My Rats Ate My Homework

oh, rats! #3

2008-08-05T21:16:00.001-04:00

And here is - finally - oh, rats! #3:

Our family is growing...

2008-07-29T16:17:00.007-04:00

Sunday we adopted 3 more ratties from Huron Valley Rat Rescue and christened them Jackie Chan, TenTen, and Mulan (we adopted TenTen and Mulan's mother and aunt several weeks ago). In a few days we hope to make introductions and integrate them in with our other ratties.

oh, rats! #2

2008-07-21T19:21:00.001-04:00

And here is 'oh, rats' #2!

Animal Testing and Cruelty

2008-07-21T15:38:00.005-04:00

Animals feel pain just like we do.
Help stop the animal testing, cruelty, and abuse.
Animals can't speak for themselves so it's up to us to speak up for them. Write letters to companies and let them know you won't buy their products until they stop the cruel and inhuman animal experimentations and report animal cruelty and abuse to the ASPCA, your local law enforcement agencies and animal control...and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
Together we can make a difference.

50 Disasters of Animal Testing
Alternatives to Animal Experimentation
Animal Experimentation Issues
Cosmetic Testing: Background Information
International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals
European Coalition to End Animal Experiments
Uncaged Campaigns: Against All Animal Experiments
Stop Animal Testing
Pet Store Abuse
Pet-Abuse.com
In Defense of Animals
ASPCA

We do our best not to buy products tested on animals and we strongly encourage others to do the same.
Caring Consumer

oh, rats!

2008-07-19T18:54:00.003-04:00

Kita, here! One of my hobbies is drawing, and today I decided to draw a comic featuring two of our rats, Lightning and Ukitake. (Based on Ukitake's love of treats, and Lightning's habit of playing dead.)

This is the first in a series - called 'oh, rats!', obviously - that I'll be doing, as our rats' antics give me ideas. I already have a couple more ideas, which I'll get to when my arm stops aching from doing this one ^_^

You Know You're A Rat Lover When...

2008-07-19T15:03:00.003-04:00

You Know You're A Rat Lover When...

The Bad Rat Pledge

2008-07-19T14:53:00.007-04:00

I will not graze on the carpet.

It is not considered "cool" to beat up rats smaller than myself.

There is no need to steal treats from others when I am given one of equal size of my own.

I will not leave raisins on the sofa for unsuspecting human butts.

Pots are for growing plants in, not digging up.

I will refrain from climbing down the blouses of female visitors.

When I don't want to go home to the cage yet, I will not wedge myself under immovable furniture.

I will not give my human a heart attack by sleeping soundly with my eyes open.

Human saliva is not a tasty treat.

Chewing on electrical cords is not fun, even if it elicits such an enthusiastic response from my human.

You can view the entire pledge here.

Rat Property Laws

2008-07-19T14:40:00.006-04:00

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If I've peed on it, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If you've got something larger, it's mine.
6. If I'm chewing something up, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it's in my reach, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken or it tastes bad, it's yours.

[From The Dapper Rat]

Rat Care

2008-07-19T10:41:00.009-04:00

For basic information and general care the Basic Rat Care Guide at ratsrule.com and the Pet Rat Information Sheet both offer some good basic information.

RattyRat.com and Fancy Rats both have a lot of information on proper care, behavior, health, and feeding. Fancy Rats also has a forum and a cage calculator tool to help you to work out how many rats your cage will comfortably house.

The Goosemoose Rats Rule! forum is a great place for information and advice from rat owners.

The Rat Health Guide is an excellent resource on rat health. The site covers topics on basic care such as behavior and diet and has in-depth articles and case studies on illnesses/injuries such as mycoplasmosis, pneumonia, SDA, ear infections, skin problems, and abscesses.

Rat First Aid and First Aid for Small Furries are good guides for emergency situations including respiratory distress, choking, accidents and injuries.

Rat Fan Club and Fat Rat Central both have good information regarding different skin problems that may occur.

Respiratory and Heart Disease in Rats has information on symptoms and treatment.

Bumblefoot briefly covers causes and treatments of bumblefoot.

