02/04/2026
This is a very useful guide to general rat health checks
⚫ Rat Care Cheat Sheets ⚫
This will be a series of guides that will cover all aspects of Rat keeping but will provide fast, basic need to know information as quickly as possible in bite size format.
Whether you are a new owner wanting to look for as much basic information as possible or an experienced pet home that just wants to find a certain piece of info without looking through multiple sources at once, these quick fire guides will be helpful to you.
Check out Rat Care Cheat Sheets on The Rat Wiki now:
https://theratwiki.co.uk/rat-care-cheat-sheets/
⚫⚫ Part 6 -Health & Condition ⚫⚫
▪️ Beneficial to keep an eye on certain things to be able to maximise their chances of living a healthy and full life.
▪️ From health checking to problem solving here we will look at everything needed to ensure your rat stays in great health and overall condition.
⚫ Health Checks ⚫
▪️ simplest way to check the health and condition of your rat.
▪️ Can be done at home so no need for expensive vet trips.
▪️ From simple daily checks to more advanced ones every so often it’s easy to learn what to look out for.
▪️ Should be able to visually see certain differences in your rat by their behaviour, movement and mannerisms.
▪️ Daily checks likely to happen subconsciously after a while it will just become normal to pick them up and do some quick checks.
⚫ Daily Checks ⚫
▪️ Visual check: Talk to them and see how they respond. Quick stroke to check they are alert and active. Look for any odd movements or signs of lethargy. Also any excess levels of porphyrin or other discharge from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears.
▪️ Handling. Pick them up and give them a good stroke. Hold in one hand then use the other to stroke down their entire body checking for lumps and bumps. Any imperfections in fur could be a sign of cuts or scrapes. Check fur closely for dandruff or grease which could indicate other issues like dietary or hormonal problems. Monitor for signs of mites or lice too. Patchy or dry skin could indicate a parasite but also could show dietary additions are needed. Checking for overall condition e.g. body shape/feel can let you know if your rat needs to lose or gain some weight.
▪️ Movement. Put them down somewhere flat and watch them move around. See if they are walking fine and putting weight on all 4 feet. Check they able to pick all their legs up without dragging them behind and that movement looks reasonably normal with no signs of pain or discomfort. Do they look to have the same level of energy as usual?
⚫ Advanced Checks ⚫
▪️ Can be done once a month on average.
▪️ If you go to shows then getting in the habit of doing this before them is a great thing to aim for.
▪️ These are more in depth checks where you look for more specific things on your rats.
▪️ When done regularly this will still take only a couple of minutes of checking each rat so doesn’t take up too much time in total.
🔹 Head 🔹
▪️ Eyes: want to be bright and shiny looking with no staining, dryness, soreness and free from scratches or other injuries.
▪️ Nose: should be dry and clean. No excessive amounts of dry porphyrin should be present. Sneezing in moderation is fine but too much needs further attention.
▪️ Ears: check they look nice and even and are free from any cuts or soreness. Look deeper in the ear as well as the outside and check for any odour coming from inside.
▪️ Teeth: check for nice even lengths between the front teeth and make sure they are growing straight. Look for a nice opaque yellow/orange colour that should match the other one in the row.
🔹 Body 🔹
▪️ Roll your fingers through the areas where loose skin is present, checking for any small lumps that could be growing. Especially under arm/leg pits and groin areas where mammary tumours can be common
▪️ Pick the rat up and bring their upper body area to your ear. Listen to their chest and the top of the back for any sounds of respiratory problems. You can often feel this on the chest as well as hear it so make sure to have your fingers on the chest too.
▪️ Run hand under the neck/jaw area. Feel for any swelling of the glands and uneven areas which could show signs of an infection or abscesses.
▪️ Check for any unevenness in body tone. There should be no overly obvious boney bits sticking out. This could signify early signs of a rat slowing down or even getting Hind Leg Degeneration especially on the muscle on the haunches.
▪️ Feel legs and feet for any hot spots or signs of swelling which can show possible injuries like a sprain or an infection. Check feet are a normal colour and free from flaking or rough skin.
▪️ Rats have 4 fingers on each of the front legs and 5 toes on each of the back legs. Check nails are not too overgrown and also for any missing toenails from an injury have not got infected. Don’t worry they do grow back.
▪️ If you own Bucks check the testicles are a normal shape and colours. Also that they are not overly warm or swollen. Run your finger just over the top of the groin area to check for lumps on the Preputial gland which are prone to abscesses in males
▪️ If you own Does check the groin area for any lumps which may appear. Between the tail and the groin area is a common place for mammary tumours to appear. Also check for any discharge from the va**na that could be an infection which needs to be treated.
