File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Okay, /an/,

I contacted a rat breeder in my area, since I wanted socialized, and most likely healthy animals. Unfortunately the breeder woman is an absolute bitch and decided to ignore my emails and reservations of the rats she has on her site. Won't contact me at all, and won't give a reason why. She's given away the rats I reserved with no warning or indication of why the hell she did it. Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed at the whole situation now.

I'm checking petfinder for rescued rats near me, but there aren't any that are closer than an hour away.

Basically, I'm absolutely fucking fed up with trying to go the better route, and I find myself leaning towards just going to get a pair of rats at a goddamn pet store.

What has been your experience? Try to convince me against it or for it, I don't care.
>> Anonymous
The best thing to do is to not take it so seriously, and don't let yourself get pulled into any drama.
>> Anonymous
All the rats I've ever had were from pet stores and I never really had a problem with health or behavior. A couple ended up with tumors towards the end of their lives but as far as I know, that's common in rats.

As long as you don't get impatient and settle for less, I think you'll be happy with what you can get at a pet store.. as long as you go down the typical pet choosing checklist, e.g. good, clean environment, healthy looking, curious when you put your hands into the cages, etc. I think you know the drill.

It's a pity that the breeder you tried to contact is being a betch, and that there are no rescues closer to you, but the pet store rats need good homes, too.
>> Anonymous
>>201260

Yeah, I think I took it too personally too. Just sucks because I have a huge cage, a balanced diet, and I've done everything right, but no rats.
>> Anonymous
>>201261

Were they pretty well socialized when you bought them? One of my worries is that pet store rats aren't used to handling or human contact.
>> Anonymous
>>201266

It'll really depend on what pet store you go to. My first two were very friendly when I bought them, but were from a local pet store. The ones I got after that were ones I'd handled a lot at a Petsmart I worked at. They were already used to me when I brought them home, but they warmed up to human contact so readily I don't think it would have made a difference.

That's why I say watch them closely, without human interaction, but also get your hands in there and see who's fearless. That's how I chose the ones I liked out of the Petsmart groups. It was pretty obvious who was going to be a really fun pet right off the bat.

Also, try to find out when your pet store of choice gets shipments in. Some pet stores will get their rats really young, and if you can get them at that point, you can mold them into great adults. Just be sure to ask when they're actually for sale after they get shipped. Some places have rules like new shipments have to be quarantined and monitored for 72 hours before they can sell them.
>> Anonymous
does she have a website? I want to see it.
>> Anonymous
There may be a more private reason, but I know that the reason breeders may not respond via e-mail is because the Interweb is so overridden by children who think they're interested in an animal that they contact breeders, but in the end it doesn't end in a sale. Phone numbers are the best way to start.

If she has a reservation thing on her site and she didn't contact you, yeah, what a bitch.

I've always had pet store rats, as well, and the majority have been healthy. Many stores also carry specialty mutations like hairless and rex. If you choose from a store that is clean and they let you handle the rats before you make a purchase, you should be have a fine pet.
>> Anonymous
>>201266

Honestly, it doesn't matter. I worked in a shitty petstore several years back, and we sold loads of feeder rats that were never, ever handled in their lives. Every once in a while, I would decide that I liked one of our feeder's colours, personality, or whatever... and I would take him or her home with me. I never failed to tame down a rat, ever. Typically, it only took a week of direct handling (forced socialization) for an hour or two a day, and even the most nervous rat was a sucker for human interaction. It worked with rats of any age. Also, yogurt drops as bribes help.

I've bought rats from breeders, but honestly many of my favourite rats have been pet store or rescue/shelter ratties. Tumors and respiratory infections were equally likely in either, too, despite my best quarantine efforts.
>> Anonymous
I recently got a rat from the petstore. Right now she's away from all my other ones just in case she might be sick but so far so good.

An employee saw that I was interested in the rats as pets and she let me to the back of the store where they had friendlier and young rats who were already socialized. I picked up a female and she's so sweet and loves attention. I guess it really depends on the store.

>That's why I say watch them closely, without human interaction, but also get your hands in there and see who's fearless.
Do this. Better yet, get an employee to do it for you as it might save you a rat bite.
>> Anonymous
I recently got three girls from a pet store (PetCo) and two of them are fabulous, wonderful pets. But...the black & white rat has been nothing but trouble since day one.

I couldn't handle her at all at first. She shrieked and screamed and carried on and wiggled and squirmed...So I spent twenty minutes each day holding her, for a month, before she finally calmed down and I could handle her.

It's been about a month, and she's started biting me now. Not just a nibble or a nip, but latching on and not letting go. Rat bites hurt like nobody's business, and bleed like a mofo.

