rats as pets

[KaotikJezta]

Not to correct, but from my experiences your lucky if your rat lives to 3yo. It would be exceptional to live beyond this age. I would say average 2-3years if no health problems. Mice and rats, totally different. Unlike mice, rats do not smell as much. Ofcourse any animals poop will smell if you dont clean cages. The rat themself doesnt have much smell and they are forever cleaning themselves, so aslong as you keep cage cleaned and use something like breeders choice litter there would be very little aroma.
My kids have been around rats from young age, I would say they are the best small animal pet HOWEVER any young child should be supervised for the poor animals sake. Even with my kids being used to ratties I had an incident with my son stripping one the male rats tail (BIG ouchies!!) It can happen even under watchful eyes. Kids can be evil with animals, they are just plush toys to their tiny brains.
*forget whos pic was posted, just wanted recommend to cover the wire base, or remove it and just use the plastic as base. The wire bases arent good for their feet. Plus easier to clean that yuckies stuck in wire lol

My ex's family have had rats all there lives and only ever lost one to a tumor under the age of 4 and have had a couple live to 5.

 

[Indysmum]

I have never owned mice, but recently spent time with breeder and beutiful bunch of mice. They were lovely, very friendly. But even the breeder made confirmation of the amount of poop and smell. My conclusion is theyd still be good pet, just not as clever and alot more cleaning! Oh and seems to be alot more variety in mice, we are little more limited in variety with rats in AU. Still plenty of lovely markings and new ones slowly popping up.

to kaotikjezta- wow thats extremely lucky to live that long. Were their rats from same line? do they breed? Love to hear more, as my own and most other rat owner/breeders would probably like to hear about this. Maybe they have discovered something and dont realise it lol

 

[SYNeR]

I'm thinking of getting a couple of female rats as pets, then eventually breed them. I only have two snakes to feed (Stimson python and Jungle python). Would it still be worth the effort considering I'd like to keep a couple as pets?

 

[KaotikJezta]

I have never owned mice, but recently spent time with breeder and beutiful bunch of mice. They were lovely, very friendly. But even the breeder made confirmation of the amount of poop and smell. My conclusion is theyd still be good pet, just not as clever and alot more cleaning! Oh and seems to be alot more variety in mice, we are little more limited in variety with rats in AU. Still plenty of lovely markings and new ones slowly popping up.

to kaotikjezta- wow thats extremely lucky to live that long. Were their rats from same line? do they breed? Love to hear more, as my own and most other rat owner/breeders would probably like to hear about this. Maybe they have discovered something and dont realise it lol

No all different random breeders, they never bred any as they usually only kept one at a time. As for why they are that long lived I don't know, maybe their diet. They fed very little commercial food, mainly fresh fruit and veges with occasional treats and rat mix as a bit of a there if you want it kind of approach. I do the same with mine but my boy has a respiratory infection he can't shake so I am very worried about him. They are from Sydney and they said none of their rats have ever had respiratory problems so I am thinking maybe it is the Melbourne cold that does it as a lot of rat owners I know here have problems.

 

[GeckoJosh]

No all different random breeders, they never bred any as they usually only kept one at a time. As for why they are that long lived I don't know, maybe their diet. They fed very little commercial food, mainly fresh fruit and veges with occasional treats and rat mix as a bit of a there if you want it kind of approach. I do the same with mine but my boy has a respiratory infection he can't shake so I am very worried about him. They are from Sydney and they said none of their rats have ever had respiratory problems so I am thinking maybe it is the Melbourne cold that does it as a lot of rat owners I know here have problems.

I would be wary of a rat breeder that claims none of their rats have ever had any respiratory issues

 

[KaotikJezta]

I would be wary of a rat breeder that claims none of their rats have ever had any respiratory issues

I didn't say a rat breeder, I said none of my ex's familys rats ever had one.

 

[GeckoJosh]

I didn't say a rat breeder, I said none of my ex's familys rats ever had one.

Ok sorry my bad, yeah all rats unless they come from sterile lab type conditions carry Myco, it usually lays dormant but can flare up in extreme temperatures, or sometimes for no apparent reason

 

[KaotikJezta]

Ok sorry my bad, yeah all rats unless they come from sterile lab type conditions carry Myco, it usually lays dormant but can flare up in extreme temperatures, or sometimes for no apparent reason

Apparently, or I have read, but don't quote me on this, they carry it because all pet lines came from labs where they were experimented on with various diseases etc so now they carry the diseases in there genes, same is apparently true of why pet rats get tumors.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Apparently, or I have read, but don't quote me on this, they carry it because all pet lines came from labs where they were experimented on with various diseases etc so now they carry the diseases in there genes, same is apparently true of why pet rats get tumors.

Its not a genetic disease

 

[KaotikJezta]

Its not a genetic disease

OK, I said don't quote me on it, but they do obviously carry it from somewhere

 

[GeckoJosh]

OK, I said don't quote me on it, but they do obviously carry it from somewhere

Yeah I know what your saying.
Myco is passed on from mother to pup, you can break this link as its not passed on in utero but its not easy and requires extremely strict quarantine procedures.
Breeders find it easier to breed their stock to have high immune systems as it would be near impossible to beat it without lab testing and conditions

 

[KaotikJezta]

Yeah I know what your saying.
Myco is passed on from mother to pup, you can break this link as its not passed on in utero but its not easy and requires extremely strict quarantine procedures.
Breeders find it easier to breed their stock to have high immune systems as it would be near impossible to beat it without lab testing and conditions

Yes I'm really worried about my little guy, he starts to get better then the weather changes and bam, he's bad again.

 

[GeckoJosh]

You can try giving an him antibiotic called Baytril when he gets really bad (porpyhrin coming from eyes and nose, rattling noise when breathing), they seem to respond well

 

[-Katana-]

Can anyone tell me how early you can sex rat pups, please.

I have a litter of 8 and three look like they are going to be champagne colored and I want to keep them if they are females.
They were born on the March the 8th.

 

[KaotikJezta]

You can try giving an him antibiotic called Baytril when he gets really bad (porpyhrin coming from eyes and nose, rattling noise when breathing), they seem to respond well

He hasn't got any discharge yet but his breathing gets pretty bad. He's on tetracycline but it doesn't seem to do much.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Can anyone tell me how early you can sex rat pups, please.

I have a litter of 8 and three look like they are going to be champagne colored and I want to keep them if they are females.
They were born on the March the 8th.

From day 1
Pm me if you want some pics

He hasn't got any discharge yet but his breathing gets pretty bad. He's on tetracycline but it doesn't seem to do much.

Get him on Baytril and Doxycillin together on a 2 week course, according to most reports thats the best treatment

 

[KaotikJezta]

From day 1

Get him on Baytril and Doxycillin together on a 2 week course, according to most reports thats the best treatment

Do I get that from the vet, because it was the vet that gave me the other stuff.