Freak out!

[I_Monster]

I'll start by saying she's fine, I dunno what this was, but it rather scared the shite out of me.

So I have all the girls out the other night, two nights ago I think it was, and I gave them some treats. Dark bottom candy corn to be exact, I prefer the yellow bottom, so I have this big bag of the dark kind I'm using for treats. Well a few moments after giving them all one, I see champ gagging. I thought maybe she was choking cuz the candy's kinda chewy... then this bubbly thick white slime starts coming out of her mouth. This is about when I freaked out. I know there's no way for a her to have had a sudden onset of rabies so I knew that wasn't the case, but I still quickly put the other two girls away just in case whatever it was could hurt them too. She's still doing the gagging motions, which I've read rats cant throw up, but two nights ago I watched with my own eyes as mine did. I was really worried there was something on the candy, like a chemical or something, or maybe there was something on my hand... I was sure I had done something to inadvertently poison her. A few more gags and another output of the white slime bubbling out, and she seemed to be fine (during the gagging she was huddled up in a corner of a play box), and started running around some more. She kept making a weird sort of clicky/gurgly sound for a little while but all her movements seemed normal. No more gagging. Like I said this was a couple days ago and she's still fine...

The apparent culprit I found a few moments later, my little tube of Carmex lip balm had a nice rat bite taken out of it. She apparently ate herself a few good bites of menthol infused bee's wax.

 

[temblabamomo]

Sounds like something caught in her throat. Suppose she could've choked on anything, but ya, Carmex kind of has that thick, easy-to-choke on consistency like peanut butter. Glad she's doing okay now though.

 

[lizmo1221]

When rats choke they release a huge amount of saliva to try to get it out. She wasn't throwing up, but trying to get whatever she was choking on out. In that situation they only thing you can do is watch, pray, and comfort her in her time of panic. I am glad it worked out alright.

In the future I would be very careful what you feed them or what they can get their little paws and mouths on. I would never have given them caramel corn, or allowed them access to my open lip balm. They are just far too dangerous.

 

[temblabamomo]

In the future I would be very careful what you feed them or what they can get their little paws and mouths on. I would never have given them caramel corn, or allowed them access to my open lip balm. They are just far too dangerous.

I don't know that candy corn is any more a choking hazard than any other food. I might avoid it simply because of the high sugar content, but not as a choke risk. And you know how some rats are; one second they're sitting quietly in your lap, the next they've shoved their curious little nose into a hoodie pocket and found the lip balm you forgot you had in there.

 

[Moon]

I would never have given them caramel corn, or allowed them access to my open lip balm. They are just far too dangerous.

That's all well and good, but the nature of rats is that they get into things they shouldn't. My previous rats have destroyed a tube of lip balm, sample sizes of hand moisturizer, all sorts of things they stole from a box in my bedside table that they should have not been able to get into.

It does sound like a typical choking episode... they are terrifying and unfortunately all we can really do is let the rats work it out on their own.

 

[I_Monster]

Yeah, candy corn, not caramel.

And the lip balm had been missing, was looking for it the other day, my guess is that it had wedged in between the couch cushions (it's a leather couch, the seats are fixed, not big foam blocks wrapped in cloth) and they pulled it out.

I didn't intentionally feed them lip balm.

C'mon...

 

[Sharlees rattakisses]

Things like this happen, it's no ones fault. :cuddle:
Curious little buggers!!
Not too long ago my Niece had her boys out for free range time and we couldn't find Taylor.
That is until he came strolling out of the Smart Pop bag on the living room table!! :shock:
He had his mouth full of popcorn. :lol:
We ate the rest of the popcorn too.