Small pet

Cucumbers are a favorite healthy snack for humans, thanks to their water content, nutrients, and delightful crunch—but can rabbits eat cucumbers with the same gusto? A pet rabbit’s diet primarily consists of hay and pellets, but tossing them some fresh veggies, including cucumbers, can be a fun treat. Still, there are some considerations to keep in mind regarding food prep and daily allotment. Let’s hop into it.

While most of us know rabbits can eat carrots, are you aware there’s a long list of both fruits and vegetables your rabbit can safely consume? It’s true. Rabbits love fresh fruit and veggies, and they can serve as both a treat and a nutritional boost. “Adding fresh foods provides a variety of additional nutrients, textures and tastes to enrich a rabbit’s diet,” explains Dr. Teresa Manucy, DVM, a pet health representative for Chewy. “They also have an increased moisture content, which promotes kidney and bladder health.” Before you make any dietary additions, however, you need to know what’s good for your rabbit. While there’s a variety of safe options, there are also a handful of fruits and vegetables considered no-gos for rabbits. We spoke to a vet expert about the various fruits and vegetables rabbits can—and cannot—eat and how to introduce fresh produce to your rabbit’s diet. Fruits and veggies are treats meant to supplement a rabbit’s diet. A well-balanced diet is necessary for your rabbit’s health.

Due to their social nature, dwarf hamsters are friendlier and more comfortable when kept in pairs (same sex or mixed sex) or small groups, rather than when kept alone. Dwarf hamsters bond closely over time and usually for life. If they live with a cagemate, they tend to be friendlier toward humans. However, if you house multiple pairs in the same room, keep the male cages away from the female cages—close proximity of the opposite sex can cause stress.

With their adorable faces, sweet wheeks, and gentle personalities, it’s only natural to want to pick up your guinea pig and cuddle them all hours of the day.   But do guinea pigs like to be held?  It depends.   Like other pets, guinea pigs have personal preferences for what they like and dislike. At some point, though, you’ll want to hold your guinea pig, and it’s important to know how to hold them safely and comfortably.  We spoke with experts about how to know if your pig wants to be held and tips on how to safely handle them. 

Urolithiasis Urolithiasis is a medical condition referring to the presence of uroliths — stones, crystals or calculi — in the kidneys, bladder or anywhere in the urinary tract. Rats with this condition suffer from secondary bacterial infections and pain due to the rubbing of the uroliths against the urinary tract. Male rats are more prone to urolithiasis because of their longer urethras.   Symptoms and Types Uroliths are rough in nature, causing the rat’s urethra, urinary bladder or kidneys to become inflamed. Kidneys can also become inflamed due to secondary bacterial infections. Rats suffering from this condition will lick or bite the urinary area. And while some are unable to urinate or at least urinate properly, others frequently urinate but only in small amounts, leaving the fur around the perineum damp. In severe cases, urolithiasis may lead to renal failure. Some other symptoms include: Painful and difficult urination Cloudy urine Bloody urine Foul-smelling urine Loss of appetite Weakness Lethargy Abdominal pain Dehydration The consistency of uroliths depends on the types of minerals or solutions in the formations. For example, urolithiasis struvite stones consist of magnesium ammonium phosphate and causes the rat’s urine to become highly alkaline, and urolithiasis cystine stones consist of calcium oxalate, causing the urine to become highly acidic. Meanwhile, ammonium acid urates and silicate stones cause the urine pH to become either neutral or acidic. Causes There are several known risk factors for urolithiasis including diseases and conditions such as leukemia, diabetes, paralysis and diverticula (balloon-like growths on the bladder). Some other causes include: Dehydration Abnormally high levels of calcium in the blood Improper diet Parasitic infections in the bladder (e.g., threadworm) Bacterial infections Heredity can also cause urolithiasis in rabbits. Diagnosis Other than observing the rat’s clinical symptoms, the veterinarian will conduct X-rays and urine examinations to confirm the diagnosis. Culture and sensitivity tests may be required if secondary bacterial infections are present.   Treatment Once the type of urolith is diagnosed and located, your veterinarian will devise a treatment plan. The vet may begin the treatment with antibiotics to dissolve the uroliths, however, if the number or size of uroliths is large, surgical intervention will be needed. The type of surgery for your rat will depend on the location of the uroliths, such as a cystotomy when dealing with the bladder, a nephrotomy when dealing with the kidney(s), or a urethotomy when dealing with the urethra. Surgery is not always an option. In these cases, your veterinarian may advise euthanasia to spare the rat pain and suffering. Living and Management Once the stones are removed, your veterinarian will provide a specific diet and certain living conditions for the rat. Prevention Providing a well-balanced, healthy diet for your rat may help prevent uroliths from forming in your rat, but because there are various causes for the condition, there is no surefire way to prevent it.

