should I but this cage?

Question
QUESTION: Yesterday I was finally home from school at daylight so I was watching my rats and it looks like Bella (the companion of Rat Fink) may be having a head tilt. I'm not sure. She sways her head back and forth, but someone said she could have had an albino mother or father. At night if a light were to shine on her eye it does glow red so could it just be a albino trait or rat head tilt? Could she be having a hard time seeing? I am so sorry to ask you so many questions since I am a 1st time rat owner.

I have also noticed that my other rat Skyline is getting more timid towards people. We have handled it gently and we play with her, she plays back. I want to know could it be that we have other bigger pets in the house? Could they be intimidating Skyline? The other pets are one 20 pound cat, one 10 pound dog, one 30 pound dog and another 45 pound dog that live in the house.

P.S. I love the site you sent me! I will be for now on purchasing from those sites!

ANSWER: I had to do a little research on this one as I am not all that familiar with head-tilt.  It's been several days since you posted this question.  If Bella is still having symptoms of head-tilt, let me share what I know about it.  Head-tilt is commonly caused by an inner ear infection, which in turn is caused by mycoplasma bacteria.  All rats are born with mycoplasma, which can  cause many types of infections.  Some rats never have issues from mycoplasma as it sits dormant, but other rats suffer their entire lives with flare-ups.  

I don't recall if you told me you have a good vet who treats exotic pets, but if you do, I suggest you bring Bella in.  If she does have an infection, she should be treated with an antibiotic.  If Bella is older than 4 months, she should be prescribed Baytril and Doxycycline and needs to be on these for a full 30 days to prevent relapse.  Steroids can also be prescribed to help reduce inflammation, but steroids alone will not cure the infection.  If Bella is under 4 months old, she should not be given Baytril.  Instead, she should be given Zithromax along with the steroids.  Hopefully, your vet will be knowledgable about all of this.  

As for Skyline, she is still a baby right?  And so her personality is still forming.  She might just be one of those "shy" rats, and sure large animals, especially loud ones, might intimidate her.  Are the animals allowed in the same room the rats live in?  If so, then maybe find a quieter place for your rat cage.  Over time, she might just get used to the big animals as long as they don't try to hurt her.  Give it a time, but continue what you are doing with the gentle handling.  It sounds like you've got the right idea.

And no worries on the many questions.  That shows you are a caring rat owner that wants as much information as possible so that you can provide them with the best care possible.  How do you like being a rattie owner so far?  

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IMG_0164   QUESTION: Bella may not have head tilt but she sways her head back and forth for about 20 seconds off and on throughout the day. Could that be head tilt?

We can't seem to find a exotic vet nearby but we will keep looking.

Skyline now seems to be calmer with the new rat that I have officially named Sven. Now Skyline is 3 months old so she is a baby. She's not shy when the dogs are not in the room. The cage is in the same room with the dogs and cats.


Ziggy   ANSWER: I'm so sorry Sydney.  I admit I only go out onto the AllExperts website when I get an email notifying me I have a question waiting, and for some reason, I don't think I got an email about this follow up of yours, so I do apologize.  

First, I want to say: YOUR RATTIES ARE ADORABLE!!  Thanks for sending the pic.  Skyline reminds me so much of my Ziggy (who died right before last Thanksgiving).   We adored our little Zig-Zig (she was a girl).  It's not a very clear one, but I attached a pic of her so you could see the resemblance.  Don't your rats easily jump out of that short playpen in your pic?  We had that same exact playpen and it didn't keep our ratties in for a second!  We now have this huge 24-inch tall playpen that works much better.

I'm glad you are looking into an exotic vet...chances are you will need one sooner or later and if it's an emergency, it's important to have one picked out and ready to go should the need arise.  Even if you have to drive a bit, it is the least you can do for your babies who you took into your care and who depend on you.

No need to take Bella to the vet for the head swaying.  The official name for it is "parallax motion".  It is totally normal!  Rats have very poor vision.  Red and pink eyed rats have even worse eyes than black eyed rats.  Plus, ALL rats have very poor depth perception and have trouble judging distance.  To compensate for that, some rats tend to sway their head back and forth to focus and judge the distance from their position to an object in the distance.  They often do this before making a jump.  Also, they might do it if they hear a voice or see a movement in the distance and sway to try to focus in on it.   oo!

