Potty Training Your Rat

You've probably been wondering, can I potty train my rat. You actually can. Some rats learn easier than others, and some don't learn as easy. To potty train your rat, you have to be consistent. Rats raised in a small cage with waste everywhere tend not to learn to go potty in a particular area. Other rats will naturally use one spot. When rats wake up, one of the first things they need to do is to go potty. If you watch your rat you should be able to find out if there is a place where they always go potty. If you're there when your rat wakes up, when he goes to relieve himself say a word like "potty". Soon she will start to associate the word with the action. When you are holding your rat outside of the cage and you notice it looking around for somewhere to "go" quickly pick up your rat and rush it back to the cage to the 'toilet corner' repeating the word you chose. You may have also noticed that rats lift up their tail when they urinate, if you gently lift up your rat's tail in the potty corner and say the word you chose, that will help her understand what you want it to learn. For a potty, you can either buy a litter box specially designed for rats or hamsters at your local pet store (or Petco.com), or you can get a tray for your rat to 'go in'. One method of cleaning is to thoroughly clean their cage every weak,but leave a little of the old bedding on the corner or the tray you want them to go in. That helps them signify what it's for. You can also use a different bedding where you want them to go, along with the other methods of potty training.

All of your questions are under Mar. 21. I hope they didn't come too late.

Different Breeds of Rats

There are many different breeds of rats, some might be more appealing to your eye. In this passage I'm going to show you some of the different kinds of rats.

The first kind of rat I'm going to show you is standard. The Standard variety of rat is what most people think of when they picture a rat. These rats have normal ears and tails (neither tailless nor dumbo), as well as short, even coats that lie flat and smooth.

Picture of a Standard rat.

Another common breed of rat is the Rex rat. Instead of a short, smooth coat, they have curls covering their bodies. There coats are thick and evenly curled all over. Even their whiskers are curled.

Picture of a Rex rat.

This next breed I have never seen, but I hope to some day. It is a Tailless breed of rat. Tailless rats are born completely without a tail. They often have a rounded rear, and a shorter, less racy body than their tailed counterparts.

Picture of Tailless rat.

Dwarf rats are a more common bred rat than the tailles rat. Dwarf rats are only 1/3 the size of a regular rat, so they are easier to take care of. I have a dwarf rat, but I'm not going to show her for this piticular breed of rat because she is also a dumbo rat. But if you would like to see pictures of her, see "My Rats". She is the black agouti rat. In this picture below it shows a standard rat compared to a dwarf rat. The dwarf rat is on the top of the photo.

Picture of a dwarf rat compared to a standard rat.

Another breed of rat, that I'm sure you've all heard of, is a dumbo rat. (I have a dumbo rat) The only thing that makes a rat a dumbo rat is their ears. What's different about their ears is that they're on the side of their head and sometimes slightly bigger.

Dumbo Rat

Dumbo Rat

My dumbo rat

A common breed of rat that some might like is the hairless rat. Hairless rats are... hairless. And a little bit harder to take care of. This is because their skin is more sensitive than other rats, so you have to keep a close eye on their skin and how it's doing.

Hairless Rat

These are just some of the different breeds of rats. I will have other breeds of rats on this post or a different post soon, so check back in on my blog sometime soon

30 Fascinating Facts

In this post there is 30 fascinating facts. Information provided by the magazine "Rats" from the article "30 Fascinating Facts" written by Kevin Schargen. But tweaked a little by me so its easier to understand. The facts are separated by classification in which the fact goes under. It may sound a little confusing, but you'll figure it out. The first category is:

Intelligence

1. Rats are capable of learning a bagful of tricks. With dedication (and the right treats), a rat can even learn to respond to its name, use an in cage litter box, and learn many tricks.

2. A 1998 behavioral study tested the effects of music on the intellective ability of the rat. Animals that were raised to the brain-building beats of Mozart performed experimental tasks better than those who were raised in a silent setting. ("Improved Maze Learning Through Early Music Exposure In Rats" Frances H. Rauscher, K. Desix Robinson and Jason J. Jens, Neurological Research, Vol. 20, July 1998, pp. 427-432.)

