# Rat Help



## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

My rat has started bleeding from his penis last night, his stopped now. but im worried my dad wont take him to a vet because he says its jsut rat he cost you £5 and its to expensive for a rat, but im trying to convince him that ill pay for it out of my money in the bank any advice on this? heres my lil pal after the bleeding started he looks all nakerd out


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

Tell your dad that under the Animal WElfare Act it is illegal to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal by neglecting to take it to a vet for treatment of an illness. If he didn't want vet bills, he should not have allowed you to get the pet. The cost or monetary value of the pet is irrelevant in the eyes of the law. You can get a prison term or thousands of pounds worth of fines if prosecuted.

I hope your rat is ok - make sure he is drinking plenty, as this will help if he was a water infection.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

thank you so much, my mom feels bad for me i hold him dearly as he has become attached to me, he was takin away from his mother to early and sold....he started crawling on my bed and placed him self into my hands i just started crying i couldent handle it.....i want to join the rspca when i get older, and seeing him like this makes me so angry, and frustrated at my dad...his out atm but when his back ill be sure to tell him thank you...iv looked on the web and it isent a water infection, its to do with crystals int he urin and need antibiotics or it can cause death.


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

^^^^^ as above.

nothing but a vet can do anything to help him. it could be a bladder infection which may clear with anti biotics. or it could be something much worse like a tumour. . .


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

thank you very much can see you cheack for to see if there is an exotic vet near me please, i live in birmingham


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

just google for vets in your area , and phone around. if you go into general herp chat theres a sticky there were people have put up recomended vets.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

thank you, his a dear part of my life, i got him the same day i got into a realtionship with my current girlfriend it has now been almost 7 months so his about 1yr 1 month old


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

keep us updated on how things go. hopefully your dad sees sense. i cant stand it when people dont want to pay vet bills just because the animal itself was cheap. what a horrible way of thinking.

good luck.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

i shall keep you updated thank you....i convinced my mom by saying its my pet ill pay for him my self if your to cheap to do it......i get 200 a month due to "autisum" so i had an argument about it an won over my mom its jsut my dad now and his headstrong. but ill win....i won to get the rat and i shall win to save the fluff ball


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

I assume your money is a DLA payment. If your rat helps improve your quality of life, then there is no reason why you can't use the money to help your rat in the same was as a blind person would take their guide dog to a vet. Just thought I'd say this in case you are told "you can't use that money for your rat" - yes you can!!


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

if your mums won over and your the one paying, could she not just take you? regardless if your dad thinks its worth saving your beloved pet?
or is it a case of what your dad says goes? 

i live with my gran and she countiniously argues with me about spending money on my pets. in her eyes if its smaller than a cat , its not worth taking to the vets. but thankfully im old enough to be in a position to ignore her.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Thank you so very much, this just made me smile like this >>> 
he indeed does improve my life he curled up into my hands today and i was serprised he had never done this before him being so energectic it was strange to see him sleeping in the day.....thank you i shall speak to him when he comes home


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

trogdorable said:


> if your mums won over and your the one paying, could she not just take you? regardless if your dad thinks its worth saving your beloved pet?
> or is it a case of what your dad says goes?
> 
> i live with my gran and she countiniously argues with me about spending money on my pets. in her eyes if its smaller than a cat , its not worth taking to the vets. but thankfully im old enough to be in a position to ignore her.




what my dad says goes, and to him that final he isent even taking my dog to the vet and i need to post somthing on here about him i shall not in this thread because irrlavent. but he has like a bald patchs on his head and im amusing his a tumor due him being a white boxer


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

why i allowing pets in his house if he doesnt want to be paying vet bills . . .

it just baffles me. i would definently quote to him whats been said about potential fines and animal right laws.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

trogdorable said:


> why i allowing pets in his house if he doesnt want to be paying vet bills . . .
> 
> it just baffles me. i would definently quote to him whats been said about potential fines and animal right laws.


indeed he doesent mind paying for dogs but anything smaller is a no no..... and im goin to have a rant with him, me and my dad dont really get along much, seens as im bigger then him now at 16 he cant do nothing but were at each other throats like a couple of :censor:


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

Aww he is so cute! I hope you get him to a vet, even something as simple as a bladder infection can be life threatening  hope he gets better...

