new rat

[AdamJB]

Just out of curiosity, how many of you have named your rats 'Lucky'?

not me mine are mona and lisa! Just a quick q for all you rat owners is it normal for them to be really skittish when you first get them? I work at petsmart and they aren't normally afraid of loud noises and such, but the two I got from another store are kinda skittish...

[frankykeno]

If they haven't been handled or socialized much or came from a large rodent producer they might be quite skittish at first. Just let them settle in, feed them well and entice them with special treats. Rats are very food driven and will pretty much do anything to get to a favoried goodie.

Also if this other store allows kids and such to bang on the rat tanks, well that can make any rat go a bit spastic.

[rabernet]

I remember talking to Tim Bailey when we were in Birmingham. He said he also has a hard time feeding off such cute babies - he tries not to really look at them when he's feeding. He sort of looks to the side, grabs a rat, drops it in and moves on.

I love my breeder rats, so much so that when I had two retired females, I made sure that they went to a good pet home for their retirement. I asked for pictures of the enclosure and asked basic rat care questions to screen potential adoptors.

I have one retired female that I can't adopt out - I adore her too much and she'll live out her retirement here.

But yes, you can love rats as pets and also respect them as feeders that allow you to enjoy your snake hobby as well.

[Thunder Kat]

my husband and i both had pet rats as kids so i make it a point to only buy the "bad pet" candidates for feeders (if its friendly then it has a chance to be a pet). as far as a little friend for her, she has a little cold right now so i'm trying to nurse (i turned the heat up in the room she's in and added extra bedding are there any suggestions that might help her?) that and we've been spending a lot of time with her to try and make up for it. i plan on making her a breeder (let her earn her dinner and that over sized play house ) so soon after we kick this cold i'll get her a boy friend. i'm very happy with her she is such a baby, the fur on top of her head sticks straight up, she's very loving, and her favorite toy is a bell that hangs from the top of the tank. i'm glad i'm not the only rat softy.

[rabernet]

Kat, you're still going to want to get her a same sex friend for those times that she's resting after weaning her litter. You won't want to keep the male in with her when she has her litter (so he'll need a friend too). If he's allowed to stay with her, he will impregnate her again within a day of her having her litter (I know this from experience when I didn't get a female separated from a male before she had her litter - the babies were a day old when I separated them, and she had a litter four weeks to the day after the first litter - apparently they "hold" the sperm the first week to allow the first litter time to be weaned before the second one arrives - ain't nature grand?)

[Thunder Kat]

Kat, you're still going to want to get her a same sex friend for those times that she's resting after weaning her litter. You won't want to keep the male in with her when she has her litter (so he'll need a friend too). If he's allowed to stay with her, he will impregnate her again within a day of her having her litter (I know this from experience when I didn't get a female separated from a male before she had her litter - the babies were a day old when I separated them, and she had a litter four weeks to the day after the first litter - apparently they "hold" the sperm the first week to allow the first litter time to be weaned before the second one arrives - ain't nature grand?)

I going to wait till this bug dies down (Myco) and yes I know it will never go away, I just want to get rid of the symptoms before I introduce another rat. I don't want them stressing each other out, and TRUST me I know not to keep intact males and females together. Once she's feeling better I'll get her a lady friend. I don't like keeping males from experience, so what I'll do is when ever my bp's back on rats I'll just get males, and when ever I want to breed my ladies I'll let him do his thing before the snake does hers. Keep in mind that I have no plans what so ever to have a gigantic rat colony I just want to breed for my needs (a bp and a sav) so I'm only breeding for pups any way. Also no of this was planned, the snake refused to eat last week (she ate fine today, a big mouse not my new baby) so I got a new pet. Now about the Myco, how do you guys help your little ratties with the symptoms? I put her in a warmer room, changed her bedding from pine to carefresh, gave her a "steam bath", and I looked on the net to find a decongestant thats safe for rats (I got a children's decongestant). But she's still sneezing is there any thing else that you guys would recommend? There are no vets near me that have any experience with rats.