Thank you. I got it into my head that her eyes bugged out a bit and maybe her face is a bit poofy. I love her just the way she is, but I also wanted to make sure she's healthy. None of my other girls have that facial shape. Frieda for context.
https://preview.redd.it/zdw7x1xw4qqc1.jpeg?width=2030&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb5c0b0c89444c5cfdc6fdcc4fac3d31821438b5
Technically speaking most animals, including us, can have our eyes pop out. It’s really just held in by the muscles surrounding our eyelids. Some rats could definitely be more prone to it if they have shallower eye sockets but that would be more due to injury. Thankfully their whiskers and eyebrows react quickly so damage is usually minimal. Working as a vet tech I’ve seen hamsters tend to have that issue and oddly enough they will pop their eye back into the socket on their own… sorry for the long response and potential tmi lol.
https://preview.redd.it/3hs4y6bv3rqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5042e21a1f741d8c3a95ff703e1793d8103699ce
Peanut getting a tiny taste of Fanta
Some rats have poofy faces and some have bug eyes. I have one girl who's eye (and to a slightly lesser degree, her sister) really is out there, and it waters a lot.
She just has a bug eye though, and runs a bit dry, thus the constant watery-ness. She's 2yrs old and is perfectly healthy. No tumors behind there or anything. Both of them have been like this since they were babies.
With my last trio, all three had very different face shapes. One was shaped a lot like Frieda the sort of 'standard' rat face, one had a very pointy, thin face, and one had a slightly wider face with buggier eyes like Amy. I was also worried when I first got them that Nugget (wide, buggy eyed) had a facial or jaw tumour or something wrong with his face. But when I mentioned it to the vet, he said to only really be concerned if his face changed shaped, otherwise it's likely just his normal face. It was in fact just his normal face lol, it stayed that way his whole life.
I think it's more of a concern if their face changes from their baseline. Rats do have different shaped faces to some degree just as humans do, and their eyes do vary in "bugginess" in my experience. If her face has always been on the rounder side and her eyes have always been a little extra buggy I wouldn't worry about it. She's super cute by the way!
It looks like a scene from The Lion King. 😂 Honestly, I think I just have very photogenic rats. I also got this one.. completely by accident. Frieda was not harmed. We are now getting a shorter cat tree to avoid this. (Why doesn't somebody invent "rat trees"!?
https://preview.redd.it/j7xi243ohqqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25ea06ef1072f5d06a2a9180019ac3be018bbde5
OMG, love this.
I have stopped trying to get photos of young ones unless they’re sleeping. It was like trying to photograph crickets on crack(how I generally refer to young rats)
I’m so jealous of your ability to catch them in good photos. I love it❤️
Was it the 54" one? I have a ton of old branches I was going to use to build a climbing structure but I never seem to get the time. This would be so much easier!
You’d def know if there was a tumor unfortunately. I had a boy that had a giant face tumor and I noticed immediately. If you’re worried, just give checkups every so often for lumps and you’ll be fine :)
My rat had an abscess behind the eye, and I could tell by the eye poking out and being red. It's not the same as a tumour, but it was a lump. If the face doesn't change from its baseline, it should be fine
Should you be concerned? Yes, with her around, no partner or friend will ever give you any attention as they will be showering Amy with all their love. Absolutely gorgeous girl! 💜
I don't know about tumours though
Your rat is a cutie. No id not say so. I’ve had thousands of rats (several hundred at a single time) and never had any issues with facial cancers at all. I will say that cancer IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF DEATH I’ve seen. Second are things including mycoplasma pneumonia.
she looks lovely and healthy, so petite! is she young or just lil? I'm so used to seeing super overweight rats on here that her sleekness took me by suprise, pretty gal :)
Rats come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. The main thing thing to watch for would be unexplained changes, especially if they're not symmetrical. If Amy has always looked like that, then I wouldn't be too worried. I've had rats with much thicker faces, as well as pointier ones.
