# New rat



## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

Hello~

I also got a new rat -_and my very first one_- this Saturday, she's an adorable little girl, even though I had planned to get two males...the owner of the pet shop didn't seem to remember when ordering them...so I had to settle with a SINGLE rat, and also I have another problem, I know I just mentioned she is a female...well it's just that there's a high chance that she is, but she's still way to young for anyone to be able to know EXACTLY what she is, hence my problem in getting another rat just now, ¿what if...anyone of them turns out to be a male? -_not that I would mind but...my family would...they SURELY would-_

Being a newbie in terms of having a pet like this, I really need some help...what worries me the most right now is the bedding she has, everyone says it's the best one around, but then I hear that in a long term it causes health problems (TT TT);

The little girl (or...whatever she is for that matter) is on my lap right now, I'm trying to get her to get used to human touch, but she still seems slightly frightened when I take her out of her cage

_"Slightly"...yeah right...if she could she would sh*t bricks_

Well, anyhow...guess my post is becoming way to long, so I'll end it here and with a picture of the little piece of rat ;D


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## SRGaudio1 (May 18, 2010)

Yuuki said:


> Hello~
> 
> I also got a new rat -_and my very first one_- this Saturday, she's an adorable little girl, even though I had planned to get two males...the owner of the pet shop didn't seem to remember when ordering them...so I had to settle with a SINGLE rat, and also I have another problem, I know I just mentioned she is a female...well it's just that there's a high chance that she is, but she's still way to young for anyone to be able to know EXACTLY what she is, hence my problem in getting another rat just now, ¿what if...anyone of them turns out to be a male? -_not that I would mind but...my family would...they SURELY would-_
> 
> ...


Rats Gender can be determined literally within days of birth. If she is in your care, then i hope she is AT LEAST 5 weeks old, as that is the age they can be safely weaned from their mother. In which case, if she was a he, she would already have prominent testicles.

Also what kind of bedding is she on? if it is wood based, it MUST be aspen, if not discard IMMEDIATELY. other than that most are kinda ok, except any scented beddings(I.E. Soft sorbent lavender).


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

You can determined the gender easily on a new born baby, once you know what your looking for.  Their testicles are obvious from 4 weeks of age... theres no excuse for the pet store not to sex them! except that they are ignorant. 

Shes a single rat so that may explain why shes so afraid. She doesn't feel safe without her family or any ratty friends. Get her a healthy female friend, then start doing trust training. She likely was not handled much as a baby.

She does look very young, or very small. :-\ Pet stores are the worst place you can get a pet rat from.


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

Well I think she might aswell be a male, some hours ago I checked and saw a bulge below her (_¿her?_) tail that actually look like small testicles...but I'm no expert, I'm HOPING that it's a male though, being a first time rat owner I'd rather have a laid back animal...well, dunno, one way or another I'll love...him/her xD...

And yeah, once I'm 100% sure about my rat's gender I'm getting her a partner as soon as possible...

And about the bedding, yeah, it's wood based, not quite sure which kind it is, but the guy I bought her with was actually a breeder and said he used it so...I'm actually so confused...I got a rat thinking it would be easier than a ferret and good training for a pet of '_that kind_'...But it's just as complicated XD!

Do not misunderstand, I DO love rats a heck of a great deal...


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

I actually do think she is pretty small, but I do not blame the petshop owner, he ordered the rat from a breeder he knew, so I'm actually blaming the breeder more...

This is her size, the first day I got her she already kind of settled on my lap and was slightly calm, but even nowadays she keeps on hiding on her Igloo :'(










She ate from my hand today though-- ah...talking about food...I have another ordeal with that :-[

¿Does anyone know what kind of balanced daily diet I could give her?

Some days before I got her I bought a bag of 'rodent food' it consists of...ehh...sunflower seeds, what seems like bird food, another kind of []-like shaped treats, fruit-loops and another thing...but she ONLY eats the sunflower seeds, the fruit-loops and that...other thing whose name in english I don't know...
I'm kind of worried about that.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Well the pet store owner should have a responsibility to only adopt out suitable animals and to get them from good ethical sources. 

She is likely afraid because shes alone, you should see an improvement when she/he gets a friend if she is used to being held before.

The seed mix you described is really bad for rats, not just are the ingredients totally wrong but as you mentioned it encourages selective feeding. Where are you located? That will help us point you in the direction of a good quality lab block available in your region. Also start introducing fresh veggies slowly to her meal plan, eventually she should be getting a variety of fresh veg per day.


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

¡Ahhh, thanks so much for offering help!

Well, sadly I currently live in Mexico, and so, having this kind of pet isn't _popular_ at all.

