u/Charlies_Nekhole

Earlier this week a was looking for a new tank for my tarantula on facebook marketplace and I came across a listing for a 10 gallon tank that came with a werewolf rat. I’ve owned mice, hamsters, rabbits, hedgehogs, and degus, but never rats. I don’t know a whole lot about rat care, but I do know they don’t belong in 10 gallon tanks, so I went and got him since they were selling it cheap, and I could use the tank anyways. When I picked him up I was informed that he had “previous” respiratory issues but they had “cleared up” after the pet store gave them eucalyptus oil for him😬. Him and his tank absolutely WREAKED of cigarette smoke, so it’s no wonder homie couldn’t breathe. They also gave me a bag of his food that consisted of mostly corn, and instructed me to only ever feed him that because it’s “the best food for him”, and had nothing but a salt lick hanging from the top.

Before even picking him up, I had reached out to some people to see if anyone could help us out or take him in, and a friend donated a cage and lots of supplies (including proper food and treats) to help him and me out!

Though his sneezing has gotten SIGNIFICANTLY better, he still has respiratory issues.
He also doesn’t have a friend, and I know he needs at least one. I would love to upgrade him and get him a friend, but there’s a couple things stopping me:

1: i have very limited space and am already planning on upgrading my 3 degus to a larger cage, which would take up any space to upgrade him.

2: rats are definitely going to be another big vet expense that we cannot handle right now, especially with his current respiratory condition, and my current medical bills.

3: they told me he was an adult when they got him from a pet store months ago, so I can assume he’s pretty old for a pet store werewolf rat. If I were to get a friend for him, even an older one, would I not be in the same situation when he passes? Having a single rat that needs a friend? I love them, but I didn’t plan on having rats until we have a house of our own, which we are pretty far from at the moment.

I have already reached out to a local rat rescue and am waiting to hear back, but I would really appreciate some input and advice as I really want to make the best decisions for him.

Oh, and his name is old man k-mart :) thank you

This 7 gallon cube is about a year and a half old and has been using the same sponge filter about the whole time. It had a betta in the past but for a few months has only been cherry shrimp and snails.
Last week I added a couple alder cones for the first time and the water went way too dark, dropped the ph a lot lower and quicker than I expected and killed some of the snails and shrimp off. I removed them, did a 50% water change and took the dead ones out. The water was still dark and cloudy so I continued a 25-50% water change daily until it cleared up yesterday. I looked in the tank just now and saw some more dead shrimp and snails, and saw this weird mold looking stuff all over the whole tank. What is it and what do I do to fix it? I would like to potentially put another betta in, but not in this condition

Mama mouse had a successful delivery and all the babies seem decently healthy. Of course the question is, how many did she have?

Well, too many. She had 16 babies. This is the first litter me or her have had but I do know that mice can struggle with bigger litters and the pups can struggle especially. Would someone experienced be willing to reach out about how they would go about handling a litter this large? Is it at all possible to just help mama with feedings several times a day, or would that not even be enough help? They all had milk spots, but that doesn’t convince me she can care for that many on her own.