Okay, I got suckered by a naked rat.

My female BP Xena is on the breeding hunger strike, so I got stuck with a naked rat that I just couldn’t kill. It totally sucker punched me with its sweet personality and the “I am so ugly I am cute” charm. I named him Mr. Biglesworth and now he’s part of the family, he had a slight Uri when I got him but after some baytril he is much better. The only issue I have is that he scratches his head constantly, since he has no furry padding on his little bald head, it’s bleeding and raw. Is he doing this because his skin is dry or is there something else that may be causing this, rat lovers please chime in, Thanks.

Here's a picture
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/files/1/5/2/1/0/037.jpg

LMAO...We got a naked Female Rat! My wife is in love with & named PINK! It's all good...hopefully 1 day she will have babies 4 my snakes 2 eat!

:(dats so sweet your not gunna kill it are you ?

maybe it was the baytril that made him a bit sore ?

He probably needs a friend. He might be OCD scratching. Pretty common in lone mice and rats.
especially males.

he's kind of adorable. :P

Thanks everyone, and no he's not on the dinner menu. Rat's are really so social that they need a friend? I had no idea. Would getting him a friend help the scratching, and would it make him less freindly with us?

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Originally Posted by ed4281

Thanks everyone, and no he's not on the dinner menu. Rat's are really so social that they need a friend? I had no idea. Would getting him a friend help the scratching, and would it make him less freindly with us?

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Getting him a friend should completely erase all problems you have. Rats are extremely social creatures. If they do not have a companion they tend towards destructive behavior (think neurotic poodle) and you have to give them constant attention everyday. If they have a friend, not only do they remain great pets but they wont cause you major headaches down the road. Besides 2 is always better than 1 :D

Rats definitely prefer to be housed with other rats. They can get depressed, or OCD (like I suspect your guy may be) without a partner. You can get him a male rat partner, with or without fur. Male rats usually won't fight one another, since they're far more interested in being social.
They'll pee on everything in their cage though. :D

But the hairless rat will likely always have some scratches, just because he's hairless. ;)

Okay, I guess he will be getting a friend. What size cage would I have to get for 2 rats?. Also I will be neutering him and any freind he gets to prevent the peeing and buck musk issues.

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Originally Posted by ed4281

Okay, I guess he will be getting a friend. What size cage would I have to get for 2 rats?. Also I will be neutering him and any freind he gets to prevent the peeing and buck musk issues.

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Your going to need a decent sized cage. Personally, I would go to petsmart and shop around just to get an idea NOT buy mind you. Their prices are ridiculous. When I kept 2 rats as pets before I figured out that Kingsnakes who constantly smell rats are not the greatest pets, I kept them in a decent sized plastic tub with a 2 levels/perches glued onto the sides. Increases floor space quite a bit and they do love to climb and look at you. I don't know the size seeing as it was a while ago but I would think that anything 2.5-3 feet long plus around 2 feet in height should work well. Get creative!

The recessive nakeds I had did that scratching on their tumors before the tumors showed, hopefully thats not why your is scratching it's head :(

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

The recessive nakeds I had did that scratching on their tumors before the tumors showed, hopefully thats not why your is scratching it's head :(

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I hope not he is only 4 months old, however they are tumor factories

10 gallon tank should be good for 2 rats. You could go with a 20 if you want toys, wheels, house ect.

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Originally Posted by KingPythons

10 gallon tank should be good for 2 rats. You could go with a 20 if you want toys, wheels, house ect.

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10 gallon is too small for 2 fullgrown rats. Mice, 10 gallon would be fine. Not rats. I would say 20gallon minimum.

If you want to keep rats as pets you are better off building them a cage. 1" x 1/2" wire is awesome for building rat cages. The large mixing tubs from Home Depot make great bases for cages. Just make a wire "cube" with an open bottom, that fits inside the foot print of the mixing tub. Add some shelves and some door and you are good to go.

You can build the king of all rat cages for way under $50 oif you do it right!

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Originally Posted by ed4281

Thanks everyone, and no he's not on the dinner menu. Rat's are really so social that they need a friend? I had no idea. Would getting him a friend help the scratching, and would it make him less freindly with us?

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Not sure about the less friendly part! We have one male and two female rats. The male is very friendly as is the hairless female. The other female is a *BEEP* she runs from everyone and will not chill to be held! She doesn't bite but, is not very friendly!

Whatever you buy, avoid wire mesh floors, because it hurts their paws to walk on, and can give them bumble foot, which is very painful.

I took a large ferret/chinchilla type wire cage, put shavings in the bottom pan, and made 6 layers of shelves out of fleece, like hammocks.
This is a great pet set-up, because it increases the floor space by tons, and if they pee on the hammocks, all you have to do is throw them in the wash, and put them back in the cage.

I bought the cage used for $20, and got the fleece free from a friend who didn't need it. ;)
My cage is about 4 feet tall, and 2 feet wide, and one foot deep? And it holds 6 rats very comfortably. :D

bigger cage the betta be careful tho i think rats are good at escapeing

And a 10 gallon tank is definitely not large enough for 2 fully grown male rats. :mad:

Okay, Mr. Biglesworth just got a new friend and they seem very happy together thanks for everyone's advice. I ordered a nice big cage as well and it should be here Friday.

:D:gj: