My Lovely Rats

The latest events in the Rat House:-

1The boys have had yet another bout of Myco with Shy-Shy suffering the worst. I’ve no idea what set it off this time. Shy was making the dreaded “foofing” noise again and all of the rats were sneezing. All the boys were treated with 0.3ml per day of Baytril and all have responded well to the antibiotic.

2The first day I gave the rats their medicine, I sat down on a chair and gave one rat at a time some yoghurt (with Baytril) on a spoon. The following day they had already learnt the equation: chair=food, and as I finished mixing the first spoonful of medicine and yoghurt, I turned around to see Shy-Shy sat on the chair waiting for his treat! I continued with the next batch, and as soon as it was done I went to sit down, and Pip was sitting there on my chair looking expectantly at me! Then guess what? With the following spoonful Stripe was there by himself on the chair as if to say “It’s my turn!” Rocky is not one to come running (he’s far too laid back), but as I sat down and called him, he sauntered up towards me and flopped onto my knee like a blob of custard, and soon lapped up his yoghurt too. The same sequence of events happened every evening almost without exception, if they weren’t in the chair when I reached for it, they were there the instant I sat down, individually, which was all the more astonishing. Why didn’t they all converge onto the chair at once? The usual behaviour when treats are offered is for all four rats to pile up as near to the food as rattily possible (including standing right up on tippy-paws as far as they can stretch; arm-swatting a brother out of the way; grabbing for it or jumping advantageously onto my hand to get to the treat!

All I can conclude from this is that either:
1/ Rats are very fast learners
2/ Rats are habit-forming animals
3/ Rats are able to change behaviour quickly to suit their changing environment
4/ Rats are ruled by their bellies
or another suspicion: 5/ Rats are tiny people in fur coats!

Rocky and brothers: Part Custard, Part Meringue

Today my lovely rats have been mostly eating strawberries from our very own garden!

Tags: Intelligence, Behaviour, Health by admin
No Comments »

My four boys have come through another battle with myco, and I’m doing all I can to build up their immune systems, by adding vitamin drops to their water and garlic powder to their dry food mix. The dry food is replaced every so often so that there is a constant supply in their cage. I use half Burgess Super Rat Excel and half my own mix which is based on the Shumanite diet (see links below). They get fresh food every day, including green leafy veg (not too much as this may cause diarrhoea) and I try to vary their fresh food every day. They can eat nearly everything we do, except that they mustn’t have too much protein (from nuts, eggs and meat) as this can cause skin problems. Too much fat or sugars in a rat’s diet can have the same effect as it does with us, the rat can become overweight and may suffer ailments associated with this including diabetes. The odd sprinkle of sunflower seeds between a few rats always goes down well though!

I’ve found the following sites to be very useful for information on many aspects of rat care:-

Ratz
Shumanite Rats
The Dapper Rat

Beautiful Rocky

Today my lovely rats have been mostly eating rocket salad and cooked beans.

Tags: Food and Treats, Health by admin
No Comments »

It’s been a while since I posted, what with home decorating, kids’ birthdays and a weekend visit to London (ie. Camden Lock). As we only went away for two nights, I put in enough provisions for the rats (extra food just in case and a large water bottle). When we got back, the rats were so happy to see us! They were chattering and hopping about all over me, and all seemed well - there was still plenty of dried food left over and half a bottle of water. Then I noticed that Shy-Shy had a bump on his back which I could feel when I picked him up for a cuddle. It turned out to be a scab, probably caused by a scuffle with one of his cage mates (most likely Pip, since he is asserting his dominance at the moment) or possibly from a scratch from his own sharp claw. I haven’t plucked up the courage to clip them yet (I’m too scared of hurting him). The scab looked clean, so I left it alone, and decided that it would probably heal by itself.
The following evening Shy-Shy still looked okay, but Rocky was making weird “foofing” noises through his nose. It was quite comical at first, until it dawned on me that it might be murine Mycoplasmosis again. Myco is an insidious disease affecting rats and mice (we can’t catch it), which is carried by virtually all pet rats. See my post Sneezing for a brief list of the symptoms of mycoplasma pulmonis. The next evening my guess was almost confirmed when I heard Rocky sneezing. I made an appointment with the vet the same week and she prescribed 0.3ml of Baytril per rat for all of the rats for 10 days. The course of antibiotics is nearly finished now, and Rocky is much better, and I haven’t heard any more “foofing” or sneezing from him or the other boys, thank goodness.

Pip and Rocky With Healthy Appetites!

