About Becky Twogood Expertise I can answer questions about fancy rats, i.e what type they are (hooded, rex, capped), breeding, what they eat, toys, cages, propper bedding, and general care. I can help to identify common rat ailments, however, as I am not a vetranarian, I can not answer indepth medical questions. I will answer all questions to the best of my abilities.
Experience I have been breeding fancy rats for the past 5 years, and raising them for 12 years. I have about 30 rats, give or take a few, some for breeding, but mostly Rescues. I say give or take a few because I do alot of rescueing, and I have several rats in and out, quite often, BUT I know them all by name :0)
Question Hi!
Are hairless rats fine to have if you have allergies, or does the not having fur not make any difference?
Thanks!
Nea
Answer Hello :0)
Hairless rats are great because they do not have dander like furry rats. BUT their nails, if not trimed may cause skin reactions, they do on me. I get severly itchy bumps from the nails scratching me. Also, depending on your allergies, different types of bedding maye cause the allergy, not the rats. If you bathe your rats regularly and change the bedding properly, the amount of posible allergins is greatly reduced. I personally am extreamly allergic to my rats, and dirty bedding causes asthma attacks, but I have 30 of them :0) As long as I take my zertec and bathe them and trim their nails, and clean the cages before they get bad, I am just fine, even with them in my face. Some people I know are allergic to the aspen wood bedding, and so they use the carefresh, some are allergic to that, and use the carefresh white. I am allergic to the dust of both of those, even though they are suposed to be the least dusty. I use a labratory grade chiped aspen called sani-chips by Harlan tek-lad they are a specialty company, and I can only get it through my rat club. That is the only way I can have rats. Basically it is a trial and error when it comes to chosing what is best for you and your rats. I also know some who use only shreaded printer paper and inkless news paper, but that gets messy and doesn't hold the oder down.
Just remember that rats cannot be alone. especially hairless rats. They MUST have a buddy or two to keep them warm. If you are going to get all hairless, you have to make sure to have lots of warm places to hide, like fuzzy fleese hammocks and tents, plastic igloo type hiddy homes, and no sharp edges and away from drafts, as they loos body heat very easily, and can get hypothrmia, and Mycoplasma flare ups faster than a ratty with fur. The little nakie guys need a little extra care, but it is worth it! They are so neat :0) I breed hairless dumbo rats, and in my opinion are the cutest of them all! :0) If you DO decide to get hairless, please let me know, and I will tell everything that you will need to know to take care of these special animals :0)
****Pine and Ceader bedding is TOXIC to ALL rodents due to the wood oil. Causeing upper respritory infections, lung scaring and cansers. Do NOT use these types of bedding, it will kill your fur baby slowly****
****Use Aspen wood beding or Carefresh recycled paper bedding for a healthy happy pocket pet.****
Happy Ratting!
Becky
Bear Wolf Rats
Twylight's Rescue
