# Constantly seems hungry!



## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Hello everyone! I am in dire need of some advice. My 4mo old female rat that I've had since a pinky seems to be CONSTANTLY hungry, but yet never seems to eat. I keep her bowl full of the foot the pet store suggested we buy, although it specifically states it's hamster/gerbil food. I also give her all sorts of veggies and rat specific treats, but all she seems to do is grab it and take it into her cage and drop it. I let her out today to run around the room and she was trying to nibble/eat EVERYTHING! I honestly don't know what to do. You can tell she has to be eating something bc she is a very healthy size. Has anyone had this problem with their fur baby? I just feel so helpless and don't know whats wrong. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Hi and welcome! Young rats explore their world with their mouths, that's normal. Sounds like you have a hoarder lol. Is she hiding the food from her cage mates or just grabbing and stashing? Sometimes the urge to stash food keeps them constantly searching for things to snatch. And I would recommend Oxbow Adult Rat food, one of the best kibble for rats.


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Tinytoes said:


> Hi and welcome! Young rats explore their world with their mouths, that's normal. Sounds like you have a hoarder lol. Is she hiding the food from her cage mates or just grabbing and stashing? Sometimes the urge to stash food keeps them constantly searching for things to snatch. And I would recommend Oxbow Adult Rat food, one of the best kibble for rats.


She's just grabbing and stashing EVERYTHING I give her....it's quite comical actually bc she grab the treat from the palm of my hand and drop it at the back of her cage and then come running back for another one lol! This would go on for hours I'm sure if I'd allow it. I will definitely have to look online for the food you suggested bc what the pet store purchases is the same thing I can purchase at Wal-Mart. She actually doesn't have a cage mate atm. We've been discussing getting her a buddy, but out of the litter she was from she was the only one out of the 9 that was extremely lovey from birth as well as the only female. I actually purchased her birth parents when they were a couple weeks old, but the pet store clerk didn't bother to sex them before I brought them home and I didn't have the heart to bring the male back. I was planning on getting my female spayed after her first litter, but decided it'd be best to re-home the fur babies as well as the parents. In the 5 or so months we had them they never seemed to open up despite how hard I tried working with them. Plus the male started becoming very aggressive towards anything that came near his cage (I'm assuming he thought it was food as I'd have to give him snacks through the bars). Everytime I'd open the cage to try to give them treats he'd latch onto my hand like a pitbull. After he bit straight through my 3yr finger in the second I looked away from her I knew then I wasn't going to be able to keep him. The mother never bit, but she didn't want to be messed with at all....I tried for months before having to make a hard decision. So that's why Maroon doesn't have a cage mate atm. I constantly show her attention and let her out daily to get plenty of exercise and interaction. Do you think it'd be good for her to have another fur baby to socialize with? I just don't want it to ruin all the progress and loveyness. I'm afraid if I get her a cage mate she'll end up turning out to be like her parents 🥺 Sorry for the novel lol. I've had pretty much every pet around, but this is my first rat that I bought without the intention of it becoming my scale baby's dinner 😞


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Thanks for the detailed background. Rats are so unique in many ways. So many personalities, and no guarantee that they will be loving, or social or even friendly. And they change as the grow up, so the sweet little girl could become aggressive or withdrawn if left without a friend to socialize with. She sounds just like my Phyllis, a feeder who was alone most of her short life (she's 4 months also) and just now got socialized with a group of three ratties, two 1-yr old boys and an old 2+ yr old girl, all fixed. When Phyllis was alone, she was also was a huge hoarder, seriously obsessive with treats and things to stash. She ran around in a frantic state, dashing everywhere like her tail was on fire and her head was gonna catch lol. She was becoming a bit neurotic. Now she is calming down, the obsessive hoarding is subsiding, and she's enjoying grooming everyone. Phyllis is much happier with her friends, and she still visits me for treats but she will never be a cuddly friendly rat, and I'm okay with that.

Please do consider a cage mate, perhaps a pair of young girls so they can be a mischief. They love a crowd! And new rats will usually follow suit with a friendly and human-socialized rat  

and the Oxbow can be ordered through Chewy or most chain pet stores.


