Comments on: More Stuff…

By: Madison

Madison — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:40:48 +0000

What do I do of my rat falls or is bleeding? This hasn’t happened but I would like to know how far a rat can fall with out emercency care needed.

By: Amy B.

Amy B. — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:19:18 +0000

I think it depends on how long they are…my older male, Dusty, was in my arms the other week. i was on my knees bending over to get up, he rolled out (thought i had him but he moved and i lost grib) and it was either let him fall or step on him, so he fell and broke his back leg. Dusty is an old guy about 2years and had numerous other problems. my younger females don’t have a problem launching themselves off the 3 ft high ferret cage they are in.

By: Amy B.

Amy B. — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:19:53 +0000

please forgive me…i meant to say HOW OLD THEY ARE…not long.

By: Kara

Kara — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:35:51 +0000

It depends how your rat fell, i think it would be obvious!!

By: tina

tina — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:10:19 +0000

my rat just fell off my shoulders or lept off and her back foot she’s not using, i don’t know what to do. what do the vets do for a broken leg, foot or maybe it could be her hip.? i’m scared, i don’t want to have to put her down, i haven’t had to take them to the vets yet.

By: jo

jo — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:51:32 +0000

Take the rat to the vets if you havnt all ready if it is broken then then a good vet may be able to fix it and if not then isnt it better that the rat is put to sleep than left in pain. The longer you leave it the worse it may get. Leaving it to suffer just because you want to keep him or her is selfish.

By: eli

eli — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:09:57 +0000

iv got rats they are 1 and a half years old they are so fun i built them a rat house out of all the empty boxxies over christmas

By: Traci

Traci — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:59:29 +0000

Does anybody how to tell the age of a rat?

By: Ariana

Ariana — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 03:46:04 +0000

Hi, my rat, Story has just fallin, a coral rock that was on my shelf landed on her. Story’s foot appears to be broken. The vet can’t get her in ontell monday it is saturday. what can i do for my little girl while she waits for help?

By: sam

sam — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:50:32 +0000

If i were youI would just(even though i have not ever had a rat)just be really carefull with your rat, and not bother it to much. you know,let it have some rest.

By: sam

sam — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:53:19 +0000

sorry I ment if I were you, i would be really carefull with therat and let it just rest

By: Jesse

Jesse — Tue, 29 May 2007 02:55:34 +0000

putting a rat to sleep because of a broken leg is not the answer, Jo. A rat knows how to baby a leg just right until it heals, and their legs DO heal all by themselves, unless there was nerve damage or otherwise. Ppl take their HAMSTERS to the vet and get tiny casts for their broken bones (although the hamster will likely chew that off rather quickly…) and let them heal, so why wouldn’t you do that for a rat? Would you put a human to sleep if it broke a bone? It’s painful, but only until it heals. You don’t murder something for that.
Most vets will tell you (if there’s no need for surgery) that you just need to put you animal in a small cage with nothing to climb on until you notice it’s broken bone is healed. Since small animals can’t use casts or slings, this is the only other option for them. ^_^ It should be fine, given time.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:10:20 +0000

How do you wash your rat with something that doesnt hurt them? i have a rat named Brownie and he stinks, how do we keep him and his cage clean at the same time?

Love,
Jessie

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:49:41 +0000

I think my rat may have broken a bone. I was cleaning his cage today and noticed he wasn’t walking on his back right leg. It is very swolen, and I don’t know how this could have happened. He has nothing high to fall off of, and nothing he could of cought it in. How can I tell if it is a brake or not?

By: Eve

Eve — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:45:53 +0000

For Jessie: I use baby soap to wash my ratties.It takes the stink out and can’t hurt them. Just try to be careful not to get water and soap in their eyes and ears.(you might need to wear a rubber glove on at least one hand,if your rat doesn’t like water. The claws are painful!) Be sure to rinse the soap out thoroughly so they don’t lick it out. I clean the cage before I bathe them so they don’t sleep in dirty bedding and get stinky again. You probably don’t need to give Brownie a bath every time you clean the cage though. Once every other week would probably be fine.

By: Torey

Torey — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:15:33 +0000

any one know whats wrong with my rat i am about 11 and was wondering what happend to it. i left to go inside to get a soda and told my 8 yr old bro to watch him when i came back he said he was eating bugs so i went in side to get his water and he was laying down in a corner of a crate i ent to pick him up and he would just lay there not move i put him back in his cage with his dad and bro. he was not moving at all ( ithink he is going to die ;( he wont get a drink or eat someone help me please this has happend to a lot of rats i have had

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:15:54 +0000

For Torey, is he squeaking when you pick him up? or is he just froze? He may be scared to death if he is not moving at all, if he is limp, and lifeless, id say get him to a vet Immediately!! tell your mom or dad, that he is sick! and make sure he gets to a vet, okay? if he is scared he will snap out of it in a few hours but ifnot he is very sick.

