[Momof3Js]

Hello! So glad that I found this forum!! I am a new rat mommy to Monkey Our little lady is about 5 months old we believe. We got her at the end of August and were told she was about 3 months old. I have a few questions...

1. Shortly after we got her we noticed a sore on the outside bottom of each back foot. They have healed and one went away completely, but the other looks like dry skin. Any idea what caused this? or how to prevent it?

2. How do you keep the nails from getting long and sharp? I have been using nail clippers, which she tolerates, but is not real trilled about.

3. The rat cage we purchased had a little house in it. She rarely goes in it and prefers to sleep on the top shelf. We have moved the house around and even put it on the top shelf, but she will push it off the shelf. Is this normal? Do most of you have a hammock or sack for your ratties to sleep in?

4. We only purchased one rat... then read that they prefer to be with other rats. Do any of you have rats on their own? She is taken out of her cage several times every day to play with either myself or the kids so she has lots of socialization and play time...

5. Is there an easy way to add another rat to our family without having to buy another cage?

We have really enjoyed having a rat!! She is so loving!! She loves to run around on the couch and especially loves sitting on the back of my neck under my hair. She also will lick us at times! We call them kisses!!

Thanks so much for your help everyone!!

 

[FlickeringHope]

1.) Sounds like bumblefoot
2.) You could put something abrasive in the cage for her to run around on and hopefully file her nails down.
3.) Animals rarely ever sleep where you want them to, lol. You could give her a hammock or just a pile of cloth to nest in/move to where she wants it.
4.) Humans are no replacement for another rat, unfortunately
5.) Not really. You need to quarantine any new comers, and the easiest way to do that is in a separate cage in a separate part of the household

 

[Momof3Js]

I just googled bumblefoot... it doesn't look like that thank goodness! Her's is just a small spot that look like what your skin would look like after a scab fell off (or was picked off). white and dry with no swelling.

Any suggestions on where to get a young rat to add to our family? The pet store we got Monkey from only has ones that look like they are her age.

Also - she is a fancy rat - do we need to get the same type or could be try a dumbo rat? Are they similar?

 

[Tomskrat]

I just googled bumblefoot... it doesn't look like that thank goodness! Her's is just a small spot that look like what your skin would look like after a scab fell off (or was picked off). white and dry with no swelling.

Any suggestions on where to get a young rat to add to our family? The pet store we got Monkey from only has ones that look like they are her age.

Also - she is a fancy rat - do we need to get the same type or could be try a dumbo rat? Are they similar?

it could have been a very mild case of bumblefoot then? sounds like its all healed up nicely though .

do you know if you have any rodent/animal rescues nearby?? they will often have rats for adoption. or you could also try looking for a reputable rat breeder .

dumbo rats and top eared/standard ear rats are both fancy rats (the same animal) just with different ears lol . so you can happily mix the two.

If you get a new rat especially from a pet store please quarantine for 3 weeks before introducing them, ideally in a separate airspace (i.e. separate building) this can help to prevent them spreading any possible illnesses to one another.

 

[Momof3Js]

See - now I am showing my newby-ness!! Our pet store has them in two different tanks - one called "fancy rats" and one called "dumbo rats."

I know we have animal rescues near us, but haven't noticed rats on there before. Will have to look again! Any way to find a reputable breeder?

I checked her foot again today and it looked a little irritated, but not swollen at all. Guess I will keep an eye on it.

 

[Vladina]

Welcome to the rat forum! And no worries about sounding like a "newbie" as there are no dumb questions, really. The fact you are here shows that you care about your new ratty girl, so ask away.





Yes, rats really do need to have at least one other rat for so many reasons (grooming, playing together, cuddling/sleeping) and most of all, they can become very depressed if kept alone, no matter how much interaction they have with their people. Long nights in their house when you are sleeping or at work/out of the house, and so forth...



How big is your ratty cage? It could easily be big enough for two rats if you have a cage that is spacious enough for one. Can you show a photo or give some dimensions of the cage? Or could you paste a link that shows a web page of the cage from whatever store you purchased it from if they have a website?

 

[Momof3Js]

This is a link to the rat cage we purchased. It was one of the few that was available when we got our girl.

petsmart. com/product/index.jsp?productId=4470992&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

(had to take out the www part and add spaces- it says I can't post links yet)

I wasn't thrilled with it having wood shelves, but they have worked out fine so far. And we didn't have options the day we picked her up.

 

[Vladina]

Hmm, the link didn't work when I pasted it into my browser, even with the www. com stuff added. Do you know the name of type of cage it is?