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Tinytoes said:


> Thanks for the detailed background. Rats are so unique in many ways. So many personalities, and no guarantee that they will be loving, or social or even friendly. And they change as the grow up, so the sweet little girl could become aggressive or withdrawn if left without a friend to socialize with. She sounds just like my Phyllis, a feeder who was alone most of her short life (she's 4 months also) and just now got socialized with a group of three ratties, two 1-yr old boys and an old 2+ yr old girl, all fixed. When Phyllis was alone, she was also was a huge hoarder, seriously obsessive with treats and things to stash. She ran around in a frantic state, dashing everywhere like her tail was on fire and her head was gonna catch lol. She was becoming a bit neurotic. Now she is calming down, the obsessive hoarding is subsiding, and she's enjoying grooming everyone. Phyllis is much happier with her friends, and she still visits me for treats but she will never be a cuddly friendly rat, and I'm okay with that.
> 
> Please do consider a cage mate, perhaps a pair of young girls so they can be a mischief. They love a crowd! And new rats will usually follow suit with a friendly and human-socialized rat
> 
> and the Oxbow can be ordered through Chewy or most chain pet stores.


YES!! Maroon does the exact same things!! I tease her all the time bc she acts like she has adhd!! When she's out of her cage and roaming around she is zoom zoom zoom!! The only time she seems to settle down is when she climbs up on my bed and crawls into the crevice of my neck and takes a break...I also learned this is when she wants affection, so I rub her behind her ears and down her back. She absolutely loves it, but then she's back to go go go!! Something else that makes me feel horrible is how she just hangs on the bars of her cage and just stares at me...I honestly don't know what to do to get her to stop looking at me with those needy wanting eyes. I've tried everything I could think of before posting on thIs site and it just broke my heart bc despite all my efforts nothing was working. I will definitely look into getting a cage mate! When I called up Pet Smart they said the best cage mate would be a couple week old fur baby female. According to them this would make the best ideal way for them to socialize and get to know one another see in as Maroon has been on her own since she was able to be removed from her mother. I just pray that the new baby cage mate will accept me as Maroon does bc I have worked extremely hard to make sure Maroon sees me as a companion. Also the pet store we purchased her parents from don't interact with their baby rats. When we told the employee what we were wanting she went to a 20 gallon aquarium with about 40 babies rats in it of all different breeds/sexes and pulled 2 out and boxed them up, and as I stated previously that despite all my attempts I could not for the life of me get them to socialize with me...I was lucky to get them to take a treat from me and that was generally through the bars of the cage 🥺... when I decided to get a rodent fur baby I had the whole imagine in my head of her sitting on my shoulder as I walked around town or the store or whatever and that I could just put her down and let her run wild and free and just be able to call her name and she'd come running right back to me lol....I know...crazy huh?


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

You should really look to a rescue and adopt. I volunteer as a foster, and we take such good care of our rats, and they see a vet and are assessed for their personalities. They always have babies due to unwanted pregnancies. Where do you live?


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Tinytoes said:


> You should really look to a rescue and adopt. I volunteer as a foster, and we take such good care of our rats, and they see a vet and are assessed for their personalities. They always have babies due to unwanted pregnancies. Where do you live?


