The Rat Room

Cage decorations can be as fun as your imagination will let it. Pick any rat forum and go through the habitat section and view all the wonderful postings of awesome cages and you will find happy ratties living there. Rats love junk. lol Balls, papers, boxes, anything in the cage keeps ratties busy mentally and physically. I’m posting a picture of a cage from a friend in Newfoundland, she’s got such an awesome cage for her rats. The hammocks, the wheel, the igloo and all the extra toys laying about make for a perfect cage. A lot of the stuff can be found at bargain stores or even made at home. String up cardboard pieces, add toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes… anything will do. Think like a rat and have fun!

For my mom. Yep, you read that right. My mom picked up a rat off of kijiji. And the story that comes with him is simply crushing.
Charlie is his name. He does respond to it so he gets to keep it. He lived his whole life alone, in a small cage, on cedar chips and crappy food. He was never let out to play nor picked up for cuddles. You see, his caregiver was allergic and his girlfriend was afraid, calling him a biter. So far we have not seen any biter in him yet. The guy told my mom that his mother breeds feeders in Ottawa. That’s where Charlie comes from. This feeder breeder kills her babies by throwing them in the freezer and letting them freeze to death. A very painful and inhuman process. Charlie escaped his death only to live a sorry life which led him to be a fearful obese rat. Charlie weighs a whopping 823 grams. He’s about 2 years old but he seems in pretty good health considering how he lived. He’s a lucky boy. His life is about to change big time, huge cage, good food, lots of out time, cuddles and more cuddles.
Welcome home Charlie 5. My parent’s are thrilled to have him.

Charlie and my dad or, his dad. lol

A few years ago, a group of us on the Rat Shack put together a rat train in order to adopt out rats to all parts of Canada and even the US. It was a huge undertaking which totally paid off in the end. Another big rescue is underway which can be followed on the Rat Shack. I shouldn’t be surprised at how far people will go to help pets in need but still each time I’m amazed and awed by how much the rat community does for each other. A couple of wonderful members in the maritime were alerted to a situation that required rehoming several rats, in total 46. With no real good homes in the area, they were forced to look elsewhere. In comes MRR. Mainely Rat Rescue. They stepped up, agreed to be part of the rescue. They have a great rescue network set up with fosters, vets, transports and volunteers. A volunteer agreed to drive the 3.5 hours to the border, to take in and place the rats into their temporary homes. These rats will also be spayed and neutered. This “project” required the two members to pick up, sort out and fashion cages for a huge amount of rats. Many are mamas and their litters which again, requires some extra work to make sure moms are well fed and not under stress. Then they themselves have to do the long drive to the border to meet the MRR volunteer. Unfortunately, a miscommunication at the border forced the rats to go back. They required proper vet papers assuring these rats were indeed fancy rats and in good health. With the help of more members on the Rat Shack, donations poured in to help pay for the extra vet bills and extra transportation issues. Finally, the rescue can go through, the rats can settle in and find good homes. These rats are extremely lucky because many don’t have angels looking out for them like these ones. Many rats go homeless and are neglected.
I send thanks to all those involved. And you know you guys ROCK!

Here are some pics of the rescue effort.

Packed in boxes for lack of cages.

Switching cars and cages.

Rats!

And more Rats!

Oops, out of the box.

Company for the drive.

If you would like any of these sweeties please contact MRR. If you can’t adopt, please donate.

Purchasing a rat from the pet store only to find out she’s pregnant is an all to common scenario. One lady in Fredericton decided to make the most of it and educate society in the wonderfulness that is rats.
Her two girls gave birth and the babies are now looking for homes. She has created a Facebook page in order to help home the babies and to continue with the education on rats. Be sure to “like” the page Adopt A Rat Fredericton.

My sister and I at the Cozy Corner are helping out by donating 4 hammocks to Lisa in order to help promote adoption. Lisa will also be continuing to foster other rats in need. Sadly, the maritime is over saturated with unwanted rats.
Every bit of help from anyone will always be greatly appreciated.
So be sure to visit Lisa and the babies on her Facebook page.
Happy adopting!

Rats love to explore and we love to allow them free range and roam about at will. This is encouraged in a controlled environment. It is very important that the environment be completely safe for the rats. I’ve made posts before about rat proofing your room and yes, I’m doing another one. Recently, we’ve been alerted to a tragic situation. A member of another rat forum had her rats running about, they didn’t realize their over the counter nasal spray was a danger to the rats. It was. Two rats went to work chewing through the bottom of the bottle. Their mom was too late in noticing, the rats ingesting the liquid. Sadly, one died and the other was extremely sick. Rats chew… everything. This is why you must go around your room and be sure to clear it of everything, even plugged wires. Rats will chew. A rat can chew through a cable in seconds, if it’s plugged in, they can electrocute themselves and die. How do you keep your rats safe while free ranging? Be sure to hide all wires, put away all medication and non medication, do not leave about anything that is not rat friendly. Use an enclosed room like the bathroom or make a playpen. Get down to rat level and see for yourself what your rat can get into. Other free ranging dangers are high table tops, rats can try to jump or fall off or sitting/stepping on your rats.
Keep it safe and be alert when interacting with your rats.

