I got a new rat from the humane society the other day. His name is Tweek. He’s this enormous (1.3 pounds!) tan dumbo and is a total sweetie.
I took him in to the vet today and it turns out he has lice. He got dipped for it; we have to take him back in two and four weeks to get rid of the rest of those disgusting bloodsuckers.
I realize that I shouldn’t be shocked that rats can get lice, but I was still pretty surprised.
Fortunately, it’s not transmissable to humans, although the minute the vet said ‘lice’ my head started itching. Isn’t that always the way?
Also I’m going to tell you guys if you’re ever eight years old don’t set up a non-lethal rat trap in the house when you know you have a rat, and use said trap to get yourself a “pet.”
Ah yes, critters on the critters. Fun, ain’t it? :rolleyes:
You can generally use cat shampoo and flea powder on rats. I once had a petstore rat come in infested. Just rinse him really well. A little flea powder in his shavings will help too.
1.3 lbs? Now THAT"S a rat! :eek:
About keeping wild rats, it can be done if you get 'em young enough and really keep up the handling. I’ve had my Chewy about a year and a half though and she’s not what you’d call hand tame. OTOH, Chinchi and Cheb are mother and daughter, both half wild and half domestic (Cheb bred with her brother) and totally tame. Cheb must be coming up on a pound herself.
I know. We’ve nicknamed him ‘fattie’. Which I suppose is terrible of us. Our other rat, Asher, is nicknamed ‘beastie’. She likes running around like her legs are springs; it’s a funny contrast.
Ayesha, my girlfriend and I have taken to saying ‘lice’ at each other. Damnit, now my head iches again.
Oh! I just started a thread in “My Humble Opinion” about my two little pet rats that I just got today. Could you rat people go read it? I’d link to it but I don’t know how ::sobbing with embarrassment::
Lice are very easy to kill, and a louse infestation is less of a PIA than a flea infestation. Be sure to discard bedding and clean the tank/cage/whatever. You also might want to broach the idea of treating with Ivermectin. It is not approved for use in rats, but I doubt whatever is being used to “dip” the rat is approved either. It is easier (as well as cheaper) by far to give a drop of Ivermectin orally than to dip the rat. Also the Ivermectin will take care of a number of other parasitic organisms both internal and external.
Congrats on your new pets Andygirl! From what I’ve learned from working at a pharmaceutical company, rats have a very strong liver, many times more capable than a human’s, so as long as the treatments seem OK to the vet, you shouldn’t worry. We were doing an anxiety study with rats, and giving doses of Prozac™ to the rats to see how it affected the anxiety level of the critters (lucite marbles would be put in the cages, and then after a period of time, the buried/partially buried/unburied marbles would be counted). The dosing schedule when converted to a human-sized dose on a mg of drug/kilo of body mass ratio, was something in the 100mg+ dose, which was more than twice the maximum dose for a 180lb human (as far as I know), and it never hurt the rats’ liver function. Being that they eat trash and spoiled food in the “wild” a hefty liver comes in handy.
I used to give my rats the “greenies” doggy bones (their favorite), as well as carrots, corn on the cob, to make their diet more interesting, although they never complained about the mouse/rat blocks I gave them either. With the corn on the cob, they would take the husks and incorporate them into their nest, which was always fun to watch.
Apparently, rats have a “compulsion” to hide and stash new items in their environment. If they have no anxiety/compulsion/anxiousness to cause them to hide the items, they stay unburied (the “yeah… whetever.” factor). I noticed that when I gave my rats new food, they would all run back and forth hiding between the food, and the hiding spot. Some of my rats would have a higher motivation than others, and would make more/faster trips. Feeding them popcorn or cheez puffs tends to make it really easy to find the hiding spots due to the high contrast colors.
I had a number of rats due to buying a pregnant rat at one point, and I found that the most “dominant” rat was not only the one to eat the most, and weigh the most, but they were also the first to die of old age/excess weight.
