I got my first boy last night! (Not only the rat, but a ginormous Super Pet cage almost as tall as I am, tons of those plastic tunnels that link together, some toys, and mountains of Carefresh - all for free, just for taking in her baby... now there is a rat lover!) It was love at first sight, at least for me. But after holding him for a few minutes while talking to his old mommy, he stretched up and gave me kisses on my lip and chin! Neither of my girls has ever done that, except Coconut sometimes licks my fingers. And last night I was petting him and giving him a good rubdown, and he BOGGLED! I was so excited! He did it again a little while later! So now I know it's not just me in love! 
Okay, enough of the gushing! I do have some concerns that I will ask the vet about when I take him in for a checkup and to schedule a neutering, but it won't be for about a week and half since the vet is on vacation next week, so I wanted to ask here.
First of all, his backbone seems to be protruded. I can feel it very clearly. At first I was worried that maybe he hadn't been given enough food at his former home (he certainly went crazy for the food I gave him, and wouldn't stop eating, plus hoarded some in his igloo), but other than his back he doesn't seem emaciated in any way. My girls are not chubbies at all, but I can't feel their bones that well. Any thoughts on what this might be from? Or is it normal?
I know males have more wirey fur than females do, but this guy looks very scruffy (I've been referring to him as Mr. Scruffles until I come up with a better name), like he needs to be brushed. He's definitely not a rex, he just has that messy hair look, almost like a case of rattie bedhead :lol: He also definitely needs a bath. Today I'm going to take a wet cloth and give him a good rub with it, until we know each other better and I feel more comfortable with actually getting him wet... since he doesn't seem to have ever had a bath ^^; But my question here is, do rats need to be brushed? Is there any way to do it? I was eyeing my little cousin's stash of Barbie stuff she keeps over here, and wondering if one of those Barbie brushes would work :lol:
Okay, final thing. He has a monster of a cage all to himself, but he seems very forlorn when he's in there. I know he's probably lonely and apprehensive at being in a new place, so I'm not too worried about that right now. But is it too big? I know that more space is always better, but is that true for a rat living alone? I want to swap his cage with girls' and have them live in the huge one, but the bar spacing is too wide for little Coconut. While I was setting the cage up last night, I stuck here in there just to see, and first thing she did was stick her entire head out through the bars and grab my shirt :roll: So if I maybe should try a smaller cage, I have two options. Either take off the top half of the big cage, and have him live in a half-size version (since he stays in the bottom half anyway), or let him stay in two Coast Cages (both Rat Ritzes, one without a wheel) linked together by some of those tunnels. Or should I just leave him in the big cage?
Sorry this is so long! I just love my little guy so much already Oh, and he's about 9 months old, and just a plain black and white hooded, although his white fur is specked with some brown hairs. I'm going to put up some pictures in the Meet My Rat section later today!
BTW, while I was typing, he climbed onto the keyboard and wanted to give you guys this message:
;;;[[[[[[[[[[[ppopppppppppppppppppppppi900000000000000
Maybe your rats will know what he means! :lol:
Okay, enough of the gushing! I do have some concerns that I will ask the vet about when I take him in for a checkup and to schedule a neutering, but it won't be for about a week and half since the vet is on vacation next week, so I wanted to ask here.
First of all, his backbone seems to be protruded. I can feel it very clearly. At first I was worried that maybe he hadn't been given enough food at his former home (he certainly went crazy for the food I gave him, and wouldn't stop eating, plus hoarded some in his igloo), but other than his back he doesn't seem emaciated in any way. My girls are not chubbies at all, but I can't feel their bones that well. Any thoughts on what this might be from? Or is it normal?
I know males have more wirey fur than females do, but this guy looks very scruffy (I've been referring to him as Mr. Scruffles until I come up with a better name), like he needs to be brushed. He's definitely not a rex, he just has that messy hair look, almost like a case of rattie bedhead :lol: He also definitely needs a bath. Today I'm going to take a wet cloth and give him a good rub with it, until we know each other better and I feel more comfortable with actually getting him wet... since he doesn't seem to have ever had a bath ^^; But my question here is, do rats need to be brushed? Is there any way to do it? I was eyeing my little cousin's stash of Barbie stuff she keeps over here, and wondering if one of those Barbie brushes would work :lol:
Okay, final thing. He has a monster of a cage all to himself, but he seems very forlorn when he's in there. I know he's probably lonely and apprehensive at being in a new place, so I'm not too worried about that right now. But is it too big? I know that more space is always better, but is that true for a rat living alone? I want to swap his cage with girls' and have them live in the huge one, but the bar spacing is too wide for little Coconut. While I was setting the cage up last night, I stuck here in there just to see, and first thing she did was stick her entire head out through the bars and grab my shirt :roll: So if I maybe should try a smaller cage, I have two options. Either take off the top half of the big cage, and have him live in a half-size version (since he stays in the bottom half anyway), or let him stay in two Coast Cages (both Rat Ritzes, one without a wheel) linked together by some of those tunnels. Or should I just leave him in the big cage?
Sorry this is so long! I just love my little guy so much already
Oh, and he's about 9 months old, and just a plain black and white hooded, although his white fur is specked with some brown hairs. I'm going to put up some pictures in the Meet My Rat section later today! BTW, while I was typing, he climbed onto the keyboard and wanted to give you guys this message:
;;;[[[[[[[[[[[ppopppppppppppppppppppppi900000000000000
Maybe your rats will know what he means! :lol:
