Hi all. I am new to this community. Here are my babies!

( Fun behind the cut! )

it's gotten hot! here now, I have loads of cooling things/methods for my girls but wanted to ask about ceiling fans,as I'd like to try to keep this room cooler,for my comfort too. They're not common in the UK so hope some folks from hotter places will have some more knowledge. Would the draught from them be too much or does cooling the room over all outweigh the concern about them being in a draught?
Thanks

So I recently did a Bad Thing... I bought a rat from a pet shop. I know its not ideal, but she came from the same pet shop as my hamster Burton, and both animals are extremely friendly, tame and healthy, but I do understand that it encourages reckless breeding and increases the risk of health problems, but in my case I seem to have been lucky :)

Eva was the last rat left when I went to the store, when I spoke to the owner she said a woman had bought her 4 sisters and she felt really bad for one being left by herself, and I decided to take her. Though I don't own rats right now, I have owned them before and I know they need company, so though Eva is alone right now, my boyfriend and I have been fussing over her, she plays with us, pounces on our hands, hides in my hair, spends all day roaming my room (with breaks in the cage for food and water) and she bruxes and boggles the whole time. BUT I know human company can never replace that of another rat, so I want to get her a friend asap

I left my number with the pet store, and she'll ring me when they get more female rats, but that won't be for a few weeks, and I'd much rather adopt an unwanted rat from a shelter than buy from a store again. However, pet rats aren't exactly huge in this area, and an internet search doesn't bring up many rescues in the Cardiff area, and none that have rats.

So really I'm looking for information if any of you lovely internet people know of any animal shelters in the cardiff/south Wales area that take rats, or other suggestions on how to find a rat in need of a home?

And after my rambling, I reward thee with a photo! I'm posting on my phone so i don't know how to embed images, but have a link to the tumblr post: http://thedisappointmentofthefamily.tumblr.com/post/23036227838/introducing-the-newest-member-of-the-family-eva

The vet just confirmed that my baby girl Gaia has a uterine tumor. =(

She's not even 1 year old so I wasn't expecting her to get tumors so soon. The surgery costs 150 euros, I don't have that kind of money right now and my mom doesn´t want to pay for it because it's 'just a rat'. =(

Right now Gaia's still as active as ever, still eats and drinks as always but the vet told me that without the operation in a few months she would start deteriorating and that i would have to think about letting her go. =( She's now taking anti-inflammatory/pain medication and a vitamin suplemment.

And this is her


Edit:
I've been trying to gather some donations from my friends on facebook and I think I already have half the money I need for the surgery! yaay! I know you don't know from anywhere but if any of you also want to contribute, even if it's just with one euro/dollar, me and Gaia would really appreciate it and be eternnaly grateful! =)
My paypal is veelapt@hotmail.com
Thanks! =)

Merry is continuing nicely without his incisors, and so far he loves his pureed diet. I'm thinking of starting them all on it since I took the whole mischief in today for a checkup, and the vet said Mistletoe is a bit overweight, Holiday is perfect weight, Harley's perfect weight but needs a little extra supplement, and Merry is catching up in growth to his brothers after having difficulty eating for so long, and needs more to eat right now.

Having them all on a pureed food diet would be easier on me than trying to monitor four different diets, and should also stop the issues with cherry-picking choice tidbits, food theft, and the squabbles we're having at mealtimes.

So, how do I figure out how much pureed food I need to give each rat daily?

BTW, the puree I mix up is a bulk of Oxbow Regal Rat with a bit of Suebee's mix and fresh mixed vegetables (depending on what I have on hand).

Oh, and to add, yes, the ones who have incisors do have plenty to chew on to keep their teeth healthy. They have lots of toys and wood to chew when they need it, and they get treated to bones and shrimp/crab/lobster from time to time. So I have no worries about their teeth if I give them puree for dinner daily.

Can we say spoiled rotten ratties? :3

Today is my old man Harley's 3rd birthday!

( Some cute pictures from over the years )

Happy Birthday, my sweet old squish. :)

I made the very difficult choice to send Sirius to the rainbow bridge this morning.

The albuterol made a very slight improvement, but he had lost a few more grams and he was still struggling for every breath. Even wiggling out of the vet's arms after the exam tuckered him out. The vet looked at me sadly and told me she had no more suggestions to try, and that this was the best we could do. The best we could do was still him miserable and lethargic, and not my boy.

Rest in peace my beautiful boy.

Hey'all, I have a quick question about ratty health.

My third oldest rat, Derek, has been acting completely normal, his eating habits are regular, and nothing seems to be wrong, he always spends time cuddling with the other boys and doing fun rat things.

I picked him up the other day to give him a bellyrub (he doesn't like to be held usually, so I just let him meander and come up to me as he pleases) and I noticed that his entire belly, hind legs, and part of his forelegs were totally bald.

Do rats chew out their fur, like birds, or lick it off from too much grooming, like dogs, or is this a health problem?



Derek as a babby :3

It's been a long time since my last post, and a lot has happened. For those of you who need a refresher, I'm the one whose rats are musically talented.


Mr. Cheese practices saxophone. It isn't easy!

( PICTURES & UPDATES... )

I took Boomer to my rat vet yesterday to take a look at the scabs and sores on his back and side, as well as the one on his scrotum. My vet agreed that it seemed like mites, and he gave me some Fuciderm cream to put on the scabs. (Fortunately safe for Boomer to ingest, because he thinks it's the best stuff ever!) I also got some Revolution to treat both boys with (they're both ~520g, which worked out to 2 units each using a fine insulin syringe, so I think that's about 0.02mL).

After the vet's, I decided not to take any chances, and I threw out most of their toys. The remaining toys and both their log houses went into the freezer to sit for 48 hours. (I got some new toys today, and put those in the freezer to sit for a day just in case.) Then I pulled their cages apart and cleaned them with hot water and a bit of bleach, then rinsed with hot water and a hose. Their carrier, hammocks, and 'pee-towels' also got washed. Phew!

Well, looks like I didn't do all that cleaning in vain. I had thought the scab on Boomer's scrotum looked a little strange - it was black instead of red like the others, which are all on his side and back, and he hasn't been bothering at it like the others either. Today, he chewed the scab off. Turns out there was a sneaky cyst in there! I squeezed some pus out (he did not thank me for that) and then left him to nurse it a bit himself. Tomorrow I'll call the vet and see if we should get him on some antibiotics or leave it be. I'm still not giving him any meat treats in case he is getting too much protein, but having a cyst certainly seems to point to mites - I'm guessing he's had them for awhile, and showed no symptoms until the cyst showed up.

tl;dr Poor Boomer's having a pretty bad week! Hopefully we're on top of it now.