Psychopixi
Fanatic   Posts: 376 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 17/3/2003 at 11:37 AM |
I was thinking of buying myself two rats. If anyone who knows anything
about rats could give me some tips (the guy in the store was really
UNhelpful) then I'd be very grateful.
How likely are female rats to develop tumours?
Other health issues I should know about?
Good food / healthy food for them?
Toys that they like etc...?
Thanks all. ____________________
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
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Geist
Member   Posts: 127 Registered: 5/11/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 17/3/2003 at 04:28 PM |
I used to have several rats. The big thing I would worry about is keeping a
male and a female in the same cage. Or anywhere within 5 feet of eachother
for that matter. You WILL have babies every month or so. As far as food
goes I always fed mine the store bought food, but if you want you can mix
your own. Unsalted sunflower seeds, oatmeal, stuff like that. A little bit
of fresh fruits and vegtables is good for em too, but put it in a seperate
dish, and not a whole lot. Occasionally I'd give mine a piece of beef
jerky, they love that.
____________________
Chasity - the most unnatural of all sexual perversions...
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Sticupus
Fanatic  Posts: 254 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 17/3/2003 at 06:02 PM |
Ask Bettie_X. She loves rats.  ____________________
The OBOLISK is Divine.
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic   Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 12:37 AM |
Woohoo! My specialty! (you're right on that stic)
Getting two is a FABULOUS idea, as unless they are given constant
attention, they are prone to severe depression. They can die from it.
From all the rats I've had, I've noticed that the "curly" rats are VERY
affectionate. Most rats are, but not only are curlies ADORABLE (they even
have little curly whiskers which is HILLARIOUS) but they LOOOOVE ATTENTION.
When you go to adopt your new family members, look for the one or two that
run up to your hand when you're near their tank and let you pet them. Those
are the most social.
I actually pick up one VERY social rat and one rather "shy" one, becuase
they wouldn't be a good or happy companion for someone that didn't
understand their personality. That way I have the company of a happy rat,
and another rat I can sometimes play with, but the "shy" rat gets their
wanted time ALONE. Of course I also am the person that takes the sick ugly
ass animal from the pet store out of pity *LOL*
Cages are best, the ones with small squares. Glass tanks tend to promote
respitory and skin diseases as there's not very good air flow. Plus wire
cages they can climb and play in and have four walls of stuff to do. Mine
have little floors that run along the walls of the cage, so they can be
away from each other, and can run around and play. I also hang toys from
the top of it so they have shit to do. DON"T use cedar or pine or anything
with heavy oils in it, cuz when they pee the chemical reaction will make
them sick. Aspen, or recycled paper pulp is best. They like boxes to live
in and DESTROY. Mine systematically begin shredding a "skylight" and a
back door on every new box I give them.
Uhm, food, they can eat anything but citrus stuff. I don't recommend you
give them meat (or if you do, not often) and too much dairy isn't good for
them either. Moderation in both cases. They like any kind of fruit,
veggie (it's CRAZY CUTE to watch 'em eat mushrooms) and some "junkfood"
every once in a while like chips and cookie pieces.
Keep them in the rooms you're in the most, like the living room. They are
social as hell, and need to be a part (at least in the room with) most of
your activity. I leave the TV or the Radio on for mine when I leave.
You may want to consider (if you get girl rats) breeding them ONCE because
the hormones released during pregnancy help prevent tumors. Look out for
the sniffles, because as we all learned from my horrible experiences in the
past, an unwatched sneeze or runny nose can turn deadly in as little as
overnight.
Above all, PLEASE don't consider them for pets unless you have every
intention of giving them the highest quality of life and medical care they
may require some day. Yes, they are relatively "cheap" pets (as if any
life is "cheap") but their med bills can run high if they're sick enough.
I've spent once near a hundred bucks to save nico's life (after hours
emergency vet). They are small, and when they get sick it moves fast and
hits hard. If you dont' think you're willing to put that kind of money
into an animal, I don't recommend them. I dont' wanna sound like I"m
talking "down" to you, I just don't think that some people realise how
expensive it can be to take a rat to the vet with pnemonia (unfortunately
they don't charge by the pound).
Seriously tho, lecturing aside, they are by far the best friends to have in
the whole world. They are easy to care for, loving, affectionate,
sociable, and DARLING. My girl Lulu is literally hanging on the side of
her cage by the doorway into the living room when she hears me come home.
I can almost hear her yelling "OOOOOOOOHMYGOD YOUR"E
HOOOOOOOOOMEEEE!!!!!!"
I'm sorry this is long, but HEY! You ASKED!! 
and if you have anything else you wanna know just email me  ____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 12:43 AM |
| Oh, one more thing (and then I'll shut up I swear!) check with your local
vet offices to make sure they will tend to "pocket pets". I've never been
so angry in my LIFE when I had to drive for THREE HOURS to all sorts of
different offices with a sick sick rat and have them look at me and say
"I'm very sorry, we uh, don't do rats". It'll save you a MASSIVE headache.