By: John

John — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:16:32 +0000

I agree with you Jesse. My rat, Henry, broke his leg about a week ago. I took him to the vet and they did xrays. He had a fractured tibia and fibula. They gave him a cast, made him an Elizabethan collar, and gave me some pain meds to give him. He hates it but I wasn’t going to put him down because he had a broken leg. He should be all healed up in about 2 weeks. When you buy a pet, you need to take the responsibility of taking care of it when it is injured. Putting it to sleep is only an easy way out for someone. Please do not kill pets when they are injured.

By: Katt

Katt — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:16:41 +0000

last night my cat managed to rip the top of my breeding cage off i’m assuming the mother protected her babies because she and most of them dont seem to have been harmed but they got my buck and one of my babies out of the cage the buck is fine and has mostly calmed down but the baby (4 days old) has alot of shallow scratches and cuts i cleaned him off with warm water and put him back with his siblings he is still quite active and doesent seem traumatised by his experience but i want to clean his cuts better i’m just worried that his mum will lick and astringents or antibacterial soaps off of him and get sick ….any recomendations …

By: TONYA

TONYA — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:54:57 +0000

I JUST GOT WOKE UP BY THE MOST AWFUL BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM FROM MY RAT TIFFANY HER LEG GOT STUCK BETWEEN THE CAGE BARS AND HER WHEEL AND NOW SHE IS DRAGING HER HIND LEG AND WONT MOVE IT OMG WHAT CAN DO I CANT AFFORD A VET RIGHT NOW. OMG I AM SOO SCARED WHAT CAN I DO FOR HER ANYONE SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME???? :( :(

By: andrew

andrew — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:27:15 +0000

hi i clean out shads and we have a run of rats there i pick up 4 baby one so they didnt die can u help not sure how old they are but they eyes are shut have fur the mum had gone

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:40:01 +0000

Hi, I just want folks to know that rats who smell, smell because of the food they’re fed. A family with kids decided they longer wanted their pet rat, Bella. I always wanted a rat, being an animal lover and vegetarian. Two weeks into Bella living with us, I said to my husband, “I don’t know if I can keep her, she smells really bad.” Then I looked to the food that the family had given me. It was dry dog food and dry rodent food. I threw it out and changed her diet. She gets 2 bowls of food. One bowl contains fresh organic vegetables or fruit, and one bowl fresh dry food like organic cereal, popcorn, nuts, pasta, pretzels, seeds, etc. Basically, Bella eats what we eat. And let me tell you, it took about a week, and Bella lost that awful smell! You are what you eat. Also VERY important to give your rat are nuts IN the shell. Gnawing on the shell keeps their teeth from getting long. When I read about rat owners taking their pet rat to the vet to get the rat’s teeth filed I shook my head in disbelief. Buy a bag of assorted nuts- walnuts, almonds, etc. and listen to the gentle scraping of your rat. It’s like music to your ears! Most importantly, if you want to keep your rat healthy, you have to think like a rat. They need dark, warm places to sleep. They need material to use as nesting material and to cover their food, which they like to hide. The family that gave me Bella had her in the open in her cage on a tiny pillow one of the kids made! Our Bella resides in a huge ferret cage with four levels. She has a pillow case clipped to the top so it looks like a tent. We also have several small cardboard boxes with cut-out doors and windows to give her secondary places to hang out. I go to the thrift shop periodically and pick up pillow cases for 50 cents. I’ll also find fleece throws for three dollars and make her “winter” pillow cases. Don’t forget to cut a hole in the back of your pillow cases. Rodents should have an entrance and an exit. Rodents like to chew, so I replace her pillow cases often. I also pick up at the thrift shop cloth napkins so she can ball and fold them and place them where ever she likes. You can also cut up your old t-shirts if there isn’t a thrift store near you. I suggest cutting it the size of cloth napkins. Remember to wash your rat’s tents and napkins once a week in her/his own separate wash. And lastly, always handle your rat - they love the connection and attention!
Lastly, just like any animal, rats need a lot of care and attention. Most children should not have them as pets unless they’ve done they’re homework and have read everything they possible can about them. Just like a plumber learns his craft so he can competently take care of you and your plumbing problems, a good rat owner will do the same - learn as much as he/she can. Then your rat will be assured he/she is the best hands.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:35:26 +0000

HELP….my pet rat, who is VERY social and never goes missing, has now been missing for more than a day. She fell yesterday evening from my shoulder to the carpet and I thought she was ok because she was still running around, but soon afterwards she went missing in the house and I cannot find her and she has not come out for food or water. Where can she be and is she possibly hurt? Any suggestions?

By: Ben Rutherford

Ben Rutherford — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:55:32 +0000

Our rat has a broken hind leg. Thank you for offering solutions to this problem other than having to go to a vet for x-rays etc. There usually is a simpler method that works fine. Rats have been surviving for thousands of years without x-rays.
Thanks again.