# oh dear I have made a horrible mistake



## Cathyb (Aug 7, 2012)

I have had female rats for about two years. In pairs the older of the two girls died so i asked the petstore to bring me in a new girl to keep her company. (I know petstores are horrible but there is no other options for getting rats where I live.) So last friday I picked up the pretty little girl so sweet and cuddly. I turned her over and checked for testes and didn't see any. As you have probably guessesdshe turns out to be a male. I'm hoping desperately since his testes only descended during the night that perhapps they never mated. Yeah I know I'm indulging in wishful thinking. I can't believe i was so stupid. They are now in seperate cages. I've fallen in love with the little guy so I have to figure out who gets fixed, if there are even any vets that can do it here. I don't want a litter but it would be a lot more expensive to get her fixed I imagine.

The petstore is a small family operated business, who treat and care for the rats they have with obvious kindness. I'm going to talk to the owner tomorrow and see ifthey will take the babies if there are any and perhaps share the cost of getting him neutered. I will treat Sweetpea as if she is pregnant from now on I'm going to spend some time reading up on how to care for pregnat rats and araise their offspring.

Just had to get all of that off my chest.

thanks for listening.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

post a pic of the little boy? He may be too young to impregnate any girl


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

If he only just now dropped, I'm hesitant to say that he's old enough to mate successfully.


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

If they just descended he may well be too young to know how to use them. This happens occasionally and before they drop they can be hard to sex. I have a female that looks like she should have testes so ... it happens sometimes. The females need spayed more than your boy needs a neuter but typically neuters are very inexpensive compared to spays


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## Cathyb (Aug 7, 2012)

I took the little one to the vet to confirm and it turns out that Silver is neither fully female or male but has has a vagina and testes, no penis. The vet says that Silver is almost certainly infertile. I have a hermaphrodite rat lol. I would love to post pictures but I don't have a camera. I will try to convince my daughter to take some pictures next week.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Oh, wow...


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## RollingScone (Aug 4, 2012)

Well you have a special little baby there don't you! 

Reminds me of that episode of House M.D. with the intersex model.


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

Well that's good news  it does happen sometimes  at least Silver has a loving accepting home


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## echoskybound (Apr 24, 2012)

Wow, that's pretty unusual but very convenient! Good to hear that your female is likely not pregnant, and that you can keep them together without having to do any surgeries!


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## Mrm911 (Jul 6, 2012)

Interesting, a hermaphadite rat!


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## Cathyb (Aug 7, 2012)

yeah since Silver doesn't have a penis there is no pregnancy. Big relief on my part they are back together. I felt from the beginning that there was something different somehow but with Silver being such a sweet heart and a snuggle bunny I just fell in love with Silver


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## Munchie (Mar 13, 2012)

Wow that's so strange, very interesting though  You have a very unique ratty there!


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

Oh now you have to keep us totally in on everything Silver does because that is way cool.

Shame Silver is infertile though, could have a litter of herm rats XD jk.

Anyways, you have to keep us in touch on what the personality turns out to be. Does Silver leave pittle trails like boys? Is she lazy like boys or active like girls?


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## elliriyanna (Jul 27, 2011)

Maiden said:


> Anyways, you have to keep us in touch on what the personality turns out to be. Does Silver leave pittle trails like boys? Is she lazy like boys or active like girls?


Some girls leave trails too one of my girls is a heavy marker


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## 4mb3rnich0l3 (Jun 8, 2012)

Wow thats pretty interesting? Ive never heard of that out of a rat!


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## jadeelizabeth (Jul 26, 2012)

So, if she/he is infertile, does that mean he/she will not need to be spayed to cut tumour risks ect? 
I was just reading though and thought of it!


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## coxbrea151 (Jun 1, 2012)

It would be interesting to see...


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## spidergirl (Aug 7, 2012)

COOOOOL! 
yes, im very interested too hear about the personality traits!
Maybe it will have the cuddliness of a male, with none of the impregnating! hehe!


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## achackysac (Sep 11, 2012)

Wow what a lucky find! You need to make a post about Silver specifically and keep us updated on her/his/its progress


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## Roxy&Spot (Aug 31, 2012)

elliriyanna said:


> Some girls leave trails too one of my girls is a heavy marker


Both of my girls are heavy markers. It seems to be worse after a thorough cage cleaning. I try to only clean one or two pieces of their cage at a time, but sometimes the smell is just so much and I have to clean everything, thus beginning the cycle again.

Have you noticed any differences in marking based on environmental factors?


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