Quarantine

Quarantine is used in two cases.

1. When your rats are sick with something contagious and you do not want them to spread it anywhere else.

In this case, you put your rat living-space on lockdown. You do not take rats out, and you do not bring any new rats into the living space. Living space means ANY space that shares airflow - you cannot quarantine a rat in a spare bedroom and put new rats in your living room. If there is any shared airflow, even if you close off heating vents, it simply will not work.

If you do have contact with any other rats who do not share living space with your sick rats, you have to take many precautions between them. That means a change of clothes and a hot shower before EACH visit. Many viruses can be carried in the human nasal passages, and bacteria on clothing or shoes.

A quarantine against an active infection should last a minimum of 90 days.

2. You just got new rats and you want to ensure they are NOT ill before you introduce them to your existing colony.

This means that your new rats MUST go into a quarantine space, one that does not share airflow with your existing colony. Again, a bathroom or a spare bedroom simply don't cut it. Hopefully, you got more than one new rat, so that it doesn't have to sit in quarantine all by itself.

Again, take precautions when going between rats. A hot shower and change of clothing is ideal - a 3 hour wait between one and the other also works.

If there are no signs of illness, your new rat can be moved into your existing colony in two weeks. If there are any signs of illness, the quarantine should last 2 months and all signs should be gone before you begin to introduce them.