Rat question??

Question

my rat likes when i leave music on when i am gone, but how loud is too loud? i keep it so i can faintly hear it, but its about 3 feet from her cage...

Answer 1

Unfortunately your vet is wrong. Mycoplasma pulmonis is incurable, true, but the fact of the matter is that all rats have it in their systems from birth (contracted from their mother). What allows it to flare up, is disease progression, stress, and secondary illnesses. Even if it's incurable, it can still be treated and kept under control.

Because all rats have it, they can be kept with other rats without a problem. The fact that your vet does not know this is worrisome and I would recommend finding a new small animal vet.

More on myco: http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/myco...

Quote from it: "If possible let rat remain with cage/litter mate for additonal comfort unless there is competition for food or undue stress."

Rats without cage mates often become sicker due to the stress of being alone.

Answer 2

Ummm...you should probably keep it on medium-low, depending on what type of music it is..

P.S. Brian, rats are the most smart animals you could ever have, they can be litter box trained, do tricks, and respond to their named being called. So, they aren't "just rats."

Answer 3

ha you care so much about her that's sweet i used to have three rats they all ironicly got tumers and died :( yeah i wouldn't think it would really mater how loud it was alson as it's not blareing by it ya know probably about the level of you talking would be fine but honestly does it even care if there is music it's a rat it's not like it understands it....

Answer 4

Here is a link that will help you:

http://www.ratbehavior.org/rathearing.ht...

Rats usually aren't bothered by repetitive noises, even loud ones. They get used to the sound quickly and start ignoring it. That's why the ultrasonic pest gadgets don't work. It's the sporadic and random loud sounds that scare them.

Anything that's too loud for you will be too loud for them. You can tell if they are disturbed if they are acting irritated.

Why is your poor rat by herself? I thought you always said you were a "rodent expert"? You should know by now that rats don't live as long or as healthy if they are kept in solitary confinement. :(

I thought you said that she has mycoplasmosis? I posted you a ton of information about that the other day. Mycoplasmosis is very contagious, yes, but it's also EASY to treat with the right antibiotics. So did your vet diagnose her with a different disease now? And doesn't your vet know that ALL PET RATS HAVE MYCO!?

If your vet is telling you that you can't treat myco, you need a new vet, because that's very VERY false.

Yeah, here we go:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

I gave you plenty of real information about myco there. If you need any help, feel free to email me. I've had to deal with myco in hundreds of rats.