RIP Bubbers

[julian]

I’ve just had to put down my rat Bubbers today. She was 2 years old and one of the first rats I’ve had. I’m so upset.
She was so friendly and although she’s been deteriorating for the last couple of months she still fought to live.
I hope she now is happy to be with her sister in rattie heaven <3
RIP Bubbers, you were the best.

 

[flannelrattlesnake]

Awwwwww I’m so sorry. She is beautiful. What a great life you gave this little love.

 

[Rattie]

Hi Julian, sorry for your loss. Do you still have other rats?

 

[julian]

Hi Julian, sorry for your loss. Do you still have other rats?

Hi, thank you. I do have other rats. I have a girl called Berry (grey and white) and another girl called Chloe (white). Chloe is 1 year and 3 months and Berry is about a year old.

 

[Rattie]

Hi, thank you. I do have other rats. I have a girl called Berry (grey and white) and another girl called Chloe (white). Chloe is 1 year and 3 months and Berry is about a year old.

They're so adorable. Are they affected somehow by Buber's passing?

 

[julian]

They're so adorable. Are they affected somehow by Buber's passing?

I know, they're so sweet, especially Berry, she loves to give kisses all the time. (ALLLL the time). Those two girls came along in the middle of Bubbers life at different points, so didn't get to know her as well as her sister may have. She was quite reserved anyways, preferring to sleep or do things with herself during free roam time. The 2 girls are still eating, playing and acting as usual, but I dont know really what is going on in their heads or their true feelings. I know they know someone is missing. My 2 girls have began to fight a little more, or maybe play fighting? I'm not too sure because Chloe is very vocal and squeaks at anything. They did this before, but it's more frequent, especially inside the cage. Thats the only difference I've noticed. Otherwise, they are doing very very well.

 

[flannelrattlesnake]

Hi Julian Lots of love to you and your beautiful girls. I have read about girl rats doing their best in groups of 3 so that they can have a “social network”. I found this on woodgreen.org.uk:

“Rats can be housed in pairs, although a trio or more often live in better harmony as they create their own social network. Pairs of rats can sometimes get agitated with one another and will tend to show dominant behaviour. Time spent out of the cage and fun training can help prevent this.”

Now that sweet Bubbers is gone, I’m wondering if your two girls are fighting more due to the sudden shift in their pecking order. It could also be that they miss their sister and it’s putting them on edge.

I have 3 sister rats now that are 9 months old. They get along now very well with some squeaking and boxing matches that they get into (no blood is ever drawn). It’s fascinating to watch how these smart little creatures adapt and how loving and social they are.

Please keep us updated on how Berry and Chloe are getting along. Have you thought about introducing another rat into your fold? This may be just too much stress for them though.

 

[flannelrattlesnake]

Was Bubbers a blue rat? How did you two meet?

 

[julian]

Hi Julian Lots of love to you and your beautiful girls. I have read about girl rats doing their best in groups of 3 so that they can have a “social network”. I found this on woodgreen.org.uk:

“Rats can be housed in pairs, although a trio or more often live in better harmony as they create their own social network. Pairs of rats can sometimes get agitated with one another and will tend to show dominant behaviour. Time spent out of the cage and fun training can help prevent this.”

Now that sweet Bubbers is gone, I’m wondering if your two girls are fighting more due to the sudden shift in their pecking order. It could also be that they miss their sister and it’s putting them on edge.

I have 3 sister rats now that are 9 months old. They get along now very well with some squeaking and boxing matches that they get into (no blood is ever drawn). It’s fascinating to watch how these smart little creatures adapt and how loving and social they are.

Please keep us updated on how Berry and Chloe are getting along. Have you thought about introducing another rat into your fold? This may be just too much stress for them though.

Hi,
Thank you for the info! I don't think getting another rat is something I'll do soon, but definitely in the future. I'm still mourning and want to give the girls time to adjust, on top of the vet bills being expensive, I don't think it's ideal for me at the moment.
The 'fighting' between my girls, I've been watching them again and thinking, it just seems like Berry is jumping onto Chloe or trying to groom her and she's just not interested and is bothered by it. She doesn't do anything back, just squeaks. Nothing too harmful, it only worried me in the first place as it might have been a reaction to Bubbers being missing, and I found Berry having a chunk of Chloe's back in her mouth (not drawing any blood and didn't seem to have gripped her tight). They're really friendly with eachother and love eachother a lot so it was a shock that it began suddenly.
Theres 3 large stories to my cage and they both have lots of space to get away from eachother, so I think it is just harmless play fighting because they arent particularly moving far from eachother? I think it was just me worried and I should see how they get on. They are fine out of the cage for the most part and do their own thing, I think it's just when it's time to get back into the cage - maybe it's squabbles over food or space in the hammock? (there is more than one but they love to stay together).
By the way, thank you for the kind message about Bubbers before, I appreciate it. It's a really hard thing to take in for me still and it helps a lot.

 

[julian]

Was Bubbers a blue rat? How did you two meet?

I tried to look up what a blue rat was, but didn't get a clear answer, could you explain please? I'd only thought of her to just be a dumbo rat, nothing else! She was my first rat along with her sister, I'd gotten them from a chain pet shop, but it's definitely not something I'd do anymore knowing what I know now about them.