allergies

[nomorerats]

I have had bad alergies to male rats in the past to the point that it wouldn't be wise to get more, but i find this extremely depressing and was looking into whether females are better for allergies?

When i handle a male rat i come up in red bumps, become wheezy, eyes and nose itch.

I was wondering whether females cause less of an allergic reaction because i realy would love to own more rats in the future

[SugarLovesRats]

It's possible, males produce buck grease a hormonal excretion. It could be you are allergic to that. If you are allergic to the dander , a hairless rats may be an option, as there is no fur for it to stick too. I am allergic to guinea pigs, and have been considering getting a hairless guinea pig. I have been around them before and although I still am a bit allergic it's nothing compared to the ones with fur. Anyway good luck.

[nomorerats]

Thanks

Are hairless rats available in the UK? I can remember reading something which said that due to health problems they aren't bred here, but i'm not sure :S

[rattyloving]

Its a very sketchy area, there are 2 main lines of hairless, one which (carried on some russian blue type genes) has health issues that should not be breed from at all these are the very clean looking hairless, with virtually no hair. The other gene can produce a healthy normal rat, but these rats are fuzzier and have fuzzy hair all their lives however its not an all over body hair. Very few, if any breeders actually breed them though, they crop up in the awful rodent farms and by 'breeders' who feed them to their reptiles.

Heres a link that may be of interest - http://www.rmca.org/Articles/truehairless.htm

I personally do not like the breeding of hairless rats, rats are mammals and have fur for a reason. But I would not discriminate anybody who where to keep them, but you have to be very carefull as bad breeders often get thier hands on hairless rats.

[Squishy]

Aww I'm mildly allergic to rats, I get itchy eyes but because I'm constantly taking antihistamines due to my allergy to cats it doesnt bother me too much.
My aunt used to have three rats but it got to a point where she couldnt go near them she was so allergic to them.

[ratwings]

Females will probably give you the same reaction. I have my oun allergy medicine that works great its called Zertec I got tons of free samples from my doctor!

[Vampy]

My mother is allergic to my rats, to a degree. She can stand to be around them, but they can't crawl on the bare skin around her neck and chest. It gets red and rash-like. My skin doesn't promote the same affect. She has the same reaction to my girl rats as she does my boy rat.

[IOVERATS]

They do breed hairless rats over in the UK it just depends on where you live, I know some one up in Nottingham and they recently got two female baby hairless rats. They can be found in the UK but they are harder to find. Because of having no fur, they usually need extra care, so their diet needs to include certain things and apparently they don't shut their eyes or something I can't remember so you have to clean out the gunk. One of my friends had two rats and they were allergic to their tails, this made me laugh, the tails made her itch really badly, until she itched so much it caused her skin to bleed, but she recently found a tailess rat breeder . But I would suggest trying to find a hairless rat breeder, because otherwise you will never know if you are or aren't allergic. Good luck and I hope the hairless ratties (if you can find any) dont cause for you to have an allergic reaction.

[elliriyanna]

What about neutered males? If males are your preference and your issue is with the buck grease neutered boys would be a great match then that also opens the possibility for a mixed sex cage

[Egween]

I'm not discounting your knowledge of your own allergies, but are you sure you were allergic to the rats and not the bedding? When I got my first boy, whenever he touched my neck, I broke out in a bright red rash and became instantly hot and light headed. The symptoms came up within mere seconds of me holding him. I brought him home, bathed him, and changed the bedding and I was fine. I know there are many people who are allergic to the rats themselves, I was just curious if you knew for a fact that it wasn't the bedding. Also, the stuff he was on( I can't remember which one), was supposed to be hypo-allergenic, but I am a special kind of person! Lol.