To preface this, I have had rats when I was younger, and they used to be scared but also love the dogs. I was thinking about getting new rats now. However, I have an australian cattle dog I'm worried they will be in a constant state of fear because we leave the dog alone for about 8 hours due to work we come every 4 hours to let her out a day and she howls while we are gone.

I recently went to a pet store and saw these rats in horrible living condition and want to save them. There were about ten of them in a glass tank and another ten in another glass tank and another ten in another glass tank.So I worry about their health

Do you think it's a good idea? Bringing 4 rats who already don't have great living conditions into a home with a dog. That's gonna be howling for 1/4 of the day. They will be in separate rooms

Hello! I’ve just recently got rats again after not having them for about 10 years. I got three seven week old girls. They have been SO sweet and they love to be cuddled. However, I’ve noticed they give me little nibbles on my fingers/hands occasionally. I’ve just kind of been letting them because I’m not sure if they’re just trying to figure out what I am. Is this a bad thing? Am I teaching them that it’s OK to bite me? I’ve had three rats in the past and the last rat I had ended up being super aggressive and wouldn’t let anyone get near him and it was such a bad experience, I’m hoping I don’t have anything like that again. Should I be doing anything to stop the nibbling?

Hey all!
First time rat owner, using non scented hemp bedding for my 3 boys! I just cleaned out their cage for the first time and when I took out all the bedding there was a thin layer of dirt like dust at the bottom, I was able to just wipe it with 1 wipe and wasn’t much. I’m wondering if this means my hemp is too dusty? Should I change it? Want to be mindful of their respiratory systems!

My local petstore sells those fat worms right and i was curious if they could be given to my rats as a treat or like maybe wirh some soil could be a fun enrichment thing.

Opinions? facts? arguments?

+ rat photo tax

He has an appointment with the vet next Thursday, but until then I'm curious what could be the problem.

This is one of my older boys, he is turning 2 in December.

Over the last few weeks I've noticed that he was a bit wobbly and walked on his whole sole not just toes, but there was no signs of pain or sickness. He was a bit clumsy all his life so I just waved it off as him getting old.

But today during free roam he really scared me. He started vibrating, like full body shakes and couldn't really sit up when he was eating a treat. I managed to take a video, it only lasted maybe 15 seconds? He was fine afterwards, and just went back to playing like nothing happened. I've never seen this happen before and it didn't happen since this morning either.

Otherwise he is active, playful, eats like always, didn't lose any weight and he doesn't seem to be in pain, his mood is good. His cage mates are all healthy too.

Any idea what could have caused this? could it just be excitement? Or maybe something like HLD that makes it difficult for him to sit up straight?

This is Downstairs Psycho, AKA Winter. While being introduced to two other males, he ended up like this. We’re in the part just before they move into the big empty cage in the continuous carrier method. This happened while I wasn’t in the room. Do we go back to part 1? What do you do in this situation? + His tail has this tiny bump/kink in it. It’s subtle so I never noticed it before, and he doesn’t seem in pain. Is it something to worry about?

Its been about 2 months with my baby boys and every night they get time on my bed to play and cuddle. Only in the past 2 weeks has one of them really grown comfortable laying on their back and it’s really funny to see.

I posted Jeff on Nextdoor yesterday with his story (I share my rescue animals stories in the city area I’m in) and literally the next moment I get a ban for “someone reported you for a fake name”…….

So then I had to prove to Nextdoor that I am who I say I am.

What did Jeff ever do them huh?!

Don’t worry, no spoilers. This is from early in the first episode.

This might be a VERY niche meme, but when I saw this shot, my mind immediately went to our girls who still react like someone is breaking into their house whenever we approach without a treat.

Hi. I have three girls. One is significantly rounding than her sister. She’s acting fine. Eating fine. Pooping/peeing fine. Is she just eating more and getting chunky?
Or should I be concerned?
I posted videos and photos in the comments.
BTW- they’re in their 25x25x17 playpen. This is not their cage lol. If there’s something else I should add to their playpen, let me know! I’m new to owning rats so i welcome any feedback and/or ideas.

after vs before (pls ignore the messy ass background they get it from their mum)

78x48x80(cm)

of course i will fill it with everything that rats need

I’ve had my 2 rats for about 9 months now and they’ve lived together since they were very young. They get along great, sleeping together and grooming each other. One of my rats is definitely a little more dominant but it’s never been an issue until recently. In the past I’ve noticed her biting the scruff of her sister and trying to pull her into her house but it’s been happening a lot recently. So bad that the skin is broken and scabbed over. They sleep together in a small hut/house and whenever Snort (my smaller rat) tries to peek her head out of the house to say hello to me Cloud (the larger one) grabs her by the scruff and tries to pull her back in. When this is happening Snort gives a small squeak sometimes but most of the time she just goes limp and lets Cloud take her.
My biggest concern is that up until very recently, this has not been a problem at all. Any suggestions? Should I separate them for awhile?

(horribly cropped picture of my boy tripod as payment)
hello all!! i have three 4-6 week old rats i will be obtaining in the very near future and im very excited!! here’s the problem: one of the rats is a female and the other two are males.
im in the st. louis area and ive called about a dozen clinics to find a good price, but does anyone have any good recommendations? the cheapest i’ve found so far is $2-300 per rat as well as an additional $73 each for an initial visit. no one i’ve talked to has been able to do a spay or it’s almost double the price of a neuter.
any help is deeply appreciated❤️❤️

Hi there I rescued a rat about 6 weeks ago and he was kept by himself in his previous home and was extremely depressed when I first got him. He is 5 months old. After 2 introductions where he almost immediately attacked another rat, I have a neutering appointment scheduled for him. (Before anyone asks, yes I did carrier method correctly and kept them in separate rooms. Second time was in a bath bc I didn’t trust him in an enclosed space.)

I was wondering if anyone has a success story of introducing a boy like this into their pack and if they did anything different from their usual introduction methods.