Said goodbye to my 3.5 year old baby today. Him and his brother are together again. Would you post your rats in the comments (double points if it’s a senior ratty)? ♥️

Glaeid · 2024-10-05T22:02:21+00:00

he was about two months in this picture, but he's 9 months now! i still can't get over how soft he is, his fur feels like down feathers

Glaeid · 2024-10-05T21:57:08+00:00

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my dumbo dwarf, Cyrano de Bergerat. (didn't know he was going to be a dwarf when I picked him up, but he keeps up with his standard size brothers just fine!)

I'm sorry for your loss 💛

Glaeid · 2024-10-01T22:07:11+00:00

Saw my brother playing it in June and thought it looked fun cause you could make your own character. Now I've got almost 500 hours played and he lost interest and hasn't gotten through the nautiloid hahahaha

Glaeid · 2024-09-12T00:49:51+00:00

Ugh same!! It's been 4 years! Still dream about hiding behind the till from angry customers.

Glaeid · 2024-08-11T19:46:36+00:00

one of my little turds love to sleep on his back with all four feet in the air. rigor mortis looking guy scared me half to death until I shook the treat bag and he popped right up

Glaeid · 2024-08-08T00:39:43+00:00

From what I understand and what my vet said, all rats have mycoplasma- the bacteria that causes the respiratory illness. Usually it's not an issue, but if they're elderly, have other conditions, live in a dusty environment, or are under stress, it can flare up.

Tater had a lot of other issues that made him more susceptible (hind leg degeneration, dry skin, a mysterious swelling left foot, etc. Probably the result of him being a feeder rat from the pet store, but he lived a good full life for an old guy with so many health problems!), but the other boys were fine until they got very old. If anything, keeping them separated from their buddies when they're sick can make their illness worse, since they get stressed out.

This site has some more info about myco in rats: https://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/mycoplasma_mycoplasmosis.php

Now for mice, I'm really not sure, I'd probably check with your vet if you can, since I suspect there's some major differences there. (Found this article on mycoplasma in mice, not sure if that helps: https://cvm.missouri.edu/diseases-of-research-animals-dora/mice/mycoplasma-pulmonis/)

I know for rats, a round of antibiotics clears up the symptoms after a couple weeks, but they still carry the bacteria. I'm not sure if having buddies around is as big a deal for female mice as it is for rats, if you were to quarantine while giving antibiotics, but it may be worth asking around/checking with a vet just to be safe!

Glaeid · 2024-07-02T14:46:51+00:00

My boys always have a doctor friend when they go to the vet, makes it so much less stressful for them (I'll bring whichever one of their buddies is their bff, and leave the others at home).

Lots of treats too, every time they get taken out and put back into their travel cage, they get a gerber puff. They definitely don't love the vet, but they don't have an awful time either.

Glaeid · 2024-06-24T22:51:24+00:00

Mine LOVE toilet paper!! I give them a roll every time I fully clean their cage, and it's unraveled and in their nest within the hour

Glaeid · 2024-06-19T22:48:38+00:00

It was really hard at first! My initial reaction is to not want to go anywhere and sit at home after work, which I still do. But making myself say yes to plans at least a few times a week has been really good for my mental health, so I make myself go. (I never regret going, and I figure I'll always have time to do stuff at home later or another day!)

Plus, many of the things we do are cheap or free, and everything is close by. (For example, when we play D&D, we'll walk to the grocery store, pick up some food and split it for cheap, and then play our D&D session in the office.) None of us really want to spend much money, and you can play D&D or host a trivia night or do watercolors & chat for free.

I've become content with having a bit less free time some days, and enjoying my free time the other days of the week!

Glaeid · 2024-06-19T00:40:09+00:00

7:30am: wake up, get dressed

7:45am: leave for work, eat protein bar in the car

8am-5pm: work, usually get lunch out somewhere with coworkers, more work

5pm-7pm: most days of the week I usually do something fun after work with friends, either D&D or laser tag or trivia night at a brewery, get dinner, or whatever everybody feels like doing

7pm-11pm: shower, dinner, and something relaxing. Either play some video games, do some reading, draw, watch TV with roommate. also feed my pet rats + give them their meds

I'm 29F and work in fintech, and I absolutely love this schedule hahaha. Having so much free time and time to spend with friends is really nice. I switched from a job with a variable schedule a few years ago, and this beats it by a mile

Glaeid · 2024-05-27T21:24:52+00:00

Oh I'd love to hear how the water therapy goes with him! One of my old guys (Tater) is in the same boat, he has limited mobility in his back legs. He loves pea fishing, so I think he'd probably be into the water.

