This document will encompass every aspect of rodent care and ailments, also feeding techniques, cage choosing, care and a rough guideline to every possible illness and cure to the illness i can get my hands on. Alongside information about medication used for poorly rats etc. All the nagging, niggly bits that we all trail through message boards for answers for will be covered and updated when they need to be to keep this publication up to date.
The most obvious place to start is right at the beginning, everyone is a new rat owner once and therefore it seems the most obvious thing to do would be first to give some background on the responsibilities of being a pet owner and how to look after rats on a basic level. Like all rodents, rats are mammals, warm blooded and breed like there is no tomorrow if you are not careful! When choosing a rat you need to be certain of it's sex. Rats are highly sociable animals and survive better in most circumstances in pairs or larger packs. Always make sure when buying rats that you have same sex rats as otherwise you will end up with hundreds of them! unless of course you are planning on breeding rats yourself, in that case ignore me completely.
When choosing rats from pet shops, be sure to ask the age of the rats, their general health since they have arrived in the shop and also make sure it looks healthy. The main ways in looking at a rat and knowing it is healthy is looking at it's coat, if its shiny and well kept, the rat's eyes are bright, its free from scratches and scrapes, the animal is active etc. Another way of checking is by it's size, ask if all the rat's are the same age, if the rat is the same size as its cage buddies in the shop it is likely to be growing properly. Another thing to check for is that the rat isn't sneezing or wheezing as that can suggest respiratory problems. All of these quick checks may seem stupid, but it prevents the stress of loosing a new pet which you have just bonded with a few months previous, or vets bills for a new animal which technically should be healthy and care free.
Bringing a species of animal home of which you haven't had responsibility for before can be a very daunting prospect. I remember bringing home my first rat, a buck called Mortiis. He was a perfectly marked Husky or Rowan (depending on where you live, husky being the American term for the breed, and Rowan the English term) with piercing blue eyes. Previously i had been used to handling rodents a lot smaller, such as gerbils and hamsters, Mortiis was already at 12 weeks, larger than both, with a huge scaly tail.
Bonding with your new friend straight away is paramount. Not only are rats pack orientated creatures and highly sociable within their own species, they also crave and adore human attention. They easily in most circumstances become sociable and used to their owners very quickly. The easiest techniques to use when bonding with your rat is to leave them alone for the first hour to get used to the new smells of the cage. Allow them to acclimatize to their new surroundings, leave the cage somewhere shaded but warm and close to where everyday noise can be heard. Never leave them in front of loud stereo or TV equipment as if it is constantly on it will really stress the animal out.
After they seem settled, try placing your hand into the cage so that the rat can sniff and walk over it. This will get the animal used to your smell. Animals will react to this approach differently, as like any creature, we all have different dispositions. Some may shake and jump, maybe even squeak. If this is the response, do not be afraid and move your hand away. That would be positively reinforcing in the rats mind that if it squeaks or jumps, the human will leave it alone.
Some animals way scuttle over as confident as anything and want to come straight out for an explore with you. When this happens, you know you have been very lucky and have an extremely easy job on your hands!
Some rats at first out of fright may nip your skin with their teeth. In my experience they have never nipped me hard and it has been more of a test to firstly see what you taste like and secondly to make sure you are not food. Obviously if the rat bites and draws blood you have a completely different scenario on your hands as that is vicious behaviour.
Lastly when it comes to a first time rat owner, the more literature you read, the more knowledge you seek, the better owner you become. The more you handle your rats, the more joy they will give you. In the latter chapters i will go into great detail on each individual subject as it arises and add more information i have come across. This prologue is aimed at giving new owners a few tips before going into all of the subjects in depth and overwhelming people!
No comments:
Post a Comment