All the Boys Tucking In

Today my rats have been mostly eating raspberries in yoghurt

Tags: Health by admin
No Comments »

Oh dear, Shy-Shy was sneezing again. I made another appointment for him at the vets’. He may be one of those ratties that is prone to Myco infections. The vet prescribed seven days of Baytril (0.1 ml a day). The dose your rat gets depends on his size. Average dose for an adult female rat is approx. 0.2ml and an adult male might get about 0.25 to 0.3mls.

This time I took Shy-Shy to the vets on his own in a plastic carrier tank. The poor thing was petrified because there were a couple of load yappy dogs there. I tried to console him by stroking him gently, but made a mental note to bring his brothers as company next time. Rats seem to be far less threatened when they have their cage mates to snuggle up to - or hide under as Pip does!

The vet picked Shy-Shy up by the scruff of the neck to show me how to administer the Baytril via a small syringe. Shy-Shy didn’t struggle but I think he was too scared to move, but anyway, it didn’t look very comfortable to me and I suspect that holding a rat in this way probably hurts it a little. I thought Shy-Shy would prefer the Baytril-in-yummy-yoghurt method better!

Shy-Shy feigns illness then sneaks off with banana chunk

I have since found much better ways to hold your poorly rat, if he refuses to eat, and you need to get the medicine in him. One easy way is to hold your rat firmly wrapped in a towel, so that his movement is restricted.

Today my rats are mostly eating apple slices.

Tags: Health by admin
4 Comments »

Shy-Shy was still sneezing last night when he had play-time. I rang the vets’ surgery and the vet has prescribed more Baytril for him alone. One good thing has come out of this - feeding the rats medicine in some food on a spoon has definitely made them tamer. They will seek me out now when they come out of the cage. Shy-Shy and Rocky will eat from the spoon on my hand or lap, and last night Stripe climbed inside my glasses and stood on them! Pip is still a bit reticent though.

Stripe demonstrating that young rats sleep a lot!

Baytril is the most commonly used drug for mycoplasma infections, and I have read that it can be used as a long term treatment with few if any ill-effects. It’s not advisable for pregnant or lactating ratty mums, or young rat kittens.

Today my rats have been mostly eating chopped up sprouts and scrambled egg.

Tags: Baby Rats, Health by admin
No Comments »

Oh dear! The rats are on a water strike. They haven’t drank any of their water since yesterday morning! They obviously object to the taste of Baytril in their beverage. I have had to call the vet and was advised to give the medicine (a different dose) to Shy-Shy straight into his mouth with a syringe. Easier said than done! In the end I opted for adding his dose to a little soft food. I used yoghurt and the little sweety licked it right off the spoon for me. It was easy and painless.

Shy-Shy eating his egg custard with medicine hidden inside.

Today my rats have been mostly eating yoghurt and banana slices.

Tags: Baby Rats, Health by admin
No Comments »

I was quite surprised at how relaxed my four boys were going to the vets. I carried them in a plastic tank with plenty of bedding to hide in. Most of the time they were clamouring to have a sniff at the inside of the car, the big world outside and even the vet’s waiting room. The vet thought that they were all in very good condition, but due to Shy-Shy’s sneezing she prescribed some Baytril (an antibiotic) as a precautionary measure to mix with their water.

Shy-Shy showing his fine white belly markings

Today my rats have been mostly eating cooked green beans and sunflower seeds.

Tags: Baby Rats, Health by admin
No Comments »

Over the last few days I have noticed Shy-Shy sneezing quite often. This can be an early symptom of Mycoplasma pulmonis infection - a nasty bacterial infection which, in the later stages can cause scarring of the rat’s lungs and chronic breathing difficulties. Nearly all pet rats carry the bacteria, but not all develop symptoms. The condition can be brought on by stress (such as moving to a new home), other infections, low immune system or poor living conditions. Some rats just seem to develop it whatever you do. Just to be on the safe side I made an appointment for all four rats to see the Vet, for a general check up.

Early Symptoms ( of Upper Respiratory Disease)

Sneezing

Snuffling

Porphyrin staining around eyes and nose (rust coloured mucous, looks like blood-staining)

Head tilt (sign of inner ear infection)

Rolling/falling over to the side (inner ear infection)

Later Stages (of Lower Respiratory Disease)

Rattling noisy breathing

Gasping/laboured breathing

Coughing

Chattering

Poor coat condition

Weight loss/loss of appetite

Hunched posture

Tags: Health by admin
1 Comment »