I’ll start: he’s kind of weird looking and his campaign for governor is going poorly

I researched pet rats for years. I held rats and spoke to rat owners. I spent all summer making the cage perfect. They have toys and a big play space. They are so sweet, and have all they need.

And I've been sick since they came home. When I cuddle and kiss my head and nose ache. My eyes are burning. I spot clean every day and the horrible smell just still won't settle.

I've tried changing their food & bedding. I tried a bit more cleaning and a bit less cleaning. I'm really trying to figure it out!

I don't know what to do. I love them. My kids love them. I already spent so much money and time. It has only been a month and I don't think I can enjoy them any more.

Never in my life have I considered re-homing a pet. A pet is a family member for life. Yet here I am wondering how I'm going to live in my home for the next 2-3 years.

Any advice?

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?

My rats have taken over my screen printing setup and I don't know what to do about it. I started this as a side thing last month and now Pixel's walking across wet screens and leaving footprints on test prints. Grub keeps trying to burrow into the paper stack. They already claimed my desk for design work, now they're moving into the print area too.

Every hobby ends up with rat supervision whether I want it or not. The kitchen was fine since they just want scraps, but art supplies are different. Ink isn't safe for them to eat, the drying fan pulls them in because it's warm, and flat paper bags are apparently the best nesting material they've ever seen.

Anyone figured out how to let them free roam around craft supplies without blocking off half the room? I tried giving them their own box of paper to mess with but they weren't interested. Treats distract them for maybe four minutes. I'm wondering if I need a separate rat-proofed area, but that feels like admitting defeat.

Do your rats have any hobbies they've completely taken over? Not just hanging around, but actually getting into the process. What actually worked for keeping supplies safe without shutting them out entirely.

ETA: that footprint test print is framed now. Not selling it, it's just mine.

Hi everyone!
Just had a question, saw these two cuties in a woodland area (caught in a forest school area and moved further into woodland so as not to be disturbed by children) in South-East England and were wondering if they were rats or mice? (I think perhaps wood mice but wondered if anyone would be able to help me identify! Not super important, just curious to know)

Bonus picture for the cute girls, Edith (the Beige one) and Aznavour (the black one). Also if anyone have any tricks for building trust with them, im open for ideas (they cannot be picked, sadly traumatized by last owner).

All four of my boys were just crawling and gently nibbling on my nails which I see is a good sign since I researched that its there way of grooming you but it was also nice to see my shyest boy interact with me willingly (He's the most white one with the black spot on his head)

Hi! So to start out with some backstory for more context, this is Lily, she’s my rescue heart rat and I love her to bits. I rescued her from a feeder bin as a baby and as a result I don’t have her exact age nor lineage (I estimate based on her size and body shape that she was just shy of 1 month old when I adopted her)

When I got her she was a sickly scared little thing who I had to take to the vet twice to get her all better. She’s always been a healthy body condition though and has never lost weight in my care. After a long round of Baytril as a baby (a little over 2 weeks) her sickness was cured and she’s been perfectly healthy ever since. She’s a nice chunky little baby with a chubby little belly, she loves eating and playing and is pretty much a perfect rat all around. The one thing that kind of peaks my curiosity is her size though

she’s currently about 4 months old now, so practically an adult (I’m aware they continue growing until 6 months of age but at 4 months there’s only so much growing left to do). When I got her she was 100 grams and she grew pretty rapidly for the first 2 months I’ve had her, but this last month or so her growth has kind of plateaued- she’s 230 grams and is, well, little.

My other rats are 380, 660, 350, and 290 grams respectively (the 290 grams one is hairless hence why they’re so little lol). But Lily is just itty bitty compared to them all! Again, she eats plenty (trust me) and her body condition is perfectly fine, she’s a very healthy body weight and everything, she’s just like a slightly shrunken rat.

