Feeder Rat Couple

Its a sad story. They are NOT pet-friendly, and I am very glad no one unsuspecting took them to be honest. The girl forgot to mention that she only patted their back, handed them food and lifted them by the tail to move them (they are very used to it and just hang). Girl only had them a couple of months. Black older mom (18 mo?) only had 3 babies (to the girl's disappointment) 3 weeks ago, and her babies were taken away 12 days ago, and fed off. The male is more frightened than the female (hence the horrific bite..he wouldn't let go and I almost had to rip him off, tearing my skin) and I feel horrible for him, he's alone now until I can work with him and sort something out.

They had to be gone by Friday because she was getting a bunch of ASF's in the morning, and needed their tank. They were going to be put outside if no one took them.

The female got tossed into my friendliest cage (the remaining baby girls, Patience, Darby and Bella) and is doing well with them. Hopefully she learns a bit by watching them react to me.

The female



The male and the female

Wow Lilspaz, you are going to have a challenging winter with all these scared/aggressive rats!
Thank goodness you are there to take them, or I'm sure many of them would be fed off or thrown outside. I'm sorry he got you so bad.
So mom is probably pregnant again? What about dad - was that just a fear bite or is he #4 on the neuter list?
At least their coats look good...

Joanne said:

Wow Lilspaz, you are going to have a challenging winter with all these scared/aggressive rats!
Thank goodness you are there to take them, or I'm sure many of them would be fed off or thrown outside. I'm sorry he got you so bad.
So mom is probably pregnant again? What about dad - was that just a fear bite or is he #4 on the neuter list?
At least their coats look good...

Click to expand...

AT this point it's just a fear bite, but he's too dangerous for the clinic staff to deal with right now. He is going to be a huge challenge that's for sure, as will she.

I need to find him some accepting friends...bring down his insecurities a notch and let him see me interact with them to start.

I do have 3 neuters booked for Jan. 8th (2), and Jan. 12th (1) and whomever needs them most will go in.

Wow, that is a big challenge. They are so lucky to have ended up with you.

I learned something very interesting yesterday: curcumin (active ingredient in turmeric) was shown in a reputable research trial, to be effective at weakening conditioned fear memories in rats.
I've emailed the author for a copy of the full article, so I can learn the dose. It's cheap and legal, with no apparent adverse effects, so there is interest in investigating it for use to augment PTSD treatment in humans.

I'm going to try it for my fearful little Patti, who is still very skittish. She started life as a feeder that the snake didn't eat.

Maybe a bit of turmeric milk would help your scared boy?

where woulsd i get it from? Sorry my spelling is atrocious, I have a "Basil finger" all wrapped up in gauze and vet wrap

I have just done 4 down and dirty intro's (you HAVE to really know your rats) and they all seem to be working out.

The new boy went in with Hawk, Badger and Coyote...with Coyote being the only possible problem. But he had NO issues with a new passive male put in with them (the3y got moved to the R-695 on Thursday night after the baby boys went home.

I also moved Peanut to the Gentle Group, who just accepted the new feeder gal. This girl is sleeping with babies curled up beside her. I hope they make up for the loss of her former litters a little bit. Peanut was worried but now she's eating in the corner. I fe3lt the Brampton 3 weren't helping her mental development. I popped sometimes-aggressive Bria in there and its going much better than I thought. One issue and that was because I didn't think to remove the igloo (out now). She's running around, rubbing and digging, and sometimes pushes her butt on another girl but it never escalates she's just proving she's going to be boss lady.

The beige boy is already so much brighter and happier with other rats and now approaches me. I decided to stay with the group's naming thing and call him Lynx. So now its Hawk, Badger, Coyote and Lynx

All I need now is a name for the old black berk girl.

Oh my... I can't imagine how much work they are gonna take. You've got your hands full there...
The girl looks like a Mocha.... That's what I would name her..

I actually forgot to post that I had decided on Tazzy for the girl (short for Tasmanian Devil) LOL

Oooo I like that name! Fits her well I think!

Love their new names, and I'm so happy that they are already not alone.

Curcumin is easy to find; it's in turmeric, which you will have in your spice collection if you like Indian food.

Lynx has smiley eyes at the bottom of the rat pile.

I was able to stroke Tazzy a few times as she was lying down with the others. The first time I thought it was Darby, until she popped her head up from under a blanket of babies. Lol
After some gentle neck rubbing Tazzy let me pick her up. She was obviously scared but willing to trust me a little. I didn't hold her for long, just wanted to give her something to think about...thrilled with both of them. The finger is worse today, so it looks like cages are going to have to wait.

Now it's you who will need curcumin, but for your immune system instead of fear!
http://www.nutritionstripped.com/turmeric-milk/

Hope your finger feels better soon, so glad that Tazzy is warming up!

Keep an eye on your finger - don't want to end up in emerg over the holidays!

I'm glad they are starting to trust you a little. I can't imagine what their lives were like before.