I have three rats and get kisses from them everyday! Rats are the best! x


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Disillusioned said:


> Aww he is so cute! I hope you get him to a vet, even something as simple as a bladder infection can be life threatening  hope he gets better...
> 
> I have three rats and get kisses from them everyday! Rats are the best! x



thank you as we speak he just cleaned him self up again and curled into a ball x bless him


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

UPDATE
.................
dads going to ring the vets on monday and try to get an appointment, he said his only going once because its the cost.. but atleast his agreed to go and do it....thanks guys couldent av done it with out you... ill keep updating on hsi progress


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

Good luck! I hope ratty gets well soon


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

thank you  he decided to do it as he just started bleeding again and i had to chance his bedding but hay ho his goin vets  my girlfriend said if she can make it shell come aswell as she adore him  there a picture of them both on my profile thank you again


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

put put the carrier in his cage to get him used to it for tomarrow so here he is with the teddy my girlfriend got him a few months ago


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

How did the vets go?


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Disillusioned said:


> How did the vets go?



hasnt been get appointments at 5


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

JakeTheDragon said:


> hasnt been get appointments at 5


Let us know wont ya, hope all is good x


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Disillusioned said:


> Let us know wont ya, hope all is good x



the vet couldent tell there wasent anything wrong with his bladder (that he could feel) he offerd an xray and urin test but my dad said no due to the cost (expected) so hes on antibiotics atm (baytrill oral 2.5%)


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

Chances are that antibiotics would have been the treatment even after xrays etc. Make sure the little guy takes all his doses! I hope he gets well soon and well done for persisting with your dad!


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Loderuna said:


> Chances are that antibiotics would have been the treatment even after xrays etc. Make sure the little guy takes all his doses! I hope he gets well soon and well done for persisting with your dad!



indeed i can always get around him, we were on are way there in the car and he said " jake,im sure iv gone soft" i went " what you mean"...." 10 years ago i wouldnt be speading £33 on a rat i would of left him in his cage...." i just turned and said " dad your twisted but im payin..."


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## Twosharppencils (Jan 10, 2012)

Hi Jake,

How is your rat now? I have just recently joined and found this thread. Having had Rats as pets in the past, I know they make fab pets and are really affectionate.

I hope he has responded to his Baytril and is making a good recovery.
Please let me know because I shall worry....


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Twosharppencils said:


> Hi Jake,
> 
> How is your rat now? I have just recently joined and found this thread. Having had Rats as pets in the past, I know they make fab pets and are really affectionate.
> 
> ...



his getting better been a few days since his been on them his gatta have them for 10 days, i cant tell if he hasent stop bleeding seens as i havent changed his bedding yet naughty me i was caught up with somthing and forgot so i have to do that, overall his more active now thanks for caring all


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## Twosharppencils (Jan 10, 2012)

Well I am relieved to hear that Jake. Thanks for letting us know so quickly. Treat him with tenderness, he obviously loves you. 
Take care of yourself too


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Twosharppencils said:


> Well I am relieved to hear that Jake. Thanks for letting us know so quickly. Treat him with tenderness, he obviously loves you.
> Take care of yourself too



thank you i might be getting him a friend saterday as he was intresed in a rat when i wen to the pet shop normly he attacks them, but this was a youngster 6 months old hasent hit the territoral stage at 8 months yet


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Should you be taking your rat out and putting him in close contact with another in a pet shop whilst he is on antibiotics?

From what you have said about your Dad then he probably won't let you have a second rat plus of course you would need to quarantine him.


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

Stephen P said:


> Should you be taking your rat out and putting him in close contact with another in a pet shop whilst he is on antibiotics?
> 
> From what you have said about your Dad then he probably won't let you have a second rat plus of course you would need to quarantine him.


Also, I would be worried that if the new rat were to get sick, would your dad take it to the vets? Coz it took some persuading to get him to take this one!

