Rhubarb

Question
Sandra,
Had to start a new thread because the site told me I had too many "follow
ups."
Thank you for your insight- while I am still crushed it is good to know that
there is nothing we could have done to save him. We loved him and
comforted him and that's allwe could have done.
We do have another rat, who was rhubarb's cage mate. We are concerned
about her emotional well being, as well as her physical health. She is not very
outgoing and in fact tries to avoid human interraction, so we can't comfort her
personally.
Thanks again,
Rachel

Answer

You would be surprised.  She may come around for attention now that her cagemate is gone.  I have a pair (Had) of male rats that are very elderly.  At the time I lost Templeton, he was 3 yrs 6 months old.  His brother, Bo, could care less if I ever picked him up and held him, pet him or whatever else....he just wanted to be out and roaming for play time or else left alone in the cage to eat and sleep. I know they are old but Temps let me hold him and he would brux his head off.

When Temps died suddenly from a stroke, Bo was all alone and I could not put him with my other lone male because for starters, Bo is grumpy and would not appreciate Santana all over him and Santana has only one eye which could be a real problem if Bo hit him and hurt his only eye....so they would swat each other or sniff through the cage bars. Turns out Bo now looks for me to get him out of the cage and lets me rub his head and ears, kiss him on this little head, responds to me when I speak by bruxing etc...he is much more friendly now and I feel it is due to being lonely.  I also really made a huge effort to get him to warm up to me so he would not be lonely and depressed since a depressed rat will end up getting sick from a weak immune system that can occur from stress.
I would try hard to get her out of her shell a bit. Seems she is like Bo and only liked her cagemate rather than get used to her "people" and now she is facing life alone, she may just appreciate you more!

Hope this helps!