Hes not very photogenic..

hello everyone, i’m unsure on which flair this would lie under; but i want to put a warning i’ll be going into detail about a sensitive subject - and in no way am i trying to deter anyone from making that final hard decision.
[apologies for the long message)

i write this with a heavy heart but i’m hoping to gain some clarity with a situation that happened during the euthanasia of my rat.

for some backstory, i lost my first rat, roddy, a few months ago now. him and his brother syd (the rat in this story) always had an ongoing battle with respiratory issues. i had to go to my fair share of vets before i found someone who wasn’t going to mention euthanasia instantly. with the right vet and help from a rescue, i was able to get a few extra comfortable months with him.
i lost roddy at 8 months old after he declined rapidly over night and had unfortunately passed away on my shoulder two doors down from a vet.
tho that situation itself was incredibly difficult, after now a part of me was relieved i didn’t have the outcome i did with euthanising syd.

(syd)
a week ago now i had noticed syd starting to decline like roddy, but slower. he became extremely unsocial over the course of 3 days, i noticed his food was left untouched - so i hid his favourite treats around his cage before i went to bed that night and when i woke up and saw they were still there, i decided to take him to the vet.
my usual vet was unavailable that day, so after 7 calls to vets around me i found someone who said they specialised in rats.
up till his appointment, leaving there without him wasnt something that crossed my mind - i had booked in hopes that maybe there was other avenues like his medication.

i walk into the room and sit syd on the table, the vet sits down and looks at him and before examining him immediately brings up the path of euthanasia. i should mention his breathing was slightly laboured, so even tho i didn’t think this would happen that day - i’m not denying that it wasn’t the right choice for him, it was the events that happen after.
after a while of talking, id decided i wanted my boy to go with peace and dignity unlike roddy.
that was something the vet kept repeating which reassured me it was maybe time, and he at LEAST would have that.

the vet had walked me through the process and explained they would put him to sleep first before administering the final medication to his chest out the back, but he would be in my arms as he drifted off and that to me was a massive part.
another vet came in, wrapped him up in a flannel and assisted in holding him as the vet injected the needle into his side.
my boy let out a sound i have never heard before and can never forget, he squealed for about 10 seconds, where then i instantly felt something wasnt right.
[i also think it’s important to note syd has had a few injections before infront of me, hence why i started to feel there was something wrong. hes always been very mellow and calm throughout the process]

syd was then very quickly placed on my chest where for about 20 seconds he was clawing at my neck trying to climb it,he was extremely panicked and in no way calm.
i was trying to calm him but i had a family member in the room with me who then alerted us that blood was starting to pour out of his nose.
i looked at the vet asking what had happened, and in a panic he was taken from me without a word.

the vet returned about 5 minutes later with syd in a bag, explaining she was sorry and she thought that would happen.
she explained it’s common for rats with respiratory issues to react like that. but i’m wondering why that wasnt brought to my attention before hand.

im now struggling immensely with the choice i made knowing his passing was not peaceful, not dignified, he wasn’t around anything familiar in his last moments and it was my decision that put him there.

i have a few other rats and i’m now unsure how i’m ever supposed to make that decision again knowing the outcome of this.
it’s something i will never get over and carry with me always.
my boy deserved nothing less then the best farewell and it absolutely breaks my heart that wasnt the case for him - i hate to think about how he must have felt.

i’m wondering if anyone else has had this sort of outcome as that reaction is something i’ve never heard of before, or if it was just a lack of communication. i’m unsure on why that wasnt something i was informed if she was expecting it. i feel if i had of known it could’ve happened, this situation wouldn’t be nearly as difficult to process.

i hope this all makes sense, thank you

So I got two more rats from a breeder because I had one lonely rat. The new ones were gonna be 3 months old but when I got there to pick them up, the breeder said she had the 6 months old ones only. I figured my single rat was already nearly a year old so maybe it would work better and I got them. Anyway I could tell she didn't handle them much right away by how skittish they were. Its been nearly 2 weeks and they get along with my older rat, but they are so scared of me. One has bitten me but that was my bad petting my older rat while she laid with the other two.

I'm looking for some advise. Even just to get them out of the cage to clean is causing me anxiety. I have sat with them near the cage door, not picked them up unless absolutely needed, and they happily take treats from me but won't climb onto me and back away if I move my other hand near them while they take a treat. What can I do? I regret getting them because I've got such a good bond with my older rat and I'm not taking her out as much cos I don't want to confuse the other two. I just got the two out to free roam in my bathroom and one was fine for me to quickly grab (no squeaks) but the other (who I think may have very poor sight) was squealing so much and wriggling heaps so it took me a few goes to get her (no biting though). I thought I was doing a good thing by getting these pals for me older rat but I'm not so sure now :(

Hello everyone, yesterday's noon I saw that my rat was very lethargic and off, I took her to the vet where he did an ultrasound and saw her bladder was completely full and obstructed.

We drained it and removed a "stone" (or crystal, whatever it was), the vet gave her liquids, antibiotics and painkillers.

