My last post, all the context is there: https://www.reddit.com/r/RATS/s/jlTto84CSj

Sophie’s sniffing is faintly squeaky (unlike her sister), but I don’t hear labored breathing. She’s not acting abnormal but her existing issues got worse. Her left side is coated in the red grizzle. I can’t readily get to a vet. Idk if this is an eye infection or an URI or both. What can I do?

Note: I do live on a college campus, I’m going to see if I can get someone in the vet tech department to look at her.

This is my boy Faustious. He’s a wild brown rat found by a kind-hearted person as a little pinkie in an NYC subway who brought him to a wildlife rehabber. Through of a series of fortunate events, he came to me through a friend of a friend who bottle fed him for 6 weeks, and then I took him in. I was advised by multiple rat experts, including an exotic vet, that he was a rare exception that should be housed solo because of fears he may become aggressive once he reached maturity. Well this little boy doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and he’s been nothing but a love to every person he meets (he’s never met another rat, so I’m not sure what his reaction would be but I digress) Initially, the first vet he saw said that he may possibly live longer than domestic rats due to less inbred genetics in wild populations…. However, he’s about 2.5 years old now and his new vet recently diagnosed him with heart disease and said he’s presenting more as “advanced geriatric.” He’s also got some hip arthritis and has definitely slowed down a bit.

We started him on heart meds, he has a follow up tomorrow, but I’m hoping he’ll make it to his 3rd birthday in May. I dread the day he passes away 😭 he’s truly been a little spiritual messenger for me, and has lifted me out of the darkest time of my life (I became disabled a few years back and had to leave work right around the time he came into my life) I don’t know what I’ll do without him!!! As rat lovers know all too well, I wish they lived longer!!! Just wanted to share my little guy and his recent health issues. Was wondering if anyone else has dealt with heart disease in their rats and if they responded well to meds? How much longer did they live after diagnosis?

I've looked at it at two different stores and and different bags of the same stuff and there always seems to be dust in it?

I i should have taken a picture but I found small bits settled at the bottom of the bag, is that okay? is it just broken up aspen? the bulk bag is a great price and I want to get it so I'd love to know if im being overly paranoid or what.

Hey I'm sure it's normal but I need advice for befriending my new rat, I've had him and his brother for about 3 days and whilst I've made tonnes of progress befriending Wybie my other Lobster (pictured) bites me at ever opportunity (never broken skin) and runs away when my hand goes near him. I've had him sniff and lick me when I'm wearing gloves but ultimately he still tries to take a chunk out of me. I hope this will get better with time and I won't try to pick him up any time soon it's just a little strange as his brother is the complete opportunity and comes to the bars for me to let him out and hold. Any advice for making friends welcome:)

I went on holiday a week ago with friends and had to leave my rats with my family for 10 days, since my mums is allergic to the rats and my dad was bit by one of them one time they both aren’t too keen on looking after them, so I let my younger sister do it. She is young but I have taught her a lot, she uses a gentle calm voice around them, let’s them run around for play time without bothering them and is overall pretty good at caring for them. She sent me videos of them while I was away and I was very pleased to see how she was looking after them.

I think this is where the problem came in. This is partly an angry rant and also a post to ask for advice but my cousin came over, who is best friends with my younger sister. She love love LOVED the rats. So much that my mum let the girls have my friendly rat out to play with them. Apparently my cousin was squealing and squeezed my rat a bit too tight and made her squeak… I’m not sure what else happened while my mum wasn’t watching but wtf do I do. How can I get my girl back to her friendly out going self? I’ve told my family I’m very disappointed they let them play with my rat without even asking me. She just isn’t the same rat anymore.

I'm trying to get ideas for my own rats. I would really appreciate it! thank you!

my female rat is grooming her sister too aggressively ive noticed bloody bites on her and i hear her squeak often. it started not a long time ago. any recommendations on what to do with the wounds? or should i go to the vet?

I only always hear that rat introduction with the new batch went well. For my 15 rats in total it also always went well. Are there stories where it didn't go as planned?

my girl nellie is about 2 and a half and developed a tumour about 2 months ago i’d say. we spoke to our vet and she didn’t recommend surgery as nellie already suffers from respiratory distress which she has medication for and she is so small she most likely wouldn’t survive the surgery, she also gets very nervous when we take her to the vets and we never understood why (she doesn’t really like strangers either) so overall we decided not to take the surgery option and give her love and care until eventually the time came but the tumour has grown quite abit and i’m just worried she will eventually be in pain. iv had 2 of my rats put down as neither would of been able to pass peacefully at home but im just wondering if anyone has any advice or help to encourage them to pass at home, im just so worried about putting her through the stress of a stranger in the last moments of her life and she would be a lot more comfortable cuddled up with me while passing i know she would. if anyone’s ever had a rat peacefully pass at home please help me out! :)

