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| Animal Welfare News |
450,000 obese rabbits on the run (5th April 2008)
An estimated 450,000 pet rabbits in the UK are obese - a shocking figure that represents 30% of the total rabbit population in the UK. More...
Missing cat called Spooky from Kent (28th March 2008)
Spooky was last seen on the 24th March (Easter Monday) in the GREAT THRIFT
area of Petts Wood.
More...
Are your pets members of your family? (25th March 2008)
Do you think of your pets as family members? Is your cat or dog a replacement for the children that have now flown the nest? New research from the University of Warwick suggests what we've always suspected, that pets are sometimes more like family than our own kin. More...
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Rat
Rescue :: Rat
Guide
Rat Guide
The typical image of a rat is nasty, big, brown thing scuttling
furtively down dark alleys, a creature that bites necks and
has a horrible, yucky tail. RUBBISH!
A rat is dirty, caused the bubonic plague and is stupid. FICTION
Rats make excellent pets, they are loving and extremely intelligent
(one of ours learned to recognize his name after having been
with us for just 3 days - and he was in the same room as 30
others, so it's not coincidence!)
Rats spend 40% of the their time cleaning and it was the fleas
on the rats and the living conditions in England that caused
the plague, not the ratties!
Many people say if you want a dog, but haven't got the space,
get a rat. Give me a rat over a dog any day, they are wonderful
creatures!
Down to the facts anyway…
Housing
A cage for rats should have sufficient room to allow the rat
free movement around the floor, when all their toys are in the
cage, and sufficient height to let them climb - any cage that
doesn't allow this sort of exercise is unsuitable.
The ideal cage has a base of hard plastic or metal base with wire
bars about 15mm apart, this will prevent a rat from squeezing
through. The minimum size of cage for a pair of rats is 80cm x
50cm x 37.5cm (the size of a Ferplast Mary cage). We tend to use
the Mary size cages for elderly single rats or sick rats. You
should never house more than two rats in a cage this size, and,
again, this is the bare minimum size. The bigger the cage, the
better for rats - a ferplast Jenny cage (size: 80cm x 50cm x 79.5cm
) will house up to six rats comfortably and is great for young
rats. (Though you will need to put hammocks across the cage to
add extra 'shelving' as they can get excitable and fall off the
shelves provided and this will add a safety net for them!).
For more information on cages and cage sizes, visit: http://www.ratplanet.co.uk/
and the cage calculator on the home page of http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk
For lining the base of the cage, never use dusty products –
ie woodshavings or sawdust. Dusty products can cause respiratory
problems. And never use scented products, especially pine. Softwood
shavings give off phenols and acids that can cause respiratory
problems. They can also cause skin irritations and even liver
disease. See here for more information: http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/
(this also contains a suggested diet that a lot of ratty people
believe to be the best going http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/articles.html)
Supplies for your Rat
Good products that we use are:
-
Biocatolet paper based cat litter (around £4
from supermarkets and Pets At Home)
-
EcoPetBed - Cardboard bedding available from
www.earthlyenterprises.co.uk (cost around £20
a bale if sent to you but this will last you 40-odd clean
outs so is great value)
-
- Another bedding we have been asked to trial
is called Back To Nature. It is paper based bedding and is fantastic
stuff! You can find a supplier near to you by clicking on the
"find stockist near you" button here and completing
the form: http://www.pettex.co.uk/animal.html
For people in the Medway area, a 24 litre
bag costs £8.99 (smaller bags are available too) from
Petaholics, 42 High Street, Snodland, ME6 5DA. Call 01634
240632 to order. Or, buy a small bag online at: www.thehayexperts.co.uk
Using cardboard bedding is probably the cheapest
- and safest – way to line the base of the cage and is very absorbent,
and light too.
Your will need a house within the cage for your rat to snuggle
up in. Fill this with nestling material such as the white stuff
(safebed) you can buy from pet shops. Never use the cut up bits
of J-cloth as these can cause respiratory problems.
The cage should also be protected from draughts,
direct sunlight and any sudden changes in temperature
Rats enjoy being active and will usually be drawn to any new toy
placed in their cage; these can take many forms and include wooden
shelves and perches, wooden or metal ladders, ropes and swings,
cardboard tubes and even lengths of drainage pipes can be suspended
from the top of the cage.
Don't forget to clean these items as well as the rest of the cage
on a regular basis - this not only keeps the rat happy, but stops
the build up of ammonia fumes from their urine which can cause
respiratory problems.
Tidy the cage daily, removing any perishable food
and droppings and replacing any bedding you remove. Most rats
will have a special corner which they will use as a toilet, making
this job very easy.
At least once a week clean the cage out completely replacing
all floorcovering and bedding. And once every month wash and
disinfect the whole cage (base and bars) making sure it is completely
dry before putting your rat back in side it. Poor husbandry
can cause respiratory disease.
TOP TIP ON KEEPING RATTIES COOL
From Tracey...when ratties are suffering from the heat freezing
fruit like grapes and blueberries helps cool them down and
makes a nice, healthy treat - it's what I always gave my rats
in hot weather.
Diet
Feeding fancy rats is quite easy, as long as the
basic diet consists of, a dry food mix, which is specifically formulated
for rats. Always try and feed your rat at the same time each day
and if possible at night as this is when they are their most active.
