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Im Soo Freakin Mad!!!

maegann

maegann

I'm Me, Deal With It
I just bought a male and female rat 24 hours ago, and the female wont stop sneezing. so i called the pet store where i bought them from and asked if i could exchange her for a healty female (by the way, I dont even think she is a she because she keeps trying to mount he male) The store told me to take it to the vet cause they wont exchange it!!! I am so p.off right now i could just scream!!!!!!!!!!11 :twoguns:
 
You could always try a round of tetracycline. You can get it in the fish sections of most pet stores. If we get rats like that in at work, we use that and it usually clears them up. If it does not get better though, you need to take it to a vet. Also, it is very easy to tell the males from the females on rats. Mounting could also be a sign of showing dominance. Just look at the hind end on your rats, you'll be able to tell. Also, what kind of bedding are you using?
 
im using carefresh right now, i might switch to aspen later. would the medication be by mouth or add to their water?
 
Most tetracycline comes in 250mg capsules. You put 250mg/8oz of water. As for carefresh, I am extremely allergic to it. I used it for one day because I couldnt quit sneezing and itching while I had it. As soon as I got rid of it, I never had the problem again. My motto on bedding...if it makes me itchy and sneezy, it can't be good for the little animals living in it. You might try the aspen and see if that helps also.
 
I would change bedding NOW if you want to keep her and save medication money. My rats are allergic to CareFresh. I had the exact same experience with my first pair of rats. Came home, put them in with CareFresh and they just started sneezing. And as far as her mounting him, its just a dominance thing. She's trying to show him who's boss. You can always tell the difference between the sexes right away with rats. Male's have huge dragging on the ground testicles, and the females don't! And usually you can see the nipples on the females too.
 
thanks mama. the male i can tell is a male, but they are young rats so i wasnt sure about the female. they are in aspen now and i will let you know what happens
 
Look at the females belly, if you see nipples or small "spots" of baldness in the fur, its a female. Males have no nipples =)

Also if you look under the tail at the genitals its quite easy to tell male from female. The penis is separated from the anus by a space (where the testicles will descend if they haven't already) and on a female the vulva and anus are not separated by a significant space, generally just a millimeter or 2 =) You can also tell by the direction the genitals face, the penis "points" more towards the belly and the vulvular opening is parallel to the tail, tho this is much harder to check than the spacing of genitals and anus, especially on a rat, mine never sat still long enough for me to check them in this manner until they were older.

Hope this helps someone =)
 
Way I see it. If your going to use carefresh. always mix it with something. Oh and its never good to use care freash with rodents in aquariums. Because it absorbe so much urine and holds humidity. When I have to use it i use it in my rat cage as bedding for new mothers. and its always mixed with aspen and timothy hay.
 
will the tetracycline affect the male? if i put in their water should i put him in a seperate tank so he wont ingest any?
 
You can't breed or nurse while on tetracyclene, causes liver damage in fetuses and who knows what else. Also, if you put it in water you need to cover the bottle because light will nullify the tetracyclene.
 
I've done the tetracyclene to my rats and yes take the male out. it helps you know that the female won't get pregnant and harm the babys. And I covored my bottle with a black garbage baggie. but it had to have like card board or some plastic around it from having the rats chew it up.
 
here is my baby girl Bonnie. She is the one who has been sneezing aqnd seems to be doin a little better on the aspen. she is young, thats why i wasnt sure about male/female. but neway, here she is...
 

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The genitals arent always the best way ... In one of my lines the females have almost the same amount of spacing as the males. I routinely has problems with mis-sexing this line. I always look for nipples. Females have them from day one.

Whenever I get new stock I pick it out. I take the rats from their enclosure and will hold each one up to my ear to check for raspy breathing. This really helps to weed out the sick ones. Also a good way to tell if they have allergies. You can also tell by holding them, by the body, behind the front legs. On sick ones you can easily tell ... you can feel a "bumpy" breathing.

Bryan
 
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