And a vet that is sympathetic to your rat is worth a million dollars. I
regularly took mine on a 35 min drive when they were sick to visit a vet in
the middle of nowhere because he was the best I've ever been to. He even
didn't charge emergency fees on rat patients because he knew how very
quickly they could become seriously ill. This man was so kind it was
unreal. I took poppy there to be put to sleep because I knew they wouldn't
look at me funny with how devestated I was, and a week later I even got a
condolences card signed by the whole staff. It blew me away. ____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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Psychopixi
Fanatic Posts: 376 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 01:19 AM |
Thank you Geist and Bettie for the information. I was planning on keeping
the rats in my room as my nan (who I live with) doesn't want anything to do
with them as any pet fur makes her chest bad.
Luckily for me I can get the rats medical care done by the PDSA (People's
Dispensary for Sick Animals) which doesn't charge if you're underage / on
benefits etc...
Would you advise getting the rats from a pet store or from a breeder? (Is
it okay to get them from a pet store?) I've heard that pet store bought
rats will be more aggressive / scaredy as they arent handled.
I think I would like to get does, but I don't know how I could part with
the litters if I did breed them. This being because I don't know who would
buy the babies and also I would get attached to them and not WANT to sell
them!
It sounds like your vet is really brilliant! The vet we see for the dogs in
the PDSA is okay but very formal. She knows what she's doing but doesn't
have the time to really care (or so it seems). Still, hang on to your
vet!!! ____________________
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
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Dolorosa
Extreme Fanatic  Posts: 856 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 10:16 AM |
| Also....a very little known fact about rats is that they are absolutely
terrible with heavy artillery, so it's pretty safe to keep them near a
mortar cannon or anti-aircraft nonesense...unfortunatly, they are dead
shots with small arms...so yup, thats right kids...keep your Barretta AWAY
from the rats...lest they bust a cap in yor ass, ratty style... ____________________
In the valley of the Goats, the Goat Fucker is King
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Psychopixi
Fanatic Posts: 376 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 11:13 AM |
| I'll make sure to keep my gun in the other room then. *laughs* ____________________
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
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AltarielOfTheUnderworld
Occasional Poster   Posts: 22 Registered: 2/2/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 11:40 AM |
Damn! You guys make me want to have a rat again... When I was a kid, we had
an adorable pet rat. Unfortunately, it was just one of them, a male, and I
think what happend to him was some of what you said about rats dying from
loneliness, bettie... At least, he passed away before he was..er..thought
to, without much of a obvious reason, and so my sensible parents were too
sad to get a new one :s
Uff.
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Thantos
Coward   Posts: 7 Registered: 16/3/2003 Status: Offline
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 posted on 18/3/2003 at 11:54 AM |
| Ok so how do i convince my mother to let me have a rat! She hates them
i've tried convincing her that their great lil things but she wont believe
me. All this talk of rats makes me want one! Grrrrrrrrrr ____________________
Don't worry, it only seems kinky the first time.
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Nicholas
Member  Posts: 74 Registered: 17/3/2003 Status: Offline
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 posted on 18/3/2003 at 04:13 PM |
| You could say that it'll help you become a more responsible person.... it's
kind of corny, but it could work. Or if you live somewhere cold, just leave
the door open and one will be nesting in your basement before you know it. ____________________
"Be neither a master nor a slave to pudding, for there is a time to gather,
and a time to cast pudding away"
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KatB
Fanatic  Posts: 241 Registered: 16/7/2002 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 07:13 PM |
| THIS is what happens if you play heavy metal to your
rodents! ____________________
All stressed out and no one to choke...
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/3/2003 at 07:52 PM |
AHAHAHHAHA DEMON HAMSTERS!!!!
You've been letting them listen on radiofreesatan.com again haven't you?
How do you get your parents to let you have one? Well mine absolutely
REFUSED to let me get one, my mom hates them A LOT. Sooooo I just sorta
came home with one on a nice afternoon and she didn't notice it for a week.
Then she yelled, then stomped out, then my dad came in and scratched their
ears and went to go let my mom cool off. If you can pay for the proper
supplies, just well...sneak it in. It's a lot easier to say "no" than it
is to look it in the face and say "get rid of it NOW".
If you're in your room a lot, then that's okay to keep them in there. You
can either go to a breeder OR a pet store, but I kind of stick to the SMALL
pet stores, as they are kinder to their animals and such. I've bought a
rat from a large chain store and she was just fine, but I yelled at a
manager about how the girl working in that department was handling them.
BY THE FUCKING TAIL. PS~that is not only NOT good for them but GUARANTEED
to make the poor thing hate you after time.
