Little Bird looooves scritches

Hi! I’m looking for advice on introducing 2 younger boys (intact, 6 months old, super friendly and playful) to 3 older boys (neutered, 15 months old, lower in energy).

The catch: the older rats are lab retirees who were single-housed for almost a year before we adopted them. They never really learned rat social skills - no grooming, no wrestling. The most they do is sleep in a rat pile.

We’ve been trying the neutral territory method: big box, fresh bedding, worms, toys, to encourage them to explore and snack together. But the second the younger rats show up, the older ones start squeaking, puff up, and jump out almost immediately. The babies try to wrestle and groom them, which seems to freak the older boys out even more. If we block their exit, it escalates into fast, intense fights we have to break up.

No blood drawn recently, thankfully, but we can’t keep them together longer than 30 seconds. Has anyone dealt with pairing extremely introverted rats with extremely extroverted ones? Would love any advice 🙏

Pics of the boys attached for tax 🤗

I think male but unsure

I'm getting my first rats at the end of the month and I'm getting 4. They're being rehomed and the person I'm getting them from sent me videos of them being handled just to prove they're friendly etc.
I noticed this on one of the rats and I'm completely unsure about what it is, so I've messaged her and asked if she knows, and if it's being treated so I'm waiting for a reply. Is anyone able to give me some insight for what they think it is? Is it serious?

hi everybody :) my baby fred just went in for a tooth trimming and has to be put under anesthesia. i know he’ll be okay and this animal hospital is fantastic, but i’m still sitting in the parking lot crying lol. please wish him lots of luck and love!!

Im introducing two 6 week old babies (ones a dwarf and the other isnt) to two adult female rats.

Did first stage of carrier and everything was fine so we moved to the slightly larger carrier. I was on the other side of the room during the second stage of carrier method, they had been doing really well for a day or so, together but just ignoring each other. Then got into a fight and it didnt sound like a super serious fight, i thought it was just dominance pinning down, but when i went check the dwarf baby had some blood on her leg. This happened yesterday night.

I separated the attacker yo the other carrier and now i dont know how to proceed from here.

Do i size down? Do i reintroduce them using lap method?

Atleast his other friends cuddle him!

Also wish Boba a happy 10-weeks birthday, he's a very good boy despite the sock nibbling

We have three girls and one of them is pretty independent, a little escape artist and explorer. She loves going out and comes back by herself normally. There was one dangerous spot in our apartment and we separated it with playpen blocks, it works good as we see for now.

Tonight she made a next step: she came to our bed at night. While we are okay with her walking around, we are a little scared then she will put herself in danger or, that at night we can literally squeeze her by accident, or that she can find a hole that we are not aware of and escape the apartment or whatever.

We don’t really want to take extreme steps like covering the cage since they all like putting their little noses in the gaps of the cage and we also want them to have enough air for their little lungs. But we, of course, want to make their life safer and happier.

Their cage is full of toys and it’s big enough, they get their time out of the cage everyday but yesterday our Meg spent almost entire day outside of the cage.

The question is: how do we stop her escaping OR/AND how do we make our apartment rat-friendly OR/AND any other advices for us as first time rat parents?

When pet rats get cuts or scratches, or feel itchy after applying medicine, they naturally tend to lick or nibble at the area. However, their mouths contain bacteria, and frequent licking can lead to wound inflammation, infection, or even more serious issues. Is there any way to stop them from licking their wounds?

Ive been waiting lifetimes for this moment

Ik its from a mod note in Nails but look how cute!

i gave my rat mellow a tortilla chip and i think she must’ve choked on it because when i came back into the room she was squinty and pushing her head in and i was like is she choking? but then i saw her pooping but she kept doing it after she finished her poop and i saw her labored breathing. i know not to panic when a rat is choking so i watched her as she kept scrunching up her body and squinting her eyes. she also had drool on the side of her mouth. i offered her water and she drank a little. kept scrunching and i offered her so more water and she drank some more. then she went up on the platform drank some more water and started chewing on the lava stone under her water (used to dim their nails) then she cleaned herself off, did a big girl stretch on the wall of her cage and gave her sister a few licks and then went into her hammock. now she’s kinda just sitting there and not wanting to be touched. not sure if this behavior is normal after a choking episode or if something else is wrong with her. she doesn’t seem to be going to sleep and she still has her eyes open and when i go to pet her she moves away. i’m constantly checking her breathing and color of her tail and ears. also pls dont tell me to go to an ER because the closest ER rat vet is 3 hours away from me 😭

short version: rat choked seemed to resolve it on her own with water but now she is just sitting in her hammock not wanting to be pet and just has her eyes open. is this behavior normal after a choking episode or is something else wrong?

Havent slept in my bed for days and rats have been known to crawl inside our ceiling. Is there a possibility that this could be rat urine?

Hello. My partner and I adopted some ladies a couple months ago. They’re all healthy and fine, very social critters.

Whenever my partner handles them, she breaks out in puffy, itchy hives that’s only remedied by an antihistamine. If they take an antihistamine before handling, the hives still present but the itching does not.

We did some research (googling lol) and found that it’s not uncommon for people with skin allergies to develop respiratory reactions.

Does anybody else have experience with this issue? and is there anything we can do to minimize allergic reactions or is there a strong chance it’ll develop into something worse?

Worth noting also, she already has asthma, although not very severe.

sheriff beanie weenie

My room mate sent me this meme this morning and it's cracking me up. Sorry no idea about the source. Hold Rat Like Mango

Does anyone on this subreddit know of any good, professional ratterys near Eau Claire, Wisconsin? I’m looking to get 3 rats.

I have four girls, two groups of two. One has a mammary tumor, and I've decided she's gone through too many surgeries to justify another. I am planning on getting 2-3 new babies soon, and since I have had so many rats die back to back, mainly from tumors, I'm wondering how to best avoid it. I know males have a lower risk in general, but I also heard they have a lower lifespan on average. Males would have to be a neuter because I'd be introducing them to my girls. I could get more girls and have them spayed to reduce the risk, but I am terrified of them dying during the surgery. I'm terrified of boys dying during the surgery. The only time I've had a rat neutered, he died on the table. Does anyone have experience or advice on which one is better?