So...my older rat, Narvi, passed and I decided to get her sister, Váli, some baby sisters. Admittedly I made a grave mistake in introducing them too early. So now she has two sisters waiting to meet her. How big should they be before I try again? Váli is over two years old and Violet and II (Sage II) are approximately 3–4 weeks old.

i love my rats. i have spent SO much time, money, and effort on research and supplies to put together a perfect cage for them, and i felt like i was doing everything right for a while. however, i’m afraid now that i am not putting in enough work to make them happy. i’m afraid they’re bored. i can’t free roam them every day because a) i don’t have enough time and b) free roaming them really stresses me out. i’m a super anxious person and free roaming is pretty much just an hour of pure anxiety for me… i’m afraid they’re going to escape somehow and my entire apartment is hardwood so they pee and poop everywhere on the floor (potty training is not going well) and i’m afraid this is going to leave stains and mess up my security deposit. i have three boys in a critter nation with tons of enrichment toys and stuff, and i make time to at least hold them or hang out with them in the snuggle scarf everyday, but i know that i don’t free roam them nearly as often as i should…it’s really hard for me because i really really love them so much, and i feel really guilty about all of this. has anyone felt like this? can anyone offer advice?

My stinky little man (nearing 2 years old) has recurring URIs (hence the porphyrin), and we've been treating him for it a little over a week. We figured that's why he's been less active, and a bit slower. We've both been so busy, and because I'd seen him on the upper levels of the cage, until recently, I didn't think his movement was impaired. He's been acting like normal, it's not unusual for him to be a sleepy, lazy little guy. But I noticed a day or two ago that his hind legs were dragging behind him. It seemed like it was sudden, but I guess I may have missed the slow progression somehow. He was still getting around, but it was a bit awkward for him. It was the weekend, so I figured I'd monitor him closely and call the vet on Monday. I always get worried about hydration when they're sick, so I was giving him as much water as he'd take through a syringe (he was drinking a lot). I made sure to feed him specifically (he was still consistently eating), and whenever I came with treats/medicine he perked up and kinda wormed his way to the front of the cage. He was making a bit of noise on the 1st, but yesterday he seemed to be doing better. This morning, he's been making noise for longer periods of time than normal, but still with significant breaks between boughts (couple hours or more). I also noticed this morning that his front paws are kind of curled in, and he's still using his hands for food, but not his fingers (so he's using them as stumps). But when he looks at me, nudges my hand away, goes to eat, anything, his behavior is completely normal. It's just his body is not. His stool is extremely soft (I figured at first it was just because of the amoxicillin), and I'm very worried about him. I'm fighting between the fact that I should let him go, because I can't mentally or financially afford a long battle for his life, and the guilt and confusion because he's still my little guy, on the inside. He's still sweet and loving and excitable. Still so much energy and life and fight in him. I've been in contact with the vet and we discussed euthanasia, but I can't bring myself to create an appointment because he's still got that spark in his eyes. It's $130 and I'd struggle to afford even that, and I think I'm slipping into denial that the spark is slowly fading. I want to know if there's anything more I can do for him, even if it means I have to pull from my savings and shell out cash for something I can't personally afford at the moment. But I don't know what I should do. For him, or myself. I'm still holding out hope that there could be something to make him better, and it's killing me to think of putting him down if he's still got a chance for recovery. If there's still a chance to have my bub back, even for a couple months, I know I'd regret making this decision too soon. I can always make more money, but I can't get him back. He's my first rat, the smartest, and this is the first time I'm faced with this kind of decision to make.

TLDR- My 2yo rat's body functions are weakening, but his behavior is unchanged - he's still moving around (albeit awkwardly) and excitable. I'm faced with a tough decision that I really don't want to make. I need advice/support, please.

Hey guys! So my boy Oats has been honking in his sleep for a while now (since Christmas probably). Other than that he's totally fine, still running around and eating drinking etc, and he wheeze in the day. I'm going to take him to the vets again but this will be his 2nd bottle of anti biotics this month and the last one didnt seem to do much. Also there's no crackles or noises in his lungs during the day so the vets aren't really sure what to do.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to help him from home in between vet visits, such as steam treatment and stuff? I just don't want him to be struggling if the meds aren't doing much:( he's 2 now so getting on a bit and I just want him to be comfy. Thanks!!

Soo, I got two baby girls a few days ago and one of them is quite shy, she likes pets and cuddles but doesn't take treats from me and does come up to my hand but isn't climbing on it yet.. when I pick her up to take her out for free roaming, she doesn't mind too much and will only jump out my hand every now and then (she's a little escape artist lol).. any tips for treats she may like/ how I can bond with her in the best way for her personality ?

I usually give my ratties mealworms as treats and the others all love them..