Glad to hear he's on the mend btw : victory:


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Disillusioned said:


> Also, I would be worried that if the new rat were to get sick, would your dad take it to the vets? Coz it took some persuading to get him to take this one!
> 
> Glad to hear he's on the mend btw : victory:



he has agreed to getting one if i keep my end of the deal, and it takes 10 days for my rat to heal, and that enough time till they need to be introduce and i agreed id pay vet bills


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

Glad he's on the mend :2thumb:


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Loderuna said:


> Glad he's on the mend :2thumb:



we have got our new rat, pet shop said it was a boy got home and found out its a girl, ah well, we are going to allow them to breed as we have a spare cage for her and her babies, then were keeping a male and female and allowing the rest to be sold...so the male can stay with winston and the girl can stay with the mother so neither rat can be lonly  

heres the new addition clematine
she is a female, husky dumbo.
winston churshulls wife in world war 2


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

This just shocked me...why on earth are you breeding your rats when you couldn't even tell the difference between a male and female?
Surely you wouldn't have trusted a pet shop to tell you?
Plus, your rat should have been quarantined properly before you let her get this close to your male, especially seeing as he is not well at the moment!
Pet shops are the worst for selling animals with illnesses!

Not saying I'm an expert, but it's pretty standard stuff with most animals isn't it?


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

i would also add that (and i have done a fair bit of sticking up for you!) what happens if mum and babies get ill?
will you take them to the vet?
this is madness... i think maybe you need to wait until you move into your own home in several years before getting anymore pets.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Rach1 said:


> i would also add that (and i have done a fair bit of sticking up for you!) what happens if mum and babies get ill?
> will you take them to the vet?
> this is madness... i think maybe you need to wait until you move into your own home in several years before getting anymore pets.



she has been cheacked over by a vet and has the all clean healthy as a fiddle, babies and mum will be in a difo room then the dad will stay with me in my room. winston is almost complete better i see no more blood on his bedding and next week will be when they are introduced, they said it was a "castrated" male no intill i got in the car and decided to look i found nipples, so you cannot blame me on this one for being given false infomation but we are going to breed them and keep two pups and as i said i am now paying for any vet bills that need to be done.....


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

As far as I know, males will fight if there are females in the same area (they will smell females if they are in the house), so keeping a male baby back might not be such a good idea. If I were you, I would return the incorrectly sexed rat to the petshop and change it for a male - it's really not that hard to sex them, so ask for someone competent to sort you out. Better still, get a ratty companion from someone else, as this petshop doesn't seem to be too clued up!


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

If you got her, as planned on Saturday, did you take her for a vet check up then. If it was the shop, then surely they would have been told by the vet it was female?


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Loderuna said:


> As far as I know, males will fight if there are females in the same area (they will smell females if they are in the house), so keeping a male baby back might not be such a good idea. If I were you, I would return the incorrectly sexed rat to the petshop and change it for a male - it's really not that hard to sex them, so ask for someone competent to sort you out. Better still, get a ratty companion from someone else, as this petshop doesn't seem to be too clued up!



female isent staying in my room after breeding, i cant take her back to stay in a cage on her own its just awful ill be keeping one of the babies with the mother and the other with winston and one rat will be in the living room other in my room  sorry if i seem like a :censor: but i cant take her back, i cant just "swap" her like shes an object, iv seen many people that have kept male and female rats in the same room with no problems, but if i have to i shall keep the in different rooms  thank you for all your support


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## Daisyy (Jan 15, 2010)

The majority of pet shop rats are badly bred, and only bred for money. Its not a good thing to carry on that line, the only reason someone should breed anything is to improve/carry on a good line of breeding, It's much better for the female to be taken back and swapped for a male rather than it possibly dying from complications at birth, do you know how to identify when something is wrong with a pregnant rat? Will you know how to sex the babies in time before they start to breed with each other?

If your female does have complications when giving birth, that can cost a lot of money which you might not be able to afford, it may happen at night and by the sound of it I doubt your father will take the rat to the emergency vet at 2am or whatever.

Sorry to rant at you but I think you are being extremely selfish.