🔹 Skin & Fur 🔹
▪️ Gently blow on the fur on the back of the rat so it parts. Look for little orange rods or white dots which could be lice or mites. Treating with Ivermectin is recommended if this is the case.
▪️ This should not be confused with dandruff though or flakes of buck grease on boys which can present as white or orange specs too.
▪️ Check for scabs or signs of excessive scratching which would indicate an itchy skin problem or a build up of parasites. Around the shoulders is a common place for this.
▪️ Check the tail is free from any obvious damage. This can include bites, scratches or sores as well as a dry and uneven surface. If the tail is particularly dirty a gentle clean will hopefully make it look much better.
▪️ Look for any signs of barbering. This can be a rat chewing away its own fur or another rat overly grooming them. It will present as the fur being patchy, uneven or in cases missing altogether. This can be a dietary or skin issue but it’s also worth noting some rats can do it when bored so giving them more enrichment is always worth trying first to try and stop this.
🔹 Balance/Coordination 🔹
▪️ Put hand out flat and let rat stand on it. Feel for any weight shifting or preferential stance on a certain leg. All 4 paws should be sharing the same weight.
▪️ Put them on a flat surface and watch them walk around. Check for walking to one side or trying to circle. Do they waddle or stumble? Does walking look smooth and comfortable or is there something not right about how they are moving?
▪️ Put your arm out and watch them walk up it. Check that they are balancing well and not overly wobbly. Check they are using their tail to help them balance.
▪️ Give them something to eat and see if they can grab it with both paws. Are they able to locate it and get it from you easily? Does their coordination seem good?
🔹 Behaviour 🔹
▪️ Visual check to see if energy levels have changed. Have they suddenly slowed down and showed limited movements?
▪️ Has your previously confident and bubbly rat become withdrawn and nervous or started to bite or become territorial?
▪️ Do they seem more confused than usual or more uncertain of their surroundings? Maybe even a little upset or lost looking.
▪️ Are they over grooming themselves and self barbering their fur?
▪️ If there is any change in behaviour like the examples above this might be a sign something more is going on so getting them checked out at the vets would be a good idea.
🔹 Signs Of Pain 🔹
▪️ Visual check for any signs of discomfort or pain. Are they stood hunched or is their fur fluffed up? Are they acting different to normal and is their breathing steady and regular and not heavy and fast.
▪️ Pick the rat up and move all of the legs one by one and the tail around in their normal range. Check for flinching or squeaking which could indicate an injury.
▪️ Swelling may be present as well but cannot always be seen.
▪️ Press down gently on different parts of their body applying a little bit of pressure. Again look for any discomfort or signs they are not happy.
🔹 Other checks 🔹
▪️ Do a P*e test. Place in a clean carrier and let them p*e on the bottom. Remove them quickly and use testing strips to test the sample. Check for protein, sugar and blood content being above normal levels. Do another test a while later to get 2 results that hopefully confirm each other.
▪️ Visually check their p*e for any redness or swirls of colour.
▪️ Check droppings to see if they look any wetter or dryer than usual.
▪️ Has their smell changed? Bad smells can indicate abscesses or infections. Try smelling the ears and around the mouth for any odours. A sweet smell in a rat can be an indication of diabetes.
🔹 Body Shape 🔹
▪️ Based on 2 major aspects. Great diet and encouraging better fitness levels
▪️ Are they hydrated enough? Pinch the skin on the back of their neck and if it’s slow to sink back down then they will need some fluids
▪️ Are they eating as usual? Any differences like going off certain foods or not eating treats could be an early warning something else is going on
▪️ Any sudden gains or losses with weights? Fluctuations can depend on a lot of things and might not be any cause for concern but monitoring weight and seeing any sudden changes is worth investigating for problems further
▪️ Has their body tone changed? Do they feel like there Is less muscle than before or they have a more light weight feeling? Certain changes like this can be a sign of slowing down or not feeling too good
⚫ Overall Condition ⚫
🔹 Weight management 🔹
▪️ Underweight rats will struggle to recover from illnesses as quickly and will not be able to fight them as well.
▪️ Kittens that are underweight will be at high risk of not growing properly.
▪️ Overweight rats will have more mobility issues and will also be more prone to illnesses.
▪️ Rats who are very overweight are more likely to struggle under anaesthetic making surgeries much riskier.