Moral of the story: it's a bit of a crapshoot. Just make sure they've been handled, be aware of their environment, and definitely handle them yourself if you can.
>> Anon
I just bought a female a few days ago. She seems unsocialized. But considering all rats in the papers were snakefood, it was all I could get. She holds on for dear life when I pick her up, though she hasn't tried to bite. She hides in the corners when I come by. And she won't take anything out of my hand.
But with any social animal, patience and just general interaction usually brings them out. I'm hoping she ends up just as much as a puppy dog as my original girl is.
>> Anonymous
hey but why didn't you call this breeder right away after you emailed her?
it is not always possible for 4 busy person to answer all emails n bsides the email may fail to be delievered
also the berieder may've had some pre-order etc
anyway try to vii some pet store rats shure should be there
>> Anonymous
where does anon live? as i have 7 4 week old rats. I have seven four week old rats. that's as many as seven ones. and that's terrible
>> L.M.F.C
>>201351
Ya know what? Fuck that shit. If you leave your email address up, be curtious and respond to those that sounds like they're from intelligent people.

Too many breeders have this attitude, but in the end it only hurts the "good breeder" reputation. When I worked at Petco people often came in looking for (friendly/healthy) rats and I'd explain to them how to find a good breeder. Weeks later they'd come back with dissapointing results. At one point I snuck home a pregnant female and socialized and adopted out her pups to good homes, most of whom started their search at Petco. The point is:

1) snobby breeders suck
2) good owners are often forced to buy animals from pet stores
3) ask Petco employees if any one has pregnant rats at home or off the sales floor (in the "Wellness Center" lol.)
>> Anonymous
>>201364
but seriously i need to get rid of most of these rats
>> Anonymous
>>201364

OP here- Southern California, you?
>> Anonymous
>>201366

>3) ask Petco employees if any one has pregnant rats at home or off the sales floor (in the "Wellness Center" lol.)

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that!
>> Anonymous
>>201593
a good breeder isn't going to sell their rats to petstores.
>> Anonymous
>>201598

We've already determined that "good breeder" is codeword for "elitist cunt." That having been said, it's a fucking rat, who the fuck cares.
>> L.M.F.C
>>201598
I don't think you understand... female rats often come off the truck pregant and they are either taken off the sales floor or employees take them home.
>> Anonymous
I have some rats living in my shed, you can come and steal the babies if you can find them.
>> Internet Hate Machine
     File :-(, x)
I got my rats from a Sanepid intervention.
Sometime junkies and other irresponsible prats buy rats and don't care for them at all.the rodents breed, become half wild etc. We catch them, separate males from females and then give them away.
In the beginning they are really wild beasts. They can bite through leather gloves. Hurts like hell.
Now both Hiroshi and R. are very polite fellas.
>> Dr.green
You gotta give rats a day or two to get used to you and new surroundings, smells etc before you should try handling them. Rats are very easily stressed and it can kill them
>> Anonymous
Check animal shelters. They once had homes, and euthanize angry animals.
Also go the hour for petfinder. Ones at petstores will suck.
Send that woman a bomb in the mail.
>> Anonymous
I recently got myself some rats too. :)

Sweet little things!

At first, I tried a rat breeder and she just told me that she had no litters at the moment. I was going to wait, but, I really wanted some rats at the time. :)
I got my first one from a petstore (she's the sweetest one) the second one, I got from petco. That one I ended up buying sick. :( Sadly, rats have a lot of respitory problems and a couple weeks after I had to return her, my first rat got sick (shes okay now by the way)
The other two I ended up getting I had actually recieved for free from a man I found on a website called Craigs List or something like that (I'm sure google can help you)
So, now I have three happy, trouble-making girls. :) I love them a lot!

All in all, I suggest you be careful which petstore you end up going to. When I took my first rat to the vet, I told him that she got in contact with a sick rat from petco. He informed me that petco's animals are often sick- so, try avoiding that place if possible. :P
>> Anonymous
>>201999

LOL wut? I've kept rats for over twenty years, and I have never, ever once seen a rat die from stress from being handled the day he was brought home from the breeder or the pet store. Where the fuck did you hear that? Or did you just make it up?

God, I fucking LOL'ed.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>202164

I'm sure OP's already gone out and bought some, but yeah, respiratory problems are a huge problem with store rats. My light colored male (Zig) came from a dimly-lit, smelly store with tanks full of inbred feeder rats and he has a constant problem with getting lethargic and leaking porphyrin (the "blood" compound they leak from their eyes) and he's also a bit aggressive even though he's weaker... the other rat, Carl, came from a typical pet store called Pet Warehouse, where they at least seperate the girls and boys, and he's still perfectly healthy and is larger than the other guy. Being active and curious seems to be the best sign of a healthy rat, Carl was the only one awake and kept putting his paws up on the glass when I walked by.

Pic related, taken a long time ago, om nom nom. Same ugly colors as everyone else's rats, heh
>> Anonymous
>>202174

OP here, haven't gone out yet, probably on the weekend sometime. I'll keep your tips in mind, thanks.
>> Anonymous
I dunno, every single rat ive gotten from a petstore has killed my others.

I had 3 breeder rats (i had a nice one :3) and then i decided to expand my rattery, and got another one from a petstore, THIS ONE was a sweetheart, wasnt sick or anything.

so i figured OKAYI CAN GET ANOTHER ONE
so instead i get another 2. ONe turned out to carry some sort of disease which killed off not only one of the bought rats but my two favorite breeder rats. needless to say i almost threw it out the window when it started showing symptoms that my breeder rats died from.

I hate petstore rats :(
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Rats are snake food