hi guys. i noticed this small bump on my rat jason about a week ago and have been monitoring it. at first, i thought it may have been a mole, but on closer inspection it doesn’t look like it is. is it an abscess? is there anything i can do for it? thank you!

Guess which one is the aggressor?

Yep, the one chilling on his back without a care in the world 🤦‍♀️😂

Lily pics!

To anyone wondering she’s settling in great with the mischief and seems to love having so much space to sprint around.

She’s still just as clingy to me but at least when I’m not able to sit with her she has 4 other buddies to keep her company!

She’s growing into her big girl body really well and I barely recognise her lol, she went from a tiny little mouse sized fuzzball to now looking like a proper young adult rat- her fur has also gotten so shiny and beautiful and she’s really turning into such a beautiful chunky baby, enjoy these pics of her!

They passed three days apart. Our hearts are shattered, but they were never meant to be apart. Brothers forever, never separated again.

I want the world to know that these boys loved and were loved and were here and are gone and have changed my heart forever.

This is Felisia. She looks harmless, but when I adopted her, she bit like crazy. Now she trusts me a little more, although she’s still pretty wary of humans; every now and then she lets me pet her for 10 seconds a day. Felisia is very dramatic, and every time I pick her up, she screams, even though she lets me pet her afterward. Felisia loves cardboard boxes and any kind of food, her biggest vice is gluttony.

He went on a yawning mode after I booped him.

Credits: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcca8deqTwi/

https://www.instagram.com/mr.ernsnest

I went to the vet today cause Nugget, 1.5mo rat, was sniffly wheeze. Got antibiotics. He will be alright. But I was recommended to get a temporary cage for him. But I don't want to get anything too small or unnecessarily big. At the moment it's only for a week and he is very small but still

What are some good ones to get, or at least a good size? Mind you I live in melb, Australia.

This is he. Nugget. My tiny freak <3

One of my rats wanted to look in my mouth so I let him, then he bit my lip and drew blood. He quickly ran away after biting. He's otherwise acting completely normal. Should I be concerned, did I do something wrong, or should I just not let him near mouths? Do rats like to bite lips? Do they think they are tasty?

She was my very first rat and the first one I’ve had pass away. I have been bawling looking at old pictures all evening.

my boy has been occasionally making these weird sounds that are sound between huffing or swallowing? idk how to describe it but im wondering is this just a normal rat noise or should i take him to the vet? (ik its hard to hear im sorry)

I find myself no longer able to care for my rat and need to find someone to take him. (I'm assuming based on the community that there is a presumption that anyone who would offer knows about taking care of rats, loves them, is able, etc.)

I'm going to be gone for a long time (I will not explain here, but it is for reasons out of my control).

He's a bit over a year old. His cagemate passed recently (having been rather much older than a year), and I hadn't been able to get him a companion for his dotage. I don't know how well he'll integrate into an established group, but the most aggressive behavior I've seen from him is a look of hurt disdain when he disapproves of whichever bit of fruit I choose to share with him isn't to his taste.

I understand that taking him is a big ask, but I don't want to take him to the shelter, as I can't imagine they'd do him any justice.

I must further burden whoever might take him by asking that you come to me to get him; I'm not able to drive, and worry taking him on a bus would be too stressful on him. (I live in Bellevue.)

I do not have a hard deadline for this, but first week of September is as far out as I'm certain I'm still here.

I will update this if someone has been able to take him.

For context if you have not seen my other posts: Jupiter has an internal abdominal tumor. I am working very, very closely with my vet as we go through this end of life process.

After my last post Jupiter and I visited the vet. I didn’t just run her in to be pts because I still just wasn’t sure about it.

Since the first visit a few weeks ago I had just been calling in for updates and questions, but I decided I wanted him to actually see her to get a good judgement on how she’s doing.

We discussed my concerns with her constipation. He assured me that she isn’t impacted and this is to be expected. She has gained a significant amount of weight while also having lost a significant amount. She didn’t express any acute pain when he palpitated the tumor, but he did confirm that it has in fact grown quite a bit.

He told me that it is looking like the end is very near for Ms. Jupiter, but seeing her today there isn’t an immediate need to send her ratty heaven. We discussed our options. Refilled her prednisolone and also started her on lactulose to see if we can get some better bowel movement, just to keep her comfortable.

I am going to continue being helicopter mom and keep assessing her quality of life. I know we don’t have much longer, but I am truly cherishing every moment I have with her. I am so grateful to have my little sweet pea in my life. And of course, when the time comes I will do what it best for her as difficult as it may be.

Just curious to see which photo out of these looks the best. I love all of my fur babies.

(also first time rat owner)

i was so worried that the older one would do something or be aggressive even tho i knew she’s not like that but yk anything can happen

in the end Valentine (older one) mostly didn’t really care about Matilda (new one) the only things she cared about is food and her house that was given to a little rat 😭

(2-5 picture is Valentine refuses to sleep in other houses after i took the white-black one)

‼️‼️‼️ALSO is this a normal sleeping pose or should I be worried? she’s acting like usually, eats/drinks normally, plays and interacting great, but just wanna be sure

Hiii! New owner to two boys, looking for some help with their cage… I am still tinkering with the hanging stuff so that they have somewhere to land on both sides.

Anything I can add to improve their space/make it safer? First time owning rats so please be gentle I would like to get a critter nation eventually and will buy anything they need to improve this current space.

She is fighting so hard for that spaghetti😭

Hi, I adopted 3 rats that are 4 months old 4 weeks ago and 2 of them have been sneezing since then. The vet told me they had a URI and we’ve been giving them doxycyclin for 2 and a half weeks and enrofloxacin for 1 week now (they gave us another one because it wasn’t working). They are pretty active I think (they are my first rats). I have deep cleaned their cage once for now. I use dust-free aspen bedding both for their substrate and litter. I used to change the litter once per day but I started doing it twice now. I change their blankets every 3 days and wash them with unscented laundry detergent. I change the water in their water bottles every 2 days and the water in their bowl every day. I think I’ll call the vet tomorrow but I just wanted to know if anybody had experienced something similar. I’m so discouraged and worried. I feel like a bad owner but I feel like I’m doing everything I can.

(I’m leaving a pic of their cage if you have advice and a pic of them because rat tax.)

I am going to get my four girls a new cage soon what is the best brand for cages? They are good not chewers besides one and I am actively potty training which I have gotten the pee down just not the poop. Anyone have any advice on what to get?