RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:52 pm

So if our babies are 6weeks, how old will they be when they stop growing?
How big will they be?
From what I remember Spice, my rat years ago got quite big, and that was a female, and Sugar my other female was really small.
Does it depend on the breed?
How much roughly does an adult female weigh?
Their claws are quite sharp at the moment....is this normal?
Candy clambers everywhere and etas all the time...whereas Mia just sits and doesnt eat as much...so Im worried about Mias teeth and claws getting too long, and how to check if they need to be cut by a vet.

We check them over alot...to make sure theyre ok....and theyve been out alot today. They are on top of their cage now. We noticed we can see Candys nipples , but not Mias... and Mia is more quiet and timid on top of that (which are what males are by nature anyway)....so I was wondering if Mia is in fact a boy and she's holding in her bits somehow...i'll try and post a pic on the rat gallery of her to show you.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:13 pm

O.k., rats may keep growing untill they are about a year old, but it's usualy not as noticible as they get older. Also rats, like humans, vairy in size. Some are just small and some get very large. A rat, when full grown is about a pound (But dont hold me to that, I read it somewhere and that may only be for a male). Anyway, rats claws can get very very sharp. If they have no rough surface to craw on often their claw will be horrid on your shoulders. I have to cut my rats claws about every 3 weeks. And, even tho Cany is hyper compared to Mia, well, rats have personalities like ppl. Females do tend to be hyper and males do tend to be calm, but it can be the other way sumtimes. Mia's teeth, I can almost promis you, will not get too long. Rats grind their teeth down. Even if you dont see Mia eat, she prolly is eating. I never saw my rat, Daylin, eat untill I had had her for about 2 months, but she was all in good weight, so she had to be eating. A rats claws dont need to be cut by a vet, you can do it. Some ppl try a fileing board and some like clippers. I like clippers becuz I cant make Daylin sit still long enough to be filed. The filing board scares some rats too. The rubbing on their nails is annoying and scary for some of them so clippers are the best I think. Then, some ppl dont like clippers cuz they think they will clip a toe off. Well, I am very careful when I clip. Dont clip too close. There is also the fear of clipping the quick. The quick is the blood vessil that goes in the nail. If your rats have clear nails then you can see it and it shouldnt be too hard to miss when clipping, but if they have black nails, I would just file them. If Mia was a male, it would be very clear and easy to tell. Daylin is most certanly a female but I naver see her nipples either. Candy may just be in heat at the time. Whena rat is in heat it is not like many other animales. There is no bleeding. Only a chemical in their urin. A female rat goes into heat about every week (or 2) for about 3 days. Well, I thik that's about it. If I didnt answer sumthing good enough, just say so and I'll go into more detail for you. Hope this helps!

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.:*~Creep and Daylin~*:.

Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:30 pm

Thankyou. I cant see anyting extra so it must be that she is a very calm female.
I cant wait to see them boggling their eyes when they grind their teeth out of happiness. That was so cute in my old rats.
Well, I was about to go and get them some lego...but Ive tried the early learning centre and woolworths and they dont have any in at the moment. I cant think of anywhere else in Newport town to go. I can't go anywhere outside town at the moment.
Does anyone live here and know of someplace?
I need the lego creator box, with just loose bricks inside.

Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:56 am

It's been a long time since I went to Newport (I have some relatives there) - is there a Toys R Us anywhere near you? That's probably a good idea. Otherwise you can probably get it online.

Re: going into heat - actually, they go into heat ever 4-6 days for around 12 hours at a time... usually they'll go into heat in the evening and overnight but it can vary depending on the rat and their environment etc.

Nipples are very much individual to the rat. My flatmate has two young girls, and the one with a white belly has much easier to see nipples than the one that has black on her nipple area.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~