It's just been so hard lately, because there are different opinions everywhere, one fine example is when I found a 'list of what rats can and cannot eat' and I remember that it mentioned that rats CAN'T eat brocoli _it's leeeeethal to them AAARHGH_
and then, on another website they said that it's good for them...so it's all really confusing and I'm truly scared of making one single mistake that might harm my precious little thing at all ;-;


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Broccoli is one of the better vegetables for rats (and humans) I feed mine quite a bit of it  No worries there.


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

¡Ah, thank you so much! I personally love broccoli myself, it's delicious. ;D

¿What about (_warning warning xD_) cheese? Once again, some say it's a great treat, other say they can't stand it...
same with dried fruits...
...or fruits at all...


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

some good fruits and veggies are kale, spinach, broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, blueberries, raspberries, and banana

cheese is alright as a rare treat, it's pretty fatty and rats don't need that much dairy 

dried fruits you have to be careful, since they are pretty high in sugar. think of it like : you take a grape, dehydrate it, it shrinks down to a raisin. it still has all the sugar and stuff that the grape had, but the water is gone. it's much smaller and less filling, so you would need to eat more raisins to get full than whole grapes, so you're eating a lot more sugar.

fruits are good in moderation, they can be sugary and might cause your ratties to get diarrhea if you give them too much though 

(i split this into your own thread, by the way)


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## blenderpie (Sep 10, 2009)

Congrats on your new baby! 

I'm glad you're taking the proper initiative in order to do what's best for her. 
Some big hits I've had as far as treats go: bananas, cucumbers, the occasional strawberry slice, and I've given him a cherry tomato before and he liked it very much. He also gets to lick the yogurt that gets stuck on the lid. 

Since you seem to have trouble figuring out her sex, it might be a good idea to post a picture so it can be decided and a friend can be gotten for her to give her some confidence c:


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

Ahhh! thanks so much to both of you, and...Wow, xD I had just posted a thing on the other thread saying "MY POSTS DISSAPEARED" and then I see this...My bad ;_;...

And about the picture, yes, that's a really good idea...I'll might aswell just take it now


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

¡ Ok, I took the pictures !

Although, they aren't very clear and the bulge below..._her_ tail isn't as clearly seen, but...yeah xD I'm no expert at all O O;





































 ¡ S/he's thankful to you all !


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

Oh, that's right...if you don't mind...I'll show you what her 'daily diet' has consisted of for the last 4 days, and I'm getting really worried about it 



















¿Does anyone have a good recipe for her daily diet? ¿Something I could make?


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Oh boy lol, I really thought it looked female xD
And Since idk of the foods we use are available to you, I realy suggest the Grain Mix.


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## blenderpie (Sep 10, 2009)

The testicles, if there were any, didn't seem that prominent to me, but they may not have dropped well yet. If you look at its belly, there should be a small pink bump between where you imagine the belly button to be (it's covered in fur) and the tail if it's a boy. I feel like since we're having so much trouble, this may be easier.


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

Thanks so much to you all~

In terms of the diet, I'm quite confident that I can get most of the ingredients that are on the recipe on Rat and Spoon.

And in terms of the little one's gender...I should take more pictures, they really look different that from what the rat looks _in real life_, however, s/he keeps on moving so much when I try to take the picture, and I even got my sibling to help me take the picture while I held him/her, then again, I should try to use the digital camera instead of a cellphone to take them, but I'd have to wait until tomorrow for that, the light is already diminishing in here, and I don't want to use any kind of flash.


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

¡¡ sjhdbvsdvj hsdjvg !!
I can't stop myself from asking things...¡¡ AARGH !!

But this one is important to: Bedding x.x

I'm really worried about her bedding right now, since everyone says it's bad for them, and if I recall...it is pine so...yeah, I want to change it as soon as possible, and I was wondering if something like hay or straw would work?

I really don't want to use paper or anything like that...specially newspaper for the whole toxic ink deal and such...so yeah x_x


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## blenderpie (Sep 10, 2009)

Newspaper is a perfectly safe bedding. It just doesn't hold oder well so it'll need to be changed daily. I would stay away from straw because it can be so sharp and hard. I'm not sure about hay, though.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Hay is only dusty if it's not meant for food.
If you get Rabbit hay it never has any dust in it.
but still it's not a good option for bedding. Newspaper is a good option as well as Aspen wood shavings


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## Yuuki (Sep 29, 2010)

I should try to get aspen...I'm just not fond of newspaper...call me crazy but it doesn't seem aesthetic to me XD the wood shavings look much..._ better _

This sunday I'll try to get aspen if possible...


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