The next classification is:

Health & Handling

3. Respiratory disease is the most commonly encountered illness in pet rats. A bacterium called Mycoplasma pulmonis is the offending agent in many cases. (for more information on Mycoplasma see "Mycoplasma)

4. A high-ammonia environment (caused by poor cage-cleaning habits) and stress are major predisposing factors to respiratory disease.

5. If a rat is slobbering, it may be suffering from heat-stroke or a dental problem.

6. Rats sometimes produce "red tears." The fluid is alarmingly blood like in appearance, but it actually has a red pigment in it called porphyrin. Healthy rats may randomly give off this substance, but a persistent discharge may be a sign of sickness or stress.

7. Although wild rats can have dangerous organisms (like Yersinia pestis, the Bubonic plague-causing microbe), domestic rats tend to be free of such infectious agents. However, take routine precautions, such as hand-washing before and after touching your pet, to minimize the chance of spreading an illness to your pet or contracting one from it.

8. Rat urine and dandruff can cause allergies of both the skin and respiratory tract in humans. Concentrated ammonia in the air increases respiratory allergies, so regularly clean your rat's cage to prevent the buildup of this irritating gas.

9. Picking up a rat by its tail is not an acceptable means of transportation. With one hand securely positioned under the rodents chest, and the other hand cradling its hindquarters, the delicate rodent can be safely carried.

The next category is:

Physiology

10. Rats are short-lived: The average life span is about 2 1/2 years. (for other information on

how long rats live see "How long do Rats Live?"

11. A rat's hairless tail serves an important function: When the animal overheats, blood flow to

the tail increases, allowing heat to be released directly into the environment.

12. A rat lacks tonsils and a gall bladder.

13. The retina of a rat has very few cones (special receptors needed to perceive color); as a

result, rats have no color vision.

14. Rats, especially albinos (the rats that are completely white with red eyes), can't see very

well, but this handicap is offset by the animal's great sense of smell and sensitive whiskers.

15. Despite not having sharp vision, the rat is a good judge of distance. It is thus able to leap with

confidence and precision.

16. Unlike humans, rats are able to hear high-frequency noises in the ultrasonic range. Keep this in mind when moving your rat's cage, because certain high-pitched sounds - such as metal-to-

metal contact - may be acceptable to your ears, but extremely aggravating to your pet's ears.

17. A rat's muscular anatomy prevents it from ever vomiting, therefore, it is extremely important to eliminate all indigestible toxins - such as poisonous houseplants - from your pets

environment.

18. Rats have no thumbs, so don't ask the pet shop for a refund if you discover that your little friend has only eight fingers!

The next category is:

Reproduction

19. A rat as young as 5-weeks-old can become pregnant. But it is not healthy at all and your rat can die if it becomes pregnant that young.

20. The gestation period for a rat is only about three weeks.
Sorry, but that is all I have about reproduction.

The next category is:

Behavior

21. "Bruxing" (grinding of the teeth) is a form of rat communication that could mean your rat is relaxed - so if your rubbing behind its ear, it might "bruxe." However, it could mean your rat is stressed.

22. Rats have a strong digging instinct, so provide a generous amount of rodent-safe bedding, such as recycled paper litter, in its cage. (For recondmendations on food see "Recondmendations on Rat Supplies")

23. A rat that has been consistently and gently handled from a young age will rarely bite a human. But be cautious of older, poorly socialized rats, as they are more likely to nip.

24. Rats are nocturnal, (meaning they sleep in the day and are awake at night) but can adjust their schedule to their owner's time.

25. Although rats are often thought of as herbivores, they are indeed omnivores (consumers of both plant and animal matter). Therefore, do not allow your rat contact with small rodents, birds or a tank of prized Madagascan hissing cockroaches.

