Please help.....need advice

[Lisa]

We have a colony of a total of 11 rats...8 girls and 3 boys. Our girls are in a double critter nation and our boys are in a smaller feisty ferret cage. We plan on introducing them as soon as our second CN arrives to give our babies more room. 7 of our girls are from the same litter and are about 8 months old...our boys are 4 months old. They are ALL fixed!!! Our matriarch of the group, Pachirisu, just turned 3 this month and she is declining in both health and mobility. She tries SOO hard, but she just doesn't have the strength or grip anymore to climb walls (even the ramps are getting dangerous for her, we are so scared of her falling off!) She tries to climb on everything and is so wobbly..we have replaced everything we can cage wise to give her more security and even added ledges so she wouldn't have to climb so much. She still insists on trying to climb to the second level and scuffle with the baby girls and act like she did a year ago...but her body just isn't in it.

Tonight I was forced to put her in a single cage by herself because she fell off the ledge trying to climb after the little girls. Tomorrow, I am going to purchase a cage that is one level for her so that she wont hurt herself when she DOES climb. My question, should I take a few of the calmer babies out of the CN to put in with her for company or should I leave her by herself? She's never been alone before. She came with a sister that died of respiratory issues at 4 months and then we adopted a pair of sisters for her that were the same age. When she was the last rat we adopted the 7 babies and introduced them. They have been in the same cage for 6.5 months now. Should I leave her in the single cage but bring her out with her sisters at playtime? Or introduce her to the boys (who are very calm and laid back compared to our wild girls!)

We just had her into the vet and she said that she's a healthy, but old rat. She is eating and drinking fine (when her sisters aren't stealing her food!) She still has sass and attitude and she's still a sweet loving little girl...she's just getting old and feeling her age! (aren't we all?) How can I help her stay comfortable and alert and involved but still be SAFE about it at the same time??? any ideas would be MOST helpful! THANK YOU!!!

 

[SQ]

If she is unable to climb the walls, why not just remove the ramp?
That way she will be unable to climb up to the level ….. and hopefully the younger rats will spend some time with her.
You could hang a low hammock on the bottom of the cage that she can climb into - or have it hang so low that she can just walk into it.

It sounds like starting intros between all of your ratties would be a good idea.
When your second CN arrives, you can connect the two side by side to give her (and the others) 6 feet of horizontal space ……. so she will have lots of room for low hammocks, a water bottle and a water dish, house, toys, food dishes etc
and if the others do not spend time with her, you could keep the calmer ratties in her horizontal double CN, and then allow them all to play together so when the time comes they will already be introed.
Or you could watch for an older ratties that needs a good home and might be a good friend for her

a picture of my cage

Rhys likes his hammock

Sandra likes the hammock

 

[Lisa]

thank you...we went today and bought a single story cage that is easy for her to navigate. We have hung low hammocks and toys for her to play with and chew. We put 2 of our calmer girls in with her for company so that she won't get lonely. We make sure that they are all together for free time every day.

Removing the ramps was something we tried, but that didn't stop her from TRYING to climb the walls..and ending up falling. At least with the ramps in place she could get where she was trying to go (albeit a bit wobbly!) Every few weeks or so we will take 2 of the girls and switch them out so that she won't get lonely in her "retirement cage" and the little girls can still enjoy the "big cage". Thank you for responding to me...I appreciate it!

 

[jorats]

When I had an old rat unable to climb well, I would lift the ramp just beyond their reach. Attach it to the side of the cage to allow the other rats to come down and jump off so that she wasn't entirely alone.