Pet rats anyone?

[ManBeast]

I really love having them as pets, they fit well with my lifestyle (I can't provide properly for a dog or a cat right now). I'm currently nursing 2 through a bout with pneumonia, and have a tiny one (that should not have been separated from her mother) quarantined against them. I recently lost two of them to pneumonia (it is almost inevitable unless you can get them to the vet the moment they start to show any sign), because we had to wait 12 hours to go to the vet. Because they have a very fast metabolism (2 years for a rat is like 70 for a human), hours can make a huge difference.

Anyone else keep pet rats?

MB

 

[RedwolfWV]

We had pet rats for a while. They started out as just "breeders" I had pet Oscars (big fish) and they eat the pinkies. We kinda became attached to the rats though. Smart critters. Ours ended up with some kind of tumors after they were about 3 years old, and we had them put down.

 

[Hank Vangut]

We had pet rats for a while. They started out as just "breeders" I had pet Oscars (big fish) and they eat the pinkies. We kinda became attached to the rats though. Smart critters. Ours ended up with some kind of tumors after they were about 3 years old, and we had them put down.

you need to stop using those research chems on them.
don't you know those are for us!

 

[bryan4980]

I started out with 4 four and after 2 months I had 42, now I am down to 1. My oldest was 3 yrs. 8 months. We was a big f***er, about the size of a medium guinea pig, eventually his rear stopped functioning and when he seemed like he wasn't enjoying life any longer we eventually put him down.

 

[Alexander]

Never had a rat, but I've had hamsters. Rodents are underrated, they make good pets. It is unfortunate that they only last a few years.

 

[bryan4980]

Never had a rat, but I've had hamsters. Rodents are underrated, they make good pets. It is unfortunate that they only last a few years.

Had a hamster before, those little bastards are mean. They would just bite for no reason, unlike the rats that I could feed out of my hand.

 

[Alexander]

Had a hamster before, those little bastards are mean. They would just bite for no reason, unlike the rats that I could feed out of my hand.

I did have one mean lil fella, but the rest were very nice. The mean one I had to make sure not to expose my fingertips to, he could never break the skin anywhere but the fingertips.

 

[ManBeast]

Awesome, glad to see there are other rodent fans on this board

MB

 

[Rivet]

I really love having them as pets, they fit well with my lifestyle (I can't provide properly for a dog or a cat right now). I'm currently nursing 2 through a bout with pneumonia, and have a tiny one (that should not have been separated from her mother) quarantined against them. I recently lost two of them to pneumonia (it is almost inevitable unless you can get them to the vet the moment they start to show any sign), because we had to wait 12 hours to go to the vet. Because they have a very fast metabolism (2 years for a rat is like 70 for a human), hours can make a huge difference.

Anyone else keep pet rats?

MB

I have a Blue Dumbo sitting besides me. My Siamese Dumbo died last fall. Make really good pets, its like having a dog/cat/monkey rolled into one. Sounds like your rats have Myco vet will probably prescribe tetracycline or docycyline or Baytril.

 

[Alexander]

They're inspiring too. My hamsters did like 6 hours of intense cardio a day, and lot's of pullups.

 

[ManBeast]

We've got them on an antibiotic from the vet, they are making it, both are taking food and water on their own again after 3 days.

Very cool on the blue dumbo, my girlfriend is really wanting a russian blue self dumbo rex rat, but we're doing ok for now, LOL

MB

 

[Rivet]

We've got them on an antibiotic from the vet, they are making it, both are taking food and water on their own again after 3 days.

Very cool on the blue dumbo, my girlfriend is really wanting a russian blue self dumbo rex rat, but we're doing ok for now, LOL

MB

If you ever find they wont take the meds mix it with some babies pablum and they will gulp it down

 

[ManBeast]

Yeah, we've been feeding them baby food and some yogurt since most antibiotics kill off certain cultures in their stomachs, these are some damn spoiled rats, but worth every penny

MB

 

[Nightwanderer]

Wonder how many of the pet rats here aren't
uncommonly big, have attributes of the opposite gender, and bad livers *jk*

 

[pistonpump]

I started out with 4 four and after 2 months I had 42, now I am down to 1. My oldest was 3 yrs. 8 months. We was a big f***er, about the size of a medium guinea pig, eventually his rear stopped functioning and when he seemed like he wasn't enjoying life any longer we eventually put him down.

what happened to all of them?



id feed my rat some anabolics if i had one lol.

 

[crader]

I used to have one but he was mean as can be. Turned me off owning another as he bit non stop and definitly broke the skin! However I would consider another if its not the norm.

I love sugar gliders they are very easy maintenance and grow super attached to you and hang out in a pocket with you all day. I'll get another of those someday.

