| Welcome to the Rat Check List! |
| So you want to get a rat or two? Well below is a checklist of the things you'll be needing! GENERAL- A Full-sized cage or habitat A quaranteen cage (can be smaller, say a 10 gallon or 20 gallon tank? This is in case you get a new rat to add to add to your rat community. Quaranteening is a good practice to help prevent disease.) A Water Bottle (dishes are often filled with bedding and are generally more messy and dirty.) A Scrub Brush (to clean the spout of your water bottle so bacteria doesn't grow in it.) A Feed Dish (cat dishes, ferret dishes and even parrot dishes will do!) Bedding (NEVER use pine or Ceadr!! CareFresh, Sani-chips, alphalpha pellets, aspen, CornCob and recycled newspaper products are fine) Food- (Lab blocks are preferred if you can find them, fresh foods are great, and a good seed or parrot mix is good to mix with the lab blocks.) Water- (If you live in the city where tap water isn't all that great you may need to buy bottled water.) Treats- (Fresh foods, yogurt drops, fruits, raisons, dog biscuits are all good to give as treats. Try to limit sugery food and don't give caffinated or carbonated food. Chocolate and oranges are also a No-No [male rats tend to have a higher risk of cancer if fed citrus fruits]) Toys- (Tunnels, boxes, tubes, hammocks, and ladders are all very good.) First Aid- What you should have in case of emergancy A styptic stick or styptic powder- This is to stop bleeding on small wounds and broken toenails. Rat toenails have a nerve in them just like dogs that will bleed if broken. Baby Food- In case you're rat has lost all appatite and you can't get to the vet until tomarrow try feeding baby food. Yogurt may also work. These are also good to feed ailing rats (note yogurt hinders some medications, check with your vet or pharmasist) Pedialite or Gatorade- This is good to feed a dehydrated rat! Also is good to feed infant orphans to re-hydrate them before you can find a foster mom or hand-feed them. Ivermectin- also known as common horse dewormer. Zimectrin and several other brands will work. This is used to rid rats or mites or other parasite (not effective ageinst round worms) Give 1 dose the size of a single grain of UNCOOKED rice every 7-10 days until you have given 2 or 3 doses. (baby rats need less, obese males probably could take a little more. use logic to figure thi out) Rescue Remedy or Five Flower Rememdy- used for stressful situation to calm rats down. Works well before going to vet, to revive an unconscious rat, to help with aggression, and to help with phobias like thunderstorms. I use 5 drops in my rat bo's water to prevent him from biting off his toes during Thunderstorms. It works like a charm! Beware overdosing can and will kill a rat. Use caution. Spare medications- If when you go to the vet he gives you more meds than you actually eed, keep them! You never know when you'll need some Doxyciline, Batril, or other medications. If all else fails have a GOOD RAT-KNOWLEGED VET! Breeding Equiptment- A cage or aquarium that the babies can't get out of. If breeding furless or if mother is ill always have human baby soy formula or kitten formula around to feed babies. Or find a lactating foster mother ASAP! High Protein, high nutrition food. More lab blocks and more fresh foods! Nesting area- could be a box, a run-around ball, a tunnel, or any other hide away to make mother feel secure. PLEASE don't let Mama rat put her nest on top of a shelf where the babies could fall! Homes- you'll need extra cages to seperate the boys and the girls at 4-5 weeks. And then you'll need to find homes for your brood else where. Please see my Breeding Question FAQ sheet for details on how to adopt out the babies to PET rat friendly people. |