I live near Iola Ks. I'm not sure if there is a rescue in our area or I would love to foster/adopt! The unwanted pregnancy situation is one I'm all to familiar with! That's what happened with Maroons parents. We informed the clerk at the pet store that we wanted to females, so that is what we assumed we had. As I stated before they were not social or friendly at all so I never really had the opportunity to get up close and personal to verify the sexes until it was to late. I was not very happy when I got a closer look at _Willard_ (the male) and realized that "she* had managed to grown some parts a _she_ is not supposed to have lol...and by then it was already to late. I would of loved to have kept all the fur babies, but 9 was a bit to much for me to be able to take care of, plus there are no vets in our area that specialize in rodent health. When I called around to check prices on spays it took me forever to even find a vet that would give me a quote and also I was a lil offish when I was informed that the veterinarian had no expertise regarding rodents and had in fact never done a spay or neuter at the clinic. The only practice the veterinarian had was while in college getting their degree, so um yea....It just didn't sit right with me so I re-homed the babies and the mama and returned the male back to the pet store since he was becoming extremely aggressive. I do know that I plan on getting a baby female cage mate for Maroon....after you described how your sweet Phyllis acted without having a cage mate to socialize with I got to realizing that Maroon acts the SAME exact way. I'm really looking forward to having two lil rodent fur babies to interact with! When Maroon was out running around last night for her exercise she started get rowdy...it was SOOOO cute!! I took the lid with the straw still in it off my cup so I could eat my ice and she came up and kept grabbing my straw trying to run away with it...so I started playing a keep away game and kept moving it all around and back and forth and she was running around chasing it every which way I moved it. Shed nibble on it and try to pull it towards her and I just kept playing this lil keep away game with her until she seemed to become bored. But we played like this for a good 10min....after i stopped playing with her I just laid the straw down on my tote next to my bed and forgot all about it. When she's ready to relax for the evening she'll climb back into her own cage and I'll rub her behind her ears, make kissing noises and basically talk to her like she's one of my children and then I'll close her cage up....well when I was closing it I noticed that the lid from my drink was in her cage...I started laughing and said _Yup...that's definitely my lil pack rat_. About a hour later I was getting around for bed and was fixing my pillow to lay down and I felt something weird inside my pillow case....low and behold that onry lil turd bird decided she was going to put the straw we had been using for our keep away game inside my pillow case lol!! I told her she's a goober lol....Have any of your ratties done anything like this? She doesn't do any of these silly things with my husband at all. Are rats like other animals that occasionally associate more with one of their owners more than the other? Or could it possibly be because I've been handling her since the day she was born? I've researched A LOT about rats online, I'm on a rat forum on Reddit as well as here, and I also follow _Shadow the Rat_ on youtube...but as any living creature each is different in their own specific way. As you stated they each have their own mannerisms and personalities. As a avid lover of ALL creatures/animals big and small (trust me if I could have my own sanctuary I would... actually if it wasn't for my husband having to tell me no 20x a day I probably would have my own sanctuary lol) I just want to make sure that I am doing everything possible/needed to make sure my lil rattie, soon to be ratties lol, is well taken care of so she can live a long healthy and full life!! Sorry I've been writing you novels...like I said previously there's no location in my area that I can discuss my concerns/questions with. Plus Id rather talk to other rattie owners bc they interact with their babies on a daily basis compared to someone like a Veterinarian who basically just deals with them when they're brought in for health upkeep. I also just want to say Thank you so much for responding to my posts. I truly appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my novels and answer my questions!! Thank you


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

It was a selfie day for my rattie baby Maroon and I...Taken a few days ago


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Aw, you're such a good rat-mom!! We love our little hand-puppies so much, even when they are unpredictable. Phyllis does all the same things, I just found a corn cob in the pillow case lol. She was hoarding and running around, and I'd yell "Oy, Phyllis!!!" and she'd come running to see me at the door. I knew she'd been alone for long time, half her life, and she spent a week+ being offered as food to a snake . So she has some trust issues. If someone reached into your bedroom and grabbed you by the leg and hung you over a tiger's cage every day, you'd have trust issues too! Poor Phyllis. That's why I rescued her.

But I knew she needed a friend. I would free roam her on the bed, and when I left and came back, she'd be right at the end, looking for me. When I got the trio and she smelled them on me, she was so very curious. She's sniff me and my hands and everything I'd touched. When I moved her cage to the rat room next to the newbies, she'd hang on the cage bars and just stare at them. She wanted to be friends sooooo badly. Like a kid with no friends...just wanted to be part of a group. So I introduced her to Taco, and luckily they became friends. But she wanted the boys lol.

Now they are all together, and she is acting normal. Still quick, still curious, still running around but with purpose, like she has a plan now. And that plan includes me. I sit with them in the Rattic (third floor is a total rat room lol) and they all come and eat their cream of wheat and climb on me. Well, mostly the girls. The boys get their treat and take a nap. I love all the personalities. But my job is to get them ready for a new home. 

This group will likely stay with me though, because Taco is over 2 years old, and the boys just got neutered and they are all bonded. Now Phyllis part of the gang, so they might just stay with me 🥰


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Tinytoes said:


> Aw, you're such a good rat-mom!! We love our little hand-puppies so much, even when they are unpredictable. Phyllis does all the same things, I just found a corn cob in the pillow case lol. She was hoarding and running around, and I'd yell "Oy, Phyllis!!!" and she'd come running to see me at the door. I knew she'd been alone for long time, half her life, and she spent a week+ being offered as food to a snake . So she has some trust issues. If someone reached into your bedroom and grabbed you by the leg and hung you over a tiger's cage every day, you'd have trust issues too! Poor Phyllis. That's why I rescued her.
> 
> But I knew she needed a friend. I would free roam her on the bed, and when I left and came back, she'd be right at the end, looking for me. When I got the trio and she smelled them on me, she was so very curious. She's sniff me and my hands and everything I'd touched. When I moved her cage to the rat room next to the newbies, she'd hang on the cage bars and just stare at them. She wanted to be friends sooooo badly. Like a kid with no friends...just wanted to be part of a group. So I introduced her to Taco, and luckily they became friends. But she wanted the boys lol.
> 
> ...


This evening was AMAZING!! When Maroon was ready to have her playtime I did as I always have and allowed her to make her own way out and just let her wander around. I have a HUGE bedroom (about the size of a decent living room) and I safety proofed it to allow her to have free roam of the whole room. She did as she always does at first, just zooms around being very curious and nosey lol. My kiddos were craving something sweet so I sent them to casey's to get some doughnuts for everyone. As I was in the process of getting mine out of the box I felt a furry lil nose on my leg and knee immediately that Maroon felt she should partake in this event so I pulled off a small piece of the plain bread at the end and she ran up and grabbed it from me and zoomed across the length of the bed and disappeared between the top of the bed and the wall. I continued to eat my doughnut and next thing I know I have a furry nose touching my face.....she had climbed up my pillow I was propped up against and was now sitting on my shoulder trying to reach her lil hands and mouth out to grab my doughnut as I was taking a bite lol!! SOOOO of course with that amount of effort and definate cuteness factor I gave her another small piece and once again she zooms off like a cannon to the same exact place! Then not more than a few seconds later she was back for more haha...I was no like nu uh....youre not getting anymore....lol after witnessing this o realized she's such a crazy lil pack rat/horder that it makes me wonder what else is stashed around my room 🤨🤔?!? But the most EPIC part of the whole night just made my week....I noticed that her mannerisms changed some....after the doughnut event she seemed very content and relaxed to be out of her cage. She wasn't zoom zoom zoom like the lil rattie I teased about having ADHD. She actually just moseyed around and (this may sound silly, but all that came to mind) took time to smell the roses 😂....she seemed to be very relaxed in her environment and everything that was around her....She was in a very lovey mood and wanted all the affection and loving I was will to give her. Shed disappear for awhile and then shed reappear right next to me, whether it be on my lap, shoulder or snuggled up under my hand that was resting on my bed. I'd rub behind her ears, under her chin, across her back...she even allowed me to rub under her belly!! This continued for a good 30min....then the highlight of the night happened!! She became extremely rowdy, onry and playful!! She was running all around my bed bouncing up and down, attacking my hand and rolling over on her back nibbling on me and playing with me as if I was one of her cage mates!! It was soooooo adorable!! I kept teasing her saying she was all high on sugar and sweets lol. Shed run to the end of my bed and I'd say in a playful manner while making kissing noises _Mama....where you at...I'm gonna get you!_ and I'd start moving my fingers after her, chasing her... grabbing her tail in a playful manner or rub on her back.... basically as of her and one of her cage mates were being mischievous and onry and just wanted to play. She would run and hide under the blanket (it actually seemed like she really thought I didn't know she was there lol) and I'd grabbing the end of her tail telling her _I found you_ and she flip around and pounce on my hand and start nibbling on my fingers and eventually roll over on her back and act like she was all big and bad lol!! It made my heart melt to see her like this. My husband has told me from day one that rats weren't friendly and they didn't like to be petted of played with in any sort of manner with anything else besides another rat. He said that she would never be anything more than just a pretty thing to look at and take care of. Well tonight Maroon proved him wrong!! She played with me for well over 45min. Then after she started to settle down she was back to be all lovey and just wanted to cuddle with me any way she could and be loved on. Tonight is the first night out of the 4mo we've had her and that after her playtime she went back into her cage...well actually I had to put her back in her cage tonight...every other night before shed climb back into her own cage when she was done roaming, but tonight she didn't even hint at being ready to to call it a night...and laid down and fell sound asleep. As I stated previously shed always hang on the bars of her cage and just stare at me and I'd feel so horrible bc I didn't know what to do to help her not look so lost. Not tonight though and still to this moment she is cuddled up sound asleep and has not once given me that look. I don't know why all a sudden things changed or the situation that caused her to open up and show me her true personality, but I absolutely LOVE everything about her!! I can't wait to see how tomorrow goes, but I'm really excited to see what else that adorable dumbo eared hand puppy has in store for me!!