There’s a reason why hamsters are popular family pets: they are cute, require less space than most other pets and they have personality that transcends well beyond their diminutive size. Here are some common hamster behaviors:

I’m going to assume that you already asked your friends and family about taking on your guinea pigs. If you have a little time there are several sources you can use to list your guinea pigs for adoption. 1. Your local elementary schools often have an internal newsletter that may, for a small fee, let you list your guinea pig. 2. The elementary school may have a bulletin board that you can post your advertisement on to attract a family or a teacher. 3. Set up a lawn chair near the local elementary school with your guinea pigs and see if you can connect with parents to adopt your guinea pig when they are picking up their kids. This may seem extreme but I have seen it often work for others. Be sure, though, that you are NOT on school property and be sure you have a sign that clearly states your intentions. 4. Try Yahoo classified or Craigslist and choose your state and your city, they will have a tab for pets. In all cases in listing an animal on a site or paper, charge something for the adoption. It does not have to be a lot, just something to prevent snake breeders or collectors of animals from contacting you. If you do not have time to try to adopt out your guinea pigs, look for an animal shelter that has an open door policy. An open door policy means they take any species, they are not limited to just cats and dogs, but are versed in the basics of most creatures. Even if they are a kill shelter they usually work with a huge number of foster homes, rescues and other shelters and will contact them to transfer the animal to them. Despite what you may have heard, shelters have to keep track of the number of animals that they euthanize and often funding is dependent on how many they do NOT euthanize. They will actively seek out other solutions to helping an animal than automatically putting them down. When you surrender to this type of organization you usually lose all rights to the animal as soon as you sign off. You will not be able to contact the animal shelter to see if the animal has been adopted but you can watch their progress on its website if they are not transferred to another organization. Often animal shelters post pets to advertise their availability. If your guinea pigs are at an animal shelter for a long time and they do not seem to be getting adopted you can develop an action plan if you want to pull them out by adopting them back and then returning them at some point for another run at a chance to be adopted. Use social media! Facebook your guinea pigs’ availability, use Twitter or list on whatever social networks you are using and always include a picture. A picture, as they say, speaks louder than words and will more than likely attract someone to adopt. You will have to screen people, so think of questions that you want to ask an adopter. Sometimes other animal shelters will provide a courtesy listing even if they do not adopt out the species.,Q.