I've had various hamsters but currently have a ferret.

edited to add I'm a major animal lover and have quite a few, not to many I would not consider owning. Well I take it back. I had a litter of baby racoons for a bit, they drove me mad. Noisy things, but i was only a cross point for a week between them and a rescue

 

[RedwolfWV]

EGADS! We babysat a Sugar Glider for a friend of ours. It was the most hostile, evil, wicked, nasty and noisy little thing I've ever had in my house. Bit like hell too! Even with that little tiny mouth! I was very happy to return it to them when they got home

 

[ManBeast]

crader: We've never had any major problems with our rats biting. How old/large was the male when you got him? I ask because the one of ours that bites hard was the oldest when we got her. I think that rats are easier to own than sugar gliders from what I've researched, but they are cute!

MB

 

[pistonpump]

ive always wanted a ferret, those things are awesome!

 

[crader]

I got the rat as an adolescent. Not sure on the age. Actually I've had a glider and they are easy to take care of. Even easier now because they have a standardized food for them.

The ferret is a ton of fun. The cats even like him.

 

[T-Bone]

The ferret is a ton of fun. The cats even like him.

Yeah, for dinner right?

 

[ManBeast]

LOL, out here in the middle of nowhere, gliders are very very expensive. Adolescent rats are always more of a risk for behavior problems. We just got one that is between 4-6 weeks old, and she is so tiny and already very hand and person friendly. If you really want to make them a good pet make sure you get them as "small" (most places sort them by size, and the smaller the younger).

MB

 

[RedwolfWV]

ive always wanted a ferret, those things are awesome!

I've got 2 ferrets Tons of fun! And smart too. Kinda like having little intelligent tornadoes running through your living room.

 

[crader]

No the cats don't try to eat the ferret. They actually play together very well.

 

[Alexander]

My friend had a few ferrets, they were pretty cool, but they would scratch the hell out of me and I wouldn't even really notice it, 15 minutes later I would notice about 50 red little scratch marks. They are hilarious creatures, so mischeavous.

 

[pantera101]

I thought this thread was going to be a joke or have everyone flaming the thread starter.I told my Dad about it at work,and he said"are you sure they weren't joking"I was like no!They were dead serious!I said I was going to make fun of them or something,but I was so lost I didn't know what to say.Now I check back today,and theirs more of ya!Idk,I had a snake once and it was the most useless damn thing ever.Now I have a pit,and he's cool,funny,loveable,playful,and bad ass.I would like to have things like panthers and what not.anyways........

 

[bryan4980]

what happened to all of them?



id feed my rat some anabolics if i had one lol.

Most died mainly from the results of tumors, some we adopted out which wasn't all that easy because I wanted to make sure they wouldn't be used for snake food. The majority lived around 2-2.5 years, a few lived over 3 years.

 

[mr j]

i had the teddy bear hamsters. man i swear they would have sexytime all freakin night. then the male hamster will go run in the circle. they had babys like crazy. i just couldent take it. they died tho. and i dont like rats. we got them big rats i think they on epistane or so and they eat my dog food. i got sick of that too. i kill them ****ers with a electric trap just shock the **** out of em.

 

[pantera101]

i had the teddy bear hamsters. man i swear they would have sexytime all freakin night. then the male hamster will go run in the circle. they had babys like crazy. i just couldent take it. they died tho. and i dont like rats. we got them big rats i think they on epistane or so and they eat my dog food. i got sick of that too. i kill them ****ers with a electric trap just shock the **** out of em.

I hate it when something/someone eats my dogfood!I love sexy time though!!!!:woohoo:

 

[mr j]

hell yeah man specially when its 38 bucks a bag. and u got 3 dogs to feed. o hell nah

 

[pantera101]

Oh you feed it to dogs.......I mean yeah....me too!

 

[Mrs. Gimpy!]

i thought i was the only person that has pet rats. rats are such amazing pets. they are so smart and loving hamsters are evil. me and kwyck currently have 9. here's one of them:

 

[T-Bone]

My Chinchilla

Do Chinchillas count?. Mine is currently bulking up with Optimums Pro-Complex Gainer.

 

[pistonpump]

Do Chinchillas count?. Mine is currently bulking up with Optimums Pro-Complex Gainer.

hahaha....thats the SHlT

 

[ManBeast]

I love those pics! Tat chinchilla is badass!

Mrs. Gimpy!: Yeah... we had a male hamster named Loki... he was so damn evil I can't put words to it. LOL

MB

 

[bryan4980]

i had the teddy bear hamsters. man i swear they would have sexytime all freakin night. then the male hamster will go run in the circle. they had babys like crazy. i just couldent take it. they died tho. and i dont like rats. we got them big rats i think they on epistane or so and they eat my dog food. i got sick of that too. i kill them ****ers with a electric trap just shock the **** out of em.

