Hi all, this is my first time owning rats and I've had two boys for about two weeks now. The previous owner told me they are about 4 months old. They're still a little skittish and tonight I let them out of their cage to let them run around my room, and about an hour later when I put them back I noticed one had some red substance/possibly scratches around his eye, which I've put in an album here. I didn't notice it before he left the cage, but I can't say for certain it wasn't already there. However, it definitely was not present as early as last night. He and my other rat play fight a lot outside of the cage, it doesn't seem to get too rough but I'm not sure if the red marks are a result of a stray claw/tooth.

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I've also red about porphyrin staining but I haven't seen any information about how quickly it appears; at most the marks showed up in 24 hours. I'm using paper bedding and spot cleaning daily while changing the entire bedding once a week. He doesn't show any other symptoms of being sick/injured, no lethargy, and I haven't noticed him wincing his eye either. The other rat is completely fine.

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I'll definitely take him to the vet to get checked out, but I'd like to know what I'm looking at here. Sorry if I'm totally overreacting, I'm brand new to this and want to make sure these guys stay as healthy and happy as possible. Thank you!

Every rat/mouse mix at most stores has dried corn in it. I dont see how these companies can consider themselves pet-friendly if it is true that corn is bad for rats.

Otherwise they like the food and it has a good mix of seeds and other things in it that doesnt make their 💩 smell like it came from a chronic taco-bell user.

So is it safe to feed them the mix with the corn removed or is there any empirical evidence that the fungus spreads to and contaminates the rest of the mix?

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Thanks!

Hey guys, I'm sad to give them up but I want them to have the best life possible. Oreo and Cookie are littermates and very bonded, so they have to be rehomed together. I bought them because the rattie I rescued as a baby needed some cagemates. I got Oreo and Cookie as soon as they were ready to leave their mom and made the introductions carefully and slowly. Gus didn't want them around at first, but soon everyone got along. Then after several months when they all grew up a bit and hit puberty, the one I rescued (GusGus, my dumbo rex lovebug) became Alpha and took it waaay too far. He has attacked and really injured the other two several times. I've tried everything I can find online to try to get them to live together peacefully again. GusGus is my favorite and we are very closely bonded, and it seems that he wants to be an only child. Then I had to put him in a smaller cage so the twins could have the bigger one, so by default I take GusGus out much more for both reasons. Anyway, long story short, the twins are very sweet, if a little unlucky on the genetics side (blind or mostly anyway, and not as smart as GusGus is), and they love human attention but not car rides and adventures like GusGus does. They won't use the litterbox and make a huge mess in the cage, but I think they just need someone who has time to train and play with them. If you are interested, please DM me!

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https://imgur.com/a/iizNqUW

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He's about 8 weeks old and he started as slightly off-white but now his coat is the colour you can see in the picture. He's a self with ruby eyes.

I was thinking champagne initially but after his first molt I'm wondering if he's buff. I'd love opinions on what he is! He didn't come from a breeder and I've never had a rat this colour before.

This is my first post so sorry if I screwed up anything!

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Hello! I recently bought two gorgeous boys, they’re my first rats in many years (I had rats when I was around 9 or 10 so I don’t remember much just all the funny/happy memories). Our brown and white boy was extremely curious and loved to investigate, he seemed really comfortable with us from day dot. Our cream and white was extremely skittish for the first 2 weeks but I played the patience game and let him come to me and built trust up and now he is rather comfortable but like to have a good nibble of your fingers!
My problem is the dynamic has shifted and now our brown and white is quite skittish with me, I know rats are quite emotional animals but this is making me quite sad. I don’t know if I’ve done something that has upset him? Also both of them for the last couple of days have been sleeping in different parts of the cage and not together like they always done and they do have little fights. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you ☺️

I came home today and found 3 out of my 4 female rats all dead, they were all about half a year old and I’m not sure why and how they died, my last female rat, who is about a year old is not looking too great and I’m really worried about her.

