The BRODENTS! Rodent Enthusiast Thread! V2

[gamorasass]

welcome to all the new members! hope everyone's furry friends are doing well!

[spirittai1]

Username: Spirittai1
Favorite type of rodent: rats
Tell us about your pets:
i've got four male rats !! got them when they were a bit over a month old, nd they just had their first birthday at the end of october !! now one year old ,, crazy to think about how much they've grown since i got them haha. their names are snowflake (hyper gray variegated dumbo rex - he's not huge on receiving cuddles but he WILL lick your hand to death if you try to pet him), rain (sweet gray (agouti?) variegated dumbo - loves people but does have a history of aggression towards other rats </3 also the only one of my rats who's properly litter trained atm lol), murk (skittish dark gray variegated hooded dumbo - he's very afraid of everything going on around him but he loves you anyways), nd storm (lazy gray (agouti?) variegated hooded dumbo - chunky man who is very cuddly and inexplicably the cage master (i.e. his brothers know they don't stand a chance bc he's HUGE)) !! this is my first time owning rats nd i really really adore them dkfjsnjdh
right now i'm workin out what to do with rain bc. he's been separated from his brothers for a few months now (bc of those aggression issues) but i kinda want to try reintroducing him to them ?? my previous vet shot down the idea of neutering but i know a lot of rat owners seem to recommend that in case it's hormonal aggression so? he's currently occupying the top half of a connectable critter nation nd i would... love to be able to give his bros some extra space + give him back the ability to socialize with other rats, esp when i'm not around :( i'm not really sure how it's gonna pan out nd i'm not gonna push the four of them too hard if there's clearly no change from before but... here's to hopin !!
Other:
hey !!! i've been thinkin about postin to this thread since i got my boys but ,, kept forgetting to actually do so lol
also just curious !! does anyone here possibly know an easy way to differentiate between solid gray nd gray agouti rats? is gray agouti even possible? two of my rats have that kinda,, if you part their fur it looks like they've got bands of varying shades of grays/browns going on throughout effect? i THINK that's what agouti is but i'm p inexperienced w/ rat colors nd stuff so i was curious if anyone else knew more !!

[drift.]

@Spirittail
Yes (sort of), there is blue agouti! Photos in natural light will help me ID them better than just a description, though! You can send me photos over discord or just post em here if you really wanna know their variety! (I know some don't care, but every time I get a mysterious kit I get SO excited about the color possibilities :') )

-> As with blue, blue agouti can be a range of shades from very dark to pale, almost lavender.
-> Blue Agouti is an even blend of mid-blue ticking over a medium fawn ground. Undercolor to be blue down to the skin. Belly color silver.
-> Eyes are ALWAYS black, if yours are ruby or light red, they're not a blue agouti and it's right back to square one! ^^

[Agent Maine(Meta)]

Welcome to all the new people!

And i have unfortunate news. My new rat hershey, even thought he was fixed, shows to not be a social rat. While yes most rats enjoy company. Not all of them do. Hershey appears to be one of those semi-solitary babies. Housing him with my two female rats seemed well and good for a few days but that turned to the worse out of the blue when he began starting fights with both of them. Terrifying both my girls. He will not share a cage with them what so ever. And while he is fine with them in free time because they have more then ample room to run away from him. He is definitely not a social rat. He does well with me and seems happiest in his own cage. So at this time, he will be housed by himself with his usual routine of play/free time from 9am to about 9pm with cages opened on the floor to let them go in and out for their naps when they please.

So if i do post future pictures of him in his own cage, this is the situation as to why.
I'll also try and post pictures of the other girls in the future tho.

[spiderfish]

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Quick question for Syrian hamster owners; which do you prefer, males or females & why?

[spiderfish]

Sorry for the double post, but this is a new, unrelated question.
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Hypothetically, if I were to do something nuts, like adopt a group of five campbells, how big a cage would they need? Would a Living World Eco be big enough? Or possibly a 4ft viv?

Actually, I have two Eco's, so I could connect those together to make one huge cage too...if I can figure out how to take the sides off.

[drift.]

450+ square inches is recommended and if there are multiple hamsters then where should be multiple wheels, bottles, toys, etc. to prevent fighting

That cage would be perfect for them! The Syrian hamster species (the big ones) are the most solitary, and they are often seen as aggressive due to being housed in too small of a cage. I don’t have a ton of experience with Campbell’s, but in that cage a small group should be okay!😊

[gamorasass]

I had to rehome my rats due to severe allergies awhile ago. I kept Templeton for much longer until it got to the point where I couldn't breathe. Just over a year ago I found him a permanent foster with a lovely lady who took such good care of him. I got updates, pictures, videos, and she even brought him to a local pet expo where I snuggled him for about five hours straight. Yesterday I got the devastating news that he passed in his sleep.

I wish I could have had more time with him. I wish I could have been there for him when he passed. But I have some peace knowing I did what was best for him by sending him to a permanent foster where he could be properly cared for since I was too sick to do so. He passed peacefully in his sleep, with no pain, and that's all I could ever ask for.

I miss him and my heart is so heavy. Sleep easy, little man. I hope to see you again some time soon.

Templeton is the rat pictures on the intro page of this thread <3

[drift.]

I'm so sorry Gamora, he had an amazing life with you and his foster <3
I hope the little dude rests easy

@Meta, I didn't see that until now, but rats are extremely social creatures.
if he doesn't get along with your does he either needs fellow bucks to house with,
or rehomed to someone who has bucks. If he is so aggressive that it goes against his
instincts to want to be with other rats then you may need to consider putting him down.
At that point, I would consider it a neurological issue that can't be fixed.

[Lemon Tea Rain]

Hey! I'm looking for advice on how to keep my gerbil girl entertained, and stop her chewing on her gerbilarium's bars. I've had her for 2 or 3 years now, and she's all by herself - her housemate got suddenly sick and died at 2 years of age, meaning I've had to spend a lot more time handling and playing with her. The problem is, I'm put of the house for many hours each day, and other people handling her simply stresses her out. I've given her chew toys, I tried giving her a wheel (she didn't figure out how to use it and ending up wrecking it instead), I scatter some food for her to forage instead of just going to her bowl...

But instead, she's taken to climbing up on to the bars part of her cage and chewing on it. I'm worried she'll do damage to her teeth, but I'm not sure what to do? I've given her plenty of wooden/other material chew toys, but she doesn't seem to enjoy them. (Though she does seem to use rope ones.)

What do you think I should do? Do you think getting a flying saucer wheel would encourage her to try it out more? Should I try out changing bedding, or maybe adding more tunnels or something for her? Any different material toys I could try?

Any advice is appreciated!