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## Rhianna.J (Nov 5, 2011)

Daisyy said:


> The majority of pet shop rats are badly bred, and only bred for money. Its not a good thing to carry on that line, the only reason someone should breed anything is to improve/carry on a good line of breeding, It's much better for the female to be taken back and swapped for a male rather than it possibly dying from complications at birth, do you know how to identify when something is wrong with a pregnant rat? Will you know how to sex the babies in time before they start to breed with each other?
> 
> If your female does have complications when giving birth, that can cost a lot of money which you might not be able to afford, it may happen at night and by the sound of it I doubt your father will take the rat to the emergency vet at 2am or whatever.
> 
> Sorry to rant at you but I think you are being extremely selfish.


i do agree with this. By the sounds of it, this pet shop has no clue what they are doing if they cannot even sex a rat, so i doubt the rats will be from good breeders. The majority of pet shop rats are inbred and from cheap suppliers, and shouldnt really ever be bred from. 

Your rat has just been to the vets, after delayed treatment, is on antibiotics, was taken to a pet shop where all sorts of nasties could be, put near another rat, and is now sitting side by side by that new rat who could be carrying anything. A vet cannot see on the insides of a rat or know if it is carrying any viruses. Thats why people quarantine animals, especially when they buy their animals from pet shops..... 

If the new rat does infect your new rat (im not saying that will happen, but there is a chance) with a virus, the flu (quite a few pet shop rats have snuffles and sneezes due to being kept on cheap quality shavings), mites etc, can you afford to take 2 rats to the vets now?, when you had to beg your dad to take the first one?


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## ami_j (Jan 6, 2007)

Loderuna said:


> As far as I know, males will fight if there are females in the same area (they will smell females if they are in the house), so keeping a male baby back might not be such a good idea. If I were you, I would return the incorrectly sexed rat to the petshop and change it for a male - it's really not that hard to sex them, so ask for someone competent to sort you out. Better still, get a ratty companion from someone else, as this petshop doesn't seem to be too clued up!


this is not true...i had an explorer cage split with males in the bottom and females in the top and they did not fight. I still have males in the same room as females ..also not true

OP you are out of your mind if you think this is a good idea...sorry but you want to breed two pet shop rats you have no history on? do you know how many babys rats have? they are VERY expensive to raise and feed. what if mum needs an emergency c section? you are looking over ONE HUNDRED POUNDS for this. i'm not even joking. 

the best thing for you to do is to find the female a new home and get a pair of young males to keep with your boy when he is well!
you havent quarantined the female or anything!

if you care one jot about your pets you will not breed them. all you are likely to end up with is alot of sick rats


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

at the start of this thread you seemed to geniunly care for your pet, and seemed somewhat mature.
this new female was checked by a vet? when your dad wouldnt take your rat to get needed treatment hes now taking this new one for a check up?

do you have any idea what your doing? do you know how to care for a pregnant doe? what kind of cage setup shel need?

the last thing the pet trade needs are more badly bred rats. 
do you know how many babies you could possibly be dealing with?

this just screams problems to me =/ 
get yourself on a rat forum. see what experianced people have to say about what you intend to do.


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

do you know what, and this will proably irk people on here but i'm gonna be truthful in what i say. I think he knew the rat was a female! 
none of this story makes sense or rings true and i think maybe Jake sees it as a away of either making some cash OR a bit of a lark...of which it is neither.
You are being entirley selfish and unreasonable and those poor rats are going to be bearing the brunt of this.
Winston isnt ever over his illnness properly and you're putting him in with a female?
not only could you spread illnesses about but what about his mental welfare, 
If he has had a virus or illness you shouldnt be breeding from him at all.
I am strongly suspicious of your motivations and reasoins behind all this and although i would never wish ill on any thing or animal i suspect this will go horribly wrong.


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

in the pic is the female on sawdust? or am i mistaken?

i hope you listen to what people are saying kid. you want to breed ANYTHING you do it when your capable of paying for expensive treatment, when you know the background of the parents and you know what your doing. otherwise your just being irresponsible and selfish.:banghead:


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

i also, do not believe that the shop sold you a suposedly neutered male...
no pet shop has males nutered to sell, its not cost effective for them.
again, i think you're saying this to back pedal.
its not that we are being nasty to hurt you in any way but this idea is bloody stupid and dangerous. And, it will be us offering advice on how to solve it when it all goes badly wrong!

please listen to us and do not put them together... whether you intend to keep the babies or not... its silly!
what do you plan to do with the other babies that are left?


