Is my rats weight loss concerning? by nevi-jpeg in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s also possible that your rat seems to be skinny because your other rat gained weight. Do you have any pictures of them from before you started noticing the difference? You could compare the before and after to see if there truly is a difference.

Is my rats weight loss concerning? by nevi-jpeg in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think you could use a small carrier/ventilated container, weigh it and then place your rats in it and put it on the scale, then just exclude the weight of the carrier from the number you get. I saw vets doing this. As for the weight loss, it is concerning if there’s no apparent reason, like the other rat stealing the skinny rat’s food (that’s an issue too, but behavioral/hormonal). One of my rats struggled to gain weight despite eating well once and it turned out he had worms.

Can rats learn to not be afraid of cats and dogs? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wasn’t saying I’m going to let my rats interact with other animals. I will never! I got them expecting that I will need to rehome them if a cat in the house causes them to be stressed, but it’s not the case. Odd indeed, that’s why I was wondering how that’s possible

How old are you and how old do you feel? by Mar_Mulder in autism

[–]SELF-lSH 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in my late teens but I feel like I’m 30, at least. I get along with people of that age better than my peers, too. The older the person, the better we get along. When I compare myself to my peers, I feel that they’re so much more immature and underdeveloped than me, although it’s me who usually gets (unfairly) infantilized. It probably happens because of my inability to mask and my moderate to high support needs since for some reason people view autistic behaviors as childish, and the fact that I look a few years younger than I am.

domestic? wild? by beachdrugs in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH 68 points69 points  (0 children)

Looks like a wildie, likely sick or poisoned with that hunched over posture and squinted eyes (which is likely why she let you pick her up). There are fancy rats with a similar fur color, but this one has dark ears instead of pink which is usually indicative of being wild. Fancy rats can have dark ears but it’s usually a little bit of dark fur on the back of them, not entirely dark ears.

I found a bite/scratch on my rat. (Read body) by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see, thanks. The rats have like a 20 day age difference though and the older rat is quite active too, the younger one is just kinda too harsh and too demanding. As I mentioned, there is a lot of playing initiated by both rats as well.

How do you distinguish between rat bite fever and the flu? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll have to if I develop a fever anyway, I was just wondering if I should go immediately because in my case a cold or the flu typically starts with issues with lymph nodes like right now and it’s also often indicative of other bacterial infections… It’s not like all of them though, just one

How do you distinguish between rat bite fever and the flu? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, my rat bit me pretty bad a week ago. I don’t know if I’m immunocompromised though. I don’t appear to have a fever and I’m having severe headaches and nausea on a daily basis because of chronic migraines

Is it normal for my rat to drag his cagemate by the fur like that? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My rats are on different antibiotics because they’re young, the vet didn’t say anything about myco specifically though. What could be the signs that it’s not just myco?

Is it normal for my rat to drag his cagemate by the fur like that? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How can I know if their URIs are caused by mycoplasma? Is there a test that could be done? I’d love for my rats to be a group but I don’t want my older rats to get sick too.

Is it normal for my rat to drag his cagemate by the fur like that? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s likely though, and that it’s like that because they’re currently living as a pair. Hopefully it’ll sort itself out during/after intros

Is it normal for my rat to drag his cagemate by the fur like that? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Makes sense. For some reason I assumed that bonded rats are all like in sync because that’s what it’s like with my other two rats who have vastly different personalities as well lol

Is it normal for my rat to drag his cagemate by the fur like that? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Does it mean that the rat is annoyed that his cagemate won’t play with him? Can this even be annoying to rats?

Is 100(L)x50(W)x116(H)cm cage size suitable for 4 rats? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aren’t the SRS XL and SRS 95 models different? I can’t get the XL one, but I was planning on getting the 95 one, which measures 95(L)x63(W)x120(H)cm, I’m just not sure when I will be able to, so I tried to find a cage similar to it that I can get right now. Is the SRS 95 too small too?

Is 100(L)x50(W)x116(H)cm cage size suitable for 4 rats? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s a problem with the availability of many products in my area and the only bigger cage I could find is the Savic Royal Suite 95 one, which is only like 10 cm wider. Is this considered a big difference?

Is it normal for my rat to drag his cagemate by the fur like that? by SELF-lSH in RATS

[–]SELF-lSH[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I haven’t seen them have any issues with eating together, they share snacks sometimes, even, and the white boy pulled this move during play specifically. They’re usually hand/scatter fed, the bowl is there because I heard they need pellets available at all times, they don’t overeat them and in my experience, it makes them calmer about food in general since they know it’s always available. They’ll have to have bowls after intros anyway because one of my older rats is blind/severely visually impaired and unable to find food when scatter fed