The BRODENTS! Rodent Enthusiast Thread!

[satuurnity]

I finally got my hamster about four hours ago! She's a Russian dwarf named Pi (as in the number ) and she's adorable! I haven't seen her take a drink yet although she's had a nibble at her food and a good explore of her cage- she loves her wheel (she looks tiny compared to it) and her little seesaw c: I'm hoping she'll decide to make this little hanging coconut her nest, but at the minute she seems to have decided she'll be comfy in a little burrow behind the wheel. Would anyone like to see some pictures when she's settled in? I'd love to share them! c:

Also @Storming// your hamsters are adorable! Cricket is the cutest thing I've ever seen! c:

[ghostmaker]

hey everyone !!!


so, my parents have been open about getting me a hamster, but they're worried about two main things:
• the short lifespan of the hamster and how i'll be affected emotionally after it passes
• what the hamster would do/where it would go whenever my family goes out of town


any help with changing their minds about these things, and information on what i can do would be appreciated!!


@floofems i would love to see her !!! she sounds adoRABLE already <3

@the lost gremlin congrats on becoming a mice parent !! i'll be anxiously awaiting their photos c:

@storming aaAAA !! what sweethearts <3 do you and your best friend live together in an apartment/house/dorm/etc?

[September Rain]

Hey all! This is my first time posting on this thread c:

So one of my friend's teachers has a lot of pets in her classroom, such as a bunny, two guinea pigs, a hamster, and a rat. She's currently taking care of the rat for her friend, who's in the process of moving. The only problem is that the rat seems to be kept in inadequate conditions. For example, it is kept alone, in a small cage with uncovered wire levels, and fed a bad brand of food. It also has very few accessories that will be too small for it once it is an adult (I'm pretty sure she's only a couple months old). I really want to help, but I don't know what to do, as the rat isn't really the teacher's. What should I do?

[.Middy.]

One last belly picture for these two! They move to their bins tonight to start preparing! I can’t wait!

I also have two more litters due in 21 days! Bred Sparrow to Tinker and Tempe last night! Still have Calliope to breed but she’s maturing a bit slow so I’m giving her extra time to grow first. Trying to decide if I wanna breed her to Sparrow as originally planned or if I wanna use Killian...

I’m also in contact with a breeder who has some nice DWS babies coming available soon, so I’ll likely be adding a DWS line because they are my favorite lol. They are believed to be Velveteen too!. Also going to pick up Karev a variegated doe to prove out his marking and coat type.

[Sabatea]

hi! i need to ask a quick question. i'm going to be travelling in a few days and my family would like to meet my grandma for lunch for maybe an hour max. but the thing is, i will have my rats in a small dog carrier/kennel (a pet taxi?).

i will obviously have to leave them in the car, the weather will probably be around 40 - 50 degrees. they would totally be fine in that correct? just want to make sure!

I would recommend against this, honestly. But, if there's no helping it, do the best you can. Park the car somewhere out of the sun, or if it is unavoidable, put the rat carrier somewhere completely out of the sun in the car. The floor, or possibly in the back. Somewhere where the sun won't touch the cage at all. They will do much better in the cold than they will in the heat. I would suggest checking on them often, and make sure that they are still out of the sun and that the car has not gotten too hot. If the car is too hot, you will have to run it and get the AC blowing and cool it down again, but do not blow cold air directly at the pet cage. Let the surrounding air get cold.

Again, I would highly recommend that if it is avoidable, do not leave your pets in the car. Problems can arise very quickly, and if they are not seen to it can cause major issues.

[Kat]

So, I'm working to create a sectioned off area in my house that is 100% rat proof. My goal is to have them be semi-free range by the end of next week and caged only at night or when I'm otherwise not around to supervise them. Does anyone else do this with their rats /other rodents?

I've also not really been 100% happy with any type of bedding for my rats until recently. I tried carefresh, which made my rats sneeze, fleece, which only seemed to make the sneezing worse and was waaaay too much work to maintain, aspen shavings, which was okay, but I hated the smell. Finally I've decided to try Yesterday's News cat litter and so far I'm liking it the best. Zero dust = zero sneezing, easy to clean, no added smell... It isn't super comfy like carefresh was, but my rats never really liked sleeping on the lowest level of their cage (where the bedding it) anyway. So, that's really no problem. Still using carefresh for my mousey, though...

Also, I snapped a quick picture of Edwin. ;v;

[.Middy.]

We have babies! I took this photo a few hours ago, and 30 minutes ago heard squeaks! She’s still in the nest so haven’t been able to look at them yet, but hopefully she gets out soon and I can count and grab a quick pic!

[cornspurrd.]

Mmm, I went to bed thinking about the chores I needed to get done regarding the rattos And I dreamt about buying them new food and cleaning their cage. I'm such a dork aha.

Also,, Salvador has a tumor in his abdomen and I don't know how much longer he's got?? It makes me tear up thinking about it. I love him so much gahh

[jade,]

Cocoa, my second hamster, died today. She was becoming thinner and thinner and today I was playing with marshmallow, my second hamster, and when I went to do the same to cocoa, she was under the wheel, still, stiff and not breathing. She will be forever loved, just like snowball. Rip my dearest, closest friend. My message to you guys, love your pets before he or she is gone forever. Thank you for all the support I could get, and as i said,

cocoa, you will be forever loved.

[synastry]

hey everyone !!!


so, my parents have been open about getting me a hamster, but they're worried about two main things:
• the short lifespan of the hamster and how i'll be affected emotionally after it passes
• what the hamster would do/where it would go whenever my family goes out of town


any help with changing their minds about these things, and information on what i can do would be appreciated!!


@floofems i would love to see her !!! she sounds adoRABLE already <3

@the lost gremlin congrats on becoming a mice parent !! i'll be anxiously awaiting their photos c:

@storming aaAAA !! what sweethearts <3 do you and your best friend live together in an apartment/house/dorm/etc?

Hey! I've had my 2nd hamster for around 6 months now. With the short lifespan thing, it is going to happen. You can only do so much about how long your hamster lives, especially if they come from a pet store. This sounds a tad bit harsh, but I was devastated for around 1 week, but then time went on and I just accepted it.
As for the traveling thing, it depends on how long you are gone. If it's only 1-3 days, and depending on how often you feed your hamster, they will be fine. Give them a normal amount of food before leaving, maybe set up 2 water bottles. If it is for extended periods of time (1 week or more) I suggest getting a friend to help out. Have them feed your hamster, replace the water, etc. If you have a large(r) cage, just clean it before you leave it it will be fine. I find that labeling the food containers with "give 1 pinch" or "2 tsps" is the simplest way, and they won't forgot or overfeed.