Weighing Rats

How do you weigh a rat, where can I buy the supplies, and if my rats look a healthy weight do I need to weigh them? I understand it's important if raising babies, but I do not plan to do this.

I've made like 4 threads today. I need to stop. :gaah:

At its simplest, you need a good scale. A good scale doesn't have to be expensive. I bought a digital postage scale off eBay for something like $7-10 after shipping. It weighs in both ounces and grams, and the weight can be cleared.

Not all rats will hold still long enough to be weighed, so I like the scales that have the TARE (clearing) function. You can put a small carrier cage on the scale, clear its weight, then add rat and get rat's weight. If you don't have a scale with the TARE function you can still do it, you just need to be sure to weigh the carrier, then rat with carrier, subtract the carrier weight to get the rat's weight. Sometimes a small treat works well to get them to hold still.

I used to use plastic tupperware with fleece inside but am now using gift boxes with my digital postal scale...I find they stay still and let it weigh them properly. I also love the TARE function.

I got mine from Staples


My old setup pre-gift box

I use an old fashioned kitchen scale. It's small and plastic (no digital here!) but works great. I'm sure you could find one like it a any thrift store.

Glad to know it's cheap, but I still want to know if it's really necessary.

NezumiNeko said:

Glad to know it's cheap, but I still want to know if it's really necessary.

Click to expand...

It's not necessary. It's a good idea, because it will help you monitor the rat's overall health, but not necessary.

To further that last statement - You weigh your rats not necessarily every day, but maybe one or two times a week. There will be slight changes, depending on when they last defecated, last ate, last drank, etc. But you get a good idea of what their normal weight is. Then one particular rat seems to be losing weight. Not minor fluctuations, but actually losing weight, if you graphed the rat's weight over a few weeks it'd be mostly a straight line then start to slope downwards. Something isn't right. The rat may otherwise LOOK and act normal for the most part, or maybe it's an older rat that start slowing down and you passed it off as age, but you know losing weight isn't really all that normal even for an older rat. So you now know to look closer for other symptoms, or go ahead and take the rat in to the vet for a full, in-depth check up. You didn't notice the more obvious and serious symptoms, but that weight loss tipped you off that something wasn't quite right, and you were able to get treatment sooner. If it isn't an illness, you know that one of your rats may not be getting all the food it needs, and that you need to either feed more or make different arrangements if that one is getting bullied.

Hope that makes sense!

Good to know! I'll try to find one soon.

I weigh mine once a month or so and I have a chart where I calculate changes. I keep track of it everytime. I was using a non digital which worked ok, and then Wayne who works at the Source got a digital from work and it's awesome. It was like $16.

I find it really good because rapid loss or gain can be bad and indications of issues. It's good to know the gains and losses before trouble starts because then you have some background.

I have the same scale as lilspaz68.

When giving your rats meds, it is important to know how much they weigh so you can calculate dosage.
I find having a digital scale to be essential.

They weigh the rats at the vet, so if I'm getting meds, it wouldn't be a problem.

We use a kitchen digital scale from bed bath and beyond, but i don't remember the cost. We weigh our girls every other day, mostly cause its fun and not for any real health reason. Its always good to know though. I'm a big believer in knowing

I wanted to note here that as your rats get older it might be a good idea to weigh them once every two weeks. We had pearl lose 28g in one month. I don't mean while they are young, but getting older.

I weigh Sid every week or every fortnight and keep a note of it in a diary (i weigh Patrick once a month - hes only 6 months old). My 2yr old Sid lost 52g over 11days and ive been able to monitor his weight since - which has luckily stayed the same, and not plummeted even more. I also keep notes in my diary about vet trips, abscesses, sores, cuts etc. minor ailments basically so that i remember what has been said and done and what i need to keep an eye on - also medication, dosages etc.

Its nice to have a general idea of what your rat weighs