The next category is:

Radical Relatives

26. The rat's heftiest rodent relative is the South American capybara. An adult can weigh as much as a fully grown human!
These are pictures of capybaras.

27. Another intriguing relative is the gundi, a guinea pig-like rodent that goes through life without drinking any water. It gets all the moisture it needs from its diet and fat stores in its body.

The last category is:

Closing Trivia

28. Hundreds of rat species inhabit the Earth.

29. A "mischief" is the correct term for a collection of rats.

30. If you think your radiant rodent has what it takes, you can enter it into one of the many formal rat shows that take place each year.

Sorry, those 7 categories are all of the 30 facts. If you know some other facts, please write them in the comment box, and if there good I will put it on one of these posts.

Benefits of Having More Than one Rat

There are some benefits of having more than one rat. One of them is they clean each other. That is good because they will be less stinky and more clean. Also if one rat gets sick the other rat will take care of it. For example the healthy rat will bring the sick rat food, clean it more often, and maybe bring it something warm, like more bedding. Another benefit of having two rats is they will give each other attention, but it is still very important you hold them as much as you can every day. They will also keep each other warm and sleep together. But there are some disadvantages. You will have to buy more food and bedding because 2 rats equals twice as much waste. So you'll have to spend a little more money. But there are so many other things you will get to see, like two rats drinking from the bottle and rats bundled up in a ball all sleeping together. I'm sure you'll enjoy having two or more rats.

Grooming Your Rat and Bathing It

One way to keep your rat cleaner is brushing it. The best brush to use is a freshly opened, never used toothbrush. With that you can brush your rat gently. Washing your rat can be easy and it can be difficult. Some rats are calmer when it comes to water, and some don't even like there tail in the water. My two rats do not like water but some rats love water so much you can teach them how to swim. There is some things you will need to wash your rat. You will need a large size bowl (bigger than a cereal bowl) or a sink with no cleaning chemicals in it. You will also need baby shampoo, or cat shampoo, your brushing toothbrush, and a towel. First fill the bowl to no higher than your rats neck with warm water. Place the towel next to the bowl. Next dip your rat in the bowl, your rat may hate the water and scratch you. Try to relax your rat by rubbing behind its ears, or whatever relaxes it. After you get its whole body whet, but not its head, take him or her out of the bowl and stand it upright with its feet on the towel. After that, rub some soap on her. Make sure you rub the soap in good. Then stick him in the bowl again and rub the soap off, if you can, brush him with that never-used toothbrush to help get all of the soap off. When your sure its all off, dry her off with a new towel, make sure you get all of the water off. If you don't the rat could get cold and get pneumonia. You should do this every week or two. Never let your rat swim in your pool, the chemicals can be harmful! If anything, let him swim in your bath tub. Please be careful and make sure she knows how to swim!

Chattering of the Teeth - and other weird things

If you've noticed your rat kind of chattering its teeth or sort of grinding them, its nothing abnormal. When they do that its just sharpening their teeth, and making sure they don't over grow.
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You might have also noticed a sort of red-crust around your rats eyes when they wake up when you come to visit them. That is nothing to worry about. Rats have a red pigment in their tears, so all that it is, is dried up tears. Nothing to worry about. If you don't like the way it looks, (I don't) just very gently rub them off.

Homemade treats

Homemade treats can be healthy and delicious, to your rat. Recently today I was thinking of a way to make something healthy for my rats. And there sitting on the table, was a jar peanut butter. I then looked at the label to see how healthy it was. On the Nutrition facts label it said that in every 2 tablespoons there was 3 grams of protein. It also said that peanut butter is high vitamin E. Remember vitamin E helps prevent Mycoplasmosis - to learn more go to my "Mycoplasmosis" article. - I also had craisins - dried cranberries - which are also very healthy. So I tried making healthy, rat, peanut butter cookies. First you get a cookie tray and put enough wax paper on top of it to cover the whole tray. Next place lots of flour on the tray. Then on top of the flour, place as much peanut butter as you want. Then sprinkle craisins on top. After that put more flour if needed, as much as the peanut butter can absorb. Put enough flour so its like cookie dough. After that make all the peanut butter in to little balls about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. Make sure there is a craisins in each cookie. After that take the wax paper out from under the cookies. Place them back on the cookie tray and stick them in the oven. Turn the oven to 350 degrees and let them bake for about 8 minutes. After that let them sit for about 30 minutes. See how your rats liked them, my rats loved them. Please feel free to tell me in the comment box how your rats liked them. You can also tell me any recipes that you made up that are good and healthy for your rats in the comment box.
The picture above, is a picture of my rat, LuLu, eating one of the peanut butter treats. She loves them.