I heard that is the most humane way to kill them. Most of the other stuff out there is simply disgusting and cruel.

 

[Alexander]

Nice pics T-bone and Gimpy. Hamsters aren't evil, they're friendly as can be, you just got a bunk one.

 

[kwyckemynd00]

I'm currently nursing 2 through a bout with pneumonia, and have a tiny one (that should not have been separated from her mother) quarantined against them.

MB

Most of the time this sickness you see them getting is from a tiny bacteria, that resides in the lungs of essentially every domestic rat, called Myscoplasma pulmonaris. This mycoplasma usually just takes advantage of a weakened immune system, typically late in life or induced by some other stress.

I almost lost a rat recently to respiratory illness and I searched fervently and found what I found to be an absolute miracle treatment for rats.

I tried treating my rat with Baytril, and not only was it difficult to get her to take it, it didn't seem to be working fantastically. So, I ended up doing the following (getting the vet to agree to the following treatment that is):

Subcutaneous (at the scruff, given perpendicular to the body length) injections of Gentomycin at 2-4mg/lb per day, spread out over two injections--I gave 4mg on the first dose.

Usually gentomycin comes in a rather large dose (100mg/ml) so you'll have to get some sterile saline and dilute it, but your vet should be able to supply you with this. I diluted to 10mg/ml and just used a diabetic syringe (1mg) to administer the dose.

Again, the first dose was what would have been double the normal dose for my female. My female was 1lb, and I was giving her 2mg 2x daily, so her very first dose was 4mg and I continued regularly. More info here: Rat & Mouse Gazette: Medical Corner: Gentamicin and Tylan

I also prepared a solution of .083% albuterol / gentomycin / sterile saline that I administered to relieve bronchiol inflammation via a nebulizer. It seemed to really help the wheezing bouts and deliver antibiotic directly to the lungs. I was giving these 3x daily for two weeks for 15 minutes (consumed about 6ml of solution each session)

The solution was prepared as described by this site: Medication Guide: Albuterol Sulfate

So, to summarize, here is an awesome treatment for rats--most vets don't do well with rats because they so rarely get them as patients, so you have to really dig deep to find appropriate treatments.

* 2-4mg/lb of injectable (subcutaneous) gentamicin, dose split into two administrations. I continued this for about 5 days, but there was research I discovered that had found up to 20mg/day for nearly a month had no adverse side effects in rats.
* albuterol nebulizer treatment--diluted accordingly--given 3-5x daily for up to two weeks.

I thought my rat (she's my favorite, too!) was going to die after a few days of no improvement...actually, she got worse! Then, I swear, withing 4-6 hours of her 4mg dose of subcutaneous gentamicin she was eating, drinking, and playing again. You HAVE to keep up on it though because that mycoplasma (and accompanying virulent bugs) will come back quick--your rate may hate you after their skin gets a bit sensitive from getting poked 2x/day, but this treatment works incredibly.

Best of luck to you!

 

[kwyckemynd00]

Nice pics T-bone and Gimpy. Hamsters aren't evil, they're friendly as can be, you just got a bunk one.

Panda hamsters are nice... the mini ones are hell-spawn.

 

[Alexander]

Nice work Kwyck, that should be very helpful to rodent lovers. Hamsters are feisty little bast*rds, but a few weeks of them getting used to you and they're great pets. It's amazing how attached you can grow to them. I had one as a teen and I told my sister to watch him while I went to the bathroom, she didn't and I was searching for him and lifted up a recliner to see if he was under there, I didn't see him and set the recliner down on top of him. He died almost instantly and I was devastated even as a heartless teen.

 

[kwyckemynd00]

Nice work Kwyck, that should be very helpful to rodent lovers. Hamsters are feisty little bast*rds, but a few weeks of them getting used to you and they're great pets. It's amazing how attached you can grow to them. I had one as a teen and I told my sister to watch him while I went to the bathroom, she didn't and I was searching for him and lifted up a recliner to see if he was under there, I didn't see him and set the recliner down on top of him. He died almost instantly and I was devastated even as a heartless teen.

Well, it will help rat-lovers specifically. I don't know if those guidelines apply to other rodents!

And, sorry to hear about your poor hamster. That would be pretty devestating. I have a little brother who was pretty devestated by his rabbit dying--he's never been the same (or so we kid; when he was a young kid he was a super-nice kid, and now he's kind of a ****. We blame it on the rabbit incident.)

Gimpy also had a very nice dwarf-hamster once; it just turns out that she got lucky though. I guess I should have specified the "dwarf" hamsters are the ones I was referring to. Was yours a dwarf hamster?