It's hard to get rid of the babies, and don't sell them, just well...give
them away. I kept the two girls in my litter and gave ALL THREE BOYS to a
friend of mine. It's not hard to give up the boys when they're trying to
hump their mom and their sisters. Sometimes the breeders will only charge
a fee of giving them their "pick" of the litter, and hell find a breeder
that will take them all. Rat babies are DARLING. They're ugly as fuck for
the first few days, but then they get REALLY CUTE REALLY FAST. I have
pictures of poppy's litter and when I want a pick-me-up I go look at my
"baby pictures" and remember the day that nico's eyes opened and she saw me
for the first time
It's not hard to give them up if they have a good home. I always made my
friend email me with updates on their well being ;P
____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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Psychopixi
Fanatic Posts: 376 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/3/2003 at 02:15 PM |
In my room a lot? *grinz* I live in my room - literally. I don't get in my
nan's way so whenever am at home, I am in my room - the ratties will have
no problems with being around me. A pet store would certainly be easiest
for me to get the rats from, so that's that sorted. Giving away the babies
- I know if I didn't keep them ALL, I'd keep some. Gods that's going to be
horrible - giving them up.
How big a cage would you advise on getting if I have two rats? Another of
my friends told me that it would probably be better (and cheaper) if I made
a cage as opposed to buying a store bought one. I only have around £50 to
spend so cheap is always going to be good.
Apologies for all the questions... I wanna get this right.  ) ____________________
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/3/2003 at 10:20 PM |
Oh no I don't mind at all!
The cage I have right now is prolly about three feet tall by 2 feet wide
(each cage wall is 3X2 that is) and has two different "floors" made by
about 6" 'catwalks' around half the cage. You could make your own cage,
easily, just make sure that it's safe. No sharp wires sticking out, and
nothing they could easily chew through and try to escape and get stuck.
1/4" by 1/2" squares is best (the cage structure) Look up diagrams, and
hell, look at yard sales or the want adds or something and see if someone
isn't trying to get rid of an already perfectly good one. Or Ebay too!
I'll do a suick search and see what comes up.
The cage itself doesn't have to be HUMONGOUS, but it has to give them
enough room for the occasion they wanna be by themselves, and it doesn't
have to be large if you are diligent about letting them out for playtime
and exercise daily.
I'll go check out Ebay and see if they have anything. ____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 20/3/2003 at 10:31 PM |
Okay, fuck ebay. Start checking your local want ad papers, and start
pricing stuff at the pet store. It does not need to be an enormous cage,
but just big enough for them to have plenty of room to move, as long as you
let them out every day for lengths of time. You should be able to find a
rather decent cage in the $50 range, so best of luck.
OH and don't worry about getting them a wheel or something. Of the many
rats I've had, I've only had ONE of them show any sort of interest in a
wheel, and that's because she's fucking nuts. There is a wheel in the top
of the cage I have, and Anny is THE ONLY one to EVER use it. She sleeps in
it. She eats in it. ANd even tho she's getting almost TOO BIG to do it,
she runs in it like she's running for her life. And that, is because, she
is CRAZY.
As for toys, I got a wooden parrot toy, a sort of chain link wood ladder
lookin thing to hang from the top of the cage, so they had something to
play around on and chew on.
LOTS OF CARDBOARD. They love cardboard.
____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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Psychopixi
Fanatic Posts: 376 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 22/3/2003 at 02:59 AM |
Thank you for all the information, you've been *so* helpful!!  I think that's
all I need to ask about for now, so thank you to everyone who gave me some
info and especially Bettie X - you're fabulous!! ____________________
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
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bettie_x
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1570 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 22/3/2003 at 03:09 AM |
Eh not so much "fabulous" as I am just obsessed with my rat friends
My HUSBAND is who you talk to about bats and such...tho in poor devin's
case, all his situations were beyond freakishly against him and I swear,
I"ve never heard of anyone with such a hard time with a couple of bats
*LOL* Tho I have to admit that the girl that put a barbecue grill grate
over the sink the poor thing landed in after knocking itself out WAS
friggin ingenious..
I haven't had one of my rats go AWOL and accidentally knock themselves out
yet, but damn turn your back and they cause trouble like crazy. Then
innocently expect you to just put them back in their home, thank you
kindly... ____________________
Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.
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Psychopixi
Fanatic Posts: 376 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 23/3/2003 at 10:40 AM |
*grinz* I loved the bat stories - I can't believe how unlucky one poor guy
can be over a couple o' tiny little critters. Stiil, it made for fun
reading.
I've decided to make a cage for my ratties. Though I don't know when I'm
going to be getting them. Rats aren't really popular round here and so the
pet stores only get them in when a breeder turns up and offers them. I
priced up the cages in a few stores and also made a plan for a cage to
build and priced up materials for that and it came to significantly less
while giving me more of what I wnated so I think I'll do that.
I spent yesterday morning in the gym, and the afternoon painting my room
(the stipulation to me having rats was that I got my room painted first)
and now that it's done the two stores that I knew had rats have both sold
all of them. Now I'm aching like fuck and have no rats. *pout* Okay...
newspaper ads, here I come. ____________________
Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
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Abbadon
Fanatic  Posts: 499 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 27/3/2003 at 03:45 PM |
They smell.
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