I think it's funny you named your new girl rat with a boy's name (Sven)...just like we did with our girl Ziggy.  I also still laugh when I think about how you possibly came up with "Rat Fink" for a name...and wish I'd thought of it for our Ariel, because she is adorable but such a little fink!!  Do you want to share with me the origin of that cute but strange name for a pet rat?

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IMG_0177   QUESTION: Hi, I love how your rat Ziggy seriously looks like Skyline. My mother and I found a Super Pet Habitat Defined Rat Habitat cage on Amazon.com and I found one in a pet shop 30 miles from home and I was wondering if that would be a good cage for now the four rats? As for the playpen how you where asking if they escape only one of the rats try to escape which is Bella. It takes her about 10 minutes before she tries to get out. Well today I found a exotic vet in Lisle, IL near Chicago. That's like 2-4 hour from our home town Van Orin, IL 61374. I'm glad to hear that Bella is normal with the swaying head. Well, the name Rat Fink I also believe that it is cute but strange. I got this name from my father. He gets the HOTROD magazine and there is that name in there. He suggested that name and we went with it. I personally love that name for a rat. Guess what we found out that there is flea cream for rats to keeps the fleas away just like a dog or cat! I did not even know that existed. We are going to but some once we weight the rats then they can go outside for 10 minutes. Oh sorry about not showing a pic of Sven I attached one for you. We still need to get a pic with all the rats together.

Answer

Martin's Cage   OMG do NOT buy this cage!!  I'm so glad you are asking me first.  This cage has many faults, mainly it is barely large enough to house 2 adult rats, let alone 4.  Once your babies are full grown, they will be far overcrowded in this size cage.  Secondly, you will be very unhappy with having to clean the plastic shelves in this cage.  Urine will build up on the plastic shelves very quickly and will stink badly unless you have time to be cleaning it every 2 to 3 days.  Trust me, I had one very similar to it and it was a nightmare.  Also, although this may look like it has 4 levels, the ledges are so tiny there is barely standing room for your rats on the levels.  Also the ramps are very narrow and because the cage is tall, your rats can easily take a fall from one of the upper levels and get hurt.  This may not matter as much now, but when your rats get older and move slower, they could easily lose their balance.  PLEASE don't buy a cage like this!

I have the perfect cage for you, and it is the one I have and that a lot of experienced rat owners invest in.  It is a bit more expensive but everyone, you and your rats, will be so much happier in the long run.  If you notice on amazon.com, the original price of your cage is over $100, but it is on sale for a little over $60.  To see the cage I'm recommending, go to martinscages.com, click on "Cages" and then click on the picture of the rat.  Then scroll down the list of cages. For 4 rats (or even if you get one more), I recommend nothing below the R-680.  I have the R-685 and love it!  The 690, 695 and 699 are fine for 4 or 5 rats too, but are more expensive and the ramps are steep...keep in mind when your rats are older, it will be harder for them to get up steep ramps.  Each cage comes in "galvanized" and "powder coated" wire but ONLY buy powder coated, which for the R-680 is $95 plus shipping.  This is almost the same price as your cage on amazon (it's original price), and will last forever.  The plastic cages don't last, trust me.  Because these cages have wire floors, I recommend also ordering 2 of the E-Z Mats at only $2.50 each.  If you get the R-680, you can place one E-Z Mat on the 2nd and 3rd levels.  These are easy to clean and give your rats cushioning for their tiny feet.  Or you can clip fleece fabric to line the 2 wire levels -- but they will chew and destroy it :)

Sorry for "pushing" the Martin's cage so much, but I absolutely would never go back to a plastic cage again.  If you must buy a plastic cage, please make sure you get one that is at least the size of the R-680.  The 2nd and 3rd level of the R-680 are huge and you can place toys and igloos and other hidey boxes and snuggly things on them (they look small in the picture but they are very roomy.  I'm attaching a pic of a decorated R-680 so you can get an idea of what fun decorating you can do to it.  My R-685 has a full 2nd floor so it's got even more floor space.