Sick rats...what do you do with them?

[Rakshasi]

Rats are prone to respiratory illness...I've kept rats since '98, so I'm well-educated about that. My question is, though, what do you do with the feeders that get sick?

I ask this because, what I do is treat them with the antibiotics they need, and they then become full-time "pet only" animals. I don't want to be overrun with rats, though I very much enjoy their company. The pet-onlies are held everyday by my sister, or myself, and are usually on a shoulder with either of us doing work around the house (non-snake related work, of course!!). I just fear that, since I have a soft spot for rats, we will soon be smothered with them.

They actually don't get sick that often, but my colony is rather large, so when one does, naturally, they get seperated, put in a "hospital" housing unit and treated...that's when we bond, and I just can't let them go.

Should I humanely euthanize any sickies in the future? Should I still use them as feeders? What do I do? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't think feeding sick food items to my snakes is a very good idea...should I just try setting the sickies up with new homes? I don't know what to do! I have too big a heart to let these guys (and gals) go after I've treated them.

[Flagg]

A rat RI isn't going to affect your snakes in any way. I'd feed them, but obviously before giving them any meds.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

A rat RI isn't going to affect your snakes in any way. I'd feed them, but obviously before giving them any meds.

I don't keep em as pets so if one gets sick, I usualy euthanize then freeze before feeding off.

[MATT FISHER REPTILES]

i feed them off if they get sick.

[lord jackel]

I like you have a very large collection of breeder rats and have been doing so for just as long.

Here is what I do - usually only 1-2 per winter will get sick.

My breeders who get sick - are treated and given "time off" till they are healthy again and back to breeding weight (assuming they lose some while recooping)

Feeder Size that get sick (I will make a call based on what the sickness appears to be) are feed off without meds.

I have 5 "pets" that are no longer breeders but any other retirees are euthanized.

[frankykeno]

Raven I'm actually surprised your rats are "prone" to RI's. I can't say I've seen very much of that at all with my colony. Could it be a need for a bit more ventilation, a different bedding choice or less rats per enclosure. Not saying you are doing anything wrong hon but sometimes just a little tweak here or there can make all the difference.

I did get a bit of rats with the sneezing and sniffling going on but they were recent pet store purchases when I ran short one time on small feeder rats. My permanent group though never seems to have any of these issues.

[MarkS]

A predators job in the wild is to pick off the old, the sick and the infirm first. Leaving more resources available for the younger stronger members of the colony, thereby insuring the continued health and strength of the rest of the members of the herd.

Sounds like a good model to me, so I euthanize all of the old, sick or weaker members of my rodent colonies and freeze them for later consumption by my snakes.

I no longer consider any of my rodents as pets. I think that mindset was interfering with the overall production of my rodent colony as I was practicing 'survival of the cutest' rather then 'survival of the fittest'. I was selecting future breeders based on pleasing colors and personality rather then rapid growth, litter size and breeding ability.

[frankykeno]

Good point Mark. I think that I look at my colony a bit like a farmer does. I want a good producing animal, one that breeds and bears young appropriately, is physically healthy and has a sound temperment. Because the rats do come in colors and patterns I might determine I want a specific female of a litter versus one of her female littermates solely on her more pleasing look but as long as it's a genetically sound decision, then I consider that just a side benefit. I grew up with a lot of farmers and most smaller, family farms named their breed stock, cared for them extremely well but still quite happily sat down to eat steak from their offspring or a nice pork chop from "Suzie's" litter.

[Ginevive]

I have the "farmer" attitude with my rats as well. I tried handling certain ones as pets for a time, but I do not have enough time to devote to them like that, and they got wild after awhile.. now they are basically cattle. I can safely pick them up and move them from cage to holding tank for cleaning, etc. But they are not tame enough to be considered pets, and it helps me not to grow attached, when feeding-off time comes.
Great posts, MarkS and Jo

[sweety314]

We have pets, which go to the vets, and feeders. So far, there haven't been any sick feeders, but a couple of our pets have been ill. Smudge had a stroke, and he got vet care but didn't recover. Butterscotch (appears to have) had a stroke, and died before I could get him in to the vet the next day.


Currently, our first feeder, then turned pet, Scabbers has been having breathing problems. Took him to the vet again today. He's had the baytril regimen, then doxycycline, and then doxy/prednisone, and was doing okay, but then would get bad again after the drugs were stopped. It appears he's actually got asthma. If the current plan, and occas. 02 in the tank doesn't work, I'll have him humanely euthanized. I've changed the types of bedding 3x, and the next is to regular shredded (junk mail-type) paper.

I don't know what we're going to do when he and Peekaboo die...probably bury them alongside Butterscotch by the back fence. We've already talked about get a "butterscotch" rosebush to plant. Even if they die of old age, I'd have a hard time feeding them off since they're pets.