Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / October 2006

Welcome to the group!! And don't worry about the questions, this is why
this group is here.
First off, rats are social animals and he really should have a buddy but
if he is older then he may not take to a buddy anymore.
Second, your rat has mites or lice. Pine will not scratch him. But there
could be bugs in the bedding. Pine is detrimental to his lungs not his
fur. Also, sugar causes cancer in rats. So no more human junk food. ;)
The best treat for your little guy are very ripe bananas, grapes,
apples, peas, corn..
So, if Bud is young, go and get him a friend. Also get him some mite
treatment to help him with the scratching.
Keep him on the cloth, this is good, pine and cedar are very bad!!
And stick around, we love to read stories about rats.

Joanne
Owned by 15 rats

Hi Tom

Pine gives off phenols, as does cedar, which are harmful to ratty lungs
but I've never heard of it scratching.
If you find the papertowels are getting a bit stinky you could look for
Aspen or a paper based litter like Carefresh.

They could be an indicator of an infestation (mites or lice) or they could
be spots from too much protein.
You need to examine deep in Bud's fur around his ears and the base of his
tail.  If you see timy brown squirmy things he has mites.
Does Bud have lumps on his tail, nose and ears? This could be mange mites.
To treat you need to get liquid Ivomec.  Put a small drop on Bud's ear
three times, once on day 1, day 8 and day 15 to kill the mites and break
the lifecycle.  It's also a good idea to totally clean and disinfect Bud's
cage.

Protein spots are caused by too much protein obviously.  A friend of mine
used to give her rats chicken every night and they broke out.

Feed Bud a selection of fruit and veg and add things like pasta and rice.
If you use a rat mix add things like dog kibble, cereal (low sugar / fat /
salt varieties) to make it more interesting.
There are loads of rat diets on the internet and I'm sure other posters
will supply URL's.

Personally I use a generic rabbit mix (approx 1.5kg/week) and add cat
biscuits, dog kibble, dried pasta, cereal, dried fruits (papaya,
pineapple, banana etc) and a small handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Totally, he's grooming himself.  As he gets to know you he may grab your
fingers and nibble or lick them.  This is the ultimate sign of affection
and Bud is showing you he considers you a family member.

Many people use puppy, kitten or special small furry shampoo but rats are
very clean animals who constantly groom themselves so I don't see the
need.  Personally I've only bathed my lads if they were entered in a rat
show.

Chocolate, in moderation, is ok.  Other treats are things like: cherios,
rice crispies, peas (defrost if frozen), yoghurt drops, small animal
treats from the pet shop, grapes, blueberries etc.
My lads adore pizza crusts, buttered toast, fries, pasta (dried and
cooked), rice.
Most human food is ok in moderation.

No worries, that's what we're here for.
Scritches to Bud.

Welcome to the world of rats!! Everyone seems to have answered your
questions pretty thoroughly, but here's my two cents...

For bedding, don't use any soft woods like cedar or pine... the odors can
lead to respitory problems and they're not usually evident untill it's
already pretty bad... If you want to use a wood bedding, try aspen. Paper
towels are fine but carefresh absorbs odor better. I personally like
yesterday's news paper pellets... i'd recomend the kind made for small
animals, though i buy the unscented cat litter kind b/c it's cheaper and you
get more. Change his bedding and clean his cage about once a week.

For food, I like a mixture of half fortified lab block (kaytee/mazuri) and
half rat seed mix (nutriphase). I throw on a few peices of nutro max puppy
food (they're cherio shaped so they can eat it better), and a few times a
week i like to give my girls some fresh foods like bannanas, apples,
carrots, grapes, tomatos, corn, whatever I have for the most part... for
treats i'll give them some sugarless cereal like rice crispies or
whatever... Don't give him sweets if you can avoid it... If you feel the
need to give him human food, try non salted crackers or maybe a small peice
of toast or some low sugar cereals... Rats will and can almost eat anything,
but try to make it as safe and healthy as possible...

The scabs could be mites. Ivermectin works well. Becareful when treating...
If you can aford it, see a vet...

When Bud sits there, he's grooming himself and cleaning himself... You
probably don't NEED to bathe him, but if you do, use a kitten shampoo or a
special small animal shampoo.... or use some small animal wipes (like baby
wipes for s/a). They're quick and don't stress your rat out! If you do bathe
him, don't over do it... I rarely bathe my rats, but when they were younger
it was a mission cause they don't like water very much... so maybe once in a
blue moon i'll give them a dip...

And if you can, get him a buddy... He'll thank you! His personality may even
change. I have a friend from work who adopted one of our customer returned
rats, and she had left him alone for a while... We got another customer
who's son saved a rat from some kids that were abusing it so she adopted
that one too, not knowing if the two rats would get along... We introduced
them in a seperate cage and house and they got along very well... now
they're the best of pals and the first rat she had became alot friendlier
and seemed to be alot happier... Moral of the story, rats need and love the
company... Until he can get a friend, give him as much attention as
possible...

And if you can, I'd recomend buying a (or a few) rat book(s). They're really
good guides and have a lot of cool things in there like diet charts,
acceptable food charts, unsafe food charts, tricks you can teach your rats,
etc... Books can't teach you everything, but they can help, and for
everything else groups like this are here to help...

Good luck!

- Chris

Now that I've dealt with his diet and stuff..does anyone have any
suggestions as to what Bud can do for fun? Usually I let him explore for
awhile but eventually he will just sit there and do nothing.

Also, before I go, can anyone tell me why Bud pees everywhere? Alot of
the time, he'll walk over my hand/arm and pee there or somewhere by me.

Thanks, Tom.

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you
nothing; it was here first.