Single food diets are not good for rats; they will soon become bored
and some will even refuse to eat at all.
Maintain the basic food and offer wholemeal bread, non-sugared breakfast
cereals, a little uncooked pasta and dog biscuits. It is natural
for rats to rummage around for food so sprinkling a little around
the cage will add some stimulation to feeding time.
Fresh vegetables should only be fed every second or third day and
only in moderation to avoid diarrhoea and can include apple (remove
the pips as they contain arsenic), carrot, tomato, celery, cabbage
and broccoli.
Avoid citrus fruits and onions as these are far too acidic. All
foods offered should either be hand fed or placed in an earthenware
dish and removed within 24 hours if not eaten. Clean drinking water
must be available at all times and changed daily, this is best provided
through a gravity water bottle fixed to the outside of the cage.
Environment
Wherever possible, keep rats in same sex groups
of two of three. One on his own, however much attention you give
him, will become lonely and depressed. Any rat will need time to
adjust to new surroundings; young rats will be particularly stressed
at being parted from its littermates. Leave the rats in their cage
with food and water for a couple of hours and then try and tempt
it with a food it likes.
Rats have quite poor eyesight, but will soon learn to identify you
by smell. Always avoid quick and sudden movements around a new rat
and talk to your rat every time you feed it. If you always use its
name when you feed it, it will soon learn to come to its name.
When the rat comes to meet you or stands on its back legs when you
are around the cage offer a tit bit and while the rat sits and eats
it gently ease one hand over its back and around its midriff, carefully
lift it out and place it on the palm of your other hand. Always
sit down when handling a new rat so that if it jumps from your hand
it won't hurt itself. Talk and offer tit bits all the time and soon
it will come back to you, this will depend on how interesting it
finds it new surroundings compared to you!
As the rat becomes tamer allow it to have more freedom but always
supervise where it can go, not only can it do a lot of damage to
cables but it could also hurt itself. If the rat defecates where
it shouldn't, lift the rat, and faeces, back into its cage and tell
it gently, but firmly "No", the rat will soon learn to
return to its cage if it needs to relieve itself.
There is no set time limit for exercise some rats will run around
nearly all the time, while others will just come and snuggle up
on your lap or shoulder. Rats are very intelligent animals and although
most can be taught a variety of tricks, they won't perform unless
there is something in it for them. Arm yourself with plenty of patience
and treats, don't expect too much too soon and you won't be disappointed
with the results.
Rats, like all of us, will have off days. And can also suffer from
various ailments; most can be avoided through good care, diet and
clean living conditions. As with all of the smaller animals any
upset must be treated and cared for as soon as possible. The rule
is any doubt and consult your Vet.
Kittens
What age should male kittens be separated from
their mum and sisters? This a bit of contentious one this as even
most of the Veterinary journals say 6 weeks and most rat breeders
say 5 weeks! However, we always remove males from their mums at
4 weeks of age (provided they have stopped suckling mum) - though
we do not rehome until them aged 6 weeks or more. The girls stay
with their mums until we can find homes.
We do this because we once had a female rat (born here) who
got pregnant by her litter mate and brother - aged 3 and half
weeks old. It was terrible for such a youngster to have a litter
at such a young age and very upsetting. That is why 4 weeks
is the age that we remove the boys (earlier - but no earlier
than 3 weeks - if their testicles are on the large side and
evidently developed as opposed to still developing if that makes
sense) and a lot of other rat rescues we know do the same thing.
Also this link to a guide co-written by an organisation called
EASE and the BVA also confirms that does can get pregnant as
early as 3 and half weeks old:
http://www.ease-animals.org.uk/careleaflets/Easeratbromaster2000.pdf
It does say on the same document that bucks are not fertile
until 5-7 weeks but obviously this is not right - as we sadly
learnt from experience. We do agree that in an ideal world it
is more beneficial for a buck kitten to be with his mum a bit
longer, but having had our experience - however unusual it may
be - we would rather be cautious rather than run the risk of
having a gymslip mum.
If buying a doe is aged between 6 - 8 weeks of age, check at
what age that they have been separated from their brothers (ideally
no later than 4-5 weeks), as she could well have conceived during
this time.
Males or Females?
The average male adult rat weighs between 500 - 600 grams, while
most female adults will only reach between 200 - 300 grams (though
we have had some larger ladies!). Males are usually more sedate
in their behaviour and will sit quite happily on your lap and
watch TV or just go to sleep.
Female rats are much more active and playful, and while males
are more prone to marking their territory with traces of urine
females seldom do this.
The average life expectancy of rats is sadly around 2 years of
age, although they can live up to 4 or even 4 ˝ years of age.
Unfortunately rats are very susceptible to tumours, more often
in their later life, benign tumours are generally soft to touch
and usually harmless, even so they can grow quite large and become
quite painful to the rat, most can be removed successfully with
the rat making a full recovery.
Malignant tumours grow faster than benign tumours, are hard to
touch and are firmly attached to underlying body tissues, these
are generally cancerous and there is no kindness in having these
removed.
Old age comes to us all and an elderly rat needs to be treated
gently and with respect, never subject it to stress or excessive
noise. Fancy rats will repay your care and kindness with genuine
affection, a fancy rat may have a short life but hopefully it
will be a happy one. |
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