Bathing a rat

[jenaero]

I finally had to give my 1yo dumbo rat a bath today. I think he's traumatized..lol. He won't let me near him now. He hated the water, and tried to hide in my shirt. Anyone have any tips for next time? I used kitten shampoo, diluted and towel dried him.

He's got this bad habit of peeing in his hammock and then sleeping in it, so this will have to be done on a regular basis. Any help is appreciated.

[SatanicIntention]

*Snort* Silly boy rat. Some of mine like to marinate too, and it's GROOWWWSSEEE. I usually use baby shampoo or Dawn(regular) to get the buck grease off(if they have it) and get the greasy urine off. Why they marinate is beyond me.. it can't be all that pleasant! I know I sure don't like it when I have a line of wee running down my arm because a boyrat decided I was his...

[jenaero]

Marinate.. there's a good word for it..ick! So it's just the males that dribble where ever they go?

[littleindiangirl]

LOL, that's great. I had to give all of my boys a bath one day, not fun let me tell you. These are big rats too, I had scratches all over my arms and neck and shoulders. LMAO.

It turns out that the more you do this, the better it will get. You'll learn how much water is too much, or how to hold the greasy monkeys. I found that they just learn to deal, and I make it as quick as possible.

[SatanicIntention]

And trying to bathe nekkid rats who are lubed up with Dawn soap, when they DON'T like the bath and are flinging themselves at the front of your shirt.. It's a party, lemme tell ya!

And clipping their nails helps ALOT!

[jenaero]

While we're here, I've never gotten consistent answers on a few things.

1) What is the life expectancy of a dumbo rat? Keeping in mind that as far as diet and caging goes, he's spoiled

2) How big should I expect him to get? He's a year old and about 5 inches now

Thanks!

[SatanicIntention]

Dumbo is just an ear-type. They don't live any longer or shorter lives than other rats. If he's kept alone, I can imagine he's a bit lonely.

I've had boys range from 250g to almost 600g. Just so they have a good quality diet and exercise, then their genetics will determine how big they get.

[GirDance]

Genetics is a big thing with size!!! If he's a year old though, I wouldn't count on him getting too much bigger on you.

My new pet rat Zim looks like he will be getting to his father's size - almost 2 lbs. He's approx 2 months old and already weighs 225g (almost bigger than every adult female I've ever had). He and Gir were purchased a brand new rabbit cage this week because they are both growing like weeds!!

We're going to see how they take to a bath and nail trimming later tonight... Just like dogs though, it really depends on the rat... I've had a few over the years who love it - the more water and toys the better! Others, well lets just say the only part they liked was the nice warm hair dryer after!