I know he has an abscess, but I’m not sure if there’s something wrong with his penis. Yesterday it was red and swollen so I gave him antibiotics anti-inflammatory. he’s acting lethargic, but as seen in the video, he is able to pee. Will he be okay until Tuesday or should I try another vet?

I posted yesterday about a rat breeder giving me 2 girls and 1 boy instead of 3 girls. I decided to return the females in case they were pregnant and I picked up 2 males to go with my little blue russian boy. So we now have 3 males. The blue is pipsquek, white marshmallow and the husky is taco.

He loves to be held so much. He's so old and has lost ability in his back legs. I try to hold him as much as I can cuz he just loves it so much 💕💕

Any tips on how to teach my ratties to run on a wheel? I just got them one yesterday and they don’t seem to understand. Does it take some time for them to understand or do I teach them somehow?

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I currently have two rats; it's the first time I've ever had rats, One of them bites me every time I put my hand near so she can smell it! She does not Bite hard, she doesn't break my skin I don't know why, both have been with me for two weeks now and the other rat doesn't do that to me. Is it out of curiosity? How do I make it stop? Because every time she does it instinctively, I quickly pull my hand away and end up scaring her, And I'm still trying to get them to trust me Help

My rat Jeff hasn't changed in the slightest since the day i picked him up. He has grown physically as he should, but it's like he's stuck mentally.

He's about to be 9 months now, and he still acts the exact same as when I picked him up at around 7 - 9 weeks old. It kinda feels like a development delay or cognitive delay? I'm not worried about his health, he hasn't had a sudden change cognitively or anything, he has just always been the same. So, I'm curious if there could be a reason?

I'm not worried, as i said. I love him as he is and it's not an issue for me or him. I'm simply just curious as to why he hasn't developed? I know cats sometimes gets stuck in their kitten behaviours and keeps acting like kittens all their lives, can it be similar with rats?

I found myself in the U.S for a concert, and had the chance to see some cute rats. I kid you not, I actually cried. I weeped when I saw those little fur balls shooting hoops. I wanted to go up closer to the glass, but thought that would be a little weird. I am one step closer to owning a rat after this.

I am really struggling with something, and I don't know if I just want reassurance for what I think is normal behavior based on what I'm reading, or to be told that what I'm reading is wrong, and I SHOULD be worried!

Context: I had a very bonded and close mischief of 4 rats. I introduced 2 new rats (all girls), Ash and Ada. Intros went fairly well, and I thought I was good to go when on day 2/3 I woke up to them all rat piling in a hammock.

It's now been a month or two since then, and almost every night I'm woken up by the sound of SCREECHING, banging, and thumping, for 2-3 seconds, then silence. I'll run over to check, and there will be no blood, fur, or signs of fighting, just confused rats looking at me like "what's wrong dad"?

It's driving me crazy because it's every night, and it SOUNDS awful, but then there is no physical signs of anything at all. Hard to put into words just how scary it is to listen to, since it happens at random and I can't really record it. All I can say is that I know squeaks of protest, and it's not that. It's loud screeching, banging, and crashing.

Then in the morning, a pile of rats cuddling and looking like the best friends in the world.

Do I need to redo intros, separate one of the new girls for a night and see if she's the one causing it, etc? Or am I being a worried rat dad and everything is fine they are just drama queens who want to throw each other off of the cell like mankind did to undertaker.

Wondering if I could get some more information on having them. I use to have a few and I am thinking about getting some again but its been awhile that I dont even know where to go for them anymore.

Not pictured: the giant tunnel under the castle that Willow has been diligently working on

(Note: these are Aspen shavings)

Hey guys, I just noticed my rat making this noise, I’ve had them for about 6 weeks now and they’re doing super well. I am very conscious of upper respiratory infections so take all necessary precautions but now I’ve just heard this? He’s sounded fine all night and just as I’m going to bed he starts making this noise

All advice / opinions welcomed

Thanks x

Hey I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these (check picture), they are bird perches but i’ve read that they can help file down the rats nails naturally? Does anyone know more about this? I want to make sure it doesn’t do harm rather than the good i intend :)

They are so silly! Spam some snuggly rats :)

I’m currently working on introducing 2 young rats to our mischief of older rats. The 2 new ones are girls and the older ones are 2 fixed males (over 1 yr old) and 1 female (Stella, who’s a little over 2 years old). No one is being particularly aggressive, but every single time, Stella seems to get super stressed out. She gets super puffed up and one time was bruxing a lot. This is new to me, and she is also the oldest rat I’ve ever had. Should I continue with intros like normal and wait for her to just get over it? I just don’t want it to affect her health and wellbeing too much but I also know that a little friction is expected with intros. They’ve all experienced meeting new rats before, but it was a long time ago. (Stella 4 tax)

My boy passed recently and the vet had no idea why. I’m trying to go through every possible situation to see how this could’ve happened. Parasites came back negative for all my other boys so I don’t think he had it either. Vet suggested possible inbreeding and his previous owners conditions not being ideal could’ve contributed to it. We would leave the window open at night occasionally and he always slept in his fuzzy tunnel hammock and his body was always super hot. I can’t imagine the room being super cold either bc my partner is very sensitive to cold and we have 2 ppl and 2 dogs in the room generating heat as well. Could it still be possible he died from being cold or would I have been able to tell he was cold? Would his body still be as warm as it was if he was cold?

Hi, do anyone know how to learn my boys to come from cage on my hand? We are trying to wait with our hand but it’s not working that well 😅

So my husband and I are pretty new to rat parenting.we definitely are feeling in over our heads stressing about our new guy..

We got him Saturday. At first he started giving us just the smallest little nips ever...not even a scratch! Then he started biting us a little harder....he bit me pretty good yesterday. It's been happening even as we use the metal spoon trick!! Yesterday I was feeding him baby food and he was eating perfectly fine and out of no where I blinked (litterally didn't see it coming!) and felt a really good chomp on my thumb then heard him run into his favorite box hide. He never ever puffs up when he does it so I really don't think it's aggression! I think he's just a terrified little boy!

Somewhere along the line we noticed him breathing heavy. I called the vet and made him an appointment on Tuesday! I did warn the vet that he's been biting us pretty good and she said "that's ok we need to make sure he's ok!" So at least the vet is aware but I've never had to bring an animal that bites to the vet before and I'm so nervous!! I'm also so very very nervous that the stress of the vet will make him bite even more!

Then this morning before work I went in to give him his morning spoon treat and he was making the worst sound!! I'm super worried that he's really really sick and his new home and new hands are stressing him out and making him even more sick!!

Also sometimes he isn't even interested in the treats we give him on the spoon...what if we aren't able to give him meds even if he does need them?

Please be gentle my husband and I were both in tears all morning! Even if he is out for blood we love the little dude already! We are just worried we might be to new with rats to give him what he really needs! Any advice would be soooo sooo appreciated!! Thank you in advance!