Ratty baba

Question

Paws yawning.   QUESTION: Hello.

I have a 2 week old ratt, eyes should be opening soon. Got him at about 4 days old. He had a sister but due to my ignorance passed away after suffocating under a heating pad (Certainly learn from all my mistakes). I have raised 5 pinkies now, each bought at a reptile store 'cause i've found the bond you form with babies is stronger and don't exactly think it's fair having them gobbled down by snakes.

i recently took him to the an exotic vet, seeing as though rats are pretty exotic in south africa and not all that common. i was sure he was bloated and rushed to the vet, he told me it was the rats diapragm and liver i was seeing and that nothing was actually wrong. i now see another strange looking bubble where i'd think his collon or bladder should be and wonder if it's gas, would the baby be able to fart it out? if not... is there any way i could help him along to get it out?

also... she's 10 grams which i find a bit under weight. Is 0.3grams every three hours too little? i do eight feedings per day.

this is my first baby giving problems and i might be overreactig but it's better to be safe then sorry.

Thanks much!!! =D
The 16Year old rat mommy.

(i've attatched a piccy of him yawning)

ANSWER: I am going to tell you something, my dear friend:  If you have success raising pinkies and this is the first one giving your problems, you are a real expert at it for sure.  You wont believe this but the odds are against them big time.  In fact, rats under 2 weeks old that still have their eyes shut have less than 50% chance of surviving.  This is amazing that they are making it.  How old do they live to be, may I ask?  

What do you feed them?

You may know this already but if you put a heating pad under the cage where they cant have any contact with it, they should be safe.  

As for the bubble your seeing, is it clear or white?  Yes, they fart it out, btw, they just cannot burp.

I am just in awe of your talent at raising these pinkies.  Amazing!  I am very impressed! I may be coming to YOU for help when people write to me with questions about the newborn ratlets.



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QUESTION: My oldest rat is a year old now. Veterinarians say about two to two and a half years and breeding books say one year. My old ratty, Tinkerballs, is showing little signs of a granpa rat so i suspect the vets are right about that.

The bubbles gone... Think it might have been urine - paws needed the toilet baaad after feeding.

I've always wanted to try raise pinkies from since i was 12. i did loads of research and filed everything and eventually last year bought my first Rattys. Tinkerballs had a sister who i had to put down after a week of intense treatment from a neck injury she had gotten. I suspect it was from my other female rat, who i got when she was rather old, bulling her.

My ratties all eat from a syringe with a rubber fitting so i can controll the amount of milk they drink. I use human soy formula because it doesn't contain lactose. (lactose gives them diohrea) i also add a bit of ideal milk just to treat them... A vet told me that this is unharmful and benefits them.

The heating pad I was using did not have a tempreture controll and was very low and made no differnce of the tempreature inside the tank when put outside. I went to buy a new one that's placed under the tank and place a teddy ontop of my angel paws so she feels safe!

Would love to help fellow ratties in need with my brain power!!! ^_^

Happy new year and thanks a bunch.

ANSWER: Many rats are lactose intolerant which is why they get loose stools from dairy. The old myth about the rat or mouse eating cheese is just that...a myth. In fact, my rats hate cheese.  LOL

I forgot to tell you that every 3 hrs is about right, depending on the ratlet. Also, the age for rats varies.  I have had rats live to be 3 and even 4 years old.  Wild rats, on the other hand, dont stand a chance and are lucky to live to be 6 months old mainly due to their hostile environment, namely predators.   If the rats are kept in a clean cage free from ammonia build up, fed a diet with protein content no more than 14%, kept at a healthy weight, exercised daily and of course have a vet that understands mycoplasmosis pulmonis and the proper way to treat it before it causes lung scarring, rats can live to be well past 2 or 2.5 yrs of age.

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Tnkerballs   QUESTION: I add extra protexin in milk to also aid stopping diahrrea... Altough my rats all eat anything really... even crickets and mealworms which are meant for my tarantulas.

I've also found that Tinkerballs doesn't handle sweeties well, which my mother gives to him even though i complain about the sugar highs he gets... and i was under the impression males are more docile.... and even without sugar he goes crazy near me.

I read somewhere that when the kittens teeth come out you can stop midnight feeding... although Paws was barely over a week so i took my gut feeling rather. My feedings are as follows: 6am, 9am, 12am, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm and 1:30am. he eats between 0.55 and 0.8ml per feed.

Next week i'll be moving on to 4 hour feeds although to be safe and check tempreature in his nest i'll still do midnight feeding.

How exactly does an overweight rat look???
Fat tinkerballs isn't a large rat but he isn't skinny. his excersizing consists of running free in my room in the evenings when i do homework =P He doesn't handle shoulder rides and social things well so i don't know about castrating 'cause it's so stressful. But with paws he'll have a friendy so keeping him fully manly equiped and away from females won't be a problem anymore.

Thanks again!!!

Tinkerballs in the only still position i coud get him attatched.

Answer
No, your rat is not fat.  A male can weigh up to 800 grams and still not be fat.  You want to see fat, check out my girl Oreo.  Despite being a porker, she lived to be 3 and a half years old.

She is the black and white rat that is pretty  chubby. You cant miss her! LOL

http://www.sandyscrittercity.com/careoftheelderlyrat.htm


As for giving your rats crickets and mealworms....I know rats in the wild eat stuff like this but their life expectancy is no more than 6 months old.  Wild insects like crickets and meal worms can contain parasites that are harmful to your ratties.

Anyhow, have you  gone over my website, Sandyscrittercity.com?   If not, check it out. I even have a page with my newest trio of rats who were born in May 2009.  They are TANKS at just 8 months of age.  All muscle, though!

I love trantulas.  I raised hermit crabs for a long time. In fact, before I had to find a new home for the four of them, my oldest crab was 8 years old. Interesting creatures for sure.