Respiratory Infection!

I am keeping them on pine. The pups i have had are actually enormous and grow very very quickly. This just kinda took my rat room by storm. Any advice on putting them down? I have no co2. 2

Originally Posted by runyon_0509

I am keeping them on pine. The pups i have had are actually enormous and grow very very quickly. This just kinda took my rat room by storm. Any advice on putting them down? I have no co2. 2

Pine? You may be in luck! While many people ignore the advice and resources out there, Pine is actually NOT recommended as a substrate for rats/mice/or rodents.

Try changing your substrate first and see how that goes.

I always heard Cedar was the one to cause trouble. I did do some research on pine but found nothing. Any alternatives that are affordable? Carefresh is so damn expensive. I went with pine because it was cheap and everything i read said it was safe untill this morning when i read on mycoplasma pulmonis. It says that the pine can cause the respiratory infection.

Originally Posted by runyon_0509

I am keeping them on pine. The pups i have had are actually enormous and grow very very quickly. This just kinda took my rat room by storm. Any advice on putting them down? I have no co2. 2

You can hold them by the base of the tail and use something like a water "T" to hold/pin them by the base of the neck, pull swiftly and separate the spinal cord. Not the most friendliest method but it works and I think that is probably the second most humane way to do it. Be careful with this method because if you mess up you can have a pissed off or loose rat.

Originally Posted by runyon_0509

I always heard Cedar was the one to cause trouble. I did do some research on pine but found nothing. Any alternatives that are affordable? Carefresh is so damn expensive. I went with pine because it was cheap and everything i read said it was safe untill this morning when i read on mycoplasma pulmonis. It says that the pine can cause the respiratory infection.

I've been using Aspen for years on both my snakes and rats.

Can it be bought in bulk anywhere?

Originally Posted by Focal X

You can hold them by the base of the tail and use something like a water "T" to hold/pin them by the base of the neck, pull swiftly and separate the spinal cord. Not the most friendliest method but it works and I think that is probably the second most humane way to do it. Be careful with this method because if you mess up you can have a pissed off or loose rat.

Dry ice also makes CO2.

1. Just put the ice in a container that has a top with holes in it, close and pour water in the holes. GAS will then start flowing out.
2. Put the container containing dry ice and water in a cooler type container with closeable top,
3. Drop in rats and close.

Dry ice suppliers can be found though Googling.

Originally Posted by runyon_0509

Can it be bought in bulk anywhere?

Reptile shows

PetCo

PetSmart

Farmers supply store

Originally Posted by deborahbroadus

Pine? You may be in luck! While many people ignore the advice and resources out there, Pine is actually NOT recommended as a substrate for rats/mice/or rodents.

Try changing your substrate first and see how that goes.

Wow, I don't know how I missed this. I just switched to pine a couple months and may have

Thanks for the heads up!

I always heard shavings in general were not good. Im going to look into aspen if you havent had any trouble out of it. I am also seeing that once your rats show MP you have to treat them. i might try to go to the vet and get a bunch of the antibiotics.