dominant rats don't get sick (mostly)

[quietann]

So thanks to the "plague" I now have many fewer rats in each cage, and four-soon-to-be-five solitary rats. All five of the "loners" were the dominant rat in their cage. Two of them did get sick but are maintaining on Baytril reasonably well.

No dominant rats died.

All these solitary rats do create a problem for me; because they are dominant, introducing them to each other would be very unlikely to work. The one time I tried, the fur was flying within seconds. I have 14 cages, of which one is empty, five have these guys, and the rest have two or more rats.

OTOH with fewer rats I don't have to be quite as strict about weekly cage cleaning...

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I would guess dominant rats survived because they pushed others from food, so therefore were the best fed. They beat up (physically or psychologically) on any that exhibited weakness. So it's only natural that they would be the last to fall ill; they were the strongest, that's how they got to be dominent.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

whups, that was me.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

I suppose that as you repopulate with newly born rats, you could try moving some of them into the cages with the existing dominant rats and see whether it works. On the other hand, perhaps you are ready for a break after this bout of plague...

BTW, we should still be good for dinner next weekend. I haven't forgotten and am expecting to be well enough by then to be out and social rather than just surviving the work day before crashing. What time should we meet?

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I may try to introduce some babies to one of the dominant girls who's had babies before. The two dominant boys, well, one is very old and very mean, and the other is sick. I may try introducing poor little Starving Rat to the baby boys. If he lives that is.

Ben suggested the Legal Seafoods over near MIT, because it's rarely crowded. Early dinner??? 5:30ish I was thinking.