# my rats-19 months old



## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

here are remy and emile,getting on now.but still going very strong.









emile winking at the camera









oooh yeh thats the spot don't stop!remy enjoying a scritch.

















emile









amy x


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## waterlilyold (Aug 28, 2009)

awww they are too precious


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## Littlerat (Nov 18, 2009)

Remy is a BIG boy! Both gorgeous though, what colour is Remy? I have a girl exactly like that


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

remy is a russian blue and he weighs 1.2kg!!!!!!!!


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## Littlerat (Nov 18, 2009)

blade100 said:


> remy is a russian blue and he weighs 1.2kg!!!!!!!!


 Blimey and I thought my adult buck was big at 900g! Your Remy has mine beat paws down


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

Aww they're lovely. You might want to consider a slight diet for them though - as obesity can raise the risks of serious illness, and at 19 months they could have plenty more time with you if they were a bit lighter


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

remy is whats known as a zucker rat
this is when the brain doesn't send signals to say there full or not hungry.

i have cut out certain high protein foods and more fresh veggies and fruit along with alpha herbal and taken out the oats but he still hasn't lost any weight and he is always hugry and snatches food from my hands,the greedy git.

they get the shaumite diet but more of the kidney diet.

emile is ok he weighs in at 800gs


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

Zucker rats are rare, it's more likely he's from fat lines and needs his lifestyle altering to suit. TBH I dont feed the "shunamite diet" as the version that's bandied around the forums makes all my rats fat. My mix has no pasta in, and much less processed cereals.

Who told you he was zucker? Or did you just assume so because of his weight? I've seen fatter regular rats - just need less food and more exercise (not that I can talk!)...


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

i read up about it on itwor.
theres an old article about them.

they both come out for 2 hours everyday.
they run up and down the stairs have the run of the bedroom,landing,stairs and hallway.

he might be from fat lines but emile and him are not related.

they don't have pasta or oats.
i used to feed them on a base mix of extra vital rat mix and add in james wellbeloved lite dog food amongst other seeds.

but changed them over.

what do you think i should try?

thanks
amy


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

Hmm it's tricky when a rat's prone to being overweight, I have a 900g-1kg boy who will not exercise at all, and any attempt at less food means his cage mate loses weight.

I'd cut out treats (swap for healthy rat safe veggies), leave out the seeds and put in less processed cereals and see how he goes - if you've tried it all and it's not worked, it's likely he'll just stay that way, but it's rare a rat gets to that weight from genes alone - from what I'm told even Zucker rats weight can be controlled if you're strict enough.

Just hard to say no to them when we love them!


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

the only thing i can think of with the weight issue would be a do give them a small amount of cooked dinner.but its small!

the seeds are a few sunflower and hemp seeds.

but yes i know what you mean when there noses and feet are pressed up against the bars noses twitching and sitting there begging for food!!
watching you while you eat your dinner


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## spoiled_rat (Mar 24, 2008)

Hes not big enough for a Zucker, Ive had 2....and theres no way you can confuse them for a `fat rat` as they are just grossly obese beyond compare....their body shape is just....wrong.

There is also the extreme psychological behaviours which accompany Zuckerism too, which you cant fail to notice.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

here's another photo of him









you can't see his feet and he has huge bingo wings.


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## Ratdog (Mar 10, 2009)

He is huge! 

We feed ours [email protected] rat nuggets (dont start on the [email protected] slating, we agree but the rats love them). The nuggets are great as they provide all the goodness in each one unlike dry mix where they tend to pick and choose the bits they like and leave the rest.

We also provide fresh fruit and veg (whats allowed), raw and cooked pasta and cheese as treats. We dont feed sunflower seeds as we find they tend to make them itch.


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

There are downsides to nuggets, mainly being that they're very boring for such an intelligent animal, plus more importantly you cant alter them to suit different ages/needs. So you're more likely to have an overweight rat on nuggets, than on a finely tuned home made mix. Eg. an adult rat has different needs to a kitten, an oldie has different needs to an adult, a fat rat has different needs to an underweight one, sick rats can need extra help keeping weight on etc. A nugget will only do for one of those rats at one stage of their life.

