New critters

Here is the beginning of my small rat colony and the tubs I put together.

First is the main tub
http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2006/tub1.jpg

And the first maternity/grow out tub
http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2006/tub2.jpg

Here is the group together. Forgive me if I get the types wrong. The black hooded is the biggest and is a female. The beige self is a female and the tan hooded is the male.
http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2006/rats1.jpg


The black hooded female by herself. She may be pregnant but I am not quite sure. We'll know soon enough
http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2006/rats2.jpg


And another group shot
http://www.glassreptiles.com/pictures/2006/rats3.jpg


They all have great personalities. I never knew rats were so cool!

Looks like some pretty comfy digs!

They really are neat. One of my little sisters had a hooded rat when we were teens. I was horrified when she bought it, thinking 'who on earth WANTS a rodent?'. We had been living on a farm, and we actively tried to get rid of any rodents, so I couldn't imagine what she wanted with this thing.
It didn't take long, maybe a few days, before I was getting him out to play, though, haha.

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

Looks like some pretty comfy digs!

They really are neat. One of my little sisters had a hooded rat when we were teens. I was horrified when she bought it, thinking 'who on earth WANTS a rodent?'. We had been living on a farm, and we actively tried to get rid of any rodents, so I couldn't imagine what she wanted with this thing.
It didn't take long, maybe a few days, before I was getting him out to play, though, haha.

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They are really cute and have such personalities!

Very cute! :)
Rats are very intelligent, and very clean animals..They even clean their faces after you handle them :) Thankfully they dont smell as bad as other rodents, and are normally less skiddish than gerbils, and less nippy than hamsters.
Most pet stores would rather reach in to a rat cage than a gerbil or hamster cage.. That being said if they do bite it REALLLLY smarts!

They make really good pets. Watch them for signs of RI which is common and fatal in most rats. It hits quick, one day the rat is sneezing, and within a day or so its dead :( So if you notice one sneezing, isolate it from the others, and clean the cage really well, before putting them back in together

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Originally Posted by amercnwmn

Very cute! :)
Rats are very intelligent, and very clean animals..They even clean their faces after you handle them :) Thankfully they dont smell as bad as other rodents, and are normally less skiddish than gerbils, and less nippy than hamsters.
Most pet stores would rather reach in to a rat cage than a gerbil or hamster cage.. That being said if they do bite it REALLLLY smarts!

They make really good pets. Watch them for signs of RI which is common and fatal in most rats. It hits quick, one day the rat is sneezing, and within a day or so its dead :( So if you notice one sneezing, isolate it from the others, and clean the cage really well, before putting them back in together

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Is sneezing always a sign of an RI in rats? I have heard of them sneezing after being kept on pine or cedar. These were kept on Pine I believe and one of them seems to be sneezing a bit. Ill keep an eye on her. They are all eating though and getting settled in.

Very nice looking tubs Jamie! Excellent job there on your first rat tub attempt!

Actually there is as far as I know a difference between an irritation that triggers sneezing like too dusty bedding or not enough ventilation, an RI and mycoplasmosis (see our FAQ sticky on rats for more info on that). Myco is carried by all rats but it isn't usually active and therefore you won't even know they carry it or not. If you do ever get a rat with active myco it will pass away so it's best to put them down as vet treatment isn't usually realistic in a breeder/feeder colony animal. Not all sneezing is myco and quite honestly I've not seen it in my own colony.

I've lost a couple of rats last year to sudden deaths...they just go down like a ton of bricks after appearing otherwise healthy. I expect they were heavily inbred and just failed in some way....possibly a stroke of some sort (they weren't ones I'd produced). I try hard to not inbred any further in my own colony to avoid more issues like that.

They look like nice rats Jamie. Welcome to the world of rats! :rat:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Very nice looking tubs Jamie! Excellent job there on your first rat tub attempt!

Actually there is as far as I know a difference between an irritation that triggers sneezing like too dusty bedding or not enough ventilation, an RI and mycoplasmosis (see our FAQ sticky on rats for more info on that). Myco is carried by all rats but it isn't usually active and therefore you won't even know they carry it or not. If you do ever get a rat with active myco it will pass away so it's best to put them down as vet treatment isn't usually realistic in a breeder/feeder colony animal. Not all sneezing is myco and quite honestly I've not seen it in my own colony.

I've lost a couple of rats last year to sudden deaths...they just go down like a ton of bricks after appearing otherwise healthy. I expect they were heavily inbred and just failed in some way....possibly a stroke of some sort (they weren't ones I'd produced). I try hard to not inbred any further in my own colony to avoid more issues like that.

They look like nice rats Jamie. Welcome to the world of rats! :rat:

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Thanks Jo for the info and the kudos! It was fun to do!

Well it's best to do your reading Jamie. I have a very basic understanding of myco as I've never had to deal with a myco rat in my colony. Watch the sneezing one and watch for the red tears as well. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully well with them.

Super-cute little critters there! I am looking forward to raising rats almost as much as I am looking forward to finally raising snakes! They're such neat animals!


May they be fruitful and multiply for you!

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Well it's best to do your reading Jamie. I have a very basic understanding of myco as I've never had to deal with a myco rat in my colony. Watch the sneezing one and watch for the red tears as well. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully well with them.

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I'm a big researcher...Google is my friend! One of my only friends, sad as it sounds!