Respiratory Infections in Rats

[SatanicIntention]

Right.. Picked up 2 more rats from who knows where, brought them in your house and are risking the health of your entire colony. Especially when you have a sick rat, who you are allowing to be bred..

You don't care if she dies from a respiratory infection, or dies from the stress of carrying a litter, WHILE she is sick?

Wow..

[Ginevive]

because i dont have anymore enclosures suitable for a rat. im not concerned about the rats breeding too. i have over 12 adult mice to get rid of with another 8 frozen so if the rats dont produce thats fine.

i just picked up 2 more adult female rats today so hopefully they will get their groove on

Go out and grab a cheap 10g tank then. Breeding a sick animal it just wrong IMO. It is not enough to be to say that you don't have a cage for it. Anytime that you have rats, mice, etc. you really need to make sure that you have extra tanks/cages around for quarantine purposes, and like in this case, to house sick inmates and give them some rest and a chance to get better. Now not only will you have a sick rat on your hands, but a pregnant and thus overstressed one as well.. There are other reasons to have spare housing. Suppose the male was beating up on the female, or vice versa? You can't very well say "oh they're fighting but I can't seperate them because I have no other cages."
I am really not trying to be nasty here; just thinking of the rats' best interests. In the meantime, it could be your bedding or a food allergy causing her symptoms or contributing to them as well.

[Jay_Bunny]

The vet said its pneumonia and prescribed anti-biotics that the rat must take twice a day. We are to call the vet tomorrow and let her know how the rat is fairing. The rat's name is Chance, so lets see if she pulls through.

Thanks for all your help guys. If its pneumonia, how fast does that spread and can it be spread to my gliders or other animals, or even me?

[SatanicIntention]

Depends on what type of pneumonia.. If other rats have died, then it is something serious. Did you let him know that other rats have/had been affected and have died??

[Jay_Bunny]

When it was mentioned to the vet about the babies, she said it might be litter size. This is the female's first litter and she had 14. Tonight I went in to check everyone's water and checked on Gazelle and her litter and found one dead. I removed it and then I saw a pup that looked small in comparison to its siblings. I picked it up and showed my fiance then put it back, ready to move on to the next cage. When I looked over at it not 5 minutes later, it was dead. I've noticed that the ones that are dying from the litter seem to be smaller and thinner than the others. I held up the dead pup to a live pup and there was a big difference in size. The other pups were pink and chubby, while all four dead pups were thin and pale.

Any ideas on that.

[Jay_Bunny]

We just went up to give Chance her Baytril and she is doing so much better than yesterday! She's not gasping for breath like she was and is much more active. She is in QT in our bathroom and we'll be keeping a close eye on everyone in the Animal Room, especially her cage-mate Luck.

Oh and another tid-bit about the dead rat pups from Gazelle's litter. None of them have a milk band while the other healthy looking pups have gigantic milk bands. Should I go ahead and start checking all the pups for milk bands? What should I do if one doesn't have a milk band?

[ch312]

Right.. Picked up 2 more rats from who knows where, brought them in your house and are risking the health of your entire colony. Especially when you have a sick rat, who you are allowing to be bred..

You don't care if she dies from a respiratory infection, or dies from the stress of carrying a litter, WHILE she is sick?

Wow..

they are rats...the same rats that people stomp when they catch them in their garage. the same rats that breed like crazy in the wild when they are sick and diseased. they are snake food and nothing more so they get no pampering. if i were a serious breeder i would obviously quarantine the new rats and the sick ones to protect my breeders. i have 7 rats with 3 of those being feeders so its no big deal to wipe them out and start fresh.

i guess i dont have a soft spot in my heart for vermin...

[ch312]

Suppose the male was beating up on the female, or vice versa? You can't very well say "oh they're fighting but I can't seperate them because I have no other cages."
I am really not trying to be nasty here; just thinking of the rats' best interests. In the meantime, it could be your bedding or a food allergy causing her symptoms or contributing to them as well.

in my large 5 level cage i have 1.3 and the other tank has the 3 males in it. if there were problems i would sort it out or feed off the trouble maker. my girlfriend spoils the stupid things with treats and toys so they always have stuff to keep them busy.

im using mazuri 6f and aspen in their cage...

[littleindiangirl]

That depends on what your trying to compare them to. Our fancy rats are actually physically different and mentally different from wild rats from years of domestication and breeding. So, your right they are the same species, but they are less like wild rats than you would like to believe.

Respecting the life of your feeders is tantamount to breeding successfully. If you think it's easier to just start over, than you really have no clue what it takes to start a good colony.

I only have around 30 rats in my colony, and it would be a disaster to lose even 1/4 of those rats for my production. This isn't even close to what most people have for their collections.

Starting right from the beginning with strong genes, and careful selectivity and strict quarantine isn't "spoiling" by any stretch of imagination, it's making smart choices to build a strong foundation for your colony in the future.

If you choose to not practice quarantine even at a small level, you will find troubles shortly down the road. Especially if you've already shown contempt for what your feeding your snakes now, how do you expect you'll care any more when you have 30 female rats breeding?

Set some good rules for yourself now, and everything will be that much easier down the road.

You don't have to enjoy rats, but your doing a disservice to yourself by not taking time now to start right.

Just my .02 cents

[ch312]

You don't have to enjoy rats, but your doing a disservice to yourself by not taking time now to start right.

Just my .02 cents

i really appreciate the advice. im clearly new to this

all of my rats were free so it wouldnt bother me if they all died today. i have 7 rats from 3 different places so i expected to get sick rats sooner or later. when i get serious about breeding them i will cull all of my current stock (except good breeders) and start fresh with good breeding stock from an actual breeder and use a good rack system.

these are pretty much my "test" rats to teach me about their habits and care before i put a bunch of money into a good setup to see if id like to breed in the future or not.

im working on a hedgehog breeding setup first and then the rats are next