Problem with Roomates...

[MuscaDomestica]

My roomates friends from highschool came up and got drunk, I wasn't there I was either sleaping or watching the new spiderman movie. This morning I looked in Duke's cage and he smells like alchahol. I have a fealing giving my rat beer shouldn't hurt him too much but I am wondering if there could be any problems. My roomate hates the rat ever since it bit him when he reached his hand into the cage when I was away, the bite was very deep and got infected (my roomate didn't go to a doctor because of a fear of needles) Any suggestions?

[Vouivre]

umm i dont know about the alcohol
but about the roomate, if the cage is in your room put a lock on the door so it won't happen again

[Ensie]

I have read (probably on this site) that rats can't burp, so carbonated drinks like beer are not a good idea, and definitely not in large quantities. I'm not sure what can be done for the rat if a large amount of beer has already been given to him/her. But I would definitely move your rat into a place that is more secure, some place that can be locked. Then try to find out what happened. Maybe mention to your roommate the cage smells like beer and ask if he could have spilled beer on it and/or on your rat. That may be what happened. If you suspect that your roommate did something intentionally to harm your rat, I would honestly consider moving out. For me, living with someone who does not respect animals is not an option. If someone made a conscious effort to harm my animal friends, I wouldn't even give them any prior notice to my moving out! But this is, of course, a worst-case scenario.

[kim]

i wouldnt worry excessively about your rat with the alcohol - mine have gotten some and it hasnt hurt them. the burp thing isnt much of a concern - as long as its small quantities they can handle the carbonated drinks fine. my rats got champagne when they turned 2 and they love pina coladas (they just get little sips of course) and i have no problems with them. obviously dont go out giving them shots of vodka

i agree though about the roommate - there are groundrules in my house - NO ONE touches my animals when they are intoxicated unless i am there and supervising. if ANYONE ever came near my rats they know the stuff would hit the fan - i demand that my rats and other animals in the house are respected at all times. after all, i live here - and if they dont like the rules or my animals, they are more than welcome to leave. my roommate  (while not in love with my rats) does respect my wishes.

[Meld]

I'm sorry but if someone could be so careless to spill beer on a rat then you either need to kick his butt out, or make an effert to make sure he can't get near the rat at all.  If you take responsibility for an animal you have to make sure they are being taken care of regardless of what the circumstances are.   If it was an accident just explain to him that he's not to be near the cage at all, or if you find out it was intentional then you need to make some rules about your pet.

[fusche]

If you are worried your roomate would do something bad to your rats.......  it's time to find a new roomate.  This shows he does not respect YOU OR YOUR ANIMALS.

[MuscaDomestica]

Found out the story, one of my roomates friends gave Duke a cap full of Beer. He picked up the cap and dragged it back to his den, spilling almost all of it. So he did not drink a lot of it. This afternoon my roomates friend reached into the cage to pick up Duke, who promptly bit his finger. (note Duke did this to my roomate before, I talked about it on the old board) There was blood like before but I got most of it up before it dried like the last time.

[Jodi]

How well would a house rule be respected that your roommate and his visitors stay away from your rat entirely? If you couldn't trust him/his friends to respect such a rule, then I think I'd be inclined to agree with the others who suggested either looking for a new roommate or a new place for yourself and your ratty.

[NatalieJ]

My husband does not entirely like my rats, either.  He's a fish person.  Having said that, he absolutely supports my actions/involvement with rats/rescues/etc., and would NEVER do anything to harm them in any way.  In fact, he swatted away our cat when he was "too close to the cage" because "it looked like the rat was stressed" (little does he know that the rats and the cat like to wiggle noses together).  The more he experiences rats, the more he does like them.  At least he has an open mind.  He drove with me over an hour to pick up two of my girls (pets).  

I would keep the rats, boot the roommates.

[MuscaDomestica]

Don't worry I am going to be leaving in less then 3 weeks, nothing more annoying than someone in college that never goes to classes and does nothing but play video games.

[Yresim]

Alcohol (even small amounts) can cause permanent nervous system damage in small rodents.  I have seen it happen to a rat (it wasn't much alcohol), it is ugly.  

Personally, I would never intentionally give any of my rats alcohol.  And I would not live with someone who would.

[amymckee]

Giving beer to a small animal is messed up. If I were in this position, I would find a more responsible roommate. I lived in a total party house a couple years ago, and I can tell you- no matter how nice people are sober, they will destroy anything in sight when intoxicated. I had so much stuff ruined when I lived there, but that was just stuff. These are your pets, who rely on you and trust you to take care of them!

[Yresim]

For the three weeks you still live there, is there any way to set up some kind of lock on the door to the room where the ratties are kept?  I would suggest a lock on the cage itself, but there are infinite ways around that...

Even better, is there any way that they can live with someone else for three weeks?  Or do you have any friends that can take in you and your rats for that period of time (if so, you should leave suddenly while he is not there - still make sure you are paid till the end of your 3 weeks, but make sure he doesn't know you're leaving early)?

Room mates that know you are moving out (especially if they like or don't like something of yours) can be vicious.  I've seen them do everything from steal things to break large items such as stereos.  I'm not trying to make you paranoid, but I would be very worried about him hurting my rats on my last few weeks there, especially since he doesn't like them.  

I hope your rats are okay!  Keep us posted.

[Krystal]

I hope your rattie's okay.  Me and my boyfriend (who I live with) have a rule......if one of us is drunk...the rats stay in the cage.   Glad to hear you're getting out of there.  Keep the rattie safe in the meantime!

[Ali]

Me and my boyfriend (who I live with) have a rule......if one of us is drunk...the rats stay in the cage.  

We have the same rule in our house! I'd had one too many one night, got Roger out for a cuddle, and nearly dropped him. It scared me I think more than it scared him - now they just don't come out if we've had too much to drink.