Hello

welcome! anything urgent?

Well, I had some questions, but I'm starting to learn about rats right now. But now my rat isn't drinking water. He's healthy otherwise. He occasionally eats (and loves corn). He took a few sips from his water bottle yesterday, so I'm confused.

It isn't uncommon to miss rats drinking so I wouldn't worry too much if u don't see it.

But it is a good idea to double check that the bottle is indeed working. Often they can be annoying

moonkissed said:

It isn't uncommon to miss rats drinking so I wouldn't worry too much if u don't see it.

But it is a good idea to double check that the bottle is indeed working. Often they can be annoying

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I know exactly what you're talking about. The water bottle does indeed stop working suddenly, but I have decided to lay out a bowl of water for him. He has drunk from it before, so I know he's ok using a bowl.

Figuring out the water bottle or getting a new one maybe a good idea. Water dishes and rats will quickly become a problem for you. They can chew them, pee in them, get litter in them, and probably a handful of other things that ratties can figure out quickly that you will have to be cleaning up every five minutes to make sure they have clean water.

Well, I know my rat is drinking water now because I left a bowl of water out that he's drinking from. But now I'm starting to wonder if he's sick or not. He gets hiccups on occasion with the normal twitching then stops. Then this morning, he starts making crying sounds/high pitched squeaks with the normal twitching/shaking. Just like the hiccuping, he stopped after a while. He breathes normally from what I can tell as well.

Hiccups are fine but rats don't normally make audioble sounds, he may have a respitory infection. If it keeps up you might want to take him to the vet.

Is it hiccups or could it be sneezing? As Amph mentioned it could be a respiratory infection, it could also be the bedding if it's really dusty but you always want to be better safe than sorry.