My parents went to get food for their snake and they ended up getting a rat thats wayyy to big the snakes a hatchling and now theyre letting my little little sister (8y/o) keep it as a pet. it doesnt have a wheel or toys or substrate or a cage or anything and i really know its gonna suffer in this empty sterlite tub its gonna die they dont even have a real water bottle for it its just got a litte tray of water. What should i do to try and improve its life? ive tried to tell them its gonna suffer they dont care Pic related its about this size
Wait til they leave.
Hold rat by base of tail on hard surface.
Hold a pen or screwdriver or some kind of rod on the rat's neck right up against the skull.
Push down on rod, pull strongly (don't jerk) on the tail.
Put rat back.
>told you it would just die like that
FYI anything fed to the snake should be killed that way first.
Live feeding is cruel, and also dangerous to the snake while also making the snake dangerous to the owner.
>>2148107
is this the best method? is killing it really better than trying to give it a life? I cant buy the stuff for it so it might be
>>2148131
Give it back to the petshop and get your brother some hex toys. Just apologize to your brother and say it ran away,
or you can explain to your parents that it is cruel, like a normal person would instead of doing shit behind their back
>Rat doesn't have toys, substrate, cage, water bottle
Well, the solution would be to buy those things for it.
>>2148131
>I cant buy the stuff for it
Oh, really? The cost of this stuff shouldn't be that much.
Aspen shavings are a reasonable (not ideal, but reasonable) source of substrate, and they're cheap. Maybe $5
Alternatively you could use timothy hay or shredded paper towels.
A water bottle is only like $6 or so, if that.
And you could convert the sterilite tub into a bin cage, most likely. Bin cages are more used for hamsters, but in a pinch they could do for a rat. Especially a young one.
>>2148104
why did they purchase a live rat for snek in the first place?
>>2148183
Whereabouts are you? You could sell it and pretend it ran away.
If it's handled regularly it could live a good life and you can always slowly upgrade it's pad. Do you have friends with small furries who could give you a little bit of bedding?
>>2148107
Is not the best way to kill it if you don't know what you're doing.
>wheel
That's fine. You can get one for a couple bucks on craigslist or eBay, but many rats don't use them anyway. I've had four, all ignored the wheel.
>toys
Boxes (especially with holes cut in them), paper towel tubes, popsicle sticks, plastic milk jug caps, crumpled up paper, drinking straws (especially multiple ones tied together), cardboard tube tunnels, scrap wood, any kind of ball. Rats are tactile and like interesting-feeling objects they can chew. Get creative with your garbage.
>substrate
Not necessary. You can use newspaper and/or shredded scrap paper, though you'll need to clean the cage frequently since those materials have no odor-controlling properties. Otherwise old towels or shirts work too. Shake out the poops every day, wash/switch out every several, scrub the cage/litter pan itself once a week. Shredded paper towel, kleenix, and toilet paper are fine for nesting material. Avoid dyed and scented items.
>cage
You can regularly find gently used rabbit/guinea pig cages like pic related for sale on Craigslist for $10-$15, or even for free if you're quick enough. They're not ideal - rats prefer vertical space to horizontal, as they are climbers - but it's sure as hell better than a fucking bucket. Avoid cages that are mostly grated floors, as this can lead to foot infections.
>water bottle
$5, cheaper if you get it secondhand.
You didn't ask, but
>food
A single store-bought bag of rat food will last you a month or more for $10 or under. Supplement with fruit/vegetable scraps, like some of your apple core or cucumber ends you were gonna throw away anyway.
Rats are super cheap pets until they have to go to the vet. Sorry your family sucks and responsibility has fallen on you, but please try to give him a good life. It's not his fault either.
>>2148318
>it's not his fault he was too big to die struggling for breath
>>2148104
Why would a snake need a wheel?
>>2148104
>Inb4 the image of the still-alive but half-eaten snake with a look of horror on its face as the victorious "Feeder Rat" preens itself in the corner
>>2148318
Any materials to avoid giving them to chew? I thought straws/plastic would be bad?
>>2149354
Depends on the kind of plastic. The milk caps and straws I give mine are soft, almost like wax, so there's no worry about them splintering or getting lodged in/cutting their mouths. No shame in steering clear if you're worried, though.
Another cheap/free toy I forgot to mention that a lot of rats like to chew are corks, like wine corks.