(raisins will work just as well instead of craisins)

Answers to Your Questions From the Comment Box

This post is of any questions you asked in the comment box. So please feel free to ask more questions. I'll try to answer you back as soon as possible.


Question #1. Someone asked if that was my dog in the picture under the post, "Me and My Blog" to answer your question. Yes, that is my dog in the picture. In case you were wondering what kind of dog he is, he is a Bernese Mountain Dog. He ways 120 pounds and is named Rex. Here is the same picture:

Someone asked if I have heard of a rat living 7 years (130 human years). To answer your question, no, I haven't, and I don't think it is possible because I don't think a human has ever lived over 130 years. Although my last rat lived pretty long. She live to be about 2 and a half years old, maybe even longer. So she lived to be about 75 human years. The rat that lived that long was named Daisy and she is in the picture above on top of my dog's head. For more information on how long rats live compared to humans click on "How Long do Rats live - really cool" and that is under March 19.

Someone else asked a question in which I thought was very important. Someone asked, "what should i do to tell my kid that her rat is dying???????" That is a very important question because one of the hardest things to go through when having a rat is if they are dying. Especially if you have to tell it to a child. My last rat, Daisy, was getting old, she was about 2 and a half to 3. And she was going blind, losing her hearing, and had a huge tumor. I hated to see her like this. One day when I came home, I took her out of her cage, and wrapped her in a blanket so she'd stay warm, because I knew she was dying. She soon fell a sleep in my lap. After a little while she woke up, crawled up on my chest, had a seizure for only like 8 seconds, and right on my chest she died. In just 8 seconds. Hopefully that won't happen to your child. But there are some ways to tell your kid that their rat is dying. A good way to tell it to them is to say, "I'm very sorry but your rat is going through a tough time and is very sick and we will do every thing we can to try to make her better." Even if your almost positive your rat is going to die you still shouldn't tell them that, it won't make them feel better. Tell the child "you'll do everything you can to help." If death comes you should tell him or her, "Your rat lived a good and happy life and you took great care of him, but it was time for her to go. And in heaven she's not sick any more and in heaven she's living with lots of rats, and she's happier now." If your child's rat had tumors tell him or her, "Now she has no more tumors and she can walk a lot better now. I'm sure she wouldn't be any happier with another owner than she was with you. You took such great care of her" What I just told you to say shouldn't be the only thing you should say, these are just some ideas. I hope this advice didn't come to late I was very sick for 10 days, but now I'm better.

Thank-you for asking questions and leaving comments. Any other questions I'll try to answer as soon as possible!

