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Post by coastalrodents on Sept 21, 2008 18:00:14 GMT 10
Well, we seperated our bubs on Saturday. Males are all fine and in with MU Odie who's grateful for the company lol We had to put him in a smaller cage cos he escapes from the big boys cage. Have to buy some wire to fix it up. Anyways, we recently got 2 really small ratties. They don't look more than 3 weeks old. One male (No Name) and one female (Clover). Clover can somehow escape from the big girls cage and we didn't want her alone so we thought we'd see how she'd go with our bubs. She only looks about a week older than ours. We thought it would be ok. All was fine until Corey checked them about 5 mins ago and found that Clover had eaten half of one of our PEW bubs! That's not normal right? She had skinned our poor baby! The only thing left was the spine, the skin and the head. And she would not let go of it! We didn't hear any squeaks or anything! What do we do with Clover? Keep her by herself? Has anyone else had this problem before? RIP Little bub
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hans
Big Mouse
Posts: 392
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Post by hans on Sept 23, 2008 8:50:27 GMT 10
how old are these bubs
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Post by coastalrodents on Sept 23, 2008 14:35:35 GMT 10
4 1/2 weeks. Clover looks about 4-5 weeks.
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hans
Big Mouse
Posts: 392
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Post by hans on Sept 23, 2008 15:04:01 GMT 10
okay that has never happened to me!!!
my rat once caught a wild mouse and ate it before I could stop her but never has a rat ate another rat at that age. is clover healthy looking or skinny because if she is skinny she could have aten it to make up in something?
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Post by coastalrodents on Sept 23, 2008 16:27:12 GMT 10
I've posted this on another site and everyone said that the PEW probably died of natural causes and Clover was just cleaning up. When we first got Clover we didn't think she was going to make it. She was tiny. And her tail was boney. But she's fattened up nicely after giving her loads of veges and treats
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Post by mushaka on Sept 23, 2008 19:27:03 GMT 10
what a horrible thing to have to see..poor baby! Poor YOU
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hans
Big Mouse
Posts: 392
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Post by hans on Sept 24, 2008 11:43:46 GMT 10
what do you think the bub died of?
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Post by sharz.ram on Sept 24, 2008 18:20:28 GMT 10
Natural causes most likely.
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hans
Big Mouse
Posts: 392
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Post by hans on Sept 24, 2008 18:31:36 GMT 10
I've never had a 4 and half week old rat die of 'natural causes'
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Post by sharz.ram on Sept 24, 2008 19:16:25 GMT 10
Baby rats do die, you know. Id be worried if there was more than one dying.
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Post by coastalrodents on Sept 27, 2008 19:39:30 GMT 10
No more have died. I don't understand why the other one died. I had them all out for playtime the night before and they all seemed really healthy and everything.
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Post by Jessi on Nov 12, 2008 8:04:23 GMT 10
When i Bred Rats they didnt do that, but i breed Mice now and they usually eat each other for a reason, like not unof food,or it could be disabled,or too many babies for the mother to handle or the Mother isnt breeding quality it happens!!! Like when i bred my mouse Blossom She had 9 babies and until this daii one survived with my help she didnt want to feed them so she ate 1 squashed a few then 2 were left in a cage with another litter and they decided to eat one of them... But the other litter ate it because of the scent of dead rat and mouse yes at tht time for unknown reson my mice were dropping dead but relized it was from cold so left them in a bag over night forgetting to put it i the bin... So never leave ur dead rats or mice around cause it effects the mice...& Rats
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Post by rockette on Nov 12, 2008 10:22:30 GMT 10
I doubt they ate a mouse/rat because of the scent of a dead rat. Rodents eat their dead because of instinct..in the wild if they leave a body it will attract predators. Same reason they and other animals eat the afterbirth of their young.
Occassionaly you'll get a rat or mouse that is just plain dumb..like my first BEW rat Belle, who ate the legs and tails off her babies then ate the babies, but in my 8+ years of breeding, that's the only time I've come across a 'cannibal' rodent. I have the odd baby mouse go missing, but never after a couple of days old, and it is always the smallest so probably died of natural causes, or wasn't getting enough food, then mum cleaned up her nest by eating it.
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Post by splinter on Nov 12, 2008 20:40:32 GMT 10
Quite a few weeks ago now I notice some of my mice were disappearing but I then found left over 'body parts' in the cage and wondered if the other mice were doing this? I found that my rats were escaping from their cages sitting on top of the mice cages and waiting for the mice to investigate them before grabbing them & eating them. Sick I know! I lost almost 10 mice this way.... I nly have 1 mouse left now as I sold the others to a lovely lady in Oakey but I believe that my remaining mouse is traumatised as she always hides under her food bowl, is more flighty & defiantely more of a gym junkie than before.
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