RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:59 am

This is just absolutely terrible.
I went to go feed the boys last night and Mr. Bojangles came out and greeted me but Binky was no where to be seen. He had always been the first one to come and greet me. I looked around all over.

Finally a moved one of the boxes and he was laying there dead. I'll spare the gruesome details but judging by the evidence it looked as if they had gotton in a fight and Mr. Bojangles just happened to win. I can't help but thinking that I might not have been feeding them enough and that that is why the scene was so . . . well you know.

I'm so unbelievably upset about this. I mean Binky was more than just a rat to me he was like a child to me and he didn't deserve to die and I feel so much like it was my fault.

I also don't know what to do about Mr. Bojangles. I mean he's still good natured and friendly but I never have loved him as much as I loved Binky and I just don' t know how I feel about keeping him. I don't know anybody that would take him and I don't want to give him to somebody that I don't know. I also know that it's not fair to love him any less for something that he did that was just an instinct of nature.

Well with all that aside. . .

Goodbye my squishy boy, I love you forever. Angel rat

Binky's Tribute Page
http://www.freewebs.com/serenity_moon_wolf/binky.htm

Last edited by Binky_My_Baby on Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:35 am; edited 1 time in total

Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:09 am

I'm so sorry for your loss - but it's probably safe to say that he wasn't killed by Mr Bojangles, nor was he hungry. Rats will, sometimes, try to "clear up" their dead cagemates - it's a residual behaviour to protect them in the wild from predators and scavengers. It doesn't mean you did anything wrong and nor did he. I know it must be horribly distressing to see but he was simply trying to help. I'd be pretty comfortable saying that - as you heard no fighting, and as you didn't notice signs of blood and a massacre as soon as you walked into the room, especially if Mr Bojangles has no bad wounds himself, then any damage was done after he died. It's pretty uncommmon for rats (particularly those that have lived happily together for a long time) to kill each other, but it's not uncommon for them to clear up when one of their buddies dies.

Try to forgive him - he wasn't doing anything bad or harming him. He will be feeling the loss of Binky as you are, and may also be feeling depressed and lonely himself. Give him lots of TLC and hugs, some extra time out, and perhaps a small stuffed toy to snuggle with in the cage.

Sleep tight, Binky, and play hard. Hug

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:15 am

Thank you so much Willlow.

Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:15 am

Im so sorry. Hug

It sound like Binky was a treasured rattie. Sleep tight, Binky.

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To the world, you are one person.
To a rat, you are the world.
~Charlie S.
Kristina an her babies, Basil and Snickers.
~*RIP Ema, I miss you sweetie!*~
<:3( )~~~~~~~

Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:46 am

I'm so sorry for your loss. Bojangles was giving Binky and honorable burial, to his point of view. {{{hugs}}}

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Arvay and the Squirmin' Vermin

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'

--Erma Bombeck

Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:12 am

Thanks you guys. It really helps more than you can imagine. I've stopped crying at least. It makes me feel really good to know that you guys care.

Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:22 am

I must wholeheartedly agree with what everyone else has said. In his own way Mr. B was honoring Binky in death as much as he honored him in life. His cagemate has passed and I'll just bet he is feeling quite a profound loss. Give him lots of snuggles and time. He will probably start being your next Heart

rattie.

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Rats are man's best friend. They gave up long life to be able to give more love.

Sat Feb 04, 2006 3:00 am

I'm so sorry. Sad

He sounds like he was a very special rattie. Play hard at the bridge Binky. Angel rat

to you and Mr. Bojangles. I'm sure that Mr. Bojangles just did that out of sadness and loss, he probably felt that that was the most honorable thing he could do for his cagemate.

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EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:06 am

You guys are all right. But I was thinking. If Bink's death wasn't from Bo than I have no idea how he died. They were both really well fed and even kind of fat. I gave them fresh water every day. And Bink wasn't old at all. I was told that he was probably under a year when I got him and i've only had him for like 4 or maybe 5 months.

It's been a while since I cleaned their cage but I didn't think it's bad enough to kill a rat. It's fifteen cubic feet of space, it takes a long time for two rats to get it really dirty.

Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:22 am

Sometimes they just go suddenly - just like some humans live long lives and other people die when they're much younger, even though they've never been poorly in their lives. If it was very sudden, with no prior signs of illness, then it's hard to know for sure what caused his death - it may well have been something sudden and catastrophic like a severe stroke or heart attack - something that you wouldn't have been able to help even if you'd been right there when it happened.

My wheezy boys were between 16 and 19 months when they died, and all had chronic health problems from 7 or 8 months old. Charlie made it a week past 2 years before he died. Newton was just 13 months when he died suddenly. He'd never been sick a day in his life. He was big, squishy, shiny, healthy, licky and lovable and then I simply found him one evening - I have no idea what killed him either. Other people have lost rats even younger (just a few months old) for no obvious reason, and it's always heartbreaking to lose them.

It is possible to ask a vet to do a post mortem examination if you really want to try and find out - sometimes this will show up the cause of death. But it may be costly, particularly if there are lab tests involved.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:43 am

It's going to be hard to have any closer without knowing how he died. But I can't. Even if I still had the body I don't think I could go through with havint it picked and prodded at.

When I found his body it was as hard as a rock so my dad insisted that he had been dead for a while. But I know for a fact that hew as alive just the day before when I changed thier water. Does that happen? That they get all stiff after they die.

Sorry to be so graphic but I really need to know so that my dad doesn't think that Bink was dead for more than half a day.

Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:49 am

Rigor mortis (stiffening) happens after death in humans as well as rats - but it also wears off as well. How long ago he died depends on the temperature of the room he was in. Assuming it was normal room temperature, then this page reports (from scientific articles that have studied this) that the body is completely stiff by 5 hours after death, and completely limp again by 16 hours after death. I know for a fact that the stiffness starts within an hour at normal room temperature.

