New Rat - smelly droppings

Question
Hi - we just got our first rat one week ago for a school project.  She is a 6 wk old female. She has allowed us to handle her and seems to be adjusting to us.  She is housed in a large aquarium with alpine bedding, and we are feeding her "Classic Mouse & Rat Food" by LM Animal Farms, along with water.  She has been eating and drinking just fine.  Last night, we fed her a bit of fresh carrot and a tiny bit of peanut butter.  Ever since, her stools have been soft and very smelly! Also, last night she was squeeking a little, but did not appear to be in any distress.  She was breathing heavy, but is not doing that today.  We also had her out of the cage running around (boy can she jump!!) I've kept hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits before, but never rats.  She seems to be a great little pet.  Any advice you can give us would be greatly appreciated!  Also, any treat ideas that wouldn't cause smelly soft stools would also be appreciated...we are training her to climb a pole for the school project, but we need something to reward her that won't make her sick!  Thanks!!

Answer

cardboard pen Hi

Welcome to the world of rats.  You cannot compare rats to gerbils, hamsters, mice or rabbits thats for sure. Rats are very social, need to be housed with other rats in order to live a happy and fulfilled life since they are social creatures, and they bond to their owner once they learn to trust.   Rats are known to be able to jump a distance of up to 4 feet, but that doesnt mean they wont miss and wont get injured. I discourage shoulder riding and allowing your rat to play on table tops or on top of beds that sit pretty high off the ground.  Over the years I have been shocked at how many people let their rats play on a table that sits three feet above the ground and they tell me that their rats would never try to get off the table.  There is always a first and sadly I have been around to witness many of these rats that DID take a flying leap from these so called "play areas" that were on the table tops.  IF the rat didnt die from a broken neck, suffer a broken back or internal injuries, they had other serous injuries.  Now of course I have no idea where your new rat is going to be allowed to play, but just in case you were told to let her on a table top, try keeping her low to the ground instead.  I have a photo in the corner here of a great cardboard wall to construct and you can make it as big as you want and as tall as you want to keep her from escaping.  

Check out ideas for play area, which is a perfect and safe place to train her too:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/gettingstarted.htm

As for food, she needs low protein and low fat diet.  Seed mixes are absolutely the worst  food there is for rats. Check out my page on diet to learn about what the little girl can  eat to help her grow into a happy and healthy young lady.

The food your using is not good for her or any rat for that matter.
For starters, it contains Cracked Corn and corn gluten, which are both made from the hard kernel corn that is known to carry a toxic mold that is a carcinogen. Also, it contains dehydrated alfalfa meal, and rats cannot digest nor tolerate alfalfa. This may also be the cause of loose stools when mixed with peanut butter. Here is the URL to my site about proper nutrition and there are links to follow on making your own rat food etc...along with recipes to follow etc..


http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/ratsandahealthydiet.htm

Snacks? Peanut butter is too high in proteins and fats and it can  also pose a choking hazard by blocking the rats throat. Unfortunately this is seen too often in pet rats and I try to spread the word out  to everyone I come across to not use peanut butter!  To successfully train her you will need to use treats she only gets during training so she doesnt get confused.  Rats learn by repetition and positive reward. You can use cheerios or unsweetened rice chex cereal for training treats. rats usually love them both

The smelly stool was probably from the peanut butter since it is so full of fats she isnt used to having.

What type of bedding/litter do you use?