If a rat picks and chooses at its dry mix, it's simply being given too much.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

LisaLQ said:


> Hmm it's tricky when a rat's prone to being overweight, I have a 900g-1kg boy who will not exercise at all, and any attempt at less food means his cage mate loses weight.
> 
> I'd cut out treats (swap for healthy rat safe veggies), leave out the seeds and put in less processed cereals and see how he goes - if you've tried it all and it's not worked, it's likely he'll just stay that way, but it's rare a rat gets to that weight from genes alone - from what I'm told even Zucker rats weight can be controlled if you're strict enough.
> 
> Just hard to say no to them when we love them!


I've got a similar problem with one of my girls being prone to weight gain while the other 3 are slim, I'm going to try cutting out pasta when I make up their mix, & maybe cut down on seeds & see how they go. They already have unprocessed cereal in their mix


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## LisaLQ (Dec 19, 2009)

blade100 said:


> here's another photo of him
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yikes, he really is very big, I would definitely let his breeder know about his weight, a rat shouldn't get that obese on a healthy diet, and if there's any chance this is hereditary they need to know.

My hefty boy hasn't got half as much fat on his body, and he's only 200g lighter - he's "big boned" too you see. He has some moobs, but you can see his legs!

I know he's cute and it's sad to think about, but his weight will be seriously affecting his lifespan, I'm surprised he's made it to 19 months to be blunt.


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## Ratdog (Mar 10, 2009)

Both our present rats and previous rats love the nuggets. They also get left overs, peanuts, actual rat treats and many other yummy things. We can proudly say none of our rats have ever been fat and have all lived to the age of between 2.5 and 3.5 years old.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

it is very upsetting,like i said i have changed his diet cut out high protein and pasta.

just he seems to be gaining.
he is very happy in himself,very soppy always licking any piece of flesh on me bless him.

he does run about when he's out more than his cage mate and he goes up and down the stairs...not fast but at normal pace.

thing is when i got him(preloved so don't know his breeder,they were free to good home and they told me the usual crap about not giving them enough time.said they were 8 weeks old)
he was quite small in size we joked that we had a mouse instead of a rat.now i have a small dog looking at his size!

he also has huge man bits(nuts)they are massive very long and ...well just big.

i'm at a loss really.

but i love him,he's my soppy big boy.so friendly too.


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## Acacia86 (Dec 30, 2008)

Awww Remy looks like Ronnie......Ron was a fatty too but not like that  i am shocked ri see one that i have never ever seen them that size! But he is sooo cute!!

Ronnie was a chubby rat but he lived until 3 and half hmy: but he did lose a lot of weight towards the end.


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

yeh my other past rats lost weight as they got older so i'm hoping this will cut his weight down,the food don't seem to be working and its not fair on emile i have to take emile out of the cage to give him treats etc.then when he goes back in remy looks at him to say i know what you've had let me smell your mouth.


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## Acacia86 (Dec 30, 2008)

blade100 said:


> yeh my other past rats lost weight as they got older so i'm hoping this will cut his weight down,the food don't seem to be working and its not fair on emile i have to take emile out of the cage to give him treats etc.then when he goes back in remy looks at him to say i know what you've had let me smell your mouth.


Awww bless. Poor Remy must feel left out  but its for his own good......although that doesn't help our feelings as their ''parents'' Lol!!


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## rodentopia (Dec 6, 2008)

hey i'm ronnie's owner.

i found it useful at the start to cut off all treats, or give them the bits they pick out first as treats so they at least think they're getting treats.

what i did as well was to only give him tiny amounts of food, like animal cruelty amounts, then give him the same amount later on in the day. so in stead of feeding them a big lot they had a few small lots which still amounted to less they they're normally getting but they think they're having more.

they're getting a whole load of out time which is great, if you have enough time maybe increase it? or start training them to do cool tricks that burn up some flab at the same time like an obstacle course. it brings you and rat closer and they think they're getting you to give them treats when all you're giving them is bits of their food.


i was always worried about diabetes with ronnie, and he died not long ago of blood poisoning from kidney failure.

it's hard not giving them treats, but i always saw it as tough love. it'll do him well and hopefully remy won't get diabetes.

your ratties are real cute! makes me miss ronnie more.


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## Acacia86 (Dec 30, 2008)

rodentopia said:


> hey i'm ronnie's owner.
> 
> i found it useful at the start to cut off all treats, or give them the bits they pick out first as treats so they at least think they're getting treats.
> 
> ...


Hey hunnie!!! So glad to see you here!!!!!!!! xxxx

I miss my special boy too


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