Video from last night's heatwave, safe to say he was cozy anyways.

While I type this its raining like crazy outside, so now we're hoping for colder days ahead for my babies

Sound on for rat munchin :D

Does anyone else’s little dude use their biological beanbag as a pillow?

My room is so hot, the whole house is! I can't cope and neither can my sweet babies :((

3 of my rats seem to be doing okay-ish. They're still running around and playing, but i can tell they're hot.

My forth rat however is showing signs of overheating. He's just laying in their litter box against the pee rock :((

His breathing is fine, but he definitely needs cooling down.

They have a box with frozen ceramic tiles wrapped in thin fabric, as well as 4 water sources, a tub of water, cold/frozen bits of fabric in some spots of the cage, water bottles with cold water in to lay against and a cold tower over their cage. But Derpy (my fourth rat) seems stressed about the heat anyways and he seems like he wants help/comfort :((

I put a cold blanket on him that I switch out for a new cold blanket every 20 minutes, and he seems more relaxed and awake when I put it on him.

However im human, I need sleep. I would do anything for my rats but it's physically impossible for me to stay awake for days in a row to switch out blankets.

So, I need a solution that will last overnight. Help!

(The last picture is how I found him an hour ago when checking up on them)

Greedy little fckers (this was their first time fishing)

Oh, I'm sorry. What did you think iy was YOUR tea?

Boba

The blob is melting under the sheer weight of his own girth.

In light of all the people sharing negative interactions with others about their rats, I thought I'd share some positivity.

So the air quality around here has been absolutely awful in the past few days due to wildfires up North. I'm in the middle of moving so I don't have my good air filter. The AC unit is keeping my room from getting too bad, but it's still not ideal for the rats. My mother is visiting to help with the move and she has really bad asthma.

To give all of them some respite from the smoke, I put the rats in the big carrier and had her drive them to the nearby university campus to hang out in the clean, climate control air. Again, this was an indoor escapade, plus they were in an all-metal carrier with the door closed the whole time they were out of my apartment. For the brief walk in from the parking lot, they had a wet sheet on the carrier for protection from sun and smoke. Safety was the first priority. I've taken my rats on campus before and it's always been great. There are indoor passages between most of the buildings and I have a little cart for their carrier.

Dozens of students came up to meet the rats, as well as some staff and one prof's kid. My girls are specifically trained to accept treats through the bars, so the students were able to do that. The rats had a ton of fun meeting everyone. They got to the point where they didn't even want treats, they just wanted to lick everyone's fingers. The students were so excited and full of questions. They all said the rats were super cute and improved their mood immensely. My mother is a college teacher on summer break, so she really enjoyed all the interactions. It was a positive experience for literally everyone involved. Plus, the rats' breathing got a lot better, as did my mother's.

Now they're back home in their cage and just sleeping. They probably won't need free roam tonight, which is good because my room is a dusty mess.

So wven if your current community is being unpleasant about your rats, there are people out there who will appreciate them. You just need to find them.

I’ve made quite a few posts here worrying about my baby mimmi, after following a lot of people‘s advice as well as just letting her come to terms with the fact that her sister has died she’s actually doing so much better. she’s coming out the cage and she’s much more herself. Her eating has improved and she just seems to have more energy. Thanks to everyone for the advice and here are some pic of the baby.

Leroy HATES to be touched, so this allows him to hang out with me without being touched.

Sorry for the long video but my 11 month old rat Dimitri has been sick and gone to the vet multiple times with antibiotics Meloxicam and Doxycycline. Just now he’s been sneezing as he has mycoplasma but now hes now having these squeaks which is really concerning as he’s only had bacteria only in his nose (nothing in the lungs or upper lungs). Idk what I should do at this point as I am really struggling financially

Had to put our oldest girl to sleep today.
We had problems to get our usual vet last week and no other had free time. So possibly thing had a chance tonend better.
Had an abscess on the neck which would not heal for some days and medicaments we got would not help further.

Rough decision also for our daughter. I know it is better because we knew she was suffering at the end. but the pain stings deep.
No more chirping und other soundsshe made depending on her current mood.

But also a reminder that those angels can cost much more money you can think before.
And always have another vet you could visit if necessary!

Long time visitor, first time posting, love this community. I have two young girls, almost 4 months old (one slightly older than the other), and I've had them for a month. I'm completely smitten, but a bit worried about bonding and handling. They are happy to eat baby food off my fingers, and will jump into a snuggle sack for treats/snacks, and tolerate light tickles in the snuggle sack, but they both really hate being picked up.

For the past two weeks, I've had them out to free roam in a DIY playpen (transported via snuggle sack), and they will happily play with me also in the pen. I use a cat toy for them to chase, and they will climb on me (sizing up the walls for escaping), so I'm obviously deemed "safe" enough to be around, but as soon as I go to pick them up, nope! I've tried the scoop technique and the claw, and both seem equally offensive to my girls. 'Human hand transportation? No thank you. I prefer to transform into a wriggly furry slinky, incapable of handling.'

Any suggestions on how I can build trust to be handled? (Pic included because they are both criminally cute.)