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

What a sweet girl Maroon is  They are so intelligent and social, you guys are her rat-pack. I'm sure she will continue to be your special girl even after you get a friend for her. The longer she goes without having a friend, the harder it will be for her to learn to 'be a rat' again. She needs to groom and play and sleep and cuddle with another rat...or two 

You can also check Pet Finder or Craigs list and see what's out there. People often have to rehome their beloved rat pets, and you'll know how they've been cared for by seeing pics of their cages and pics of the rats with their owners. You can meet the rat and interact so you'll know their personality and how friendly they are. You might be pleasantly surprised to find a mature male rat who is neutered, like around a year old. That way she'll have a big brother, and the boys are a bit lazy, and Maroon will still come to you for playtime and cuddles. Introducing older males to a young girl is not so hard. Phyllis, who is a maniac, was so happy to meet the boys and never got angry or scared.


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Heya! I did get Maroon a cage mate...it's actually her stepsister from the male we re-homed lol...she's about 2-3wks old (still sooo tiny...I can't remember when Maroon was that small....seems like ages!!) At first Maroon was very territorial and was attacking poor Dumbo (I don't think she'll ever grow into her ears 😂) but after about 3-4 days Maroon seemed to settle down and seems to be ok with her being there. Although I am confused as to why Dumbo is always underneath Maroon. Idk if Maroon is purposely laying on her out of territorial/dominate aggression or if she's protecting her....or if Dumbo is crawling underneath her bc it makes her feel safe? Do you have any suggestions? Here's a picture of lil Miss Dumbo...I couldn't get her to sit still so the picture isn't the greatest and besides her ears take up most the picture 😆😂


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Aw, congratulations!!!!!! Your Dumbo is so adorable. I'm sure Maroon will be very happy with her cage mate. Now they are getting to know each other, the sleeping arrangement is normal. The younger/submissive rat will be on the bottom both by choice and by hierarchy. Now Dumbo can learn how to be a loving rat like her big sister, and you're gonna have twice the fun!!!


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

2-3 weeks old is too young for a baby rat to leave its mother. They wean at about 4-5 weeks. You should make sure the baby is getting proper nutrition for the next few weeks. Is she eating solid food regularly?

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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

I didn't see that, is she really only 2-3 weeks old?


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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Enne said:


> 2-3 weeks old is too young for a baby rat to leave its mother. They wean at about 4-5 weeks. You should make sure the baby is getting proper nutrition for the next few weeks. Is she eating solid food regularly?
> 
> Sent from my KB2007 using Tapatalk


Yes she'll eat solid food, but I also give her condensed milk...she wasn't to happy with it when I was putting it in the tiny bottle so I put it in her water bottle when I have Maroon out of the cage for playtime. Maybe I'm wrong on the age? If I can get a better picture do y'all think u could guesstimate her actual age? The rehomer said 2-3wks?!?


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

You'll need something like kitten milk replacer, not condensed milk. You can get it at most pet supply or farm stores.

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## Amblyn83 (Jan 5, 2021)

Enne said:


> You'll need something like kitten milk replacer, not condensed milk. You can get it at most pet supply or farm stores.
> 
> Sent from my KB2007 using Tapatalk


Ill definitely head to the store and get some!! Thank you


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Yes, babies need special food and make sure they get enough. I wonder why she was re-homed at such a young age. And that is way too young to put with a mature rat. I wouldn't intro until 8-10 weeks old, so they can at least defend themselves. But if they are getting along now and you don't see any aggression, I guess they'll be okay. Maroon is probably so happy to have any kind of friend


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## ratboytime (May 15, 2021)

Amblyn83 said:


> Yes she'll eat solid food, but I also give her condensed milk...she wasn't to happy with it when I was putting it in the tiny bottle so I put it in her water bottle when I have Maroon out of the cage for playtime. Maybe I'm wrong on the age? If I can get a better picture do y'all think u could guesstimate her actual age? The rehomer said 2-3wks?!?


Supplement drinks are also excellent for making sure babies are healthy, I use boost plus because it's what I have on hand but I've heard that pedialyte is probably the best thing for them. Also if you're open to it, I'd recommend looking around for another baby (rat breeding facebook groups are terrific) because three rats always seem to have a much better dynamic 😊 and one of my new babies actually tends to cross under my big girl all the time, like interrupts her walking to walk under her belly and sometimes she'll do it repeatedly. It's very cute especially since after a month, she's getting big enough for it to look very funny.


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Here's a growth chart, maybe it will help you figure out Dumbo's age. The numbers are how many weeks old they are. I'm guessing Dumbo to be 4 weeks?


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