▪️ Judging for overall condition is more important than going by weight as every rat is different so a “perfect” weight number does not exist.
▪️ Visual graphics can be found on social media that show the different ranges of ideal and not ideal body shapes rats should be.
▪️ The rat should feel solid and have more muscle rather than feel squishy and fat.
▪️ Weighing each individual rat often is a great way of monitoring weight. If you find they are in great condition take note so you know what each individual rats “ideal weight” is. This way you can then track it whenever you want.
▪️ If all your rats are over or under weight you can either increase or decrease the overall amount of food you’re giving them.
▪️ If a single rat is underweight but the rest of the group are fine then you can give extras to the smaller one to help them gain more.
▪️ Good things to get an underweight rat to gain more are Weight up baby (The Rat Warehouse), Moo mix (RatRations) and also High calorie meals that are easy for them to eat.
▪️ If a rat is overweight then taking them out the cage for 15 minutes at food time so the more calorific food gets eaten first should help them lose.
▪️ Cutting down on treats, hiding food in different places in the cage and making a more active layout in the cage are other great options to help lose a bit of weight and improve condition.
🔹 Bad smells 🔹
▪️ Poor diet such as feeding nuggets can cause rats to smell. A combination of low quality ingredients and a lack of balanced food is not good for them and this can be reflected in the odours they produce.
▪️ Fresh Fruit and Veg is good for your rats in moderation but feeding too much can cause an imbalance in their nutritional intake and cause tummy aches. This will likely mean them having the runs which will cause messy and smelly cages.
▪️ Cages being too small or not laid out correctly can also cause your rats to smell more. Setting the cage up to have a more active layout with less flat ramps and smooth surfaces means where they do their business is more contained. This makes it easier to keep the smelly areas clean. Having fewer areas for p*e to sit and be spread around is better too.
▪️ Having appropriate substrate that absorbs urine and the smell is hugely beneficial over dusty paper bedding and fleece flooring which can smell terrible very quickly.
▪️ Having litter trays filled with paper litter will keep smells down and encourage the rats to be cleaner by doing all their mess in one place. Having litter trays closer to sleeping areas can help combat rat laziness otherwise they will just go to the closest, most convenient place.
▪️ Cleaning the cage too often can cause their scent marking instincts to go into overdrive. The more you clean the more then need to scent mark so it’s actually better for both sides if small spot cleans are carried out in there cage. Providing them with the right litter, litter trays and substrate as well as an active cage layout is the best way to make sure smells are kept at bay.
▪️ Do not be tempted to bath them. This is not only incredibly stressful for most rats but can strip natural oils off their coats.
▪️ Providing them with a bowl of water is a great way of encouraging them to have a good wash and keep themselves clean without stressing them out.
🔹 Quarantining 🔹
▪️ There are a number of issues that are transmissible between rats including viral, bacterial and parasitic.
▪️ These issues can be passed on in different ways including air borne droplets, close contact, secondary contact, faecal ingestion or passing through bodily fluids.
▪️ High risk possibility of needing to quarantine is when there is a significant chance of your rats being exposed to something contagious. Examples of this include introducing rats from a pet shop or an unknown rescue where you don’t know the background of where they have come from and also having a rat in the house that has been rescued from being released in the outside world.
▪️ Medium risk of needing to quarantine is where there is still a risk of being exposed to something it’s just not as likely. Getting in rats from an experienced rescue would be classed as a more medium risk as well as things like taking them to the vet’s for treatment.
▪️ Quarantine when bringing home new rats before introducing them to your current group.
▪️ Works best when you keep rats in a completely separate airspace to others. Maintaining really good hygiene and changing clothes will also maximise the success of this.
▪️ No free roaming in the same area or using the same toys or items in between cages.
▪️ Keep doors closed as much as possible. Have the quarantine room well ventilated and use draught excluders to prevent air flowing to different parts of the house.
▪️ If you suspect your own rats might pose a risk to others then keep them at home and leave them in their own environment. Try not to bring any other rats in until the risk has moved on.
▪️ If you have dogs that have recently been vaccinated with the kennel cough vaccine strict quarantine measures should be followed around your rats. The kennel cough vaccine can cause Bordetella in rats and can kill them quite quickly. Keeping them separate for 2 weeks minimum is recommended.
If you’re ever in doubt always reach out and ask. There are plenty of good sources out there who can advise and help in many ways. Whether it’s taking them to the vet for a consultation, asking your local breeder or even posting on good Rat care groups it’s better to ask than to leave a health condition to get worse.
