The BRODENTS! Rodent Enthusiast Thread! V2

[drift.]

@roleplayer123 If you can get your creative juices flowing I'm sure that there's some way to make a chicken wire 'lid' that you are able to clamp closed, though I've never seen it done.. SO you may just need to mess around with a few ideas and see which one works best for you AND is functional. I wouldn't do no top at all, that seems risky, even if your rat isn't usually a climber, one night he could decide there's something that smells interesting outside his cage and wants to explore c:

@Meta No, I don't think those videos include levels. I couldn't personally find any really helpful videos of levels. But what I did when I had mainly tubs was just cut about a 4 1/2 -inch hole in the lid of the bottom tub and fit one of those drain tubes in it so the rats could climb up them (I didn't buy 100ft of it, lol, I bought some already cut). You don't really need to secure the second level to the first level, though if your rats are constantly try to escape you can drill tiny holes along the bottom outside of the top bin and zip-tie it to the lower bin's lid if it has a lip. (obviously after drilling holes in that as well.) And yes, if you mean clear bins those work just fine, it's mainly what I used until I switched to a bigger size in plain white.

**Edit: Note that theres a flaw with ziptieing the top tub to the bottom lid- every time you want to clean the tubs you have to cut the zip ties so you can disenfiect properly, which, in the long run was a turn off for me cause that I big waste.

[lsaiah]

I just wanted to pop in and say I love that this thread exists!
Rats are a favourite of mine..I miss my girls dearly (I used to foster rodents actually-- my first guinea pig experience was wild haha!)
Wishing everyone well~

[gamorasass]

I just wanted to pop in and say I love that this thread exists!
Rats are a favourite of mine..I miss my girls dearly (I used to foster rodents actually-- my first guinea pig experience was wild haha!)
Wishing everyone well~

I feel that. I had to rehome mine due to severe allergies. I miss my rats so much, especially my heart rat.
I'm glad you love this thread!

[Roleplayer123]

Howdy Again!
I was wondering if anybody knew all tips on breeding/introducing robo dwarves. I have decided to get another hamster, (a female, as I've only ever owned males) to hopefully breed with my current male, Phoenix. Many of my friends and family had decided that they'd be interested in buying some hamster babs if I bred them and supplied em.

[drift.]

guys, go easy
@roleplayer
You should ask some very basic yet very important question before you breed any animal

1) Why am I breeding? To better hamsters? For food(cats,snake,etc)? So I can have more?
My personal answer for an example;; I was tired of only having crappy petco animals to choose from,
not only that, the heartbreak that came with the unhealthy animals dying young from easily
bred out illnesses. So, I found two very nice breeders in a different state, they showed, had good stock,
and offered to mentor me. I did it for myself, for my local rat-loving community, and so my community
could stop supporting petco's selling of unhealthy rats. You should have a reason, more than just
"I love the lil squishes!" *You can still like having litters, but that shouldn't be an only reason
2) is this animal healthy, have a good temperament, and a good example of it's breed/species?
the animal should be at least friendly, match the standard as close as possible,
and be free from any known illnesses before thoughts of breeding come in.
3) accept the fact that despite sounding and looking easy, breeding animals is stressful as hell and takes up a lot of time.
I'm in no way trying to scare you away from this, it's just really, really exhausting work.
From constantly communicating with clients, to spending extra time socializing the litters
and giving them free roam whilst not losing any lol. You get tired fast. I used to go to bed around 10-11 pm weekdays,
now its 8-9, just so I can feel well rested.
4) this is your hobby, if you ever start getting bored, tired of the same ol same ol, lose passion, it's okay to take a step back.
It's okay to not like breeding forever. Everybody hangs their breeder hat at some point in their lives. For some, its earlier than others. You don't want to force yourself to do something that no longer brings you joy, and have it start negatively affecting the animals. But you also dont want to jump into this without research and then quit a few months in because it's more difficult than you thought. It's not fair to the animals nor yourself.

Don't take a decision like this lightly. Find some ethical breeders and get in contact with them. Ask them some questions and
see if one maybe wants to mentor you. Having a mentor is lifesaving, I can assure you. I was so nervous starting out,
and he helped soothe my fears during my first pregnancy, and guided me through my first tumor-related passing.
It's like an animal google that has emotions! lmao.

[samm.]

Username: ☽✨serenity

Favorite type of rodent: Mice, although rats are a close second!

Tell us about your pets: Well, currently I have seven cats and two dogs,
but I'm picking up a pair of male rats sometime around the first of November!

Other: Ah, yes actually, I've got a question regarding cages! The boys that I'm picking up in November are babies, I've already got a temporary cage for them to live in until they're full grown, but once they're fully grown I'd like to move them into something more appropriately sized. The cage I have now is okay for young rats, but I know it's not the best for adults and it's definitely not what I want them to permanently live in. So my question is, what is the best/some of the best cages out there for at least two adult male rats? I don't want anything I'm going to have to modify, I made the mistake once of purchasing a cage with 1 inch bar spacing and I had to use hardware cloth to ensure my rats wouldn't escape, it made cleaning the cage an absolute nightmare.

[Roleplayer123]

@drift.
Thank you for the tips! I honestly wanted to breed a small litter to gain experience as I see a breeder job in my future as in my area, no such breeder exist. Especially in my town, we only have 1 pet store that sells live animals, and some of which are not caged, or cared for properly. Some are not even that healthy there! If I were to breed a small litter, I could honestly better the care of hamsters in my town, as EVERYONE gets crittertrail, or habit trail, and pine\cedar bedding cause it's cheap.

But, at the same time, I'm having a crisis. I was learning more about other hamster species, and learned something that shifted everything. Robo's do NOT have a dorsal stripe but mine does however. He shares many chararistics with a robo and Campbell. Is it at all possible for a cross-breed to occur or am I just freaking out cause at the store he was advertised as a robo? If at all needed, I could provide photo as I've never seen another hamster like him.

[drift.]

@roleplayer
I photo would be extremely helpful, as it is not possible for a robo and a Campbell to reproduce, they’re just so different. Perhaps he is just an off standard robo? I won’t really be able to tell you much else without a photo though 😁

Many robos that I’ve seen so to have a stripe, so I’m curious as to why all of the hamsters near you have one? Maybe your store has just one supplier?

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

I've got a small question.

I've been interested in creating a small 'digging' area for my rats, something where i can hid treats in and such. But i also want to decorate it a small bit with some plants. But i don't want to get anything that might hurt them. Whats a good list of plants that i can plant and grow that would be healthy or even benifical for my rats?

[Roleplayer123]

@roleplayer
I photo would be extremely helpful, as it is not possible for a robo and a Campbell to reproduce, they’re just so different. Perhaps he is just an off standard robo? I won’t really be able to tell you much else without a photo though 😁

Many robos that I’ve seen so to have a stripe, so I’m curious as to why all of the hamsters near you have one? Maybe your store has just one supplier?

Okey dokey! I'll get one when he's awake, don't wanna wake him up just yet c: