RAT and MICE Health - Tips on Medications and Neutering

Just like cats and dogs, rats and mice need regular medication and the occasional visit to the vet. As always, prevention is best, and this article gives you some tips and advice to help your pet mouse or rat live longer and healthier and be the best companion for you.

A female pet mouse standing in hand. It's an adult, but it's smaller than a pet mice usually are, because it's bred to be small.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rats and mice need worming three to four times a year. They also may need spraying to keep mites away. However, this can be done cheaply if you purchase your products from your local pet store owner and you buy a generic brand. There are vitamin supplements that can be added to their water too. Most of these products can be purchased for approximately $10 each and are well worth keeping just in case your pet becomes ill. By administering vitamin syrup or worming, for example, you may be able to save your pet's life or at least prevent if from getting very ill.

Cages and toys should be sprayed for mites at least once a week when they are cleaned. By keeping cages and toys clean, you will provide a much healthier environment. I always soaked toys and bowls in hot water and disinfectant; they were then rinsed thoroughly. They never went straight back in the cages, however. I always had two or three sets of everything. That way items could dry properly and there was little risk of the mice and rats becoming ill from the disinfectant I used.

Both rats and mice have a fantastic sense of smell and will benefit from the use of essential oils. These oils will aid with healing wounds and regulating behaviour. However, as with dogs and other pets, you will have to dilute it and read the instructions carefully. If the male mice were fighting, I used to apply a tea tree cream. It has great healing qualities and is so pungent that the other mice would live the victim alone. As male mice tend gang up on just one, the use of this cream allowed the poor thing to recover and heal its wounds.

Get professional advice from your health care expert about which oils would be best for your pet. There are also some great websites available that can offer advice about which oils to use, dosage rates and much more.

You can desex rats but not mice; they're just too small. Desexing male rats is much simpler and painless than desexing females. However, the easiest and cheapest option is to keep separate cages for your males and females or just keep one gender.

You shouldn't breed your females too young as this may stunt their growth and cause problems later on. Females will need to be rested for months between litters as over breeding will cause health problems. Proper diet is also essential for lactating females and I have covered it in another article.

Rats are not as territorial as mice and we mix rats from different litters together all the time and we have never had any problems with one rat accepting another, in fact, they welcome the company after a brief investigation. I have seen females grooming small young that are not their own in both mice and rats too. Both species seem to have a very community spirited idea to caring for the welfare of their young.

If you are concerned about introducing a new animal to your existing ones, do it in neutral territory like your bathroom; clean the cage thoroughly and then give them fresh food. Put both animals back in the cage at the same time. They will be so busy running around investigating the new food and new bedding they won't bother with each other.

If these animals do start fighting, there is not much you can do but separate them in different cages.

By Sue Day Sue Day has worked in the pet industry for many years. Now a full time dog trainer, Sue has put together a website of over 50 pages to share her knowledge and experiences of pet care. Article Source:  EzineArticles