Note: The above websites should only be used as a guide to help recognize and understand illnesses in a pet rat. If your rat is showing signs of illness or an injury please seek advice and treatment from a qualified veterinarian who can properly evaluate, diagnose, and treat your rat.

Need help finding a good veterinarian?

Finding a Good Rat Veterinarian offers some good advice for selecting a good, qualified veterinarian for your rat.

The Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians has a directory of all current members of the AEMV.

Rat Vets is a directory for the Midwest and Eastern U.S.

Rat Vets is a directory for the Western U.S. and Other Countries.

PRC has a list of Canadian veterinarians who treat pet rats.

For those of you in the U.K. you can do a search for veterinarians at RVCS.

Animal Friendly Apartments

2008-07-17T20:35:00.002-04:00

Moving and need to find an apartment that allows pets? The Humane Society has a list of links to Animal Friendly Apartments here.

Bedding

2008-07-16T20:26:00.004-04:00

We highly recommend Yesterday's News (in our opinion this has the best odor control), Aspen, and CareFresh (there is a concern about mites and lice in the CareFresh bedding so just to be on the safe side freeze the bedding for 24-48 hours before using). Instead of using bedding a lot of rattie owners (including us) use fleece and other material to line the cages (not practical if you don't have a washer and dryer, though) and a product like Yesterday's News in one or two litter pans like this corner litter pan for ferrets.

NEVER use Cedar (it's toxic), Pine (just as bad as Cedar), Corn Cob (hard on a ratties feet and a choking hazard), or cat litter (dusty and can cause respiratory problems).

For more information visit The Toxicity of Pine and Cedar Shavings.

Sai's story

2008-07-11T19:25:00.001-04:00

I gave a brief summary of little Sai's story when I introduced our rats, but I wanted to tell the whole story.

Three weeks ago, I checked my voicemail and I had two messages from a woman who had found a hairless white rat outside and had caught it; neighbors across the street had been evicted and had dumped him. She didn't know what to do with the rat and so had contacted a vet - the same vet we go to - and one of the receptionists gave her our number, knowing that if we couldn't provide the rat with a home, we would know of somewhere she could take it. I called the woman back and said we would take him - we arranged to get him, and it turned out she lives just a few blocks away from us. She found out, though, that another neighbor had already found the rat a home.
Fast forward a week: my mom and I were sitting in the emergency vet, waiting for the vet to come in (Akiya's idea of welcoming one of the new boys involved nearly biting his nose off, prompting a trip to the e-vet). My phone rang just as the vet came in, so I silenced it, figuring if it was important the person would leave a message and I could call back later. When I checked my voicemail on the way home, I discovered that it was from the same woman who had called about the hairless rat. She had seen another rat, and knew it wasn't wild. She wasn't able to catch it. We went over to try to help.
We got there and a couple minutes later, the rattie came out from underneath the mobile home/behind the central air unit. He was small, he was blue capped, and he was a dumbo - all of that registered in a split second. I carefully approached him, squatted beside him, and he held still. If I had been just a bit faster when I reached for him, he would've been home with us that night.
After that, we couldn't get him to come out long enough to catch him. I called Huron Valley Rat Rescue, because I knew Kaia, the founder, would know the best way to catch him, having caught stray rats before. I left a message for her, explaining the situation. We left, since there wasn't anything more we could do right then. Later that evening, Kaia called back and after talking, she offered to bring out the live traps she has (she also brought out another cage and three rats we already planned to adopt from her). We set the traps that night and the woman who called us originally said she would keep an eye on them for us and let us know if we caught anything.
The next morning, she called me - we caught him. She had to leave, so put him on her porch; I made the long walk up there to get him and bring him home. He was half-starved, dehydrated, mite-infested, and scared. I gave him water and some baby food, and called the vet to get him in for a check-up. That was the beginning of his road to recovery.