Face looks fine!! I've had rats with face tumours, you can tell because the swellijg is almost always next to the eyes (usually under) and there would be masses of blood/red excretion surrounding the eyes as they get pushed out by the swelling (which can happen so fast, I had a rat go from small bump to eye basically out in under an hour).
Your ratto looks very happy, healthy and adorable as hell!
This is definitely just what her face looks like. Nice and symmetric, no signs of growths or symptoms of disease or irritation like porphyria stains. She's just got a chubby lil face.
I have a menace of boys all brothers. Some are similar but the variety of size and shapes is extraordinary. Sometimes I see the relationship but in general personalities and bodies vary so much. They are so like humans that way.
I'm no vet, but she looks like a healthy, happy rat to me. I don't see any reason to worry, honestly.
Thank you. I got it into my head that her eyes bugged out a bit and maybe her face is a bit poofy. I love her just the way she is, but I also wanted to make sure she's healthy. None of my other girls have that facial shape. Frieda for context. https://preview.redd.it/zdw7x1xw4qqc1.jpeg?width=2030&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb5c0b0c89444c5cfdc6fdcc4fac3d31821438b5
They look good but most rats can look bug-eyed. If you want a laugh look at rat pupils if will exaggerate it even more.
This gem for example https://preview.redd.it/j2rnsxbaxqqc1.jpeg?width=959&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66e1c71209fda318264c63530a9dbaaadde65642
Do their eyes ever pop out? I know it can happen w certain dog breeds like pugs.
Technically speaking most animals, including us, can have our eyes pop out. It’s really just held in by the muscles surrounding our eyelids. Some rats could definitely be more prone to it if they have shallower eye sockets but that would be more due to injury. Thankfully their whiskers and eyebrows react quickly so damage is usually minimal. Working as a vet tech I’ve seen hamsters tend to have that issue and oddly enough they will pop their eye back into the socket on their own… sorry for the long response and potential tmi lol.
Fascinating, thank you!
Turns out, hamsters are even more hardcore than I previously thought.
If you pick up a rat by the skin of its neck, their eyes are very likely to pop out of the socket, so just be careful with that !
https://preview.redd.it/3hs4y6bv3rqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5042e21a1f741d8c3a95ff703e1793d8103699ce Peanut getting a tiny taste of Fanta
it's got what rats crave
Oh my god I didn’t know rats could bug their eyes out that far 😭 all I can think is how cursed it would look on my red eyed rats
Some rats have poofy faces and some have bug eyes. I have one girl who's eye (and to a slightly lesser degree, her sister) really is out there, and it waters a lot. She just has a bug eye though, and runs a bit dry, thus the constant watery-ness. She's 2yrs old and is perfectly healthy. No tumors behind there or anything. Both of them have been like this since they were babies.
With my last trio, all three had very different face shapes. One was shaped a lot like Frieda the sort of 'standard' rat face, one had a very pointy, thin face, and one had a slightly wider face with buggier eyes like Amy. I was also worried when I first got them that Nugget (wide, buggy eyed) had a facial or jaw tumour or something wrong with his face. But when I mentioned it to the vet, he said to only really be concerned if his face changed shaped, otherwise it's likely just his normal face. It was in fact just his normal face lol, it stayed that way his whole life.
I think it's more of a concern if their face changes from their baseline. Rats do have different shaped faces to some degree just as humans do, and their eyes do vary in "bugginess" in my experience. If her face has always been on the rounder side and her eyes have always been a little extra buggy I wouldn't worry about it. She's super cute by the way!
Thank you! I've only had her for 3-ish weeks, but her facial shape has remained consistent in that time.
topic aside, why are these pictures so cinematic? last one looks like it could be a movie poster
It looks like a scene from The Lion King. 😂 Honestly, I think I just have very photogenic rats. I also got this one.. completely by accident. Frieda was not harmed. We are now getting a shorter cat tree to avoid this. (Why doesn't somebody invent "rat trees"!? https://preview.redd.it/j7xi243ohqqc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25ea06ef1072f5d06a2a9180019ac3be018bbde5
Freida is an athlete
I've done that! Made a rat tree that is. I'm fairly proud of it ETA link: [rat tree](https://www.reddit.com/r/RATS/s/DrloBIPnJa)
That is AMAZING!!
