Dying Rats

[Emanon]

I need some advice. I am starting a few rat colonies and am suffering from a bit of die off of the population. So far out of 25 total rats I have lost (dead) 4 of them. They are on horse beding pellets and some aspen. They have water and are eating lab blocks. The temp has been pretty moderate and I have been pretty confused!!! I also want to find a good breeder in the area to replace the rodents that I have lost as soon as this whole thing starts to smooth out!
So please any advice or thoughts that may help?

[Willow771]

A rat needs more than just lab blocks. plus they have been linked to premature cancer in rats so alot of them in a diet is bad (along with dried corn)

they should have variety in their diet, berries, juice, bread products (milk products are unneccesary) basically anything you can eat they can eat (minus onions and almonds) plus if its so warm they stretch out on the floor or lay on their backs that could be killing them too.

[Sasheena]

A lot of rats are unhealthy, I would wonder about the starting colony... if they were sickly, the rest can be sickly. That's why, once I got my foundation rats, I've never introduced any new rats into my colonies. I've probably had 3 rats die in approximately 1000 rats.... and one other one that was euthanized because it was having complications during birth and wasn't going to make it anyway. Of the three rats who've died, one was in the initial group of five rats, and two were weanlings.

As far as diversity in their diet... my rats get dog food, and once in a blue moon I give them my chicken bones from a chicken dinner. They seem to thrive on that diet. All the litters are 15+ babies and none of them sniffle or have any problems whatsoever. Sometimes I give them sunflower seed heads straight from the garden.

[Taceas]

I would tend to agree with Sasheena and think that its just unhealthy rats from the get go. Buying from pet stores is always a gamble. Sometimes a 'pretty' rat from the feeder bin in the back may make it up front to the 'pet rat' section in an effort to get more money from it. Or just bad stock, period.

A rat needs more than just lab blocks. plus they have been linked to premature cancer in rats so alot of them in a diet is bad (along with dried corn)

If lab blocks are so bad, why do ALL of the major laboratories feed their rats a lab block diet? They don't have time to go through and give goodies to all the rats. All the necessary nutrition is within that one block. Yeah its boring, but it works.

I feed my rats a diet of mostly lab blocks and have yet to see a problem. They get supplimented a small handful of Nutros dog food, the occasional chicken bone, and spare pieces of fruit or fruit baby food when its hot out. And the almighty Wheaties cereal for treats. And like Sasheena, my female pops out over 13 per litter and all the babies are fat and healthy.

Domestic rats and mice are prone to cancerous tumors because well, they're usually inbred as a Kentuckian (no offense to any Kentuckians reading) and some may be from lab stock that are more apt to develop tumors. One thing doesn't have anyting to do with the other, I would think.

Most people don't treat their feeder rodents like pets, and that's ok. So long as they're fed well, have fresh water available, and are cleaned out weekly I don't see a problem. :shrugs:

plus if its so warm they stretch out on the floor or lay on their backs that could be killing them too.

It's 75 degrees in my garage, all 3 of my rats are laying on their backs, WHAT DO I DO?!!? Nothing. They're warmer than they'd like to be sure, but again, no problems yet. Guess my cat that repeatedly lays on her back in the middle of the hallway is at risk too...or my dog who lays upside down in her kennel. The belly of an animal has the most blood supply and when they're warmer than they like, they lay belly up to dissipate the heat better and cool off. Unless its 95 or more where the rats are kept, I doubt that would be too much of an issue.

To summarize, its most likely bad stock you bought in the first place. And the others could be lackluster quality as well. Just watch them and make sure. If you see any further signs of illness, I'd scrap them all and try to find repuatable stock to get from the next time around.

[Emanon]

I will have to look for a good breeder.
They do seem to be doing better though.