Possibly constipated rat

Question
My male rat, Oliver, has been lethargic for the past 24 hours. He usually gets up and sprints around the room at least twice a day, but today he has stayed cuddled up in bed. He appears to have somewhat of an appetite (he ate a noodle, a piece of graham cookie, and a banana chip so far) but he usually is much more demanding in terms of food. I checked the bed and the surrounding area and there don't seem to be any "presents," which leads me to believe he's constipated. He is about a year and a half old and neutered. The only thing different he had this week was extra vanilla soy milk, which he's tried before. I am going to see if he will drink some water. He is not a fan of leafy greens.

Answer
Hi Christina

Does Oliver have a distended belly at all? Has he been drinking normally? I know you said you were going to try to get him to drink so I wondered how he did. You can also offer him watermelon or cantaloupe and even allow him to drink the watermelon juice via a syringe.

When you pinch his skin/fur, does is snap back pretty fast or seem to be loose?  

Let me know these few things first so we can continue from there...


hang in there

Sandy