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

Rach1 said:


> i also, do not believe that the shop sold you a suposedly neutered male...
> no pet shop has males nutered to sell, its not cost effective for them.
> again, i think you're saying this to back pedal.
> its not that we are being nasty to hurt you in any way but this idea is bloody stupid and dangerous. And, it will be us offering advice on how to solve it when it all goes badly wrong!
> ...



let me get this traight one of you for got who, says i knew it was female...ok then im not that much an idiot i have done my research on caring for rats and pregnate does i have seen both father an mother of both rats, as i asked for th info and where the shop got them from...rats in my pet shop are handed in from people who can not take care of them or has insecpected litters, and my dad is not paying for the vet bills i am my self with the money i have collected over the years of being Disabled. shall be sold, and found home to my close friends and family.


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## ami_j (Jan 6, 2007)

ever feel you are banging your head against a brick wall? 

so you saw the parents baring in mind the pet shop lied and said that she was a neutered male! do you have full history on all the rats siblings? what the grandparents died of? any dieseases that their relations have died of? this is the stuff proper breeders know before even thinking of breeding. do you know even how old she is?


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

"rats in my pet shop are handed in from people who can not take care of them or has insecpected litters"

is that supposed to mean theyre not badly bred? 

and youve seen both mother and father of both rats? well thats impressive if your pet shop gets them randomly handed in eh? did you ask for the personal information of the people who handed your female in and go visit them to see her parents?

getting a bit ridiculous now.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

trogdorable said:


> "rats in my pet shop are handed in from people who can not take care of them or has insecpected litters"
> 
> is that supposed to mean theyre not badly bred?
> 
> ...



the owner was in the shop when i went to buy her she is coming on 7 months old....


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

and the owner thought his pet was a neutered male ?

i mean he thought he got this male rat neutered , but actually it was an intact female?

and the owner had the rats parents with them?

theres no point in lying to us. we want to help. we're telling you your making a mistake and your making things up to make it seem like your not.


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## JakeTheDragon (Dec 19, 2011)

trogdorable said:


> and the owner thought his pet was a neutered male ?
> 
> i mean he thought he got this male rat neutered , but actually it was an intact female?
> 
> theres no point in lying to us. we want to help. we're telling you your making a mistake and your making things up to make it seem like your not.



he lied to the pet shop, fine if you think im lying you keep bealiving that im an honest person...i do not lie.


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

your claiming youve seen both of your rats parents? how? and only after it was mentioned that you should know the background of the parents.

as i said, theres no point in lying. you want to put them at risk , no one can stop you. you want to add more poorly bred rats into the trade, on you go.

no one here can stop you doing something stupid. people can only advise you not too. and people can only advise if they know the facts. 

:blowup:


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

JakeTheDragon said:


> let me get this traight one of you for got who, says i knew it was female...ok then im not that much an idiot i have done my research on caring for rats and pregnate does i have seen both father an mother of both rats, as i asked for th info and where the shop got them from...rats in my pet shop are handed in from people who can not take care of them or has insecpected litters, and my dad is not paying for the vet bills i am my self with the money i have collected over the years of being Disabled. shall be sold, and found home to my close friends and family.



Twas me that said that...and i stand by it.
How can you have seen both parents if she was a rescue case?
Any who that's by the by, the issue here regardless of where she came from, is why on earth are you breeding from her?
I tend not to go down the lines as mentioned on here with regards to pet shop rats etc etc... My stand is the male rats health and your ability to pay vets fees should you need to.
Yes everyone goes through rough patches and god knows my husband and i have just started to emerge from one but in that period i would not have dreamed of breeding rats, fish, dogs or anything.
This situation is terrible and I am rapidly loosing and respect i had for you or your situation.
Its not nice being 'told' you cant do something you may have wanted to do, I know, But can you not see that this situation, given all what you have told us in the past couple of weeks, is silly and borderline dangerous.


