My pet rat only likes to chew things outside of the cage. She won't chew on the natural wood toys I get her. Her teeth are getting LONG! I am worried about this. Also, she is all white but sometimes gets a patch of reddish tinged dirt on her fur on her back. I can wipe this away with a damp cloth, but it always comes back. What is this?
2007-06-27 13:46:16 · 8 answers · asked by GiaDess 1 in Pets ➔ Rodents
Are you sure your rat's teeth are too long?
http://www.ratballs.com/RatTails/Tails080.html
Rats who's teeth are too long are usually sick from something else and the long teeth are a secondary result.
Rats do not need to chew to keep their teeth trim, they Brux to accomplish this task.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=bruxing+in+rats+to+keep+teeth+trim&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAmrLvrRZp8SXPzB.OHL0vAIazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ip418kf%2FEXP%3D1183096742%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjxFo9BLape1bXCUKlhunhIazKIX%2FSIG%3D121s90ld3%2FEXP%3D1183096742%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=bruxing+in+rats+to+keep+teeth+trim
Rats chew for the sheer pleasure of it.
If the teeth are indeed too long, then before you do anything else you need to get her to the vet to have those teeth trimmed. She will starve to death if she can't eat properly.
However, if she's not bruxing, grinding her teeth together, then she's going to need some hard foods in her diet to do this for her. Add some large dog biscuits and nuts in the shell, and cooked meat bones to her cage. These are food, which will encourage her to gnaw on them. Chewing on wood is Blahhhh!, chewing on food is goooood.
The "reddish-tinged dirt" is Porphyrin.
http://www.ratbehavior.org/porphyrin.htm
Porphyrin is a clear liquid that is produced in the Harderian gland which is located behind the rat's eyes. Tiny ducts allow the secretion to ooze from the tear ducts, nostrils and saliva. When it hits the air it oxidizes, turns red. These secretions are smeared and deposited on the rat's coat during self grooming.
A little porphyrin is ok but too much indicates stress and/or illness.
More on Porphyrin:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Porphyrin+in+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAmrLvrRZp8SXPzB.OHL0vAIazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ip418kf%2FEXP%3D1183096742%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjxFo9BLape1bXCUKlhunhIazKIX%2FSIG%3D121s90ld3%2FEXP%3D1183096742%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=Porphyrin+in+rats
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"
2007-06-27 19:25:15 · answer #1 · answered by spazrats 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rats don't actually *need* chew toys, as they can keep their teeth in shape by grinding them together (called bruxing). Most of our rats do enjoy chew toys, hard treats & an occasional nut with the shell left on. If you're worried that her teeth are getting too long, take her to the vet, who will check them & give them a trim if needed. We had to do this for our siamese girl. The reddish 'dirt' is probably porphorin, which is a natural coloring in rat mucous. You might see this around your rat's eyes or nose, especially if she's sick. If you see a little bit of it once in a while, it's probably nothing to worry about. Our boys get it on each others' backs when they groom each other.
2007-06-27 16:58:02 · answer #2 · answered by Catkin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I haven't had much luck with the wood toys for rats. I would try maybe some mineral chews (some are shaped like icecream cones) or the cosmic crunch chews (there are sticks and little nuggets). What are you feeding her? A seed diet? You could try switching to a block diet. Kaytee makes a good pet block. It's really good at wearing down the teeth and it offers more complete nutrition than seed does.
2007-06-27 15:28:34 · answer #3 · answered by galapagos6 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As for the Chewing inside the cage problem.
they like old socks old chewn shirts. Basically anything there not supposed to have. My rats didnt really like the wood toys either. Also try giving them treats and apples and other foods like left overs from dinner like chicken and stuff they like that. Refrain from giving them bones peanut butter some times chocolate. carrots are hard and they like that to.
Good Luck
2007-06-27 14:55:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I have owned rats and had this problem. You can try buying a salt cube thing that is available at pet supply stores or an old sock with rat food in it.
2007-06-27 15:17:29 · answer #5 · answered by donna p 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
when rats get stressed, they emit a bloody reddish discharge from their noses. she might be grooming herself and getting the discharge on her fur. you might need to take her to the vet to get her teeth cut. try carrots and other veggies to get her to chew on. good luck...
2007-06-27 13:50:32 · answer #6 · answered by ==cj== 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
give her walnuts in the shell.. or any nuts for that matter.. but check this out.. ive answered this question about a hundred times already on various websites..
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqbU5WpFKPdHJBofsjq6_Qvsy6IX?qid=20070625005753AAeBZdU&show=7#profile-info-SwmD6wEoaa
2007-06-27 21:01:28 · answer #7 · answered by drattit 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
lso the red stuff could be fungi. Call your vet to ask.
2007-06-27 13:53:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