Fancy Rats Forum

not sure where this goes but i have read the first aid post and for hosptial cage i can't seem to find a duna cage so could i use a zoozone habitat one?

i have a snugglesafe heat pad and some dr squiggles essentials
i am going to get some vet bed from pet shop thats close to me
i use syringes for my fish tank so have them already

what size fleece blanket small baby one? or just some fleece?
antiseptic cleaning solution: would dettol work or does it have to be something specific
Trimmex powder is there a certain one to use or can i use corn starch
saline solution, if i make my own will it keep in an airtight bottle or best to make it fresh

sterile saline eye drops isnt that the same thing as the solution?
sterile melonin dressing: sizes?

manuka honey: why?

small towel? what sort is there a certain one?


i am busy reading everything i can from the ratwise group and the ebooks written so think i may have other questions but want to get the first aid kit sorted

I honestly wouldn't stress too much over the first aid kit. The only things I'd say are necessary to get in advance are a hospital cage, syringes (preferably 1mL), and maybe a heat pad and cohesive bandage. Cohesive bandages can be very useful post-op, but you generally have some advance warning of that so you can just go to the pharmacy and pick some up.

For the hospital cage, I'd actually suggest something like this: https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets ... -wire-cage
I disagree that you shouldn't use a barred cage as a hospital cage: if insulation is a concern, you can add insulation to a barred cage by wrapping cardboard around it, or just by providing an enclosed bed like a thick fabric cube. However, ventilation is also a concern, and you can't easily add ventilation to a tank-style cage.

If you can easily get Vet Bed then you may as well, but you don't have to. I've managed 6 years of rat keeping and what feels like countless post-op and end-of-life patients with just paper litter pellets and soft shredded cardboard, i.e. my normal litter and substrate.

For things like blankets and towels and such, it honestly doesn't matter what you get. Just have some cheap spares in your house. We have a couple cheap Ikea fleece blankets that we use as normal blankets for humans; if a rat ever needs one, I will cut it down to size if needed, though that hasn't happened yet. I don't normally use towels with rats; they have thick loops of threads that a rat could get its toes caught in. For burritoing rats that need medications syringed in them, I find tea towels are the right size, and they're cheap too.

I wouldn't bother buying saline or making it in advance; you can just make it up as needed, assuming that salt and the ability to heat water are things that you have routine access to. If you make saline now, and you don't end up needing it for months, I really wouldn't want to bank on there not being some enterprising colony of microbes growing in it by then.

I also wouldn't necessarily buy any antiseptic solution just yet; most things that require more than homemade saline also require veterinary attention. In veterinary settings, diluted Hibiscrub seems to be the antiseptic of choice, and you can buy it at most pharmacies if you do want to get something in advance.

Most people use cornflour instead of Trimmex, yeah. I got a pot of Trimmex ages ago and it just sat around unused until it went solid so that's me told.

I have never had to use a dressing on any rat, but if you do want to have some in stock, just get whatever you'd want for your own first aid kit. I don't think size matters that much; you can always cut down to size. You can wash your scissors beforehand if you're worried about sterility, but let's be honest, by the time it touches the rat it's not going to be sterile regardless.

I believe there is some actual evidence for Manuka honey being useful in wound healing, but most of the excitement over it sounds an awful lot like bunk to me and I wouldn't want to use it without veterinary advice anyway, just because of the likely nature of the underlying situation. Rat wounds tend to fall into two categories: "rinse it with saline and let it heal on its own" or "oh god take it to a vet".

thank-you i was just thinking of the mess the honey could make,
i have dettol at home so that's why i thought about using it, its a good antiseptic.

i have some small dog fleece blankets so could use them(brought for pup but never used)

i'll get some of the dr squiggles products as i think better to have them and not need them to needing them and not having them

but yes i will stop worrying about what might happen and sort out all the good things to go in cage for them to play