If Binky was in full rigor, he probably wasn't dead that long and definitely less than a day.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:58 am

*Sigh* Yea. His body was as hard as a rock. That's why my dad thought he'd been dead a long time. But I guess that means he hadn't been dead for more than a few hours. My room temperature is about 70 degrees F

Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:11 am

Aye - in humans, rigor mortis takes longer to set in, and lasts a lot longer as well.... but rats (beause of their size and fast metabolisms) are in full rigor much quicker, and it wears off much quicker too. At 70 F, you'd not be looking at much different a result than the figures I gave you.... so if he was still totally stiff then it wasn't that long.

I felt the same way - Mal died less than an hour before I found him (I know exactly the times) and was already starting to stiffen.... but Az and Newton both died a few hours before I found them. I was devastated with Az because he'd been poorly and I thought that perhaps I hadn't checked him often enough - I had been certain that he had licked my fingers just a few hours beforehand but he was so stiff that I thought that I'd just missed the fact that he was dead, imagined that he'd licked my fingers and that perhaps it was Charlie that had done it (even though they didn't look the same other than both being black and white). Blink

But then I realised how fast rigor sets in with rats, and that helped me to trust that I hadn't missed him at an earlier check.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:15 am

I'm so sorry. Sad

We all know how very much Binky meant to you. Hug

I agree with what's been said, sometimes the seemingly healthiest rats just go in an instant, and depending on the personalities of the cagemates (whether they're fussy about keeping a neat cage or not), they may do what is natural and dispose of their former mate. It's not an evil thing or wrong, just nature, and nature can be unpleasant.

Many of us know the difficulty of having a beloved pet leave suddenly. It happened to one of my rat girls, and it's happened to several of us here, losing them suddenly. I know it's very hard to understand without having a postmortem done, and sometimes, a postmortem may not tell for sure, either.

Binky was your special boy, I'm so sorry he's left you suddenly. Hug

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:34 am

I did a tribute page to Binky on my website. I suppose it's sort of my form of closure. And it will keep me from forgetting how much I loved him. I will be adding the link to my original message shortly.

Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:11 pm

I'm so very sorry. Rest easy Binky, and play hard. Sad

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Christy
RP Admin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:58 pm

My condolences, hon. You gave Binky an amazing life, and it was his time. Remember that there is always going to be a part of him that remains with *you*, forever.

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Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:20 pm

I'm so very very sorry. Binky was a beautiful boy. Sad

It's so heartbreaking losing a rattie....but when they go suddenly and too soon, it's just that much harder on us.

I lost my 4 month old Camille out of the blue and I'm still so very very sad about that. We'll never know what took her, she was just "gone".

Please try to find some comfort with Mr. B right now. He undoubtedly is devastated at the loss of his best pal too. I bet the two of you will bond very quickly as he'll need you more than ever now that he's alone.

Rest easy dear Binky.

Best wishes to dear Mr. B

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Debbie and the gang of spoiled furries

Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:52 am

OKay you guys.

I went to Pet Smart. And I thanked God because they didn't have any rats in at the moment.

But Pet Co is right next door right. So I walk in there with no intention of getting any rats because Pet Co's rats are generally really gross looking feeder rats.

So I walk up to the cage and they have about 8 rats in maybe a 20 gallon tank (absolutely horrid)

All of them were white with the beady red eyes and they were all babies.

There was one though that was from thier last batch of babies that nobody wanted and he was in with the rest of the babies. So him and this other baby are the only two with markings so they immediatly drew my attention.

I couldn't resist!

I bought them both. I couldn't let such cuties go home with some snake owner.

So they are both home with me. I currently have them in a large modified bird cage (for quarentine purposes)

I wish I had pictures but I don't. I'll get some asap.

I think they are both Agoutis.
The baby is about the length of my hand at full stretch (not counting his tail) and he has a black hood.
The older boy looks to be about a month or maybe a little more old. He's a little less than twice the size of the baby but he definitely looks like he has some growing to do. He has a black hood with a black stripe down his back.

Any name ideas are greatly appreciated.

Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:07 am

I am so sorry about Binky Sad

. He sounds like a great rat Angel rat

What do you mean they are both agouti's? Agouti is a color, and black is a color, but a rat can't be black *and* agouti

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:08 am

If they are black then they arent agoutis... agouti is wild rat color a mix of brown black and orange...Sounds like you have a capped...or a bareback and a mismarked hoodie. Congrats on both accounts. Also I am sorry to hear about your boy.. But as stated before one didnt kill the other.

IMO rm can set into a rat within a half hour after death. I was there when a few of mine went on without me, and just held them, 20-30 minutes tops in a 70 plus room they get stiff. Shaz

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Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:15 am

I don't really know my rat standard names and stuff.

They both look alot like Binky and somebody told me that Binky was a Black Split Capped Agouti or something. I don't remember.

Sun Feb 05, 2006 9:57 am

No - as others have said a rat is either black or agouti - never both. You also have black based colours (so a black rat with genes that dilute the black to make other solid colours - like beige, mink, blue and so on) and you have agouti based colours (an agouti rat with genes that diluite the agouti to make ticked colours - like fawn, blue agouti, etc).

http://www.spoiledratten.com/varieties.html will show you the difference between the two types of colouring.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:59 am

I know im late to this thread but i just wanted to chime in. I'm really sorry about Binky. I know how it feels. My Buddy, he was only 25 months old, just crawled in my lap and died. I never seen it coming. I couldn't put him down. Even after he was stiff. Again, im really sorry and i feel for you.

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Last edited by Jeana38 on Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:51 am; edited 1 time in total