Parker has become very unpredictable :(

[Mizzely]

Parker has an appt at 2pm on Monday to check him over

 

[Mizzely]

It's so hard not trusting this face!

 

[WendyN]

I hope the vet can help you with Parker.

 

[Mizzely]

I hope the vet can help you with Parker.

If anyone can, it's her! She's dual board certified in avian and small mammalian exotics and she even treats FISH. She's a rare gem and always honest with me. I adore her and she is worth the 1.5 hour drive!

 

[nu2birds]

Sorry, Shawna, you are going through this with your favorite rat. I don't know much about rats...........at ten months could he be going through some kind of male puberty thing..........glad you're taking him to the vet, that's the best place to start, especially since you seem to have a really good vet that you trust. Good luck with parker!

 

[Mizzely]

Sorry, Shawna, you are going through this with your favorite rat. I don't know much about rats...........at ten months could he be going through some kind of male puberty thing..........glad you're taking him to the vet, that's the best place to start, especially since you seem to have a really good vet that you trust. Good luck with parker!

Yes it absolutely could be hormonal. It affects some more than others I'm sure. His cagemates are the same age and no issues with them!

 

[Max83]

good luck, ask your vet...I don't think rehoming would be a good solution,who would like a biting rat free in the house? have you thought about giving him a fenched space in the room if is possible?

just my curiosity (never owned a rat), how do you deal with rats poops everywhere in the rooms when you leave them free (I mean under furniture and costant cleaning etc)?

 

[Mizzely]

They are only free a few hours a day and they are potty trained , so they poop in a litter box

As for the fence, that's what we were doing but he escapes it, every time.

Parker did go to the vet (Ripley actually tagged along for his first visit) and she said he's healthy but has rat lice. She didn't think it would be the cause of his issues. So everyone is being treated for the lice right now. I asked about neutering and she said there are usually complications with rats (they tend to pick at it and you can't cone them) and there is no guarantee it would cure him. It's a $300 gamble that could be a long and expensive road to recovery so I have opted not to attempt it.

Meanwhile, Parker has gotten worse. He now is attacking his fellow rats, picking fights all the time to where fur was flying. If I let them all out together he will hunt them down to attack them.

So I've had to split the cage into two zones and Parker is by himself. For out time, he is now in a giant 13" critter ball for everyone's safety. I do it in 15 minute increments so he has a chance to rest, eat, drink, poop, and can then choose to stay home or go back out in the ball.

So he's staying as long as this routine keeps working. I feel bad separating him since they are social animals but he's a danger to them

 

[Max83]

They are only free a few hours a day and they are potty trained , so they poop in a litter box

As for the fence, that's what we were doing but he escapes it, every time.

Parker did go to the vet (Ripley actually tagged along for his first visit) and she said he's healthy but has rat lice. She didn't think it would be the cause of his issues. So everyone is being treated for the lice right now. I asked about neutering and she said there are usually complications with rats (they tend to pick at it and you can't cone them) and there is no guarantee it would cure him. It's a $300 gamble that could be a long and expensive road to recovery so I have opted not to attempt it.

Meanwhile, Parker has gotten worse. He now is attacking his fellow rats, picking fights all the time to where fur was flying. If I let them all out together he will hunt them down to attack them.

So I've had to split the cage into two zones and Parker is by himself. For out time, he is now in a giant 13" critter ball for everyone's safety. I do it in 15 minute increments so he has a chance to rest, eat, drink, poop, and can then choose to stay home or go back out in the ball.

So he's staying as long as this routine keeps working. I feel bad separating him since they are social animals but he's a danger to them

wow! I didn't imagine rats can be potty trained with a litter, very good thing

yeah I imagine you feel bad separating him, sometimes happen with animals, for they own safety is better in this case...I agree with your choice of not neutering him if it's so dangerous and expansive. Plus I think no one can guarantee you that's hormones are the cause of his bad beahviour. I can only imagine how a rat bite can hurt. Seems you are doing anything you can

 

[Mizzely]

Rats are very intelligent and while sometimes males are too lazy to be potty trained, for the most part they like a clean home too and prefer to poo in one spot with or without a litter box. The litter box just makes it easier to clean up is all!

 

[roxynoodle]

I've only had 2 rats. The first was a male and he was sweet and wonderful. After he died I wanted another and got a female. She became really mean and would attack me if I tried to touch her. I don't know what the explanation was. Hormones, maybe. I didn't even know back then they could be spayed or neutered so maybe that would have solved this. Basically she just became an animal I took care of but she was not a pet. Hope everything works out with yours.

