Im so sad

[JeriBeri]

Well I was sound asleep this morning having a good dream about a fave celebrity when mom came and woke me upasking "Whats wrong with this rat?"

welli got up and overnight Oreo got extremely sick

she was trying to walk, but ran in circles then fell over. there was red stuff comingoutta her nose. i begged mom to end her pain so mom sadly snapped her neck then buried her for me

Oreo was too far gone she could barely breathe


imiss her


her with Timmah! her mate

[darkangel]

I'm so sorry for your loss... Was she old, or was this a new problem? Sounds neurological, or like she injured her spine somehow?

[SatanicIntention]

Um.. She looked insanely too young to be breeding... Get your boy another boy to be friends with(AFTER quarantine...) and he'll be much happier.

And rats are very prone to respiratory problems, since they naturally carry a bacteria(mycoplasma pulmonis) that reduces their immune system so they can't fight some infections off.

Did you quarantine her? 30 days MINIMUM in a separate location, otherwise your boy has the potential to get VERY sick too. Last year, I stupidly brought home 3 babies from Petsmart.. I know you're thinking... Petsmart is trustworthy, right? No... I had 8 rats die within 2 weeks from a streptococcol based pneumonia that was pretty resistant to everything. So yeah, I quarantine for about 3 months now, regardless.

Did you know her genetics as well? She's a high white marked rat, and if you bought her from a pet store, she is most likely carrying genes that pass onto her babies that create megacolon. Megacolon creates problems with the muscles in the digestive tract to where they don't contract like they should. So the babies get impacted, can't absorb any nutrition and slowly(or quickly) starve to death.

It is not a fun thing to go through, and high white breedings should ideally be left to the professionals who know EXACTLY the genetics of their animals.

How long had you had this rat? If you had just picked her up from the pet store a few days ago, see how your male does in a week or two(incubation period for viral/bacterial illnesses) because he very likely could come down with something.

[JeriBeri]

shes a few months old, shes.. she was a dwarf. i knbow who her mom and dad are etc etc

it happened overnight i think she hada stroke


and i hate to break it to you but mymale isnt interested in breeding. at all. ive had him with loaner females and he just walks off. hes not interested in rats at all. he was raised with just humans from 6 weeks on. she was interested he wasnt. the second male ive had like that

[SatanicIntention]

If you didn't get her from one of the 2-3 breeders in the US that have dwarves(I have 3 from a breeder in Ft. Worth, and paid out the wazoo...), then she wasn't a dwarf. Mine are about the size of an adult mouse, but fatter, and resemble aliens because their eyes are so huge.

She may have had a genetic issue that caused her to be stunted; weaned too early, her mother wasn't healthy or nursing properly, etc. Either way, if she was too small, she shouldn't have been bred anyway.

I'm not trying to be mean in any way, and I hope you're not taking it in that context. I just care ALOT about my rats and their well-being, and when I see someone who seems to have just popped two rats together, unknowing of their lineage/genetics/long-term health, that's when I get concerned.

I had a hairless male exactly like yours, he came from Petco(an '04 baby) when he was about 5 weeks old. He was kept alone for a few months until we got rats from a breeder in Dallas, and was then placed with those babies. He got depressed, didn't eat much, just all-over lethargic. So we separated him again and he was his happy, Sneezy self(his name was Sneezy). When placed with females, he showed no interest in breeding and just wanted to get out of the cage. We concluded that since he was kept by himself in those instrumental months of learning, he didn't know what he was supposed to do with these girls. Seems to be exactly the case with your boy.

Have you considered just getting him a male friend or two and calling that 'that'?

Here's a picture of a true dwarf next to her same-age friend(Momo is 8 months old or so and 300g)

[JeriBeri]

Thanks for theinfo. i know your not attacking me. he actually dislikes males as well. just wants to be around me. its kinda odd but if hes happy IM happy. he also hates carfresh and all other beddings. he loves pine its driving me BATTY ive put everything in there but he hates it
its making me really angry but im at a loss


hes an...... eccentric rat

Edit!

He is a double Rexhe has THE curliest whiskers

I love him so much mom wanted me to get rid of him when i got the snake but i put my foot down. I was like hell no hes my baby.

[SatanicIntention]

Ack, NO pine. Regardless of what he dislikes, you need to use something that is best for his health. Pine causes alot of health problems, especially with hairless rats(he's a mock hairless, I don't do the whole double rex junk, LOL). Aspen is what I use, as well as carefresh if a rat has just had surgery(I screen sift it to get rid of dust). I doubt he'll even know the difference between pine and aspen, but you will when he lives a longer, healthier life without respiratory problems.

Such as with kids, they would eat candy all day and drink soda, but is that the best for them to live the longest they can? Not really

[JeriBeri]

ill get some aspen asap *hugs to all*

[SatanicIntention]

Good good! He's a doll of a boy, that's for sure. I have some boys who are morphing hairless and look VERY odd... They need a bath, then I can take some pictures, LOL. Dirty men!

[JeriBeri]

Yea I noticed hairless tend to get dirtier faster. Baby shampoo kicks ass