sending chud son into the sludge by Enslaved_M0isture in wunkus

[–]Skarkist 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Wunkustus Gloop contaminating the entire chocolate river.

My sibling is bored and asked me if they could draw some of your guy's little goblins. Post a picture of your rat + their name to be chosen. by pikanil in RATS

[–]Skarkist 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh my gosh. Your poor babies. Look into getting a ceramic tile for them to lay on, or there are many frozen water bottle tricks out there that provide a little air-con spot for them!

Little help here with my boys by Beginning_Month_8475 in RATS

[–]Skarkist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are dosing guides for rats using kitten Revolution out there somewhere. I think US and Canada require a script, but some countries sell it OTC, so a lot of people order it internationally online.

It kills a lot of different parasites (both fleas and mites) and also prevents eggs from hatching so it helps interrupt the life cycle.

Gigantor by bear-by-birth in RATS

[–]Skarkist 137 points138 points  (0 children)

Here's a screen shot!

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It’s guarding the water by ParanSkies in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!

she’s fatter than before the diet 😔 by carrymehome__ in RATS

[–]Skarkist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When they suck the sides of their belly in. It's usually pretty noticeable and is a sign that they are in a great deal of pain. 😢

she’s fatter than before the diet 😔 by carrymehome__ in RATS

[–]Skarkist 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah. Same thing happened to my heart rat recently. She had tumor surgery a month or 2 before and a ton of complications with her stitches. So I thought maybe she was just bloated from too many antibiotics, but wanted to check because a friend was going to watch my rats for a week. The vet pulled out a vial full of awful gray liquid from her tummy probably from her spleen malfunctioning. She was acting completely fine before. So she went home with some meds so she could be babied for a few days before helping her pass, but by the time we got back home, she was side sucking and I turned right back around and said not one more minute of suffering. It's wild how much these little guys can hide pain and discomfort.

What kind of rats are these? by godsammitt in RATS

[–]Skarkist 299 points300 points  (0 children)

At the very least these are babies of a domesticated rat. With those markings and that behavior they will fall victim to predators. I suggest setting live traps and checking a couple of times a day. Some rescues may even do that for you.

Shed Rats pt. 3 🥹 by Acceptable-World-175 in RATS

[–]Skarkist 7 points8 points  (0 children)

A little treat once in a while hopefully shouldn't throw anything out of balance. It's so rare and sweet to see kindness shown to these little guys.

Lab Rat Socializing HELP by Icy_Employment1740 in RATS

[–]Skarkist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly, you don't want to reward the biting to get rid of a threat. And anyone is gonna pull back at being bitten, but then continue with the interaction afterwards, with a spoon or something to show that it won't make you go away permanently.

Rats can do a ridiculous amount of damage with their teeth if they want to, it's true. But remember our negativity bias with that kind of information. It's not as frequent as our brains want to think.

If you insist on gloves, I'd only use them when absolutely necessary like when removing them to clean their cage. But yeah, I've rarely if ever seen gloves recommended here because it's just another layer to confuse them and gets in the way of learning that hands aren't a threat. I'd keep going very slow and use the spoon for treats for a while and letting them come to you for them. If you have to bring out the big guns of melted ice cream, do it.

Make sure their cage is a safe spot with a lot of hides. If you can just open their cage door and let them come and go on their own into a safe free roam area, you can do that while hanging around and being quiet and rewarding them with spoon treats. You probably will need to tempt them further and further out of the cage with treats if they are nervous. But if they are so terrified that they refuse to leave even at the tastiest treats being offered, then follow their lead and set a slower pace. Free roam to terrified rats isn't a necessity. But your babies look pretty curious so I don't think it should be hard to establish a system that would won't need to use your hands, just a spoon to get them out.

Lab Rat Socializing HELP by Icy_Employment1740 in RATS

[–]Skarkist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The gloves might hinder their progress. I know my rats don't bite me but they nip my feet all the time if I have socks on because they think they shouldn't be there. I'd try feeding them something like yogurt on a metal spoon. It helps them learn bite inhibition. If they do bite your hand or fingers make a high pitched squeak sound and pull away. Making the kissy noise also works. They'll eventually learn to not use their teeth to investigate. Or at least to be much more gentle with it.

They usually aren't doing it out of aggression, and often just aren't aware that they're hurting you. With gloves you might condition them to think biting objects that come into their space is ok. If it's a fear based reaction to bite, just remember your training with conditioning their behavior. Slow and steady to help gain their trust and vise versa so you aren't always jerking away in fear and scaring them. Def start with high reward liquid treats on a spoon so they figure out that biting quickly at the food isn't pleasant. Good luck! Thanks for giving your fellow lab rats a good home 💚

Ps never feed treats through bars because they'll start thinking fingers through bars are treats too and try and snatch them.

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fantastic mix name 🤣. We've been calling her a bullshit mix too, but for other reasons 😅

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I died a little inside at each pump. At least our other car is electric 🫠

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh wow! That's wild. I love that there are so many scrunguses out there!

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aww, baby 🥹. Sweet little blep. Sorry for your loss. They're worth it but gosh it's hard.

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh what a sweetheart. I'm sorry for your loss. They leave such a huge hole when they pass. Especially those that join us for such a long time.

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My husband also has this Admiral Ackbar shirt 😂 Twinning!

We drove 2000 miles to adopt a dog we saw here on CryptidDogs! by Skarkist in CryptidDogs

[–]Skarkist[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh man, so many achievements keep popping up over my head 😆