 

[Alexander]

Well, it will help rat-lovers specifically. I don't know if those guidelines apply to other rodents!

And, sorry to hear about your poor hamster. That would be pretty devestating. I have a little brother who was pretty devestated by his rabbit dying--he's never been the same (or so we kid; when he was a young kid he was a super-nice kid, and now he's kind of a ****. We blame it on the rabbit incident.)

Gimpy also had a very nice dwarf-hamster once; it just turns out that she got lucky though. I guess I should have specified the "dwarf" hamsters are the ones I was referring to. Was yours a dwarf hamster?

The one that I accidentally crushed with the recliner was a golden/teddy bear hamster. I've had a few dwarfs too. They've pretty much all been really nice. One of the dwarfs would bite a little, but he just had attitude, no harm meant.

Did your brother turn into a **** around the time of puberty. I swear that sh*t makes some people evil. My sister was nice as could be and right around puberty she turned into the devil. Took about 10 years for her to snap out of it.

Do you guys have any cats or dogs? My cats were always very nice to the hamsters, they knew that they were pets and not lunch. They would sleep with them and everything, they would even find the hamsters for me when they were lost.

 

[ManBeast]

Thanks for the great info kwyk, I hope to find a cool ass vet when I move. We used an oral liquid antibiotic panmycin aquadrops (tetracycline), and our rats love the taste of it, they just didn't like having a syringe in their mouth. Now they lick the drops off the end of the syringe like it is a little water bottle.

MB

 

[crader]

Well this post has made me re-think Rats as something other than the vicious one I had. Might give them a go next time I'm in the market for a new pet. I like little mice also..really I'm a sucker for all animals

 

[ManBeast]

Mice are so dumb... if you get them, get a bunch and a lot of wheels and things for them to do stupid stuff on. We had ours "addicted" to cheerios as treats. They would hang upside-down to get them.

MB

 

[pantera101]

Well this post has made me re-think Rats as something other than the vicious one I had. Might give them a go next time I'm in the market for a new pet. I like little mice also..really I'm a sucker for all animals

Get a pit and raise him/her right.We pit lovers need all the help we can get proving they're just like other dogs.I guarantee you and others,the pit will wear you out running.Then you'll always have an excuse for a walk/run.See where i'm going with this?They have engines as opposed to organs.Strong as hell and very athletic.Absolutely beutifull and kind,loving,and affectionate.Again,as all dogs are,pits are just bada$$ on top of it.Big,but not too big

 

[crader]

I've raised pits most of my life! I love the breed. Right now I have two brindle English Mastiffs so I need a bigger house before I bring in more dogs..lol

 

[pantera101]

I've raised pits most of my life! I love the breed. Right now I have two brindle English Mastiffs so I need a bigger house before I bring in more dogs..lol

I need a house period!I'm in an apartment,and mine is crazy hyper!I think he has ADD of dogs!He's finally showing signs of calming down now that he's almost three.He still goes crazy around people though,he just gets so excited!He jumped up and hit my sister on her nose today with a tooth.It made her bleed a little and cry a little too(sh'e 17)She was still petting him and saying how much she loved him afterwards though.My Grandma has finally recently realised that he wont try to kill her. :lol: Glad to see you love them too!I figured you would be all against them.I was going to start posting pics of little pit puppies saying "but I wuv you cwader"But you're already converted......onto the next!

 

[crader]

I need a house period!I'm in an apartment,and mine is crazy hyper!I think he has ADD of dogs!He's finally showing signs of calming down now that he's almost three.He still goes crazy around people though,he just gets so excited!He jumped up and hit my sister on her nose today with a tooth.It made her bleed a little and cry a little too(sh'e 17)She was still petting him and saying how much she loved him afterwards though.My Grandma has finally recently realised that he wont try to kill her. :lol: Glad to see you love them too!I figured you would be all against them.I was going to start posting pics of little pit puppies saying "but I wuv you cwader"But you're already converted......onto the next!

They are one of my favorite breeds. I've owned 6 in my life. They will be the next breed I get again after the boys are gone. Or I can get another pup. Very sweet babies

 

[kwyckemynd00]

Thanks for the great info kwyk, I hope to find a cool ass vet when I move. We used an oral liquid antibiotic panmycin aquadrops (tetracycline), and our rats love the taste of it, they just didn't like having a syringe in their mouth. Now they lick the drops off the end of the syringe like it is a little water bottle.

MB

No problem; just remember, I HIGHLY suggest that you get your hands on some Gentamicin, slin syringes/needles, and and sterile saline because its seriously a major life saver for rats with respiratory infections. I honestly couldn't believe that she went from "on deaths door" to almost normal within a matter of hours! And, I've used some of the orals, too, but with less success.