Urinary Nematodiasis in Rats A common urinary disease in rat colonies is nematodiasis. This occurs when the nematode parasite Trichosomoides crassicauda infects the rat’s urinary bladder, causing painful urination, stunted development, and stones in the bladder (bladder calculi). Kidney diseases like pyelitis, renal pelvic inflammation and stones in the kidney (uroliths) may also occur if the parasite (threadworm) moves upward toward the bladder. The source of infection is contact with Trichosomoides crassicauda eggs that have been passed in the urine of infected rats. Typically, nematodiasis occurs in rats older than two to three months and is resolved with the insecticide ivermectin. Reinfection can be prevented by maintaining hygienic living conditions with proper sanitation.    Symptoms and Types Painful urination (dysuria) Stones in the bladder and/or kidneys Failure to develop properly Sudden or chronic renal pyelitis Renal pelvic inflammation Bloody urine due to stone formation The male threadworm attaches itself to the lumen of the rat’s bladder and the female threadworm attaches itself to the lumen and mucus membrane of the bladder. The male threadworm can sometimes even live insides the uterus of the female threadworm. The male threadworms grow to be 1.5 to 2.5 millimeters in length, while the female threadworm can be as long as 10 millimeters (1 centimeter). Causes Infection with the threadworm, Trichosomoides crassicauda Contact with eggs of the parasite through the contaminated urine of infected rats Unsanitary living conditions Diagnosis Bladder threadworm is usually diagnosed by conducting urinary tests and examining the urine for the presence of eggs of the parasite.   Treatment   Your veterinarian will treat your rat with the drug ivermectin, which is effective at eradicating the parasitic threadworm from the bladder and kidney of the rat. Living and Management You must maintain proper sanitation in the colony of the rats under treatment in order to prevent reinfection with nematodiasis. Reinfection in a rat colony is common if all of the rats are not treated at the same time and the parasite is not eradicated completely. Follow your doctor’s recommendations in this regard. While under treatment, calcium should be reduced or removed from your rat’s diet to prevent formation of calcium stones in the bladder and kidneys. A well-balanced diet is prescribed to further your rat’s recovery from the infection and encourage normal growth.   Prevention Infected rats should be isolated from the other rats to prevent infection of healthy rats in the colony. Proper sanitation is also important in preventing the spread on to the prevention of nematodiasis infection.

Ringworm Infections in Rats Despite its name, ringworm is actually not a worm, but a fungal organism that infects the skin, feeding off of keratin, the material that makes up the skin, nails and hair of the body. The set of fungi that cause ringworm in rats are from a class of fungi called deuteromycetes, with Tricopyton mentragrophytes being the primary fungus that is responsible for cases of ringworm infection in rats, though they can be infected by other fungal species as well. Ringworm is a zoonotic infection, meaning that the infected rat is contagious to other animals and to people. Unless care is taken in handling an infected rat, the ringworm infection can easily spread to humans and other household animals. Symptoms and Types Usually rats that are infected by the ringworm fungus never show symptoms apart from the skin lesions, which will vary from mild spots of hair loss to marked hair loss with thick scaly skin. Other symptoms may include: Reddened skin Irritated skin Flaky skin Itching Causes   Ringworm infection often spreads through direct contact with infected animals or humans, but it may also be spreadh via contaminated bedding, litter, and cage supplies. Diagnosis Your veterinarian will perform a thorough physical exam on your rat, taking into account the background history of symptoms and possible incidents that might have led to this condition, such as contact with other animals, or even with other people. A microscopic examination of skin scrapings taken from the infected area may also be done to confirm the visual diagnosis.   Treatment   Although it is possible for the infection to clear up on its own, oral or general treatment of ringworm infection is very important for the prevention of a recurrence at a later time. Ringworm infection can be treated both with locally applied and oral fungicidal and antibiotic medications, both of which have the ability to kill fungi. You will also be advised to use topical lotions and medicated shampoos for completely healing your rat. Living and Management Infected rats should be isolated from other rats in the group to prevent the spread of ringworm infection to healthy rats. You will also need to follow a regimen of hygiene and cleansing as per the advice of your veterinarian. Prevention You can help to prevent spreading ringworm infection by maintaining good hygiene of your rat’s cage and surrounding environment. If your pet rat has been infected with ringworm you will need to carefully disinfect the cage using a weak solution of bleach. Rather than rinsing the cage thoroughly, air it well afterwards and completely change the flooring and bedding of the cage. Because this infection is spread by direct contact with the fungal organism that causes ringworm, it is important to be mindful of hygiene when you have had contact with other rats. This is one among many diseases that can be spread to rats by way of human contact, so it is essential that you always wash your hands and clothing thoroughly after handling other rats, before handling your own again.

A hamster’s love for running, hiding, and chewing can make picking them up a bit tricky. But knowing how to hold a hamster is important for their safety and comfort and allows you to strengthen your bond with your furry friend.  Here’s how to tell if your hamster enjoys being picked up and how to do it.