# Introduction to water.



## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

I was watching these videos on youtube and saw how cute rats were when they are diving into water and taking pebbles and playing. I wanted to know how old a rat should be before you introduce them to water. My babies will be 6 weeks old when I get them.

Thanks!

Amy


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

I wouldn't do that!! EAR INFECTION!!!


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Wouldn't intro them to water? 

I wouldn't toss them into deep water, ever. I've seen rats swimming in a pool on YouTube, that doesn't make it a good idea. Even when I've read about people bathing their rats, if they get into something icky or sticky, I've only heard of filling the tub an inch or so and letting them wade about. But rats do enjoy pea fishing in a shallow dish. 

I see no harm in offering them a dish or pan of water to play in during free range, supervised, of course, as long as they have the option of climbing out easily.

Best of luck with the babes. 

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

=] Thank you!

I wasnt planning on just tossing them into water lol. I would slowly introduce them to it and if they like it then so be it. lol


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Btw, when the babes arrive... WE WANT PICS!!!! 

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## Sarah86 (May 3, 2008)

i tried mine with water, all i can say is they were petrified when it was deep enough to swim in, but paddling they seemed to enjoy or at least tolerated for the sake of playtime.
hard to say, they didnt like it as much as i thought they would (having seen the same things on youtube) guess maybe it takes time?


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

Yeah I would think it takes time, although I have read that some do not like water ever.

And when I get my babies I will definately have pix up either that day or the day after!! =]


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## cadeness (Oct 1, 2008)

Mine got a little weird smelling so I just put about an inch of water in the sink and held them over the water and just scooped water up in my other hand and let it wash over them. I was careful of the head and everything. They really didn't like it so much though. 

Since then though they've just smelled like....rats


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## Hatchet_Chick (Sep 4, 2008)

Aww! I've tried setting a shallow pan of water on my floor during play time.. Not so fun for me. LOL. Cricket will play with it when she feels like it but Lilo..Likes to play the wonderful game of "Lets see what we can do to make mommy freak out!", she winds up dumping the water all over my floor, and sticking her nose in it like a big ol dork. :]]]

Anyways, was it on Youtube? Whiskey and Womble play in the water..Is it adorable!! I love watching videos by them


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

Yeah I love watching those videos cause they are just sooo cute and its cool how they dive under water. I never thought rats could go under water. haha
Im so excited I was just looking at pix of the baby rats and I just cant wait!!


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

Heres a pic of the babies and their mom:










Here is the litter piled on top of mom haha


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## Hatchet_Chick (Sep 4, 2008)

Congrats Amy!

They're quite adorable. I almost peed myself when I saw the colors on the tail and realized its probably the way they can tell each apart.
LOL!

:] Boys or girls ?


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

lol, yeah I was like that at first too. But yeah I got those pix from the breeders page. I am getting two female.


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Aww they are adorable!! LOL @ the colored tails. I had to do that with my guinea pig twins- a dab of food coloring on one. Otherwise, I'd never know who was Vanilla and who was Bean. 

Congrats on the babes!

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## pinkpixies (May 22, 2008)

OMG aww LOL poor Mama rat getting attacked by hungry babies XD I love baby rat's eyes...so bright and happy...makes me smile


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## motif (Sep 30, 2008)

I always bath with my rat, he loves walking around tub and me, from time to time he slips and fall into the water too but it doesn't scare him. Rats swim very well, you don't have to worry about that.

My worry would be rather can I get something bad from rat that way...


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

I know that wild rats can swim under water and dive to reach their submerged hole entrance. I have seen it. Our rats are domesticated and not much like their wild relatives probably.
My Betsy got a URI after even pea fishing. No water for my little darlings.
I wouldn't force them with bathing or swimming if they don't seem to like it. They are rats, not furry little people.


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

No I wouldnt force them to do anything. I am going to put some shells and smooth rocks into a shallow paint tray and fill it with water and put the rats near it but not in it. If they show interest then I will allow them to do what they wish. I will dry them immediately after fishing.


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## motif (Sep 30, 2008)

I shampoo my rat every month anyway whether he likes it or not 
he has to smell nice if he wants to wander in my sleeves...


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

lol. Rats clean themselves though... I thought your only supposed to actuall bathe them if they get dirty or too smelly...


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

motif said:


> I shampoo my rat every month anyway whether he likes it or not
> he has to smell nice if he wants to wander in my sleeves...


That doesn't sound very friendly towards your little friends. If they are that dirty, maybe it's their cage that needs to be cleaned? You are removing their own oils to keep their coats healthy. How would rats in the wild survive without shampoo? Our culture is too keen on clean. MHO
I actually love their smell, just like I love to smell the healthy coat of my dogs. The oldest is 11 and the youngest is 5, none have ever been bathed, just spot cleaned their neck after rolling in deer doo. And no, there is no doggy smell on them or in the house.
If a pet starts to smell bad and they live in clean cage, something is wrong with their health. Shampoo will not take care of it in the long run.


