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Victorian Fancy Rat and Mouse Club |
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Rat Care Guide |
| Keep your rats away from drafts, rats do need sunlight just like people do, but dont have your rat acge directly in sunlight as your rat could get over heated. Its best to take your rat outside in the sun for a little while each day, If the temperature reaches 30 degrees or more you can put your rats cage on a tiled floor as it will be the coolest place, and hand a damp cloth over the cage. Then turn on a fan to circulate the air, do not point the fan directly at the rat or rat cage. Other ideas on surviving the heat include, filling up a spray bottle with cool tap water and then spray your rats with a fine mist, dont spray your rats up close as they wont get a nice cooling fine mist if you do that. Fill milk or other plastic drink bottles with water and freeze them, then put them in your rats cage, they will give off a coolness that your rat will enjoy on a hot day and you may find your rat enjoys laying on or near the bottle. Fill up a clear plastic container or any container with water and drop some frozen peas, corn or fruit into the water, your rats will have fun fishing them out and the water will keep them cool. *This can get messy but they do love it and its great fun to watch especially if you use a clear container* In Winter, make sure there is plenty of shredded paper, or some rags to build a nice snug nest, and some type of enclosure like plastic pipes, shoe boxes, clean empty pot plants, or get a hammock for them to hang out in, you will find your rats will love the hammocks and will spend a fair bit of time in them. They will also love to chew them to bits. Rats are susceptible to colds and drops in temperature especially in Autumn and Winter can cause them to start sneezing and get a little sick. Some times you may find that your rat has little brown specks in their coats that are moving, these are rat lice and your likely to have these lice at least once if not more in your rats life time. The good news is that they are very easy to get rid of and all you need to do is buy some Puppy, Kitten Revolution from your local pet store and put a very small drop on the back of their neck just like you do for dogs and cats. Other rats will lick it off so its best to keep each rat seperated until you are sure its dry. Make sure you do all the rats that live in the same cage as the infected one. No matter how clean you keep your cage and your rat sometimes these little bugs just show up, they can actually be a sign that your rat is sick or run down. Most Rats will live between 2 and 3 years. Some occasionally will live to the ripe old age of 4 but a lot depends on the rats genes and how well it is looked after Many only live between 18 months and 2 years 6 months.. Most rats go into decline in old age before they die. They lose weight, their bones become more prominent, their fur becomes less dense and they feel frail to touch. They also sleep a lot and can get grumpy at other rats and sometimes even at people. Please also check out the forums listed in the menu as some have a list of vets that treat Rats |
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