The Rat Lovers Club! ~MODS PLEASE LOCK!

[MoonfallTheFox]

She could be getting picked on.

Try giving her a little bit of Ensure every day (only a little!). It's good for putting weight on.

You should start weighing daily, when I weigh my mice I put them in a box and weigh the whole thing. Then I subtract the weight of the box.

[ratigan]

What is Ensure?
I was thinking of giving her porridge and such, too? Or would that be unhealthy in the long run?

I don't think she is being picked on, but we've only had them for about a week so there has been some pinning down for all of them, as they're figuring out who's the 'top rat'. I'll watch more closely next time to make sure it isn't always her being pinned, though. ^^

And I'll see if we have a kitchen scale to weigh them with - what would a healthy weight be for a female, 7wk old rat?

Also, could it be possible that she is simply a 'runt' of the litter? (I would really only consider this to be the case if she fails to gain weight though)

Thank you! <3

[jazzyx]

No but I think they are very cool

[Centri]

What is Ensure?
I was thinking of giving her porridge and such, too? Or would that be unhealthy in the long run?

I don't think she is being picked on, but we've only had them for about a week so there has been some pinning down for all of them, as they're figuring out who's the 'top rat'. I'll watch more closely next time to make sure it isn't always her being pinned, though. ^^

And I'll see if we have a kitchen scale to weigh them with - what would a healthy weight be for a female, 7wk old rat?

Also, could it be possible that she is simply a 'runt' of the litter? (I would really only consider this to be the case if she fails to gain weight though)

Thank you! <3

It depends a lot on the size of the litter and the parents weights, but between 120-160 grams is a common weight (at least in Sweden. I know Finnish rats are generally larger than Swedish ones, and Brittish rats are usually smaller. So it depends on where you live too.)

[ratigan]

Okay, thank you. And woah, I didn't know they were different sizes in different places! :D Mine are English ^^
They've just been cleaned out and are very excited at the moment so are moving faster than usual- I'll weigh them a little later in the evening, so they'll hopefully have calmed down a bit x3

Hm, it's a bit difficult for me with the parents thing- Their mum seemed to be a pretty normal girl size (I couldn't see her very well though, she was sleeping), and their dad is giant and squishy o3o

They've got food both in a bowl and scattered now, so whichever type of feeding she is used to, she will be able to do :) If she is gaining weight steadily on her normal diet, I won't give her too much special food.. c:

[rachaelandrats]

Just remember Snowz, DO NOT get them from a petstore, They are going to cost you alot of money since their prone to sickness and in general for food etc., and you should most likely buy two because no matter what, they need a companion. You can say you'll be there for them 24/7 but who's there for them at night? I know Zeus doesn't have a playmate, but it's because any rat homed with him could be prone to catch his pnemonia, and I'd feel terrible getting another rat sick.

From the video you posted it's not pnemonia at all, it's a respiratory infection. When my sisters rattie Perry had pneumonia we found him lying with his head over the edge of the igloo, didn't respond to us. Sucked his sides in, was really cold, all he drank/ate was ice cream and nothing else. Pneumonia is really serious and it comes all of a sudden, then you really have to go to the emergancy vet and it is just 50/50 chance if they recover or don't. From the video Zeus looked active and bright. (: Also respiratorys don't spread like that, so you could get him a friend or two.

[LadyCrowsong]

I'm so excited! My dad said that I'll be able to get some more ratties and that means they'll also be able to get health care because mom won't be trying to hide things and being unwilling to pay for vet visits if need and whatnot!

[ratigan]

Just weighed my rats- I only managed to weigh two of them, as they were a bit freaked out by the scales and refused to cooperate :T

The two I weighed had a big difference in weight, though. Bel was about 7.1oz (about 200g) and Brie was about 6.4oz (about 180g).
I have given them some baby food porridge. I'll be giving them baby food every other day so they can grow a bit more - I figure if it's healthy enough for human babies, there won't be any salt/sugar stuff that can hurt baby ratties.

Are they at a healthy weight for 7week old baby girls? I'm a bit worried. My previous rats were a bit older than these girls when I got them, so I'm not entirely familiar with growth rates etc. other than that they grow a lot around this age..

[Centri]

Just weighed my rats- I only managed to weigh two of them, as they were a bit freaked out by the scales and refused to cooperate :T

The two I weighed had a big difference in weight, though. Bel was about 7.1oz (about 200g) and Brie was about 6.4oz (about 180g).
I have given them some baby food porridge. I'll be giving them baby food every other day so they can grow a bit more - I figure if it's healthy enough for human babies, there won't be any salt/sugar stuff that can hurt baby ratties.

Are they at a healthy weight for 7week old baby girls? I'm a bit worried. My previous rats were a bit older than these girls when I got them, so I'm not entirely familiar with growth rates etc. other than that they grow a lot around this age..

It sounds like good weights. Their size when they are young depends a lot on the litter size. Large litter = smaller babies
My youngest females weighed 177g and 156g when they were 7 weeks old. (Their brother was half the size of the others when they were born, and he weighed 131g at 7 weeks)

[ratigan]

Oh okay, thank you! :D That's such a relief, I was getting worried for them. And aw, he sounds so small <3