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

JakeTheDragon said:


> the owner was in the shop when i went to buy her she is coming on 7 months old....



you've just dropped yourself right in it pal.

if the owner was there (as trog says) how on earth did she ever get mistaken for a male...

Just tell us the truth...:whistling2:


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

do you know how much a c-section would cost at your vets?
aftercare?

so you have homes for 12-15 rats? possibly more. the space to seperate them?

whats your dads view on all this? does he mind all these extra rats?


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

JakeTheDragon said:


> let me get this traight one of you for got who, says i knew it was female...*ok then im not that much an idiot i have done my research on caring for rats and pregnate does i have seen both father an mother of both rats,* as i asked for th info and where the shop got them from...rats in my pet shop are handed in from people who can not take care of them or has insecpected litters, and my dad is not paying for the vet bills i am my self with the money i have collected over the years of being Disabled. shall be sold, and found home to my close friends and family.


this bit in bold is laughable too...
had you done all your research you would know the difference between a male and female rat.
Our dog is a neutered male and depite his lack of gonads you can still tell he is male
ok, rats are smaller but i would guess there are some tell tale signs of maleness!:whistling2:


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

his whole story is laughable.
although i think a neutered male would be lacking the extremely obvious erm , packages, the spacing between the anus and shaft would be obvious no? not to mention nipples which is how he says he noticed it was female ,which btw CODOS for noticing.

i think he is a :liar:

he keeps saying hes done research but again am i not seeing in those pics that those rats are on sawdust? or is it something that looks like sawdust?

cos it takes 2 seconds of typing in rat care into google to find out sawdust isnt rat friendly.


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## Daisyy (Jan 15, 2010)

This is just ridiculous, why was the owner there, does she/he wait there all day everyday for someone to adopt their 7 month old "male" rat.

If it's a breeder and they've had a rat 7 months, it will be caged with others.

That rat would have been constantly pregnant and she would have known it's female.

Why were the parents there? Just stop lying, we are just trying to look out for the well being of your rat.


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

Thing is i dont want to come across as nasty as that just aint me, but i get frustrated when people do these things without thinking them through.


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## Daisyy (Jan 15, 2010)

It's just the fact that he has next to no care for the well being of these rats in my opinion.

I don't want to be mean but it's just my opinion :\ The fact that he had only one rat for ages just shows how little experience he has.


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

actually, to be fair there is a story behind that... although given todays show of events i wonder if thats true too?
anywho...
heres a link to a web site all about breeding rats...i would ask that you read it carefully as there are many issues raised on it that we are raising too.
Breeding Rats


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## Twosharppencils (Jan 10, 2012)

I have to say, I am very concerned for all these potential new baby rats! The animals care should come first is what we are all trying to say. A rats instinct in life is to eat, sleep and breed. 

Rats are intelligent creatures and will breed regularly (if they have a constant supply of food) and they don't have to go searching for their next meal. If they can provide for those babies, they will go on to have lots and lots of babies.

You will be overrun in next to no time and if you don't have homes lined up or a warm place to keep them, then I fear at what might happen.

We're all talking from experience Jake and please listen and not get another rat --- especially female. Just love the boy, after all I'm sure he loves you as an owner.


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## trogdorable (Feb 4, 2011)

Twosharppencils said:


> We're all talking from experience Jake and please listen and not get another rat --- especially female. Just love the boy, after all I'm sure he loves you as an owner.


 
hes already got the female.
i personally think he should have been neutered and introd to females when he showed aggression toward other males. a rat should have the company of other rats, and given your attitude right now im doubting you done all you could to properly introduce him to company.


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## Twosharppencils (Jan 10, 2012)

Oh dear, I did miss a couple of days on here. I just hope Jake listens to some expert advice and doesn't breed them!


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## Disillusioned (Jan 3, 2012)

Some people just can't be told! :bash:


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

His male rat _could still_ be neutured and introduced to the female he already has couldn't he?

Sounds like a better solution and probably cheaper too considering the care of a litter of babies, vets bills plus any emergencies that could happen.

ETA: It sounds like breeding was thought of as a solution to a problem, wheras really it's just more of a problem. I still agree that they should have been quarentined apart and the male should get better first though.


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