i just stepped on my rat while she was running around..i was trying to get my other rat who was digging up my plant....she crawled under my foot while i was on my tippy toes and i set my foot down on her...i feel like the worst person in the world...i can't stop cring...she ran off and i found her under my bed..i found her and she started gasping...i was looking for the vets number and she just went limp.....i don't know what to do..she was soo young ....i am horrible...she was my favorite rat...how can i be sure she is gone?? the other rats and very interested in her should i let them see her....i feel like the worst rat mom in the world.....

***OK i am a little calmer now...i have decided that i should get a new cagemate for Roo my remaining rat, i don't really want a new rat..i want sushi back..but this is for roo's sake not mine, I'm sure i will come to love the new rat with time...also i have to do a three week quarantine so the sooner i get her the sooner Roo will have a new friends..she is just sitting in her hammock alone, luckily she doesn't seem to depressed yet, she has my roomates rats to run around with out side the cage, i tried to put them in the same cage but that didn't go so well, Roo is dominate and so is one of my roomates rats. i have a few questions..would it be better to get a baby or an older rat, Roo is 8 months, and like i said she is rather dominant..also should i look for a rat that is less dominate?? thanks again everyone***
here is a picture of sushi....   

  I really don't know what to say. Except that I am so very sorry. That is a fear that all rat owners have and you are not the first to have this happen. Nothing anybody can say will make you feel any better. Give her a nice burial and cry your heart out. You will feel better in time. The pain will be with you always but it won't be that bad or that close to the surface. You will always have your memories too.
Lots of hugs from me to you.

  Oh!!!     I am so so sorry this happened!  She knows you loved her and that it wasn't intentional.  It was one of those freak accidents that unfortunately happen.  I'm so sorry for your loss.

thanks for your kind words...i just burried her, i still am crying...i feel like i should have been more careful.... dont know what to do with my other rat, we have four but two are my roomates, they were kept in two cages, her two and my two....my two rats were really close, mother and daughter, should i leave my rat a lone in the cage or put her in with my roomates...they get along outside the cage only so so..i don't know if they could handle being in the same cage..plus the cage is a little small for three rats........

Oh my God...I feel so bad for you! Just imagining what you must have been feeling made brought me near tears...It's awful to deal with, but remember that accidents DO happen...It's okay to cry, just don't drown yourself in guilt. **HUGS** So sorry

I'm so sorry for all of you.

Like the others said, accidents do happen but I'm sure she knew it was an accident and that you loved her.

Huge ((HUGS)). I am lost for words...I am SO sorry...

I am too, very sorry to here that. It was a freak accident. ((HUGS))

Have you used the cage calculator to see if it's really too small?  Could it work temporarily until you are able to purchase another one?  If it were me, I'd try to move her in with the others.  It may take a gradual process, though.  Is there a way you can link the cages?  Make it one big cage?  A tunnel to join them?  That way they'd all have the comforts of their normal home, but would be able to be together, too.   

this could have so happened to me one time. i sat down and immediately heard desparate sqealing. i am so glad i didn't put my full weight down or just plopped into the chair, but it has made me more careful. as bad as i felt, i can only imagine how awful you feel.

sushi knows it wasn't what you wanted to happen. she is probably giving you kissis from where she is even now.

i put Roo in with mt roomates rats..there was a little fighting but it didn't last long, when i woke up this morning they were all sleeping together. if things keep going well i will leave her with them till she gets her new cagemate, the cage is a little small, (cage calc says 2.33 rats) but since its only temp and all the girls are small....exspecialy Roo, i think it will be oK for now, they will just get more outside time.  thanks again everyone

that would be the perfect plan, but we are only roomates over the school year, i am a Senior this year, once i graduate in may i will go vet school or graduate school and we will have to split the rats up, plus during all the breaks we take our rats home separately. i was so upset at first i was thinking of just giving her to my roomate and not having rats anymore, but i have had her since she was born and am too attached.  maybe i should intro the new rat to the whole group at first then split them up? well i will deal with that when it comes, i haven't even found a rat yet...but i did set up the quarantine cage since i am home for the weekend. i want to go look in the humane society, they have a few rats, but i have a  wedding to go to...

I always let my rats see their dead cage mate for a few minutes after death.
I'm very sorry.
I started to step on Washu once, but I didn't put my full weight on her. I was lucky.
*hugs*

I, too, think you are doing the right thing getting Roo another playmate.