The Rat Room

I’ve done a lot of research in the hope of stopping mammary tumours. Although almost always benign, the mammary tumour can definitely end up sucking the life out of the rat. At best a rat with a mammary tumour can live a few months, at worst it can grow so fast within days.
I’ve tried all kinds of supplement with absolutely no success, with Mycoplex and shark cartilage.
What did work is a spay. Spaying your rat removes the source of estrogen which in turn decreases the risk of a growth. I’ve had 29 females spayed. From the 29 only two went on to develop a mammary tumour. One of the two already had one when I adopted her from the SPCA. Kate had a mammary tumour removal and a spay at the same time. Unfortunately she and her sister were fairly ill and both also developed inguinal masses.
Out of the 29, a few had their spays later in life which proves that a spay at any age is highly beneficial.
Some might argue that a spay is invasive but with a good exotic vet, surgery risks are very minimal. The recovery of a spay is much faster than a recovery of a tumour. Tumours weakens the immune system and leaves the rat generally unwell, surgery at this point although very doable is still harder on a rat than a spay on a healthy girl.
I will always have my females spayed. Mammary tumours are not something you want to deal with.

In a colony there is always a chain of command. The alpha, usually the big male will rule the roost. Some are fierce and a bully while others are forceful yet gentle. I’ve seen all kinds of alpha from neurotic to very gentle.
One alpha was Tripp. He took care of his buddies and would butt in if he figured it was time too. The other rats respected him and the colony lived very happily with him as their leader. The time came when I needed to intro Tripp’s group with 3 older rats. Chase, a young neutered neurotic rat was having a hard time accepting the new buddies. He especially didn’t like old man Lex. One one occasion, during an intro Chase had cornered Lex into a box. Lex had nowhere to go and Chase was slowly approaching him, mouth open… along comes Tripp. Tripp pushes Chase aside and goes to lie down next to Lex. Chase immediately realizes that Tripp was telling him that Lex was an ok guy and welcome into their colony. Intros went smoothly because Tripp was definitely the good alpha.

This bacterium is spread via direct contact and is highly contagious. If one rat in your colony has it, you can bet all of them do. Rats can be without symptoms for many months until such time they become weaken and the disease start to take hold of their respiratory system. When your rats start to become sick with sneezing and wheezing the best course of action is antibiotics for life. Some rats respond successfully while others continue to slowly deteriorate.
I’ve used Baytril and Zithromax with success in some of my rats. The prognosis varies, some rats can live comfortably with this illness for many months while others can’t manage more than a week or so.
CAR Bacillus can only be detected through an ELIZA test (blood work) or through necropsy.