Tiny rat

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Dena

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2018
Messages
377
Location
Texas
I have a little girl, whom I've had for about 4 months. When I got her, she was supposedly like 6 months I think. She has always been the size of maybe a 3 month old rat. I weighed her today, and she's only 240 grams. That just seems really tiny to me. She's perfectly healthy, her body is perfectly proportioned, and she eats really well. She's the alpha (which is so damn cute when she's getting all 4 of her cagemates in line) and has never even so much as had the sniffles. My question is, is she considered an actual dwarf (she's a little bit bigger than the size of a large mouse, hence her name Moose), or is she just tiny? Has anyone else had a rat that stayed so tiny?

The pictures make her look a lot larger.
 

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I have had a few stay tiny and well proportioned (and healthy) like this.

There's all sorts of reasons, beyond genetics (whole litter being small). Could've had a litter as a baby, all that growing of babies in her belly can take away from natural growth. Could've been a runt when born and never caught up. But I wouldn't worry and just enjoy your teeny dynamo :)

I've got 2 at home like that right now...they were feeder babies when I got them, and sick, so all that energy trying to get better may have taken away from their natural growth. They are lean and beautiful. I'll have to weigh them now but they may be just over 200 grams at umm 8 months? I call them Itty and Bitty :D
 
So cute! We named her Moose because she's a little larger than a large mouse, and we thought Moose Would be funny since she's so tiny. We actually were going to spell it mousse, so it's like the dessert and fits the food theme. LOL. But the large animal spelling was way more adorable.
 
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