A mod on the Rat Shack caught an awesome boggle fest on video. I had to share it. These boys are called the Rexzillas. They are somewhat bossy and bullies but they are quite content in their cage. Everyone knows their place and seems like a pretty good functional colony. This is evident in the video. When you see your rats, simply lying about, comfortable as can be, cuddling with a buddy or two and out pops the eyes… well, that’s happiness right there. The boggle happens when they are bruxxing harder than usual. It’s the motion of the jaw near the eyeballs. Happy little curly balls of goodness. I love these boys, they are full of character and charm. Good thing they are in the next country over from me… or there would be some ratnapping going on. lol
Thank you to Peggy (Hopefloats) from IN. This is truly a great boggling video.

Reading rat body language is an art. One that takes a lot of observation and even then, you have to be very observant to catch exactly the message being sent.
I adopted Turk, a lone male rat from the SPCA and two young boys from an online ad. The babies were young and were immediately placed with Turk. Life was good until the babies grew up. At 5 months they start to mature and develop their sense of entitlement. Where do they belong in the colony and how do they conduct themselves. These babies clearly had issues. They do not submit but yet won’t take full leadership. They have a lot of learning to do. Turk, took it upon himself to settle the boys but this became a tough job. He did what appeared to me something he felt needed to be done. He terrorized the babies and so earned his name Turk the Jerk. I would punish Turk, put him in his out time cage which didn’t seem to do anything. Turk in his role as teacher/dictator, became very stressed and developed respiratory issues. The poor boy was put on meds and has been on it ever since. I realized Turk could never be neutered and that left me with a huge dilemma. Watching the babies… I decided maybe I should neuter them. Maybe I should help those young ones deal with their stress better and see how that would affect Turk. Magnum and Marshall were both neutered. And like magic, Turk no longer terrorized them. All is quiet and peaceful again. All this time, I would use the time out cage with Turk when all along he was teaching the boys some manners. The boys didn’t understand this and would lash out. Marshall not so much as Magnum. The worst of it is that Magnum is a scared rat and when faced with flight or fight, he runs, then turns around and lashes, no questions asked. He’s still doing this and I hope with time, he will learn to settle down. Until then, it might be very difficult to bring my two colonies as one.
I’m glad though, that Turk is not a jerk. He’s my sweet boy. Who lived a lone life and now trying to be a good dad to the boys.
When things go awry in your cage, take time out to observe the relationship and dynamic of the colony. Be sure to pinpoint the real issue.

Turk

Magnum and Marshall, the day of the neuter. In their carrier.

Recently, a group who call themselves Mouse and Rat Rights have decided to make up their own ideas about rat food. These people have made no research or take into consideration the nutritional needs of the rat. They decided they wanted to go raw and homemade. That’s fine and all but not if you do not meet the nutritional needs of the rat. This can be absolutely detrimental to the health of your pet. The rat only has a couple of years at best, so feeding him/her an unbalanced, incomplete diet will cause irreversible harm.
The worst part of of all this, this group has decided to publish their unfounded diet on the internet. So again, I implore those looking for information on their rat to please weed out the “bad” sites. Always do the research on your own and rely only on scientific data or trusted studies. Even sites who are supported by commercial retail are not to be trusted. Always double check what you read. Make sure it is supported by a larger rat community. Your rat’s life depends on it.

Here’s a false food pyramid created by the MARR.
It scares me how many people might actually believe that this is the right way to feed your rat.

It’s pretty much what the name suggests. Some rats love to run in their wheels. As a result some of them develop what we affectionately call wheelie tail. They keep their tails up and over as they run. Some run so much in the wheels that even outside of their wheels they keep their tails curled up in some way. I don’t believe this has any effect on their spine nor is there a link to any hind end degeneration once they get older. What running in a wheel will do is keep your rats thin, agile and healthy. But don’t be concerned if you find your rat prefers to sleep on his wheel rather than run in it. I’d say the majority of rats are simply not wheel rats. Wheels should be the big size wheels, at least 12″ in diameter for a safe run. The play balls that are so popular with hamsters are not really a good toy for rats. For one, rats hate to be enclosed and unless you are using the mega ball, then it’s most likely much too small.
Please be very wary of breeders who are claiming to be breeding curly tails rats. This is an anomaly and severe handicap on the rat. Do not support such breeders.

Here are a couple of pictures of Hobo’s behind. He’s showing off his curly tail. He’s a true wheel runner.

Or rather, Spirulina, blue-green algae microscopic greens. If you are still confused, how about Green Mush? It’s a dietary supplement that’s been all the rage for the last few years. People have even been feeding it to their rats. There is actually quite a bit of people buying Green Mush specifically for their rats which has prompted me to write about it.
There is no question that spirulina has some great qualities and health benefits but in the last few years, there have been some alarming studies claiming neurotoxins, muscle breakdown one most recently, liver cancer.
These findings are terrifying especially since this supplement has been recommended for rats for years and people will probably continue to do so, it takes just that one container of contaminated Green Mush and your rat will be adversely affected. It’s really not worth the risk. Throw out your Green Mush until more studies prove otherwise, and I don’t mean websites raving about it’s health benefits, I’m talking real scientific studies.