It's been almost two weeks since we rescued him. He's still scared, but slowly beginning to realize that he can trust us. Gaining his trust hasn't been easy, but it's rewarding. We started trust training immediately: letting him lick baby food off our fingers. I sat by his cage, talking quietly to him, and I would let him sniff my hands but I wouldn't try to grab him. Little by little, he ventured closer and eventually I was able to coax him into coming out onto my hands and letting me hold him.
Sai still doesn't trust us entirely, but I think these pictures speak for how much he wants to trust us and be loved:

It's taking a lot of time and patience, but after what he went through, it's no surprise. Sai will probably never be able to live in the big, multi-level cages with the other rats - it looks as though he has the start of hind-end degeneration and the ramps would be too hard for him to maneuver. In the long run, it was probably good that he was dumped; we saw the type of bedding they used, sitting on the curb with other garbage. It was cedar, which isn't good for rats. I doubt he received the kind of care he needed in the first place, so certainly wouldn't have if they had kept him and he developed hind end degeneration in their care.

What to feed pet rats...

2008-07-06T10:43:00.006-04:00

Many rat owners on various forums recommend Suebee's Diet. You could also try Melissa's Rat Mix.
We make a mix for our ratties using either Rat/Mouse VitaMix or Reggie's Rat food mixed with Total cereal, Kellogg's Cornflakes cereal, granola cereal, pumpkin seeds (roasted, unsalted), and organic dry rolled oats. We also give them Harlan blocks every day (which most of them promptly store somewhere in their cages). Our ratties love treats like fresh carrots, peas (we put frozen peas in a shallow dish of water - the ratties love 'fishing' for the peas), green beans, cooked Quaker Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal (we are, of course, careful to make sure the oatmeal has cooled off before feeding it to them), mashed potatoes (no salt), yogurt (raspberry seems to be their favorite), yogurt drops, low-fat dog biscuits, bananas, Earth's Best Organic Oatmeal Cinnamon toddler cookies, Gerber toddler meat sticks (they'll each get half a meat stick, never a whole one), chocolate chip cookies (we break up a cookie into 6-8 pieces so they each get a small piece) - chocolate will not harm your rat but it should not be a regular part of their diet simply because the fat, sugar, and caffeine really aren't good for them (but a small amount of dark chocolate can help a wheezy rat breathe better because it helps open up the respiratory passages).
For sick ratties we give Ensure, baby food, and just about anything else that we can get them to eat to help them keep up their strength. When medicating we first find what food appeals to the sick rattie and then mix the medication in with a tiny portion of the food or Ensure.
This should go without saying but always make sure your ratties have fresh water. It's a good idea to check the water bottles every day to make sure your ratties are able to get the water out of the bottles (we purchased a couple of new water bottles and quickly discovered the water wasn't being dispensed like it should have been so our ratties weren't able to get any water).
NEVER feed your ratties raw sweet potatoes, blue cheese, raw beans, raw nuts (most nuts found in stores are cooked/roasted), green bananas (ripe bananas are fine), peanut butter, or dried corn.

Introducing...

2008-07-06T00:39:00.003-04:00

Kita, here. I figured I'd properly introduce all of our little rattie babies.

Mia and Portia are our oldest girls. They're sisters, just a little over 2 years old. We adopted them from Huron Valley Rat Rescue about this time in 2007. They had been the pets of a young girl, but apparently weren't handled correctly, because Portia began biting. They're the sweetest girls! They love giving us kisses, and Portia loves running on the floor. Portia is a black hooded girl, and her sister is a black mis-marked bareback:

Their only cagemate is Nanao, who also came to us from HVRR; she's about a year and a half and doesn't get along with any of the other ratties. She really only seems to like me very much (she hasn't bitten me, anyway). Nanao has a lot of attitude, and she lets us know when she's not happy. She's also a black hooded:

Yuna was our first from HVRR. She's around a year and five months. Yuna's a little skittish, but she's still sweet and she gets along with all of the other rats just fine - she lets them know who's boss, though! Yuna mothers and protects one of our younger ratties a bit and he loves her. She's a PEW:

Shin is our most skittish baby; he wasn't handled much before being surrendered to HVRR, so we've had to work with him a lot to gain even a little trust. He's about 6 months now and hides behind Yuna a lot, and runs when we start to say his name. Shin comes to us when he knows we have a treat he likes, though (especially if it's Cap'n Crunch - he loves it!) He's a blue agouti capped boy, with the cutest white spot on his forehead:

