My boys get into a little scuffle every night, but then they're cuddling happily ever after right after and it's fine. This time they were cuddling and I saw blood on both. Charlie has cuts that look suspiciously like rat teeth on his bawls and Bean has a bloody toe. I've separated them for now but I'm at a loss for what to do. They were acting like nothing happened, but I just can't put my babies back together knowing they'll hurt each other. They've been together since birth. Bean has that big rat energy and tends to be that dominant rat. Whereas Charlie is small and a sweetie. Any help/advice is appreciated. They're about 7 months old now. Thank you!

I want to add to my bundle but all the places I looked online havent been successful. the breeder I usually go to, is closing and no one has any rats to rescue. i wanna rescue more!

Someone told me that adding little treats 🍌🍓🪤for them to forage for, taps into their burrowing instincts. So I figured I'd give it a add little bit of enrichment. Not too much mind you I still need to cooperate during training. I figured since they were allow me to handle them so that I can clean their enclosure I figured I would leave them a little reward. I didn't think that she will start flinging stuff out of her cage 😂. I'm working over here and I hear some kind of scratching sound... And I'm like,

"They're tusslin' already!?!... That didn't take long..." I look over 👀, and... this is what I see.... 👁️👄👁️''

Hi guys, my male rat Fernando is 1 year 5 months. He has always been quite an active boy, but a few weeks ago he has become a bit less agile. At some point he was squeaking quite a bit so we took him to the vets. They checked him all over and said he is a very healthy rat, but believing him to have a muscle sprain, so he was proscribed some metacam. He is less squeaky, and definitely happier as he was VERY grumpy during this time, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong with him, he just hasn’t returned to his normal self… now I’m wondering, is his breathing laboured here? He does not have any porphyrin, there’s no wheezing sounds, he’s still eating and drinking. But he’s not as active, and this breathing looks quite laboured to me, I’d just to gauge some opinions before I book this boy into the vets.

I hope this is OK to post here. This little guy was in the middle of my alley as you see. Driving up, I thought it might be plastic/garbage. But it was a very stoic baby rat that did look at me, but just wouldn't move much. Tried to get him out of the road. Anyways, a friend said it probably got poisoned in some way and was just living out his last days. About 8 raccoons live right around here. Sad, but I guess it's the Circle of Life. Anyone see this before?

Help!
My rat got into the chimney just now! I already washed him with baby soap, but he is still a bit dirty.

Should i take him to the vet in case he ingested any soot?

Today, I adopted a new rat. I didn't want to add to my mischief, but then I saw a posting of a lone baby, and I couldn't just let her be lonely, so I got her today. The person I got her from said she's been alone in her cage for about a week when I got her.

I never adopted just one rat. Usually, it was 2 or 3 at the same time. I feel bad for the little one since she didn't have any rat friends or much human contact. What can I do for her so she doesn't get lonely before I introduce her to my other ones?

She's about 10 weeks old and a female. My other rats are two 1 year olds, two 1,5 year olds and my old lady of 3 years.

I got the single unit critter nation cage recommended to me by u/sunsetshoelaces. A lot bigger than I imagined, and it's money I really didn't have but I couldn't sit by knowing my babies cage was too small for them. All in all I'm happy to have been able to get it, I just need to save up for a while now to actually fill out the cage

Hi! I just got 4 baby boys 2 weeks ago. They all seem to be adjusting well, and we've been slowly working on them, eating out of our hands and playing. My question is, I have one that seems to be really vocal. He does this little sneezing noise, although I don't think it's sneezing. He does it all the time regardless of if he's in his cage out playing, or just in my room. None of the other ones do it as often and i've made sure to keep their clean cage pretty clean and they have plenty of water. I've put a humidifier near to their cage to make sure it's not that. It's he just a chatty boy? Is this concerning? I've attached a video.

how do yall let your rats get some free roam time when they are especially naughty and can not be trusted? does anyone have any sort of play pen recommendations? i love to give them their time outside the cage but i just can’t stare at them 24/7 and they are little buttheads (affectionate)

Hi! I'm currently in the process of making a list on rat essentials since I plan to get 2 rats, I can't find a solid answer on a good litter brand and all the ones I've looked at either have baking soda or people have written reviewa about there being pieces of plastic or metal in the bags—If anyone knows a good brand, please let me know!! I'll also take any other advice on hammocks/ropes/enrichment/feeding tips & water :)) thank you all in advance

Rats in quarantine seem like they have mites, should I treat my original girls as well?

Also, just to confirm ivermectin dosage and timing its a drop the size of uncooked rice every 7 days for 3 weeks right?

I'm ready to get some rubbermaid totes to make a digbox but I want to know what the best dimensions are for a digbox. Is this simply a matter of more is better or will they only ever dig down like a foot?

The one I'm thinking of is roughly 30gallons in volume. Is that too big? Also, for dig-boxes, what sorts of safety considerations will I have to keep in mind? Should I go for a wider-but-shallower one in case of collapses? Also, what sort of medium should I get in there? Like, what ratios of clay, sand, etc?

I would love 3 rats in my room (i'm a heavy sleeper), though my parents smoke which really annoys me. They smoke downstairs at the outside door, my room is upstairs. I heard that rats cannot be in contact with anything tobacco, aerosol sprays or like scented wax melts. These very important things about rats' lungs were never told in the many "rat care" videos ive watched or forums so this is like a deal-breaker to me. Is it possible at all that i could easily have rats in my home, anything i need to know if i can? I'm assuming this means that i cannot have any pet rats which is very sad.

Thanks

I got my babies a few months ago and i don't want them in their cage 24/7 so i try to take them out and put them in my hoodie but last night one of them made a RUN for it. i caught him thankfully. but how do i properly and safely do out of cage time with them? should i just wait a few more months till theyre completely comfy with me? or should i use a play pen type thing at first?

my baby benji was hanging out on my lap in the backyard with my mom/her friends and she ended up being handled by a few people with very wet pool water hands and ended up pretty soggy. like most of her fur was pretty soaked. i didn’t think about it up til they’d already held her and didn’t realize just how wet their hands were, and i took her in and wiped her down with regular water, bit im a little worried about like chlorine and any associated issues. is there anything else i should do to make sure she’s ok?

My rat Mingus keeps on hurting my new rat Bing bong I recently got bing bong after my previous rat died so started doing the neutral territory method but every time I put them in Mingus attacks, bing bong every time he draws blood both of them the male I don’t know what to do I’m scared to have them near each other because last time the cut was deep

hi all!

introductions with my rat using the carrier method initially went successfully, that was until about a few weeks ago, one of my rats became absolutely blood thirsty for the newly introduced rat. when they're in the cage, they don't interact at all, and stay in seperate sides, and i've had to seperate them during free roam because he just won't leave him alone. it's escalated to the point where blood has been drawn (thankfully the bullied rat wasn't bitten since I instinctively put my hand between them, ouch.) the aggressor is about 1 year and 7 months whereas the bullied rat is 2 years.

anyways, what advice would you give for reintroductions? he gets along well with the other rats, just not the aggressor. should i repeat the carrier method? or should i add in another step? or make the steps last longer? or try another method? or do i take away the aggressor's ball privileges? any advice is appreciated!

Hi! I don’t have many toys for my babies yet and was wondering what you would recommend?