Desperately in need of help, sudden death

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couldigetuhhhh

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So I ended up with nearly roughly 90 rats at one point. I didn’t choose to have them, they were dumped on me. Now I have roughly 30, I managed to get rid of the others as babies but no one wants the males I have left.
**Well, they keep dying. One died and the others ate it. Brutal but it’s natural. Another got sick and died in an isolation cage.**
But this very last one died with the others and wasn’t eaten. I’m really worried about this. In a cage of 30 rats none of them touched it, they buried it. I didn’t find it for days it was packed down so much.
I’m really scared, what could be wrong with it that the others wouldn’t eat it? It was a sudden death and there were no signs beforehand, no injuries or signs of illness that I could see. Maybe a disease? If it is a disease can it spread to other rats or even humans? 3 males dead now and 2 females all in roughly a month. Two of the males just died this week. At first I suspected metal poisoning but would that cause the others to avoid eating it?
Very gruesome questions but I’m concerned for the other horde of rats and my health. I’m willing to answer any questions!
(Before anyone asks I’ve contacted all rescues and shelters, they either don’t take rats or are full. I can’t take them to the vet either, I live off of my disability check and can’t afford it. Half of the time I go hungry just to feed the rats)
 
It is instinct for rats to either bury or eat a deceased cagemate so that the body does not attract predators
But not all pet rats do this, many do not do anything to the body of a deceased cagemate.
None of those 3 options mean that anything is wrong.

It might help if you put the state and possibly city where you live as people may know of someone who can help.

How old are the ratties?
What are their symptoms?
have they or you been exposed tp other rats or rodents? and pet store etc?
 
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Most will bury a dead body, it's rare to have a "cleanup" but as you said it's natural. Them dying and either being buried or disposed of is not an issue to worry about. Did you want to discuss why the rats may be dying? Any symptoms they showed etc?
 
It is instinct for rats to either burry or eat a deceased cagemate so that the body does not attract predators
But not all pet rats do this, many do not do anything to the body of a deceased cagemate.
None of those 3 options mean that anything is wrong.

It might help if you put the state and possibly city where you live as people may know of someone who can help.

How old are the ratties?
What are their symptoms?
have they or you been exposed tp other rats or rodents? and pet store etc?
That eases my worry a little! I’m just concerned because in the same cage, just a little bit ago, they ate one that died but they didn’t eat this one. That’s why I thought something was wrong with it : (

As for location I live in the northern panhandle of West Virginia! Sadly every rescue for hours that I’ve called from here is full and no shelters take rodents around here.

They were born in the beginning of August. And they haven’t seemed to show any symptoms. They live in my room with me and they’re always next to me (I’m disabled, I don’t work or leave my home much at all so I’m always there with them) and I never saw any problems. They just seem to die suddenly. Maybe I missed something because there’s over 20 in a single cage, I’m not sure.
And no the original mother was from a pet store with other rats but not the other roughly 90 that I had. (It all started with one rat that my roommate didn’t know was pregnant when he got her) I was given a bunch of pregnant inbred rats, so all of these ones that are having problems are at least 1-2 generations in bred. Maybe more.

I just really need some help with all of this. The dude left me thousands of dollars in debt out of no where and with all of these animals that take hundreds to care for a month. I can’t afford to do anything anymore, my disability check guns out before the month is over every time. I can’t even afford bigger cages for them so 20+males are all in one glass cage. I feel bad for them but I can’t eat rid of them. No rescues or shelters and not many people want male rats. I’ve gotten rid of about 10 males and over 25 females but I still have a ton.
 
The possibilities are extremely poor genetics (health) due to mass breeding, a possible contagious rat virus, but nothing that will affect you.
They are inbred for at least a generation or two, who knows how many before that because I got the main mother from a random farm.
So if one of these guys bites me and is sick I won’t die from it? I’ve heard bad stories of infected rats causing people to die. Even rats from pet stores. I worry a lot : (
 
Most will bury a dead body, it's rare to have a "cleanup" but as you said it's natural. Them dying and either being buried or disposed of is not an issue to worry about. Did you want to discuss why the rats may be dying? Any symptoms they showed etc?
They didn’t really show any symptoms that I could see. They just died suddenly. There’s a ton of them so there’s a chance I couldn’t have noticed but I watch them all the time. I can’t leave my home often and stay in one room, they’re constantly next to me so I’m sure I would have noticed something severe. They rarely fight and spend most of their time cuddled up together so I don’t think they killed the others : (
The dead one didn’t have a single scratch on it or any blood at all either
 
9 hours away : (
I can’t even drive and rely on my mother to take me to places and take care of stuff. She drives no longer than 2 and a half hours
 
From the nature of the deaths, it is highly likely that there is an infectious origin. There is crowding which is a setup for disease spread.
There seems to be few options other than
Separating the rats as much as possible
Immediately removing the dead rats and disposal
A thorough cleaning of the cages
Changing their diets
Consultation with a vet
 
I would still contact Mainely Rat Rescue anyways, and see if they can sort out a rat train (people will pick up and drive groups of rats part of each way).

RBF (Rat Bite Fever) is very very rare so don't stress over that. There's very few things a rat can give a human. Strep pneumonia (NOT Strep throat) is one, ringworm is another.

I'm sorry you are in such a bind here. Do you handle them at all? We can teach you easy health checks so you catch any symptoms. Its always good to know when you have rats.

Are you buying food in bulk? If you can convince a feed store etc to order in Mazuri 6F rodent breeder lab blocks its 50 lb bags and reasonable compared to buying small food bags too many times.
 
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