Avoid wooden objects that are painted, sealed, chemically treated, etc. unless you know the paint is non-toxic (you'll see this in small mammal/bird toys). This includes chemically scented or perfumed things, as rats can have pretty sensitive respiratory systems. Cedar and pine wood shavings should never be used as bedding, but are okay as solid chew toys. If an object has a lot of glue or tape, I'll peel it off before giving it to the rats. Most rats won't touch tape, but it's not worth the risk.
Hope this helps.
>>2148318
>newspaper
>rodents mildly allergic to soy based ink
>highly recommended not to use newspaper
Alright you fucked up.
Hooded rats are 95% mentally retarded. All you need is toilet paper, water dish is fine and food. No citrus until you determine that it's not male.
No fucking air freshener in the house. No cologne. You can't wear deodorant. You can't use soap. You might be able to smoke but not near it, not in the same house.
That's the start of the list. If you can't handle it, enjoy your shitty rat. Take it back with receipt because you will fucking hate life if the rat pisses/shits all over you constantly because you smell like chemicals.
The hair on a rat's back stands up when it smells poison, so if you keep it you will learn many things you NEED to know about the shit laying around your house.
I don't even care if I'm the rat man. It's WELL known that rats can detect poisonius substances so fucking argue if you will.
>>2148104
>your little sister
Holy fucking shit send that thing back to the store NOW. WE MISREAD GUYS. THE RAT IS GOING TO BE TORTURED.
>>2150005
OP, in case you're not a regular, ignore this guy. He drops in every several months to semi-coherently rave about rats and fragrances and shit.
It's actually recommended that you don't give rats wheels as they can easily get injured in them and often don't care for them anyways.
>>2150030
http://www.goosemoose.com/rfc/index.php?topic=37271.0
>everyone on the internet agrees
>scientists know and study this
Grats on not even being able to google six words. I have studied this so hard because it affects me too.
You go ahead and walk through life having seizures every time you smell someone, you inconsiderate asshole. 334 Million people have asthma and you sit here shilling for stronger scented glade plug ins and neighborhood stinking dryer sheets like it's a joke that scents cause physiological reactions in mammals, an extremely well studied phenomenon.
>mailman gets bit
>smells like whorehouse
>let's kill the dog because we're too fucking dumb to study well known biology topics
>>2150030
>rats have sensitive respiratory systems
>rats have sensitive respiratory systems
>rats have sensitive respiratory systems
Said every page on the entire internet.
>>2148104
I've been out of the rat game for a while, IIRC there's a difference between feeder rats and pet rats. Don't get me wrong, pet rats are fantastic, but they really need a second rat or they'll get depressed.
>>2150077
Feeders do fine alone. Buy an old one and it's easy to blow their mind with simple shit.
I'd rather not have bred out rats, they are dumb and skittish and don't love you.
Same reason pugs are the shittiest breed of dog.
My rat doesn't have any of that stuff.
He just has a little box he sleeps and poops in and it's not enclosed.
My dumbo rat is very intelligent and knows his way around the house.
He usually stays under a dresser if he's not in his box.
Sometimes he poops on the floor but it's not really a problem when it's so easily cleaned up.
He also climbs into bed and sleeps inside a pillow case sometimes too.
He just does his thing and is pretty happy.
>>2150081
Dumbo rats seem OK but hoodeds are terrible choices. I hate seeing people who didn't know to get a massively bro tier albino feeder.
The love they have pretty much overshadows the albino intelligence level.
Mine tried to recreate the coffee I was drinking by shitting and pissing in his water mug and stirring it up. I called it sewer stew. He just wanted to be like me so I didn't question it much, just called him a dumbass, laughed and moved on.
>>2150104
They react sometimes. It is extremely hard to find products that don't trigger porphyrin attacks and kill your animals.
You should avoid everything though if you want a bro.
So many questions about sickness, resps, depression, aggression and misbehavior are easily dealt with by removing air freshener.
Why do you think scientists keep individual air filters on lab cages? Are they dumbasses or can you not read literally a single page on the internet?
I can not use soap but am forced to use deodorant.
When you smell like poison, the rat thinks you're going to kill it. This is well studied behavior, please read.
>>2150005
>It's WELL known that rats can detect poisonius substances
Doesn't stop the silly fucks eating rat poison now, does it?
>>2150005
You are hilariously insane.
>>2148104
get a big cheap tupperware copntainer if it bugs you. Many people actually freerange their rats. Just cover all wires, leave water/food out, leave a small showbox willed with aspen in a corner to pee in and dont step on him. make sure to vacuum daily and you're set
