Ratrat

[Kayla55]

My son brought home pet rat, it turned out to be pregnant. It was Co-vid so I was getting paranoid about lice and diseases like seoul. So in the end I decided no more pet rats.
Interesting was one of pups in litter, nicknamed ratrat and he was hairless runt, not as strong as others.
We felt sorry taking them to pet store, and kept ratrat... (Kinda what he looked like)
I think autism is similar, we smaller, less muscles, slower to develop.

 

[Kayla55]

Common Health Problems in Hairless Rats​

• Abscesses
• Scratches, bites, and small wounds
• Buck grease
• Miscellaneous skin issues and calcified wounds
• Eye problems
• Ringtail
• Kidney failure
• Immunodeficiencies
• Respiratory infections
• Cancer
• Breeding difficulties

Just like autism, array of health issues

 

[Misty Avich]

My son brought home pet rat, it turned out to be pregnant. It was Co-vid so I was getting paranoid about lice and diseases like seoul. So in the end I decided no more pet rats.
Interesting was one of pups in litter, nicknamed ratrat and he was hairless runt, not as strong as others.
We felt sorry taking them to pet store, and kept ratrat... (Kinda what he looked like)
I think autism is similar, we smaller, less muscles, slower to develop.

View attachment 141198

Aww, so cute.

 

[Kayla55]

Looking into breeding difficulties:

Unfortunately, problems with breeding Hairless rats are fairly common. Often, Hairless rats either do not make good mothers, or they do not produce enough milk for the babies to survive.

The way to overcome this problem is to breed another female rat at the same time you breed your Hairless. That way, if the Hairless is unable to raise her litter, you can give them to the other female to raise.

If you breed your Hairless again, you will have to use a haired male since you do not have a Hairless one. All the babies you produce will have hair. If you keep a male and a female of these haired babies and breed them back together, you will produce some Hairless.

Many breeders prefer to use haired females who have one Hairless parent to breed for Hairless. When bred to a Hairless male, they will produce a litter in which half of the babies should be Hairless. Because the female has hair, she should not have any problems raising her babies.

 

[Kayla55]

• Always make sure there's at least one cloth item or a large pile of Care Fresh or similar bedding in the cage for cuddling when it's cold.
• Feed this type a higher-protein and higher-fat diet than you would give a furry rat. Furless burn more calories trying to keep warm!
• Keep an eye on the water bottle, as this type drinks more than a furred rat. I couldn't tell you why, but this has been my observation.
• Make sure the humidity isn't too low. Furless can get dry skin.

Kidney Failure in Rodents​

Kidney failure is a tough thing to watch in a rat. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it except to consider putting them out of their misery. It's a ghastly process to watch, but an affected rat will rapidly lose weight and their skin will turn a very sickly shade of blue, grey, or sometimes even a bit green. This usually kills them within a week or two if it's allowed to continue, which really isn't humane.

How It Is Managed​

Back when I first started with furless rats, this problem killed most of them in the US. Today, better breeding has almost eliminated the problem, but it is still a genetic issue, and if you have a rat who dies from this, please do not breed any of its surviving relatives.

8. Immunodeficiencies in Rodents​

Immunodeficiencies have been purposely bred into furless lab rats for many years. This makes them susceptible to catch any and all diseases going around and makes them valuable for disease research. These rats are genetically different from most of the furless rats we find in the pet population today, but every once in a while, one of these “nudes” will slip into the pet population and break a heart or two.

Are Short Lifespans Normal?​

A lifespan of six months is very good for one of these rats living outside of a sterile lab. Otherwise, they die young and quickly from just about everything.