Good news and bad. (Gruesome pics at the end)

Ok I got a female rat trio. They are sooooo cut. except one died today :(. I am pretty sad but it has been only like a week and I haven't even named them. Here are some pics of them on the day I got them. the blond looking one died today. She was also the sweetest of them all. Always smelling around wasn't ever startled by me opening the cage and she licked me a lot.
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC01963.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC01980.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC01977.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC01976.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC01975.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC01967.jpg
So those were the rats when healthy. The other two hoodeds are fine one is questionable but only time can tell.
Sorry if I sound incredibly mean but I am not about to spend hundreds of dollars on a 5 dollar pet. Sorry.
So here are some gruesome pics view discretion is advised.

bloody nose?
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC02032.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC02031.jpg
Urine on butt?
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC02030.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r/DSC02028.jpg

she was fine last night. But this afternoon I checked and she was breathing really fast, gasping for air with her mouth open. And she wasn't in her normal hide spot like usual. Just laying in a corner her side panting . And I tried to get her to walk but she just took a few steps and just toppled over. She died in my hands like 5 mins later. Poor thing. I think I know the reason, but I want to hear from you guys first.
PS. they are from petco.

I have already buried her in the back. We had a little ceremony:( :oops:

***bump***

I would say a RI and the urination sometimes happens as they die. if you just got them from petco take them back and get a refund pet co gets there rats for feeders and they are not well breed and always get sick. before you get attached and want to make good breeders out of them take those back and buy from another store...
I had same issue but no deaths
I bought 4 females and two males to be pet/breeders two have developed ri issuse and mites to boot mites are super cheep and easy to treat so they are being treeted for that and I found a rescur to sell me antibiotics but it is a totall pain in the a** to deal with I would just feed them off but non of my snakes like XXlg rats and they are either preg already and showing or nursing a litter so meds and treatment here I come YA:mad::rage:

They could be infected with any number of terrible viruses and illness, rats can carry, spread and die from many things. That's why we so strongly advocate quarantine for a minimum of 3 months in a closed separate location and perform things like fecals and treat for fleas/mites/lice/chiggers. There are very serious diseases out there that can wipe out colonies in a short time.

Sorry for your loss, but keep a close eye on the others. If you did get them from petsmart/petco, take them back before you get attached if you see signs of death coming, or have them humanly put down with gas.

Hey Cutie! LOL!

Sorry for your loss, I would definitely bring it back to Petco for a refund, I'm sure they will give you another one. Check it well before taking it. Also, it may have gotten into a fight or something. I'm no expert. My rats are my favorites. But mine do fight sometimes. But I haven't lost one yet (crossing my fingers).

Also, just on a short note, if you take the direct link in photobucket, the pics will come on instantly ;). Nice snake food... :)

Have a great weekend! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jojos

Hey Cutie! LOL!

Sorry for your loss, I would definitely bring it back to Petco for a refund, I'm sure they will give you another one. Check it well before taking it. Also, it may have gotten into a fight or something. I'm no expert. My rats are my favorites. But mine do fight sometimes. But I haven't lost one yet (crossing my fingers).

Also, just on a short note, if you take the direct link in photobucket, the pics will come on instantly ;). Nice snake food... :)

Have a great weekend! :)

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If your rats are seriously fighting to where you expect to have one die, you need to separate them.


Rats have skirmmishes, and a lot of it is them working out the pecking order within their colony. It's usually rats being dominant, or being dominated. Could be playing, but generally its them putting the lower rats back in line.

Sometimes its loud and can sound like someone is dying, but there is no actual real wounds or fighting occuring.

If your rats were seriously fighting to kill, there would be a lot of blood, gaping wounds and dead rats.

This was not from a fight. This is a sick rat that probably had pnuemonia, URI and a whole mess of other things.

I would NOT suggest getting any more rats from that store. They will all be infected, whether or not they show outward signs of it that you can detect.

Sorry to hear you lost a rat. How long did you have them before the one died?