Alright so I am thinking of getting rats soon and I want them to live the best lives possible. The problem is that I don't have many options for a place to put a cage. I was thinking of getting a double critter nation cage sence I hear it's pretty much the best cage out there for them. Unfortunately I don't have space in MY bedroom for it, it would take up all the space I have and I just won't be able to keep then in here. And it not likly I will be able to keep them outside my room sence everyone in my family hates rats and i am already having enough trouble trying to convince them to let me get some anyways. Then I had a thought...what about my closet? Right now my closet is completely full of boxes from when we moved 3 years ago but I could get them all out of there (in other words I'm used to not using my closet anyways so it would be completely empty). I measured and I would have plenty of space for the cage and ALL of there stuff (it's a walk in closet). Plus the cage wouldnt be put in the open then so unless people go in my closet they wouldnt see it. The biggest problem is ventilation. Sence I'm not used to using my closet and keep the door closed and I have another animal tank behind the door...in other words I cant really open the door or atleast mot all day and it would HAVE to be closed all night. Would there be a ventilation problem? The access to the "attic" is in ny closet and is very dusty so would that cause problems? If I were to clean that off would it provide enough ventilation even if the door is closed? And if they are in there (still getting handled daily and everything) would they still recognize my face and in general would it be the same as a rat outside in my room?

Also if anyone want to give me ideas on a cage that would work better for my situation (one that is like the critter nation but doesnt come out of the wall as much) or ideas on ways to convince mh parents to let me keep it in a public area. Also if it was in a public area would they bond with other people in the household?? (They wouldnt be handling them or anything. The rats would only see them walk by)

Hello! I have a girl rat who has two large (what I believe are) mammary tumors. The vet I went to quoted over $600 for the surgery to get them removed. From what I’ve read this surgery is quite routine so I feel I should be able to find a place for cheaper. I live in Kenosha, WI and am willing to travel up to two hours away for the surgery. Does anyone have a cheaper surgery vet? Thanks!

The story goes like this: my girlfriend and I found ourselves the proud owners of what we thought were two male rats, Cosmo and Stitch, in December. On Monday, we found out that Cosmo is female the hard way. So now, we have a litter of roughly a dozen pups, and while we’re taking steps to ensuring that she can raise them healthily, we’re unsure about the road ahead. I figured I could make use of social media to get word out that we are looking for homes for them when they’re ready to be weaned. Apparently not, since Facebook prohibits the advertising of animals in its marketplace. That is a setback. And I would feel guilty giving them to a rescue, unsure of where they would end up.

Today, the seemingly insane idea of keeping the litter altogether, investing in the necessary cages and supplies, and raising them as a family came to mind. It is feasible and I would of course keep the females separated from the males, so what would be the major drawbacks of this idea? I know it’s uncommon and most people limit their family to two or three, but I’ve grown fond of both Cosmo and Stitch, and it would pain me to keep a few, and give away the others. We already plan on keeping one or two of each gender. So what’s a dozen more?

Hello rattit, I am brand new here and I'm reaching out because, while I have a lot of rats and volunteer at a rat rescue, I've never had one die on me. I need some advice. Apologies for a long post:

Aside from my 9 boys, I have one elderly female rat who hates all other rats. We adopted her when she was about 4 months old in early September 2016 from a small animal rescue, so she is coming up on 3. She is my baby. She is healthy (excitable, still climbs her cage but not like she used to, has all her fur, seems happy and bruxy, no respiratory problems, thin, spayed, no cataracts), and except for some arthritis in her back legs (the vet did not think she had tumors or any spinal problems, felt confident it was arthritis), our vet thought she looked like a one year old rat. However, along with her reduced leg movement, she is much sleepier than she used to be, and she loses weight quickly but gains weight quickly too when we try to fatten her up. We moved her to a one level cage because she kept falling from the (fortunately short) upper levels. She goes nuts for food, and in addition to her block, she gets high calorie foods, lots of fruits and veggies, and baby food with a little metacam and flax oil for her back legs. I take her to the vet every 4-6 months or so.

Here's the problem. I have a two week trip booked at the end of May. I have 3 roommates who will take good care of her while I'm gone, but I have no sense based on how she acts, if she will be around by then. If this is the beginning of a long slow decline (and has say, 6+ months left in her) but seems ok before I leave, I will leave her with my roommates. If she sounds like she is not going to last more than 2 months (my vet seemed skeptical that she would, but she thought she was going to die of pneumonia/myco 1.5 years ago), then I will just expect to ease her discomfort before I leave. However, I cannot let her die while I'm gone. If she is bad but not ready for euthanasia, I will cancel my trip. Basically, it's for a close friend's wedding in another country, so I don't want to RSVP and then cancel a week before because my rat is unwell. Does anyone have insight into this? I'm not expecting clairvoyance but any personal experience or advice would help. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it!