She was still lethargic during the night, but looked a lot livelier in the morning. However, she peed a lot of blood so we took her back to the vet. He said it's expected, gave her another round of antibiotics, painkillers and liquids, and we returned home.

Since then (around 2-3 hours) she became lethargic again, and seems sleepy with heavier than normal breathing. Throughout all of time, she didn't eat anything, but she did poop and pee a little .

My question is if the meds themselves can cause this behaviour, if I should keep giving her antibiotics or if anyone else came across such a situation and can share some tips.

Thank you for any tips or answers you can give me!

Hi everyone,

I'm really hoping for some advice because my husband and I are feeling completely lost and a bit heartbroken over this situation.

We had two boys, A and B, who were brothers and around 1.5 years old. Sadly, B passed away from cancer, leaving A on his own. We were worried about A being lonely, so we eventually decided to bring home two more brothers, C and D, who were around 7 months old.

C and D are absolutely lovely. They're sweet, friendly little boys, and we've already completely fallen in love with them. A is also a wonderful boy who spends a lot of time with us, particularly my husband, who he has an incredibly strong bond with. He seems happy and settled with us, but I do worry about him being alone at night and whether he misses having another rat around.

The problem is that introductions have been an absolute nightmare!!!!

We've tried the carrier method, but things escalated and became aggressive very quickly, so we stopped doing that. We've since been trying introductions in the bathtub because we thought it might be a neutral space.

Unfortunately, without fail, A attacks C and D.

We separate them, and A eventually calms down. Sometimes, once he's settled, he seems less interested in attacking them again and happy just eating a snack on his own with them around. It's porbbaly a display of dominance and he is winning it each time. But by the point he has calmed down, C and D are absolutely terrified. They run straight out of the bath and hide in our arms or bury themselves into the crooks of our necks. They clearly don't want to go back in, and it feels cruel to keep putting them through something that frightens them so much. So we end up cuddling them, comforting them, and eventually taking them back to their home.

We don't know what to do anymore. We want this to work so badly, but we're worried we're making things worse rather than better. It's heartbreaking watching A react this way, and equally heartbreaking seeing C and D so frightened. We're starting to feel like we've made a mistake, which is an awful feeling because we adore A and have already come to love and cherish C and D so much.

I know introductions can take time, and I'm sure we've probably made mistakes along the way. We're willing to start again and do whatever is best for all three of them. We just don't know what that should look like anymore. Has anyone experienced something similar? Did your resident rat eventually accept the new rats, even after aggressive introductions--as in hair pulling, big bites, puffing up fur, scratching, screaming, angry/side walking, very fast-paced fighting? How did you handle it, and how long did it take? We got them on October 1st so it has been 24 days.

I would appreciate any advice or experiences. We're feeling quite defeated and sad, and we just want all three boys to feel safe and happy in their homes--and for them to evenutally share a home as right now the two cages are taking up so much space!

We have four new litters! Photos have been added to our website. The website has been updated and now works on all phones!

stormhavenrattery.com

I got my three boys almost two days ago, this is their second night here. They had a long 2 hour car ride so were fairly spooked, and when we got home only two of them ate some banana I put into their bin while we let them chill before we put them in the cage. Our spotted boy seemed the most skittish, he stayed in a corner almost the entire ride and we didn’t seem him eat or drink anything till tonight. Our grey boy is super curious and confident, but still shy of us, tho he seems the least scared. Our big white guy seems to be who runs the show lol, he comforted our spotted guy and brought him food to their hide in the cage. He also is shy but is a fatty, so he’s been eating out of my hand already. We have a dried moss hide with a soft bed underneath, they almost immediately made that their home. They mostly have stayed in there, aside from our big guy and grey guy, they’ve come down a level to get food and water, but our spotted guy has only gone down once. They cuddle together most of the time, and occasionally explore around the hide. We were worried about our spotted guy because he didn’t move for hours, so we took him out to check his breathing and try to get him to eat but I think we just scared him more. Then today we had to take out the bedding because it was full of pee, they didn’t seem as spooked that time but weren’t feeling great clearly. I know it hasn’t been long, and I haven’t tried handling them other than feeding them from my hand, but I just want to make sure they feel safe and comfortable. Remy and Ratticus have sniffed and chewed on my nails a little, but Ratrick is still a hermit. (Remy is the grey one, ratticus is the big white one, and Ratrick is the spotted one.)

I currently have two rats; it's the first time I've ever had rats, One of them bites me every time I put my hand near so she can smell it! She does not Bite hard, she doesn't break my skin I don't know why, both have been with me for two weeks now and the other rat doesn't do that to me. Is it out of curiosity? How do I make it stop? Because every time she does it instinctively, I quickly pull my hand away and end up scaring her, And I'm still trying to get them to trust me Help

Hello!! I am interested in adopting rats to train in scent detection and have them as my babies ofc. I am curious if anyone has experience in training rats to do so, and what to look for.