Weight

[la_marée_haute]

Hi guys, just a little query about weight.

My boys have recently become heavy! Very heavy compared to when I got them! They're not round or dispreportionate at all, just... meaty. Hehe.

I was just wondering if they're at a normal weight for their age (I'm prehtty sure it's 4 months. they were born at 7:00pm on November 1st 2007, Sydney time :lol. Please keeping in mind that I used a crappy kitchen scale that is hard to read (it goes by Ibs, mainly... and in Australia we don't use pounds, so I have NO idea what's what.) Plus the boys never stop moving, and we weren't exactly on a flat surface (a firm couch). They both seem to be at... dun dun dunnn... ONE POUND/1 Ibs!!! :shock:

So, is that normal? :? Or at least not too overweight? I'm so paranoid. And very anxious for your responses. For 4 months they sometimes feel... well, bigger. Not that I've ever held or seen any other rats in person. I'm just going by photos online, and just by... how they feel when I hold them.

I hope my kitchen scale is at least a bit accurate. I'll know it isn't if someone tells me they're morbidly obese or that they're terribly underweight (<-- HAH, yeah right :roll: ).

Thanks.

 

[jorats]

So they are 454 grams? or there about? I'd say at 4 months, that's big. Not obese or anything but big enough. But... it could be all the "yummy" stuff you've been trying to feed them with their meds. lol
I like to keep my males around 400 to 550 grams. If they start to tip the scale at 550 grams, I try to incorporate more exercise in his life.

 

[Riana]

I was wondering about weight recently, too. I had the boys at the vets on tuesday and I got their weights. I hope you don't mind if I ask the same question here, la_marée_haute.

Guild is 410g
Freyr is 440g
Loki is 490g
Rose is 580g!

 

[jorats]

Riana, how old are they?

It's really hard to go by weight, because some rats are just made bigger than others and I don't mean bigger as in body width but as in length.

 

[Riana]

Rose I'm guessing is around 11 months now. Guild's one month younger than him, and Loki and Freyr are 7 months old now.

 

[jorats]

So your rats are adults. That's a good weight on them. Rose is a little high but then again, he might be a long bigger rat. You can usually tell by the face, if they have a nice wide face, then they are a bigger rat. If they have that long sleek face, then they shouldn't weigh too high.

One good way to see if your rat is fat, when he walks, his stomach should not touch the floor. When he sits, his thighs should not get lost in the rest of the body. You should always be able to see well defined upper arm and thigh muscles. There should be a neck too. lol

 

[la_marée_haute]

Riana, how old are they?

It's really hard to go by weight, because some rats are just made bigger than others and I don't mean bigger as in body width but as in length.

Aha, well I forgot to mention that they ARE built big. Their dad and uncles are very big-boned, apparently, and their whole line. I got warned that once my boys are adult they WON'T fit into tissue boxes, so don't bother. :lol:

Thanks Jo.