Mycoplasmosis

Mycoplasmosis is the most common health problem seen in rats. Mycoplasmosis is basicly an infection that can turn into a respritory infetion. A rat can be infected with this without showing any symptoms. (To abreviate the infection mycoplasmosis I'm just going to call it MS.) But it eventually causes respritory disease in most infected rats. MS can also cause lung damage even if there haven't been any synptoms. MS is contagios and incurable in rats and mice. The severity of a MS infection is increased by cigarette smoke, ammonia from a dirty cage, genetic susceptibility, lack of vitamin A or E, or a concurrent respitory infection of another type. The first symptom of MS is sneezing that might go away then come back. Even if you don't hear sneezing you can look for the results of sneezing: red spatters on the walls or bedding. The red color comes from a pigment in rat tears that run down into the nose and are sneezed out. After several months the symptoms usually progress to wheezing. People sometimes mistake wheezing for "rat talking". Any noise made while breathing is wheezing. Wheezing can sound like grunting, squeaking, and sometimes like "monkey sounds." Eventually the lungs are damaged. The symtoms may then increase to respiratory distress. That causes rats to gasp through their mouths or dash about in panic when they can't get enough air. A rat with MS is usually active and eats normally throughout the progression of the disease. Treatment with antiboitics can be used when wheezing or other severe symptoms occur. Secondary bacterial infections can occur along with the MS infection and can result in an infection that has a more rapid onset of symptoms such as: lethargy, loss of appetite, runny eyes and nose, and labored breathing. But don't worry, its part of nature.

Tumors

Mammary tumors on rats are very common. Although male rats are less prone to tumors. The most common tumors are mammary and pituitary tumors. I'm not to sure what pituitary tumors are and I will research them, but as for now I just know about mammary tumors. My second rat was born at my house when I was watching over my friends rat. He let me keep one of the rats from the litter. Her name was Blizzy because she was a white albino rat that looked like a blizzard. Although in her older days she started to get tumors. She got 4 mammary tumors. Mammary tumors look like big-fatty lumps. You can get them cut off, but they have no affect on your rat. The best way to prevent girl rats from getting tumors is to get them spayed from three to four months of age. I recently read from one of my books on rats, that up to 70% of unspayed female rats get tumors in their lifetime, while only 4% of spayed rats get tumors. I have not gotten any of my rats spayed, because it costs money, and sometimes they will chew out their stitches. But if you get your rat spayed tell me how it worked out in the comment box and if I answered any of your questions on tumors. Please leave comments. No Email address required.

Healthy Snacks

Giving your rats just the peanut assertions from the pet store isn't the healthiest. Giving them your own healthy snack sometimes is better. About a few times a week it is healthy to give your rat fruits and vegetables, instead of rat food that day. But you have to be careful about what kinds of fruits and vegetables you give them. Never give them anything cooked or deep fried, it is to fattening and unhealthy. Its better to give them raw fruits and vegetables. Like broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, bananas, anything healthy. But there are somethings you should be more careful about, if you know that a certain fruit or vegetable has high acids that can upset the human stomach you probably shouldn't give that fruit or vegetable to your rat, like mangoes. Some rats also get upset stomachs easily, so if you have a rat and you try to give it a fruit and they get sick, make note of it and don't feed them that again. When rats are older they can get sick more easily, even an upset stomach can get real bad and lead to extreme sickness and even death when rats are adults. So also be careful of what you feed them. Carrots are also another good food. Rats also love uncooked pasta. Keep your rat healthy, and please leve comments. NO EMAIL ADDRESS REQUIRED!!!

How Long Do Rats Live? - Really Cool

I recently got this book about rats - the book is called Rats by, Debbi Ducommun - and it had a scale of equivalent aging schedule for rats compared to humans. On the scale it had this information:
Rat Age Human Age
5 weeks ................................ 10 years
6 months ................................ 16 years
9 months ................................ 25 years
1 year ................................. 35 years
1 1/2 years ............................. 50 years
2 years ................................ 65 years
3 years ................................ 85 years
4 years ................................ 100 years
5 years ................................ 110 years
6 years ................................ 120 years
7 years ................................ 130 years

I thought this chart was very cool to see and I thought you might want to see it.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. No Email address required.

Recommendations on rat supplies.

