Mice really do stink. Regardless of 'trails' (whatever that means) rats do not stink. I keep my ratty boys in my dining room. I wouldn't if there was any smell to them. I suggest you see if you could visit people who keep rats or mice before you decide. I bet you don't get mice if you do.
don't get angry lol, i've done my research fancy-rats.co.uk e.t.c. and I've found that rats are apparently a little smellier than other animals, seeing as though some have the habit of leaving 'trails'
thinking of mice now
Got A Rat For A Christmas Present
- Thread starter Tokis-Phoenix
- Start date
demonmagus
spamming my way to the top...
hmmm that's strange, people on allaboutmice.com and fancy rats say that female mice have 'hardly an odour' 
OP
OP
Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
hmmm that's strange, people on allaboutmice.com and fancy rats say that female mice have 'hardly an odour'
I think the thing is though, when you are around your pets all the time, you kinda get used to their smell. My advise would be to visit someone who keeps some sort of rodent and see how their place smells around the rodents accomdation in the house and see if you can smell anything and whether you can tolerate it or not.
Generally speaking though, as long as you keep the rodents place clean (clean it once a week on average is good for most rodents) then it won't smell bad. For example the only time my syrian hamsters ever smelt bad was when i bred the female and didn't clean out her cage for 2 and a half weeks (when you breed syrian hamsters, you are not supposed to disturb the mother after she's given birth for as long as posible, ideally at least 2weeks- female syrian hamsters can easily freak out if disturbed and kill their pups/babies).
pica_nuttalli
don't be a twit
i tell you what, i don't see how a pissed-on hammock wouldn't smell a bit 
LisaLQ
Fish Gatherer
LOL - it's only when they do several pisses on top of each other it starts to smell 
But to be fair, even my incontinent old fellas (the ones who couldn't help it due to spinal degeneration) didn't smell - because you keep on top of it, change their bedding when it needs it, rather than sticking to the guidelines. Hint for unsmelly rats - clean 'em when they need cleaning. If that's once a fortnight (yes, I know folks who are just that lucky!), every week, or twice a week, or changing their hammock every other day because they're bedwetters - do it. Because if you can smell it, think of how much they can!
But honestly, mine dont smell bad - unless I've had something on and not been able to clean them out on time - but that wouldn't be them smelling bad - it would be my fault. Generally, if your rats smell bad - it's not because they're dirty rats, it's because you're a lazy owner. And I dont mean anyone in particular here, I mean "you" like the Queen says "one".
Rats are very clean animals, that's why they spend most of their day cleaning themselves (well, apart from the late Fred, who spent most of the day eating, and therefore less time washing, and made sure I had to bath him instead lol), and prefer company - so they have someone else to help them. And because they all carry myco (respiratory disease found in all rats apart from lab rats), if they get stinky you can be risking their health.
I'm saying all this, and I was supposed to clean mine out tonight...
But to be fair, even my incontinent old fellas (the ones who couldn't help it due to spinal degeneration) didn't smell - because you keep on top of it, change their bedding when it needs it, rather than sticking to the guidelines. Hint for unsmelly rats - clean 'em when they need cleaning. If that's once a fortnight (yes, I know folks who are just that lucky!), every week, or twice a week, or changing their hammock every other day because they're bedwetters - do it. Because if you can smell it, think of how much they can!
But honestly, mine dont smell bad - unless I've had something on and not been able to clean them out on time - but that wouldn't be them smelling bad - it would be my fault. Generally, if your rats smell bad - it's not because they're dirty rats, it's because you're a lazy owner. And I dont mean anyone in particular here, I mean "you" like the Queen says "one".
Rats are very clean animals, that's why they spend most of their day cleaning themselves (well, apart from the late Fred, who spent most of the day eating, and therefore less time washing, and made sure I had to bath him instead lol), and prefer company - so they have someone else to help them. And because they all carry myco (respiratory disease found in all rats apart from lab rats), if they get stinky you can be risking their health.
I'm saying all this, and I was supposed to clean mine out tonight...
demonmagus
spamming my way to the top...
lol I'll have to look into it then, only problem is my parents are extremely backwards with regards to animals, I would be lucky to get a guinea pig in the house, and they're attitude to mice/rats/anything vaguely furry is quite medieval lol
LisaLQ
Fish Gatherer
I was never allowed pets full stop when I lived at home, so know that feeling
pica_nuttalli
don't be a twit
then defo get something tropical like a guinea and just act all surprised when you hand them the care sheet saying "must be kept at temperatures above 70 degrees" or alternatively, find something sooo cute (like a rescue chichilla) that your mother simply cannot resist falling in love with it pictures of baby animals sitting in tennis shoes or a coffee mug always work on my mom
or alternatively, find something sooo cute (like a rescue chichilla) that your mother simply cannot resist falling in love with it pictures of baby animals sitting in tennis shoes or a coffee mug always work on my mom
OP
OP
Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
Meh, i tried to give Maya the antibiotics last night and she struggled loads so i left it at that- i'm going to set up her old cage again and put her in that and just medicate her water bottle instead. The vet said if i add clear honey to her water bottle with the antibiotics in it, it'll help take away the nasty taste of the antibiotics and incourage her to drink her medicated water 
.
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LisaLQ
Fish Gatherer
Mix it with a spoonful of yoghurt If you put it in her water bottle, she wont get the full dose. Yoghurt has never failed me yet.
If you put it in her water bottle, she wont get the full dose. Yoghurt has never failed me yet.
OP
OP
Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
Lovely rat you have there Tinat 
! She won't use the wheel though particularly as they grows, the wheel is too small (really for a small hamster that sort of wheel)- as far as i know, rats aren't very keen on wheels due to their long tails, so the best thing to do is to simply take them out every day and let them run around for a bit for their excersize 
.
EDIT: oh, and just a little update: Maya has finished her course of antibiotics and is much better "yay"! I've only seen her sneeze once since she finished her course of antibiotics which is a massive improvement from before (she used to sneeze up to 5-6 times a minute roughly when she was active). So yesterday i put her back in with the othe rats (as i separated her by putting her back in her old cage during her treatment) and they are all getting along really well again .
With the treating of Maya with the antibiotics, i took the vets advice in the end and simply put the antibiotics in her water bottle mixed in with a particular quantity of water with some runny honey. She loved the honey in the water and drank a lot of water during the treatment, so it was all good . I did consider using the yogurt method, but decided it was too messy and fussy (i didn't like the idea of the yogurt going off as well), but the honey treatment worked very well either way .
! She won't use the wheel though particularly as they grows, the wheel is too small (really for a small hamster that sort of wheel)- as far as i know, rats aren't very keen on wheels due to their long tails, so the best thing to do is to simply take them out every day and let them run around for a bit for their excersize .EDIT: oh, and just a little update: Maya has finished her course of antibiotics and is much better "yay"! I've only seen her sneeze once since she finished her course of antibiotics which is a massive improvement from before (she used to sneeze up to 5-6 times a minute roughly when she was active). So yesterday i put her back in with the othe rats (as i separated her by putting her back in her old cage during her treatment) and they are all getting along really well again
.With the treating of Maya with the antibiotics, i took the vets advice in the end and simply put the antibiotics in her water bottle mixed in with a particular quantity of water with some runny honey. She loved the honey in the water and drank a lot of water during the treatment, so it was all good
. I did consider using the yogurt method, but decided it was too messy and fussy (i didn't like the idea of the yogurt going off as well), but the honey treatment worked very well either way .Similar threads
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