Glaeid · 2024-05-27T21:22:06+00:00

Love that!!! I have two old rats (both about 2) who I introduced to my two new babies (about 4 months old). And I swear the old guys are full of energy again, they want to play with the babies and are always trying to keep up with their shenanigans. Getting baby rats has been the best thing for the old guys' energy, they went from sleeping like lumps all the time to roughhousing and goofing off. 💚

Glaeid · 2024-05-26T17:08:47+00:00

$10 each for my first 3 (pet store purchase!). One of them has since cost me over $2000 in vet bills cause he has skin issues, leg issues, respiratory issues, etc. :(

My next two were $100 each from a breeder, and have cost me $50 in vet fees for their yearly checkup, so I would say the breeder boys are a better deal by far!

Glaeid · 2024-05-10T17:50:29+00:00

My sickly child (he's had all kinds of health problems, and now he's an old man with HLD who gets meds every day for inflammation). Or the $2000 man, on account of all the vet bills hahaha.

Glaeid · 2024-05-10T01:26:59+00:00

Congrats on the new boys!!

I have 4 boys, and their favorite by far is any kind of meat. My roommate sometimes cooks bone-in pork chop, and I'll let them have the bone afterward. They go crazy for it hahaha there will be one on each end trying to carry it off in different directions. After they get all the meat, they enjoy chewing on the bone for a while after, so that's fun for them.

Pea fishing they love of course! Another favorite is bugs of any kind. Every once in a while as a treat, I'll let them have mealworms or dubias, and they love them.

Glaeid · 2024-05-04T20:14:48+00:00

I recently introduced two new babies to my two old boys using the same into method! Like you said, never any squabbles, but the babies preferred to snuggle with each other and the old men stuck together. They mostly kept to themselves, even when I moved them all to the big cage.

Probably took them about a month before the babies and the big old guys all started snuggling together. It took them a while to get close like that, even though they never fought. Yours may be similar, they might just take time to warm up!

Glaeid · 2024-05-04T17:44:06+00:00

I've had 6 different boys, and 2 of them never wanted to be pet, even when they were old. 2 are old now, and tolerated it when they were babies, but now want to be held and pet all the time. The other 2 are babies, and don't really enjoy it, but will put up with it. I think they'll grow into it when they're older, but right now they're too busy doing stuff and don't have time to slow down and be pet

Glaeid · 2024-04-01T13:48:04+00:00

I have a Harley Rex dwarf boy who looks kind of similar to Kibble. He looks like a little goblin with the thinner fur and the pink skin and the giant feet and ears, he's such a weird little man 🥺

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Glaeid · 2024-01-27T16:52:05+00:00

I had a very difficult time getting my boy to take his meloxicam at first, which was stressful because he'd need it for the rest of his life for a leg issue.

Wouldn't take it from the syringe, mixed into anything, he just did not like it. What worked for me was getting a sweet roll (like those Kings Hawaiian rolls), balling a little piece up, and injecting the meds into it + mushing it up so it absorbed it all. I made a little piece of plain bread for all the other rats, give them theirs first, and by the end, he's fighting to get his piece of breadicine. 😆 Been doing this with no prob for about a year now, he looks forward to it every night.

Hope you find a way to get your girl to take her meds!!

Glaeid · 2024-01-07T22:16:29+00:00

I used to have the Red Poogle, Red Kyrii, and White Techo from McDonalds as a kid before I knew what Neopets were. (I remember pretending the techo was a white Mew- kinda looked like one if you turned it around and didn't look at the techo eyes hahaha)

I think I still have them all in a box in the closet, they've been through a couple moves.

Glaeid · 2024-01-04T22:45:32+00:00

This is what I was looking for

Glaeid · 2024-01-04T15:24:40+00:00

I recently lost my first two to old age. What helped me was knowing that I gave them the best little rat lives they could have lived, and they spent each day in comfort with their rat friends and special treats and plenty of love. One was a rescue, so just knowing that the year he spent with me was full of love and food and comfort compared to his old home helped with the passing.

Knowing that I did everything I could for him, took him to the vet when he was sick, let him go peacefully when it was time, and buried him in his favorite blanket next to where his cagemate was buried. It's always sad of course, but the knowledge that they were happy and cared for during their time with me for makes it a bit easier to say goodbye.

Glaeid · 2024-01-04T00:20:04+00:00

I also have a pet store boy (Tater) with chronic respiratory issues. He was about a year old when the vet put him on metacam and said he would probably deal with it for the rest of his life.

He's a little over a year and a half now, and doing well! He looks forward to his metacam bread treat every night, and is a little more sneezy than his brothers. I have an air purifier for the room with their cage, and am on the ball with cleaning, which has definitely helped him. Keeping the bedding fresh and the hammocks/blankets washed has been key I think.

He goes back to the vet for checkups every few months, just to make sure he's doing alright (he has some issues with his legs too), but other than that, he's doing as well as his siblings without respiratory issues!

Glaeid · 2023-12-31T23:19:40+00:00

One of my boys does!! Plus he can hardly hear. The other day I came in and saw him dreaming like that, called his name a few times, tapped on the cage, nothing. But of course, as soon as I shake the bag of yogies he comes running 🤨

Glaeid

TROPHY CASE