In case you were wondering what kind of food and bedding I use , for I have found what I think works the best. I get all of my supplies at Pet Co but you can probably find them at your local pet store. For bedding I have found a bedding that has the best odor control. It is also brown so their waste isn't so obvious which is good for when guests are over. The bedding is called Green Pet Aspen Supreme Pellets Pet and Bird All Natural Litter/Bedding. You can look for it at the pet store - the package has a picture of birds, a rabbit, a ferret, and a couple other pictures of small animals on it. If you go to PetCo.com you can order it very easily from there for a cheaper price. At the bottom of this passage there is a link to PetCo.com. The food I use also should be at PetCo, PetCo.com, or your local pet store. It is called Kaytee Fiesta Fortified Gourmet Food For Mice and Rats. On the package is a green background, a picture of a sunflower, and a picture of a mouse and a rat. Packaging covers may change through time. Once again on PetCo.com there is usually discounts, at the bottom of this passage there is a link to PetCo.com.

http://petco.com

What to do when I get home right away.

Once you get home with your new rat it will probably be scared. Right when you get home put the rat in a quiet room, in its cage. If you don't do this it will be harder to build a relationship with your rat and it will probably be scared of you for a long time. Leave it in the cage for 45 minutes to an hour by itself, in its cage, in a quiet room. The longer you leave it in there the better it is. After that time you may carefully take him or her out. Be very quiet and stay away from place it might be tempted to run under. Every time I get a new rat I take it in the bath tub with no water or soap in it. With the drain plugged. I also gave it an easy-access hiding place, such as a tissue box and a toilet paper tube. If you do this your rat can't run away and it will be easier for the rat to get used to you. If you do all of this your rat will build a better relationship with you. Feel free to click on the you tube videos. Please fill out the survey, no Email address required.

Picking the Right Rat for You

Picking the right rat is also important. Rats have many different personalities. Some are more curious, while some are kind of lazy. You can get a rat from a pet store or you can get them from a rat breeder. I got 3 of mine from a pet store. But just recently I got 2 from a breeder. Breeders have more types of rats while pet stores may have 1 or 2 different kinds of rats. Girl rats have more energy and are usually more curios than boys. DO NOT GET A BOY AND A GIRL RAT, THEY WILL BREED, unless you want them to. I suggest that you do some research before breeding rats. One test that almost always works for finding the right rat is if you hold out your hand on the bottom of the cage. And the rat that goes on your hand is probably a good rat to think of buying. Pick a rat that you'll never get tired of. Do you want a curios one, a sweet one, or one that just sits there, but loves to be held. Before you buy the rat you like, make sure it is healthy, is it active, does it have all of its hair. If you follow these tips I'm sure you'll pick out the perfect rat. PLEASE RIGHT COMMENTS SO I CAN IMPROVE MY BLOG. NO EMAIL ADDRESS REQUIRED

Should I get a rat? What are the requirements?

One of the most important things you need to know is if you should buy a rat. To have a nice, friendly, healthy rat you need to have some spare time. After you buy a rat you will need to hold it 15 - 30 minutes a day at the least. But before you get a rat you need some things, and will need to be responsible. Depending on what kind of bedding you use you need to clean the cage once every week or two - that takes about thirty minutes. Which means you'll need a little spare money. The bedding lasts about 6 weeks for ten pounds - but I have a big cage, so it will probably last 2 months for a normal cage - and for ten pounds of what I use it costs $8.99. For food you will have to see how much it costs because every rat eats a different amount. But I'd say two pounds will last about 2 months, 2 pounds costs about 8 dollars. Another thing you need to get is a rat cage which for one rat can be from $50 all the way to $100. So as you can see you will need some money and supplies before you get a rat. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF THIS SUPPLIES BEFORE YOU GET A RAT.

Me and My Blog

Rats are great pets to have, but there are some things you need to know to take care of them. I have had many rats. I got my first rat when I was just six. Since then I have gotten many books about rats and have done much research to help my rats be healthier and live longer. Rats are great pets to have and never bite. I have never been bitten by any of my rats and only licked. Although hamsters bite. If you would like to learn lots about rats and how to take care of them,my blog has very good and precise information. Right now I do not have very much information, but very soon I will have a lot mor information. Please post comments so I can improve my blog, no email address required!

This is a picture of my third rat - Daisy - on top of my dog's head - Rex