 

[tka]

I'm a bit surprised at your vet's reluctance to neuter. I had several of my female rats spayed at the same time as having a mammary tumour removed, and they all came through fine and didn't bother their stitches. In the UK, a small animal specialist would probably recommend neutering for a rat in Parker's situation.

 

[Mizzely]

I'm a bit surprised at your vet's reluctance to neuter. I had several of my female rats spayed at the same time as having a mammary tumour removed, and they all came through fine and didn't bother their stitches. In the UK, a small animal specialist would probably recommend neutering for a rat in Parker's situation.

It is not her reluctance. It is mine.

 

[tka]

It is not her reluctance. It is mine.

Fair enough! Just to reassure you though, I've never had a rat (or her friends) bother her stitches and they heal up incredibly fast; it usually takes longer for the hair to grow back than for the wound to close up. In the event that they do try to groom their stitches, you can stick them in a sock (with openings cut for head and legs). I've never had to do this but occasionally people on the rat forum I used to go to had to do this.

 

[Mizzely]

I have a friend that works at a vet clinic here in the states and said they often have issues with rats and their stitches which scared me away. The other thing of course is a $300 price tag, which my husband refuses to pay, especially when I just spent $500 on Ripley and lice medication. He said our vet fund is for "necessary" procedures.

 

[Distaff]

Sad. He may just have to live alone, if he is attacking you and everyone else. Honestly, I would likely put him down, but as much as I enjoy my rats, I am not sentimental about them. Their natural life spans are too short - I'd save that money for the birds. Hope you can find a better solution.

My rats have always been predictable, and the nervous ones have always calmed down. The one bad bite I ever got was food driven.

My sympathies.

 

[MiniMacaw]

Is his behavior improving at all with the lice treatment? I understand the bond, as my first pet ever was a rat (named master splinter of course because I was 5 lol) and I remember him always being sweet. Then our next rat one day just starting biting. I don’t have any useful advice because we ended up putting him in his own cage and we’d have to catch him to even clean it. It was the craziest switch. Maybe it’s some freakish hormone thing they sometimes have?
I got a pair when I first married my husband (and before we learned my daughter was super allergic and we couldn’t keep them anyway) and one of the two also became a bite machine. We ended up giving them to a nice woman who works with a local rescue for rats. I still want some sometimes but my husband says after that it’s a hard no...I wish we could learn more about them and what causes this behavior issue.

 

[Mizzely]

Is his behavior improving at all with the lice treatment? I understand the bond, as my first pet ever was a rat (named master splinter of course because I was 5 lol) and I remember him always being sweet. Then our next rat one day just starting biting. I don’t have any useful advice because we ended up putting him in his own cage and we’d have to catch him to even clean it. It was the craziest switch. Maybe it’s some freakish hormone thing they sometimes have?
I got a pair when I first married my husband (and before we learned my daughter was super allergic and we couldn’t keep them anyway) and one of the two also became a bite machine. We ended up giving them to a nice woman who works with a local rescue for rats. I still want some sometimes but my husband says after that it’s a hard no...I wish we could learn more about them and what causes this behavior issue.

They have one more treatment before they are finished. So another week and a half basically. I'll probably give them another week or two to make sure it's done before I try to put them back together again. The hardest part personally is watching my son. He went from wanting the rats out all the time and playing with them to being SO scared of them. He has gotten better since Stark and Wilson are still nice, and Stark in particular is shy (so not overbearing) but super sweet, but he will stand on the couch whimpering if Parker is out without the ball He thinks that Parker is going to "chase him and bite him" because that's what he does with the other rats.

I do wonder if it is better to put him in a different home where he might have a better chance at having friends, but I also don't know what would happen to him if he bit someone else :/ Right now we have a working system but he really is at the bottom of the priority ladder, with safety for humans and safety for the other rats trumping his happiness.

 

[WendyN]

That is a tough one. I am sorry your son is frightened by him. I would be too.

 

[Mizzely]

That is a tough one. I am sorry your son is frightened by him. I would be too.

I definitely don't blame him in the slightest. Lack of trust is definite a cousin of fear so I am there with him. I have a clear mark still where he bit me 5 weeks ago; it will probably scar. Plus I probably didn't make it better when the first time he got bit I assumed HE did something wrong because he's just 3 and the rat was "so nice" He didn't get in trouble, but I am sure being talked to like he was at fault didn't make anything better.

Hindsight sucks.