Rat died after 2 months- what did we do wrong?

Question

My daughter was given a young, white rat on her birthday in April. Not sure of his exact age, but he grew quickly, and got real big, I joked that he looked like a Christmas ham. He had food, he had water, and yet on Monday he died. The only reason I can think of is that we had 4 straight days of 107+ temps, and we don't have A/C. I didn't think it was getting TOO hot in there, we've had hamsters that lived summer after summer in our environment and did fine. Are rats more sensitive to extreme heat than other rodents?

Answer 1

oh, its not your fault.  iof you dont plan on getting a/c you should get a plug in fan and put it in the room with your rats.  dont put it close to the cage and only have it on whens its hot.  dont use it when its cold inside.  (this is if you decide to get more rats)

Answer 2

He died from over heating. Don't get a rat if you don't have A/C. DO NOT have your rat in an aquarium!!!!!!! That's CRUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 3

well, what kind of cage did u have 4 it? i have a rat, and i have an aquarium for him with a screen top.  I know that cages will get more heat, but the air will circulate easily.  The aquariums get less heat, but they keep it in.  Also depends on how healthy he was. Im sorry!

Answer 4

First of all reptile freak, you can keep your rodents in an aquarium.  I keep all mine in aquariums and they are fine.  I've had them all almost two years and they are so healthy.  I'm sorry her rat died.  She must be sad.  I'm thinking it was a lab rat since it is all white and not a fancy rat.  The white ones don't live long.  I had two white mice that I took great care of and they both died very quickly.  My fancy mice lived a lot longer.  I am sure that the hot temperature didn't help.  If you don't have a cool place to keep your pets then you shouldn't have them.  They are extremely sensitive to heat.

Answer 5

Rats can get sick easily. That all i think that could of happened. Its not ur fault it just could of got sick and u didn't kno. I'm sorry that happened.

Answer 6

are you mental

Answer 7

Rats are very sensitive to heat.  I've read in several rat books and magazines that rats should be in an environment that the temp is no higher than 80 because they can have a heat stroke.  So if you get another, it's best to have them in a cooler place.  Hope I've helped and sorry for your loss.  Rats are the sweetest creatures.

Answer 8

it could of had a disease or virus. or it could of had stress from weight.to much stress could really make it sick. but it might of gotton a virus