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

Well, um with your dogs, your supposed to bathe them because they do not clean themselves. They also need their teeth brushed weekly.


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## motif (Sep 30, 2008)

good idea, I have to start brush my rat's teeth


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

lol, no I was talking about dogs. Dont brush your rats teeth...


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## mishasmom (Jul 21, 2008)

OMG Amy the picture of Mom and babies is so adorable I am counting the days also for the pictures.


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

As am I!! hahaha
I cant wait to get them and hold them and take so many pictures! You should see how many pix I have of my cats and my lizard!! haha
I love taking pics! Its in my blood I guess. My Grandpa was a photographer. I have a bunch of his old photographing encyclopedia books and stuff. I just wish I had a better camera. Soon I hope!


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

:lol: 

Oh boy... I can just see trying to brush a rats' teeth. Holy cow. Blood, anyone?

I have never once brushed either of my dogs' teeth. Amanda would have a nervous breakdown. Nellie'd just try to eat the toothbrush. LOL But they eat kibble, and we give them steak bones and smoked bones, that sort of thing to chew regularly, so their teeth are healthy. (according to the vet)

I haven't washed my rats yet. No need. They keep themselves clean enough, and the girls love pea fishing during free-range time, so they splash about a bit in the water when they do that. I keep the cages clean with baby wipes and changing the fleece on the shelves often.

The guinea pigs, on the other hand... :roll: I've recently switched to fleece, and it's helping, but the long-hairs seem to enjoy sleeping in the dirtiest places possible. Silly girls. 
Still, I don't wash them more than once every couple of months or so, only if they get stinky, so their skin doesn't get irritated. Keeping them brushed and wiping them down with a damp rag seems to be enough in between.

Anyway. Bunny-trail. :lol:

Pictures!! Pictures!! Pictures!! 

Can't wait to see them, Amy. 

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary

Ps I'm with you on the camera thing!! I loved my Kodak Easy Share, for a point-and-click digital, it's a great little camera. But I've been drooling over the ... crud, the brand is slipping my mind, but I think it was a Cannon- they came out with a 35mil film for about $500, but if you get the digital version, the lenses are interchangeable!!
Oh well... one day I'll sell a book, and I know where the advance will go...


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

I actually don't brush my dog's teeth. First they are on a healthy diet; grain free kibble and raw meat. Second, they regularly get big raw beef bones or raw chicken wings to chew on. The result? No bad dog breath and clean teeth, even my 11 year old one. The vet called his techs into the room to admire his healthy teeth and gums. They couldn't believe he never had a dental cleaning.
Good diets, , clean environment (!) good management, enough exercise gets the job done without these unnatural treatments and it saves tons of money at the vet.


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

If only I knew about the easy things you could do to keep your dogs teeth clean. My older dog, now passed, had very bad teeth every time we'd take her to the vet he'd be like "very bad teeth...Very very bad teeth." She didnt make it to get her teeth cleaned. She had hidden cancer...Or the silent killer. It was not seen or detected until it was too late. I miss my girl so much.... But yeah I will definately get some like raw hide and stuff for my other dog. 
Oh and are those chicken wings boneless? Chicken bones are brittle and can splinter in the dogs throat.

ALSO, I want a camera thats really expensive too! Its about the same price. I think its either a sony or a cannon... I really like Olympus cameras. At least I think thats the brand name haha.

Two more days till I get my babes! Im so excited!!!


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Amy, actually UNCOOKED chicken bones are ok. It's the cooked ones that splinter and pose a danger. 

My only worry about wings is- small bones. We generally give our dogs just the chuck-roast "blade" bone that's left after we cook a roast. Of course we break off any sharp bits. I deliberately buy cuts with large, rounded bones, just for the dogs.  And we buy the smoked bones from the feed store, they love those.

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

Oh really? I did not know that haha.

My mom gave our dog a steak bone the other night. On the weekend I will tell my mom to get some rawhide and some other stuff for our dogs teeth..


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Cooked or grilled bones, any kind from any animal are plain dangerous.
I feed them raw. from a chicken only the wings, including the bones. I worry that the larger chicken bones might splinter.
Raw beef joints (from a custom meat cutter) with a lot of tissues on it as an alternative. I remove them when they start chewing on the bones itself, to protect their teeth from too much wear. Oh, and not during wasp season...


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## MadCatter (Aug 12, 2008)

I'd also stay away from rawhide in general. It works well with teeth, but if your dog is a strong chewer, rawhide too can splinter off and can't be digested properly. Stick with something like nylabones. They break off into tiiiiny little bits that are safe to swallow and pass through, and they get really rough which is really good for teeth.....


But I just realized as I finished typing this that it has absolutely nothing to do with the original post


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## Amyshizzle (Sep 7, 2008)

I know hahaha I was like wow this has nothing to do with rats or the subject. But eh, some how we will get back into that subject haha.

TWO MORE DAYS TILL I GET MY BABES!!!!!!!!!!!


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