The Quick Question Thread

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Quick question. My alpha boy Max lately when I pet him he lets a big breath of air out and bumps up into my hand. Why is this? Is he trying to be dominant to me? Do you think hell bite me? Or is it his way of showing affection?
 
I know I made light of the situation, but I watched what Zephye was actually doing. He seems to pick up one piece of oxbow take a nibble and drop it before grabbing another piece. Repeat this many many times in a short time span or maybe 2 minutes. (It's always over the bowl) I'm a bit worried maybe a bit paranoid since this behaviour is new and he only sometimes holds the food other times he rests his front part of his body in the bowl... I was giving him treats and he would lean against my hand instead of taking it away to eat like usual. He sometimes ends up dropping the food either in my hand or on the ground and doesn't seem to notice it. If I take my hand away he leans against the cage door bars. Is this nothing and I'm just overly worried or could it be something...?
 
When they stop holding their front end up, it is usually one of two things:
Hind end degeneration, where they just don't have the ability to rock back on their haunches, or
A pituitary tumour.
Have you been keeping a record of his weight? A lot of times I will discover a PT because I am looking for the reason they lost so much weight.
You might want to record him eating - give him a favourite treat - and post the video for more experienced eyes to view. Start your own thread for him.
 
Yeah, it was sort of the answer I was fearing, or rather fearing to confirm my own suspicions. I talked to a couple of more experienced owners off this site and the signs are definitely pointing towards PT. :c
 
Can we (humans) get the mites/lice as the rats do? What should we do if we think they're on us?
I had Lana on me and I could feel little tickles...looked at my shirt and I was covered in mites. And the back of my neck started to itch they were in my hair! I showered with coal tar shampoo as its an antifungal so closest to a "medicated" shampoo.
Just wondering if this could become a problem how long can they live in fabric/off an animal.
 
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SterlingRats0408 said:
Can we (humans) get the mites/lice as the rats do? What should we do if we think they're on us?
I had Lana on me and I could feel little tickles...looked at my shirt and I was covered in mites. And the back of my neck started to itch they were in my hair! I showered with coal tar shampoo as its an antifungal so closest to a "medicated" shampoo.
Just wondering if this could become a problem how long can they live in fabric/off an animal.
Click to expand...

Sheldon said:
Not sure on mites but lice can only live 24 hrs off of the host animal so maybe it's similar?
Click to expand...

Mites and lice NO, they are specie specific! Fleas YES! You also cannot see mites, just fleas/lice. However, if one rat had them you need to treat all with kitten revolution - one drop each, you get it from the vet. No cage cleaning necessary since the revolution lasts longer than the mite/lice/flea life cycle.
 
I believe she's about 8 weeks, does she look big enough for intros ? This is a 3lb bag
udehanyp.jpg
 
I know this sounds strange, but it's hard to decide using the bag for reference. Can you take another pic of who you are introing her to next to the bag for comparison?
 
Edit : the male is probably around five or 6 months and the female is around 3-4 I believe. So full grown ratties
 
Okay, so. I'm doing some intros with my newest rat and the not sick rattie just 'cause they'll be living together (eventually, after Zephye passes). Vincent the new rat 'eeps' every time Nemo is near him, Nemo doesn't even have to touch him for him to 'eep' like crazy. Other than that, they'll box a little but no puffing. I've also noticed that when Vincent is in his cage he'll get very aggressive and charge at other ratties if they're outside. Does this sound like he needs a neuter or is it okay to keep continuing?
 
Previous owner said he was 3 months in June? So I'm guessing around almost 5 months?

Also. they did get into a fight with each other. No blood was shed but they were tumbling about before we broke it up. Vincent looked like the first to strike.
 
I'm probably going to wait a while, he won't be properly intro'd into the big cage until my PT boy passes as I don't want to stress out the sick boy more. If he's still a raging hormone monster then I'll definitely get him neutered.
 

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