SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Taking rats outdoors usually means putting their lives at risk.
A. There is danger from predators such as:
1. large birds of prey (eagles, ospreys, hawks, etc) who will swoop down so fast you will never see them coming until it is too late and your rat is gone
2. cats, dogs, raccoons, etc
3. snakes
4. weasels, ermines or stoats
B. from parasites or insects:
1. intestinal worms (pin worms, round worms, tape worms, etc)
2. fleas etc
3. ticks who may carry diseases such as Lyme disease
4. bot flies that may lay eggs under your pet's skin
5. spider bites
C. from pesticides
D. from disease from other animals, such as sendai virus, which has the potential to kill all of your pet rats if one of them catches it
E. from poisonous prey or plants (such as poison ivy or oak, etc)
F. from heat stroke
G. and by being startled and jumping off you or scattering, and being injured, killed, or never found
H. Injury from an accident, such as falling from a high place
This can cause a broken bone (leg, jaw, etc) and may mean that the rat will have to be put to sleep.
In addition, as prey animals, being outside of their territory:
Quote: There are many outdoor dangers and a lot can go wrong, from pesticides to poisonous prey or plants to predators to heat stroke.
A very tame rat can scatter at a sudden sound and never find its way back.
Hawks see a rat a mile away and can swoop up to 250 miles an hour. Hawks have been known to take a rat off a person's shoulder.
Snakes hide in the grass or even come up from underground.
Rats can get the virus sendai from wild animals, which easily kills your whole mischief (all your rats and mice).
So while it can be a lot of fun and we each choose our risks, I want people to know there are very serious risks.
Also see: https://www.joinrats.com/Enrichment/Outdoors/
A. There is danger from predators such as:
1. large birds of prey (eagles, ospreys, hawks, etc) who will swoop down so fast you will never see them coming until it is too late and your rat is gone
2. cats, dogs, raccoons, etc
3. snakes
4. weasels, ermines or stoats
B. from parasites or insects:
1. intestinal worms (pin worms, round worms, tape worms, etc)
2. fleas etc
3. ticks who may carry diseases such as Lyme disease
4. bot flies that may lay eggs under your pet's skin
5. spider bites
C. from pesticides
D. from disease from other animals, such as sendai virus, which has the potential to kill all of your pet rats if one of them catches it
E. from poisonous prey or plants (such as poison ivy or oak, etc)
F. from heat stroke
G. and by being startled and jumping off you or scattering, and being injured, killed, or never found
H. Injury from an accident, such as falling from a high place
This can cause a broken bone (leg, jaw, etc) and may mean that the rat will have to be put to sleep.
In addition, as prey animals, being outside of their territory:
1. it will stress rats and stress causes illness
2. it is not fun
3. being in unfamiliar situations can be terrifying
2. it is not fun
3. being in unfamiliar situations can be terrifying
Quote: There are many outdoor dangers and a lot can go wrong, from pesticides to poisonous prey or plants to predators to heat stroke.
A very tame rat can scatter at a sudden sound and never find its way back.
Hawks see a rat a mile away and can swoop up to 250 miles an hour. Hawks have been known to take a rat off a person's shoulder.
Snakes hide in the grass or even come up from underground.
Rats can get the virus sendai from wild animals, which easily kills your whole mischief (all your rats and mice).
So while it can be a lot of fun and we each choose our risks, I want people to know there are very serious risks.
Also see: https://www.joinrats.com/Enrichment/Outdoors/
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