Akiya and Nao had been surrendered at the same time as Shin, by the same people. Nao had been given to the rescue, and had a litter of nine babies! She was just a baby herself, but her foster family said she was a wonderful mama. Akiya and Nao are more trusting of us then Shin, and Akiya seems to be the alpha in their cage; he's also the biggest boy we have. They don't like to be picked up, but neither minds being pet in their cage. Akiya is an agouti bare-back and Nao is an agouti berkshire:

Isane is a year and a half, and a wonderful, squishy girl. She and her sister (who we just lost) had come from a breeder, but when their owner couldn't take care of them anymore, the breeder refused to take them back. She loves to eat, and she loves her wheel and hiding in my sleeve. When we hold her and talk to her, she sits still, like she's listening to us; sometimes she'll sigh, too (like when we tell her how pretty or how cute she is - it's as though she's saying "yes, I know, I've heard this before. Will you put me down now?" X3). Isane is a Siamese dumbo:

We also have Ukitake. He's a little over a year old, and an absolute sweetie! He's curious, loves attention, and stores every piece of food he gets. If we turn our attention away from him for even a second, he'll find a way to get down to the floor so he can run around. Ukitake's not afraid of the cats - I think they're afraid of him! Even with all his energy, he'll hold still for scritches (and return the love with lots of kisses.) He's a blue cap-stripe:

The newest additions to our family are Paws, Lightning, Rin, Shizuku, Lucky and Sai.
Paws and Lightning are sweet boys who came to us from a family who didn't have enough time for them. They were very well taken care of and are happy, social boys. Both of them are about 4 months old; they love to play! Lightning will grab my fingers with his teeth and wrestle with my hand, and Paws is curious about everything outside of his cage (he still seems a little weary of the cats, though.) Lightning currently has stitches in his nose, because Akiya's idea of a welcoming included biting him. He's doing well, though, and gets his stitches removed on Tuesday. Paws is a silvered black berkshire, and Lightning is a beige hooded:

Rin and Shizuku are sisters, about 7 months old. Shizuku had had a litter of babies (all but 2 of whom have been adopted out). They're both curious, though Rin is the more out-going of the two. They love to sleep in the Run-about ball I hung in their cage (I think it's Shizuku's, though ^_^). For some reason, no one had wanted them when they were at HVRR; they have a home now, though, and even though they've hardly been with us a week we already love them. Rin is a champagne hooded and Shizuku is a black hooded (she has the neatest markings):

Lucky is, as his name suggests, a lucky rat. He's about 3 months old and was rescued from outside. A kind lady saw him and knew that white rats aren't wild rats; she's scared of rats, but she still didn't want to see anything happen to him. She caught him and took care of him until she could get him to HVRR. He nips a bit, but we're working with him. Lucky loves his cagemates, Rin and Shizuku (Rin especially). The sweet boy is a handsome PEW:

Sai is also a very lucky rat. About two weeks ago, some people had been evicted just a few blocks away from us. They dumped their rats outside to fend for themselves. Neighbors caught one - a hairless white boy - and one neighbor got our number from our vet's office. By the time we got her message, they'd already found a home for the boy. A week later, the neighbor saw another little boy and immediately called us. By the next day, we were able to catch him (thanks to HVRR lending us some live traps). He was dehydrated and half starved, and has mites. Other than that, he's in good health, though, and he's making a quick recovery. He's in quarantine until he recovers further. Sai is still nervous, but he doesn't bite and he's curious about us. We think he's about 4 months old. Sai is a powder-blue capped velveteen/teddy rex (considered poor rex outside the US) dumbo, with two little white spots on his forehead:

Those are all of our babies! Wow, this was a long post X3 We'll have plenty of pictures and cute stories to post about them, too - they're quite a group.

Our Rats

2008-07-05T22:56:00.003-04:00

We are the proud 'parents' of Isane, Nao, Ukitake, Akiya, Shin, Yuna, Nanao, Mia, Portia, Rin, Shizuku, Lucky, Paws, Lightning, and Sai.
We'll be posting pictures of, and stories about, our wonderful ratties and we'll also be posting information about rattie health, proper care, and anything else pertaining to ratties that we can think of.