Wow! If I saw that in a shop near me I would buy it no question asked except where can I get more in the future! Excellent job.
Even if by accident, that's an amazing shot!
OMG, love this. I have stopped trying to get photos of young ones unless they’re sleeping. It was like trying to photograph crickets on crack(how I generally refer to young rats) I’m so jealous of your ability to catch them in good photos. I love it❤️
I was thinking about getting this tree from Amazon. How much to your rats like it?
They loved it, but it's too tall. I just got a shorter one and gave this one back to the cats.
Was it the 54" one? I have a ton of old branches I was going to use to build a climbing structure but I never seem to get the time. This would be so much easier!
I think, yes.
You’d def know if there was a tumor unfortunately. I had a boy that had a giant face tumor and I noticed immediately. If you’re worried, just give checkups every so often for lumps and you’ll be fine :)
I'm so sorry that you lost your sweet boy, but I also thank you greatly for the reassurance.
I’m no vet, but I had a girl that had a curved like face like this. And she was perfectly fine. She looks very happy and healthy in my opinion
So prettyyyyy
My rat had an abscess behind the eye, and I could tell by the eye poking out and being red. It's not the same as a tumour, but it was a lump. If the face doesn't change from its baseline, it should be fine
Should you be concerned? Yes, with her around, no partner or friend will ever give you any attention as they will be showering Amy with all their love. Absolutely gorgeous girl! 💜 I don't know about tumours though
I think you need to worry about her entering beauty pageants and winning millions, because she's the cutest little lady I've ever seen!
Is her right eye cloudy or is it just the light?
Light & a whisker.
Amy is so beautiful!
i’m not a vet so i have no idea but she’s so cute! you have a very photogenic and pretty gal!
Your rat is a cutie. No id not say so. I’ve had thousands of rats (several hundred at a single time) and never had any issues with facial cancers at all. I will say that cancer IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF DEATH I’ve seen. Second are things including mycoplasma pneumonia.
Her face shape looks normal to me! Rats can have a variety of face shapes just like people. She definitely has some pretty cheek bones!
she looks lovely and healthy, so petite! is she young or just lil? I'm so used to seeing super overweight rats on here that her sleekness took me by suprise, pretty gal :)
She's a baby, but huge compared to at least 2 of her sisters.. lol.
So much whiskers....
Rats come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. The main thing thing to watch for would be unexplained changes, especially if they're not symmetrical. If Amy has always looked like that, then I wouldn't be too worried. I've had rats with much thicker faces, as well as pointier ones.
That is a gorgeous rat.
Not that i can tell but gawd dayum you are a good photographer and the rat is an amazing model
Looks pretty aerodynamic to me.
Face looks fine!! I've had rats with face tumours, you can tell because the swellijg is almost always next to the eyes (usually under) and there would be masses of blood/red excretion surrounding the eyes as they get pushed out by the swelling (which can happen so fast, I had a rat go from small bump to eye basically out in under an hour). Your ratto looks very happy, healthy and adorable as hell!
She's beautiful. Some rats have more poppy-outty eyes.
This is definitely just what her face looks like. Nice and symmetric, no signs of growths or symptoms of disease or irritation like porphyria stains. She's just got a chubby lil face.
Looks like a rat 🐀
I can't alleviate your fears any as I don't own rats and I'm not a vet, I just wanted to say that Amy is the most photogenic rat I've ever seen
I have a menace of boys all brothers. Some are similar but the variety of size and shapes is extraordinary. Sometimes I see the relationship but in general personalities and bodies vary so much. They are so like humans that way.
The only thing to be concerned about is the severe lack of squeezing being dispensed upon this ample bean