Single Rattie. . . All Alone

[TobyRat]

Well here it goes. . .

My friend's dad bought a rat to feed to his snake. The rat who his daughtor named Joe was too big for the snake to eat so it suddenly become her pet. Joe is ignored, not touched, not played with, and is all alone. So I was wondering if rats could die with depression of not being loved/handeled. I love this rattie but it seams like no one believes me on how lonely he is. I'm not sure if she will let me have him. Or that my mom will let me have him. If we take him back to the pet store he will become snake food.

I don't know what to do! Can u guys help me think of something. . .maybe together we can save him. . .

[Adrena-Lynn]

Well, I have a single rat...but she spends almost every moment in the day with me. And when I do leave her alone, she does seem to get depressed very quickly. I think what Joe needs is another rat to play with or a human with lots of love and time to give him.

[Ravnos]

Please talk to your friend about feeding frozen/thawed food items - very few snakes have a problem with properly thawed food. It is much safer for the snake (no risk for bites), and you don't end up with situations like this.

Rav

[TobyRat]

Well all turned out well. My mom and my friend both agreed that I sould have him and he is sitting on my lap right now. He'll have a very good home with some friends and I'll talk to her about frozen food too.

But before I go I have one question about gender. I think he is a he but he dosn't have well. . . any balls. So anyways when do they start to show? He is about 7 weeks old.

[Christy]

If the rat is 7 weeks old and there is no obvious "package" then you have a girl. Another way you can check is to look and see if s/he has nipples. Only female rats have nipples. I'm betting Joe is a girl.

[Adrena-Lynn]

Aww I'm so happy everything turned out fine! Joe sounds like a girl for sure. I got my female rat at 5 weeks and I took a look at her brothers and they were obviously boys!

[TobyRat]

Well I looked at Joe and it seems he may be growing some testicals. But then again I looked closer and saw it also looked like he has "girl parts". I can't see any ovious nipples tho.

I'm so confused. . . I even tried comparing them to my current rats but still can't tell!

[TobyRat]

Just found out 100% GIRL!!!

. . .even tho i wanted a boy.

[wasat]

They can get lonely just like anything or anyone. But if your giving her plenty of attention all the time that is a great thing. Her life can only get better. Glad to hear of a sucessful rescue!