The Quick Question Thread

[Deer]

I currently have the two new comers (mommy and baby) in a separate Rat Manor across the room from the CN which houses the home team. Baby rat is about 6 weeks old.
They've been home 3 nights. How long should I wait before putting the cages next to each other? AND HOW LONG BEFORE BATH TUB INTROS? Should I try to bond them with me before intros?
Im SOOOO excited to get them all together but I dont want to rush.

 

[Deer]

OH BOY HERE'S ANOTHER ONE
I wanted one of the ware lock n litter pans I always see people using. The was labeled on Amazon as "ware plastic scatter less lock n litter small pet pan". Is this the proper size? It seems huge to me !

 

[SterlingRats0408]

Thats the size I have...maybe a tad smaller as its an older one but pretty much!

 

[Deer]

Thats the size I have...maybe a tad smaller as its an older one but pretty much!

Thanks, just wanted to make sure ! Looks can be deceiving

 

[alienpmk]

How much fruit can one rat eat a day? I get paranoid and only let them have like two grapes.

 

[Sheldon]

I was trying to intro my two oldies to the new group of nakies. This healed quickly and very well, but I did consider this a true injury and after a few days of different rats getting hurt, I stopped intros. (It was always the nakies who got hurt...)

Thanks Joanne,

My girl's scratches look nothing like that so I guess it isn't that bad.

Ok so here are some pics with a really bad kindle camera. This is after 2 sessions. Most of the scratches are from the 1st session. I just feel awful because she isn't even putting up a fight!! She is the sweetest rat I own.

 

[Joanne]

Sheldon, it looks like most of those scratches are very minor. It looks like she did get one bite, but it's hard to tell from the pics if it is a puncture or just a scrape. If it is just a scrape, then I would consider that minor too as rats can very easily puncture and tear the skin with their teeth if they wanted to. Poor girly, the nakies always show every little thing.

 

[Sheldon]

Her whole tummy is all messed up too.

 

[Joanne]

Hopefully things will settle down quickly and she will stop getting scratched.

 

[jorats]

I like big litter pans in my cage. Harder to miss. lol

OH BOY HERE'S ANOTHER ONE
I wanted one of the ware lock n litter pans I always see people using. The was labeled on Amazon as "ware plastic scatter less lock n litter small pet pan". Is this the proper size? It seems huge to me !

 

[jorats]

Sheldon, do you have a thread on your nakie getting all cut up? It would be easier to follow a timeline on a real thread. I'd need to know how long they've been living together, how old are all the rats...

Her whole tummy is all messed up too.

 

[Zephye]

So, this morning I went to check on my ratties and one of them had so much porphyrin around one of his eyes. He had this occur a month and a half ago which I just wiped away with a warm compress and it never came back up until now. I'm not sure what would be causing it though. He's not sick, his lungs sound clear, he doesn't have discharge any where else except that one eye and it's a LOT of discharge. It almost looks like he has a bloody eye sometimes which freaked me out the first time. Possible causes? Should I consider taking him to a vet if this happens again?

 

[Joanne]

If it is really infrequent, perhaps he is getting something stuck in his eye?

 

[Zephye]

I can't see anything but it might be stress from answers I've gotten on the thread and on a FB group I'm apart of since I got my foster rats around the same time this started happening.

 

[Deer]

Does anyone have a trick for reducing rat scratches? They crawled all over me and I look like a wreck. I can't trim their nails yet so a trick for reducing the redness would be great.

 

[SterlingRats0408]

Cut open an advil liquid gel and dab some on the red swollen spots

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon, do you have a thread on your nakie getting all cut up? It would be easier to follow a timeline on a real thread. I'd need to know how long they've been living together, how old are all the rats...

Ok here's the thread.
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=448251

 

[Zephye]

So, today I was looking at my rat's food bowl and noticed that some of the oxbow is half eaten. (like blocks are half chewed and put back into the bowl) Is there a reason for this?

 

[Joanne]

So, today I was looking at my rat's food bowl and noticed that some of the oxbow is half eaten. (like blocks are half chewed and put back into the bowl) Is there a reason for this?

Because they don't have a mom that tells them they have to finish the whole plate?

 

[SterlingRats0408]

Haha great answer Joanne!