I have 6 in QT right now and I'm just watching for any sign of illness. One of the 6 is from my established colony and was put in with a new male just to keep him company and I figured I let her have a little or 2 to feed off. I plan on keeping them all in QT for about 60 days.

Funny thing is during my observation the female from my established colony seems to be sneezing a lot but she doesn't have a runny nose nor labored breathing.

That would make sense. one of them has a lot of snot in its nose and blood. and the other is completely fine. I will qt. I think I am going to just get some asf's. and give the sick one back the other is ok. can an asf breed to a normal rat? and where can I get asf's for cheap in the san diego area. no petstores sell male rats either. And can rats live alone for long periods of time. I don't wasn't to stress them out.

ASF's are illegal in CA, so I doubt you'll find any in San Diego.

ASF's will not breed domestic rats - they're not compatible in size at all.

If you take the one back, the one you keep is going to need a friend at some point, they do best with a buddy.

Why are asf's illegal? Aren't they more well bred than normal rats and are more healthy? thats weird. Ok where can I get some quality normal rats in san diego? preferably not albino.

I have been searching for like an hour. I can't find anyone. some but not too many. they won't pick up and they have all these wavers that you have to sign that say you can't breed them for feeders or feed them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

I have been searching for like an hour. I can't find anyone. some but not too many. they won't pick up and they have all these wavers that you have to sign that say you can't breed them for feeders or feed them.

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Your looking in the wrong areas.

Stay away from fancy rat breeders, they will not sell to you.

Make a post asking for any feeder breeders any one knows of in your area. Best way to find others.

from what I hear ASF's are illegal in cali!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greghall

from what I hear ASF's are illegal in cali!

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They definitely are but that doesn't mean people in CA don't have them. If you ask around you'll find someone to sell you a few. Personally, they scare me with there bad temperament so I'll just stick with regular rats.

Pythontricker, check with your local reptile store (that exclusively deals with reptiles) and get a few feeders to start a colony or you can check with some local reptile enthusiast to see if they are breeding their own and would sell you a few. If you ever make it down to the San Fernando Valley, I'd gladly give you a few of mine to start up a nice solid colony. I also know one ball breeder in the San Diego area that might be willing to sell you some of his rats so PM me if you'd like to give him a call. He is not a member of this site.

all the petsores (ie. petco petsmart) only sell females. the other privately owned petstores like pet kingdom are on;y selling feeders. not pet quality. I have asked a few breeders like johns jungle and professional breeders ( live within an hour of me) if they have any, no reply to my message via cell phone yet. so we will see. Time is the only answer at this point. lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

all the petsores (ie. petco petsmart) only sell females. the other privately owned petstores like pet kingdom are on;y selling feeders. not pet quality. I have asked a few breeders like johns jungle and professional breeders ( live within an hour of me) if they have any, no reply to my message via cell phone yet. so we will see. Time is the only answer at this point. lol

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Healthy feeders are fine. I've got a boy in QT right now that I bought from the local feeder breeder for $1.50 and I've had him for over 3 weeks. So far he is showing no signs of illness. I'll move him to my established colony once 90 days has passed.

Jon from Jon's Jungle doesn't breed rats so he most likely won't call you back. But Sunrise Reptiles in SD does so give Matt a call and see if he can hook you up.

I know he doesn't. But he has a good buddy that should be able to give me some. maybe steve o. has some. Idk. whatever happens happens. I might just get some feeders.

I have a question,
please answer!
Can I house one male rat in a cage by himself with no other male in there? Or is that just out of the question.
In other words are rats ok to live by themselves permanently? I don't wan't to stress it out. I will breed the rat to the two other females though. thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

I have a question,
please answer!
Can I house one male rat in a cage by himself with no other male in there? Or is that just out of the question.
In other words are rats ok to live by themselves permanently? I don't wan't to stress it out. I will breed the rat to the two other females though. thanks.

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Rats need to always have another partner to stay healthy. A lone rat will get depressed and sickly.

ok thanks. I will get two males then.