Geez I wish!!! Nah, he's just resting in between my pricking him for blood for a glucose tolerance test. If you make the prick just right (ie, into the vein and not through it, straight down not slanted, etc), you have to do it only once and then you can just scrape at the scab for the next one (we take 5 timepoints). Some of them get scared, but most of them just sit through it and look at you like, "Are we done yet???" since it takes 2 hours and they hate being awake during the daytime. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! That guy in my pocket knows me since I feed him everyday and just pops off to sleep in between time points. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Lots of things. This group is being tested for glucose tolerance. I read your earlier post about rat biting. I've been working with rats for almost five years now and of all the hundreds I went through, there was only one mean guy. And he was mean!!!!!!! He'd start growling when you opened his cage and if you tried to take him out he'd latch onto your finger and not let go!!! I'm not scared of bites (always up to date on shots for various reasons) and the first time he did it, I was surprised but I just sat there with his teeth in my finger until he got tired of it and let go. After that I was always careful to get a towel for him to bite into before picking him up. He never got any better so I guess he was born mean (I had him from infancy to adulthood). But 99% of the rats I had were like little kids. They would scamper around when I came in, because they knew I would play with them, if you opened their cages, they would come running to the door and sniffle around with their whiskers. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! They are intensely curious and will run around checking everything when you take them to a new place. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Once, one of our rats fainted during a procedure. We hadn't even touched him yet, he just smelled the blood from the previous rat on the diaper pad we had set down and fainted. We decided he was too much of a sissy and would get traumatised by the pricking, so we removed him from the protocol. One more thing many people don't realise is that rats have extremely sensitive tails. If you pick them up by the tail, its like picking a person up by their hair, its very, very painful for them. The right way to do it is to grab them below the shoulders and balance them on your other hand, so they have something to hold onto and feel "safe". Like this: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! If I did not have cats, I would totally get a rat as a pet.
my daughter wants one has a pet, however much i dislike them i think that children should have pets, do you think they would make a good pet for a 14yr old, she would look after it, hold it, and care for it like she does her cat! (her cat by the way is scared of mice so i dint think there would be a problem) my daughter just saw your pictures and is going "arghhhh isnt he sweet"
Sure why not? You should pick out a female (less aggressive). Pick them up and stroke their little bellies and you can tell which one is comfortable, best to get one that is not scared and panicky at least until you get to figure them out. You need to change their bedding at least twice a week and make sure they have something hard to chew on so their teeth don't grow out too far, lots of fresh water and don't over feed them, they eat around 15-25 gms of food a day and they will over eat if you give them more. Some toys to play with, they like marbles that have been dipped in water to lick at. The urine stinks so I suggest someplace not too confined or more frequent changes of bedding. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Haha the irony Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Lucy is getting a rat ! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yeah, everyone cheered when we chopped his head off!!!!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I like rodents. It was difficult when I had to kill two wild, poisoned rats running around our kitchen.
NO i am NOT!! my DAUGHTER is! i don't have to look after it, feed it, even hold it, i admit i am scared of them. and i know i'll loose sleep worring over the thing getting ouy of the tank. (but anyway SAM i have told my daughter that she can get one, has long as i do not have to touch it, my neighbour has an old fish tank which is big : this big Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! so it will have plenty of room to run about, and she is already talking about names, now i have to figure out if i am going mad)
Luci: wonderful, I hope you enjoy the experience. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