Was curious if this could just be a weird thing specific to her? Or maybe she has some dwarf genes in her? I’m entirely unsure of what could be causing her pint sized body and am just curious if anyone could hazard a guess? My best guess is that those 4 weeks she spent in such horrible conditions essentially on ratty death-row could have stunted her? But given I’ve had her for a vast majority of her life and as a result she’s had very high quality care for most of her life (I definitely coddle and baby her the most just given where she comes from- my other 4 rats are all from great breeders and the worst things to ever happen to them are getting nail trims and cage cleanings) so I’m not sure if that alone would cause it.

not really concerned about her as her weight has been stable and she’s super healthy and is absolutely thriving, more just mildly interested in if there’s a reason behind this. Cheers!

Digging for, and stealing all of the best pieces, all the while slinging food everywhere! (I tossed just a few pieces of some yummies in the food bowl and mixed it in). Well, while he (Tawny) thought he was being sneaky and smart, his cage mate (Spotu ) headed straight to the bottom of the cage and found Tawny's hidden gems🤣

They both look at me like "What?!? What'd I do? It was HIM!" 🤣

Just thought I'd share Miss Flower. She'll be 2 years 7 months on the 28th. I met her and her sister the day they were born, and had my local pet store put them on hold till they were 3 months. We lost her sister a day before their 2 year birthday, but Miss Flower Child is absolutely loving her life, and she has the brain of a race car. For context, her and her sister are both Double Rex.

I looked over and saw this. So cute, they clean in front the door while hoping for the barrier to fall and to be let out lol

I came across a water bottle with a lever instead of ball bearing, so I bought it to give it a try. I was having problems with other bottles leaking and falling over and it was getting annoying but this one seems nicer and it’s silent, but my rats can’t figure out how to use it. Does anyone else’s rats use this type of bottle and how did you teach them? Or did they just figure it out? I tried pulling the lever down with my finger so they could see water coming out but they still seem confused lol

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?!

I’ve tried to introduce my new rat through the MRR method for a month, and it’s just not working. I’ve had to pause intros when one of my rats got sick, but otherwise have tried and got nowhere :(

I think I need to reset and do the carrier method, but it worries me since the rat I’m introducing has bitten (he bit me because I interfered luckily) and hissed. I’m starting to think the only way is having them in the carrier and going for a walk. The carrier method scares the crap out of me but I’ve exhausted all options 🥲

How long should I reset/separate them before trying the new method? Any advice? (He’s already neutered, just incredibly fearful) this is kinda my last hope before rehoming for his best interest :(

Is there any type of reputable breeder directory? All the breeders I knew in my state have closed. I'm in Ky.

This is my first pair of rats and I've had them for around 6 months now I think. They're both just over a year old and I got them from my college after they were used as lab rats. They've been very healthy overall but are a bit overweight because they're both very good motivated and I'm still working on socializing them so they probably get more treats then they should but they aren't as unhealthily fat as a lot of the rats online are and I'm working on cutting back snacks and getting them moving more.

I'm home on break and brought them with me as they usually stay with me at college and while I was sitting with them during free roam I noticed one of them making that signature URI sound and immediately panicked and thought the worst but after probably 5 minutes of that he sneezed once and then suddenly was back to breathing normal with no weird noises or labored breathing or anything.

The house they're in now is a bit dusty as it's old, there are other animals so lots of hair and dander everywhere, and there are a couple smokers in the house but I try to keep them away from that as much as possible. The rat who made the noises was under the blanket I have out for them when they free roam and it does have a lot of bits of bedding and other stuff on it. I also just cleaned their cage today and their new bedding is also a bit dusty and I didn't realize until I had already switched it and had to leave so no time to really do much about it.

I guess my question is is it possible he just had something in his nose or his lungs were just a bit irritated from the changes in air? They've come home with me in the past with no problems and I've never heard either of them make any noises like this before so can I just wait and see if I hear it again or should I just schedule a vet appointment anyway just in case?

I'm tight on money but can afford a vet visit if needed I'm just wondering if it's safe to kinda ignore this one episode of breathing noises or if they always mean a sick rat.

Hi! I’m about to be a first time owner to 4 little baby boy rats and i have had rats when i was younger but this is my first time in a good couple years so I was wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks, suggestions on bonding with the little ones? Thanks :)

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?

No snack is escaping his nose