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Q. INTRODUCTIONS
Is it normal for the introduction of a new rat to cause fighting among an
established group of rats? Also, what is with the attempts to mate other males
- is it some sort of display for the sake of the unfamiliar newcomer?
A.
Yes, it is normal for fighting to break out in an established group of rats
(males or females) when a new rat is introduced. It forces all of the members
of the group, old and new, to fight for position all over again, so fighting
may even break out between the best of buddies!
What you are witnessing when one of the males mounts another male is a
display of dominance. Some males may even take it all the way to ejaculating
in the other males coat. It’s disgusting, but really nothing to worry about.
When introducing new rats, as long as they are not inflicting great
bodily harm on one another, let them work it out. Eventually, they'll figure
out who is the alpha rat and the position of dominance each of them holds, and
all will be well. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be a periodic fight, or
even attempts of a younger rat trying to become the alpha rat, but for the
most part, they will coexist in peace.
Q. BREEDING THE BLUES
I bred a Blue Hooded female with a Pink-Eyed White Rex male in an effort to
get Blue Rex babies. What I ended up with appears to be Black Hooded and Black
Berkshire babies. They are now four weeks old. Will their color
change through molting or age, like a Siamese, or is this normal? What can you
cross with a Blue to get at least some Blue babies?
A.
Unless the Pink-Eyed White Rex male carried the Blue gene your litter would be
completely normal, and, in fact, expected. Both parents must carry the Blue
gene to get Blue offspring. Breeding a Blue rat to a rat who doesn’t carry the
Blue gene will always produce Black babies.
Also, breeding a Self rat (your Pink-Eyed White) to a Hooded rat will
always produce Hoodeds and Berkshires (rats with varying degrees of white on
their belly).
Q. TOILET TRAINING
Is it normal for rats to set aside an area of their home as a toilet? My CoCo only
defecates in one spot which I find makes keeping her home very sanitary.
Is this normal behavior or is Coco just a cleanliness nut?
A.
It is not extremely common for a rat to set aside and area of their cage as a
toilet, but I have heard from a few people that their rats do. For the most
part, rats do their business wherever they want to, including in their own
bed. Some people have had success training their rats to use a litter box in
the corner of the cage, or in the corner of a room, but I’m not sure that it
is really a matter of training more than it is just the individual rats
preference. There are some rats that, no matter how hard you try to train
them, they will still urinate and defecate wherever they choose. If CoCo has
decided she is a neat-nick, consider yourself lucky!
Q. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
I’m new to owning rats, and someone told me that I shouldn’t feed them corn or
chocolate. I know chocolate is bad, but is it true about the corn?
A.
The Rat Health Care booklet, by Debbie Ducommun, reports that corn should be
fed with caution due to high levels of nitrates and amines which can combine
in the stomach to form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic, but you would have
to feed your rat a diet almost entirely of corn for this to be a problem.
You don’t want your rat to exist soley on any one type of food, but there
really isn’t a problem with corn, other than too much in the diet will make
your rat fat. A well balanced diet containing corn in moderation is perfectly
fine.
Chocolate is also fine in moderation. It’s the Theobromine in chocolate
that can be dangerous for dogs, but rats do not have a problem with it. Again,
moderation is the key or you will end up with a fat rat.
Don’t freak out if your rat gets into your soda-pop, either. Although the
Rat Health Care booklet reports that carbonated beverages should never be
given to rats because "rat’s can’t burp, it can be fatal", this is simply not
true.
Of course, you want your rat to have the healthiest diet possible, but
there really are no foods that will harm or kill your rats, other than by
making them fat, which is unhealthy and can lead to heart disease and other
conditions. You must always remember, however, that any animal, including
humans, may have an allergy to a certain food that could cause illness, or in
a rare case, death.
Q. SWOLLEN LEG
My rat got his foot stuck in the wire on the bottom of his cage and now his
whole leg is swollen. What should I do?
A.
A trip to the vet for an injection of an anti-inflammatory drug such as
Dexamethasone may speed the healing process, but it is imperative that you get
the rat into a cage with a solid bottom. Injuries like these are very common
in wire-bottomed cages which is one reason we do not recommend them at all
(not to mention ulcerative pododermatitis, also known as Bumblefoot).
If the leg is just swollen and there is no breakage of the skin, the
anti-inflammatory drug and rest may be all that are required for a quick
recovery, but, if an open wound is present, you may need to have it cleaned
out and have an antibiotic prescribed by your veterinarian as well.
We all try to keep our cages very clean, but the bacteria present on a
wire floor from urine and feces will likely cause infection in an open wound
if not disinfected and treated, either topically or systemically, with an oral
antibiotic.
Send questions to: Rat & Mouse Gazette
13075 Springdale St.
PMB 302
Westminster, CA
92683
or Email: ratinfo@egroups.com
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