xpiu]

 

[Aida]

Thanks, Joanne! I know about the company thing. I wish I never took her friend back to the store to get treated. She'll be home soon, and right after the qurantine, it's friends for ever. <:]

 

[jorats]

Generally, males mark a lot. Some don't but most do.
For allergies to rats, you can use benedryl but I've noticed that cold water on my welts makes them go away faster.
Treat Balls, we have them at Pet Valu here but don't know for the US.
Some rats can take a while to like hammocks, they eventually do, but sometimes you need to experiment which way is the best place to put them.
Aspen or hemp might be a good alternative for bedding for you. You should be able to find that at any pet store.
In my neck of the woods, spays are very expensive. $260
Neutering is beneficial in that it removes a lot of stress. But spaying has way more health benefits.
Toys in cages: ping pong balls, cat balls, toilet roll tubes, napkins, newspaper, boxes, ladders, bird chews...
If you free feed your rat, then I wouldn't worry if she's hungry.

 

[Dazzle87]

You might want to check out Florida Ratlist for vet reccomendations. There are some reasonably priced vets in FL.

Males can't get testicular cancer, but that is incredibly rare in rats anyway. The benefits of neutering are mostly behavioral and pregnancy prevention.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002ASAVY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Pricey with shipping through them, but that is what the US ones are called.

 

[SQ]

Treat balls?
try the cat section of the dollar store

 

[Aida]

Thanks SQ, Jorats, and Dazzle for the treat ball advice! The link Dazzle had posted actually had an ad that said that petco carries them.

SQ- My dollar stores are lacking in pet supplies, at the best. ):
And all their toys and other things I could give my rats are very cheeply made, and just spark images in my mind of how they could get shredded/wrapped around a windpipe. o-e

Jorats- Do you know any aspen/hemp brands that are good? I just moved the hammock, and am putting some rat food in it everytime I feed- to get my rat to go into it.

 

[jorats]

Jorats- Do you know any aspen/hemp brands that are good? I just moved the hammock, and am putting some rat food in it everytime I feed- to get my rat to go into it.

I don't use aspen so I wouldn't know. But I would think anything at the pet store is worth a try.

 

[crumbilina]

This is the aspen I use: http://www.chinchilla.ca/items.php?Prod ... urce=acces

I really like it.

 

[Aida]

This is the aspen I use: http://www.chinchilla.ca/items.php?Prod ... urce=acces

I really like it.

Thanks! Do you know if I can find it anywhere else than that website?

 

[pshuga03]

I get the bags of aspen from drsfostersmith.com and they have it fairly cheap. I usually blend it with carefresh just to make it a bit softer on the footsies when they have to go in the litterbox, and other than that I used flannel to line the bottoms of the pans since the flannel is super absorbent

With the aspen form anywhere though (or any bedding really) I highly recommend freezing it for at least 24 hours before using it. My babies got some mites about 2 years ago when I first ordered it.

 

[Aida]

I get the bags of aspen from drsfostersmith.com and they have it fairly cheap. I usually blend it with carefresh just to make it a bit softer on the footsies when they have to go in the litterbox, and other than that I used flannel to line the bottoms of the pans since the flannel is super absorbent

With the aspen form anywhere though (or any bedding really) I highly recommend freezing it for at least 24 hours before using it. My babies got some mites about 2 years ago when I first ordered it.

i can't blend mine with carefresh(I think Matilda is irritated by it... o-o), but I can with something else...
Thanks for the website, I'll be checking it out!

 

[crumbilina]

This is the aspen I use: http://www.chinchilla.ca/items.php?Prod ... urce=acces

I really like it.

Thanks! Do you know if I can find it anywhere else than that website?

You'd have to do a search for Nepco aspen. I don't get it from this website, I get it from Ren's pet depot which is a store in my area so it is available in store.

 

[victoria]

LifeMate Hemp by Pestell is pretty good, it's very low dust and seems pretty soft. If I ever used bedding again, that would be my first choice.