So, we went to the pet store earlier than expected. Around 12:30 or so. We went, and there lots of rats. cages about a square foot :( :( :( And each one had 2 to 4 rats in it! It was so so so sososososos saaaaaaaaaaadd!! They said that they were maninly feeder rats, but most of them were, like, full grown and big. Is that still feeder size ? I don't really think so. I mean,bigger or as big as my hand. ANy way, there were three hairless rats. Two were together, but one was all by itself. I held it, and it was really healthy looking, and cute, but the ONLY thing it it's SMALL fish aquarium was a water bottle. They had lots of kinds of rodents, and the only ones that had any form of exercise was the hamsters. I felt so sorry for all of the rats, mice,hamsters,ferrets,rabbits,... guinea pigs. IT was just sad. I liked the hairless rat because it was sweet, but all of the furry rats were "feeders", one bit me and I was bleeding. What can I do?How can I help the animals?
Answers:
I know how it feels to see all those rats locked up, I see them all the time. When I went to a pet store to get a rat, the first thing they asked me was "What size?" It really hurt that they didn't care about the rats. It made no difference to them whether you killed them, kept them, whatever. Pet stores don't care about the rats, all they want is money.
Feeder size would usually be the smaller rats, though some people are sick and would rather feed a full grown one to their snakes.
Unfortunately the best way to help rats is to leave them there. If you buy a rat from them, they'll just keep bringing in new rats and adding to their misery. Of course, by not buying them it makes you feel useless, and it will continue to happen because other people will continue to buy them. So if you want to actually feel like you want to help them, take one with you, but you have to keep something in mind - those rats will most likely be sick. All rats (except maybe lab rats) have a sickness inside of them called Myco. It's a breathing disease that may or not activate during their lifetime. Usually when you get rats from pet stores where there are as many rats as you described, it is almost completely certain that their myco will be in action. Though it may not affect them much, you just have to remember that there is always the possibility for a short lifetime, but the care you'll provide for the rat makes up for that.
You said you have no cage, but that doesn't really matter. When I felt my rats cage started taking up too much room I simply made room for them in a bookshelf and put them there. It was very roomy, they never jumped off, and it didn't even feel as if it took up any room. If you have some sort of cupboard you can put them in that will be perfect. For new rats that you aren't comfortable with that will want to jump off, you just need some sort of screening, like the stuff on windows, to make sure they can't get out.
For food, practically everything they eat is human food. Just feed them some healthy table scraps. Some meat, bread, rice, pasta, whatever, as long as it's not sugar. For water, just fill up an old bowl. All you would really have to buy is litter. They sell some good litter in most pet shops really cheap, and it lasts for months. Rats are really cheap to take care of.
I see how you might not be up to the responsibilities of taking care of a pet, so if you don't think you can buy one, another way to help would be to talk to the pet store about the way they care for the animals. Protest, or something of the sort. It might not have much affect, but when I did it once I managed to get the rats bigger cages. The way they treated them didn't seem to get much better, seeing as they were still neglected, but who knows, they might surprise you. If the pet shops see customers are unhappy, they'll be forced to change their ways.
I do not recommend donating money to the store. Chances are they'll keep it and do whatever they want with it, not give it to the rats. You'd have to be completely sure they'd use it for that, or give them the supplies yourself, instead of the money.
Like I said earlier, don't buy the rats unless you really really feel you need to!
And to the other answerer - hairless rats aren't sick, it is just a breed. But yes, it's almost guaranteed they'll all have some sort of disease, namely myco.
Good luck!
You could complain to the petstore and tell them that it really is bad to not et your animals have a way to exersize! You really should do something!
Do not buy anything from that store. They are abusing their animals and storing them in useless, cheap shelter so they can make a profit. I bet half of the animals there have some sort of disease that the owners aren't telling you about. You need to tell someone about this. Phone the RSPCA or local animal rescue and complain about the store. Don't buy the hairless rat, if it's hairless, it's ill.
yes i know how you feel i buy two hamster since i have 2 cages and save them from the stores :D
you need to do something about that.You should do something to raise money and donate it to the pet store but tell them that is for the animals to get them all exercize wheels and bigger cages.The second guy was right there probably sick in some way.and you do need a cage for a rat you could get a aquarium or a cheap cage from walmart PLEASE do NOT use a cupboard or A Bookshelf. That is just wrong.Not all of them wiil escape but not all of them would stay in there.If you use a cupboard they will chew through it.
I got my hamster from Petco and it was a girl when they said it was a boy.and it was a short haired instead of a long haired.And it was in a 10 gallon aquarium with 2 other BOY hamsters.Well I really think you should try to donate money to that pet store or try to make them do something about the size of the cage.Also I went to a petstore in Meadville and they had like 12 rats in a 10 gallon tank and about 13 hamsters in the same size tank and I think that is just WRONG! Well I wish you best of LUCK!! Email me @ californialuv13@gmail.com for any related questions!!
Ugh, how frustrating. I work in a Petsmart (in the grooming salon), and though I don't necessarily support the corporate policy on selling small "pocket pets," I'm happy that our store in particular is very serious about their care and condition. I've never seen obviously sick, injured, or cramped animals in my store.
If I were you, I would be very vocal about what you saw. Complain to the associates and managers. If it's a chain store, email and/or call their corporate offices. Contact the Better Business Bureau in your area to complain about the deplorable conditions. I'm not sure if contacting Animal Rescue/Control is in the realm of possibility, but it's worth looking into. Talk the ear off of anyone who's willing to listen. Unfortunately, we can't save them all - but what little differences we CAN make can be all the difference in the world to those little critters.
Good luck!
Well that is sad. You just have to buy a regular cage for the rat. Then you can feed it anything you want, except for artificial flavors of food. You can get a bowl of water and paper towels for the beddings. Make sure you rip the paper towels. I suggest you buy some of the rodents that looks like no one is going to buy them. Because if you dont they will freeze them and feed them to snakes, big lizards, etc.
call your local health department and ask who looks at pet stores. Then call them and report the store for improper care of the animals. Thats really all you can do for them .
That is sad. You can report them to the local humane scoiety, maybe.
The only way you can 'rescue' that rat is to convince the store to give him to you for free. Otherwise, you are buying him. You are giving the store money for profit and by doing so you are saying to them that it's perfectly acceptable for them to continue keeping animals in horrid conditions.
research and see if there is an animal rescue group in your town, even if they don't "specialize" in rats they will be sympathetic and at least lead you in the right direction.
I agree that you're going to feel useless if you don't bring the rats home- but if you don't do it, someone else will- and they may not get the loving care they sound like they would get with you. It's a tricky situation. Definitely alert the SPCA and try speaking to the owners about the conditions the animals are kept in.
If you want to take a rattie home, you can set up a *temporary* cage until you can get a new one. I've seen some made out of a tupperware container with the middle part of the lid cutout and replaced with wire mesh. This can also be used for sick rats or for rats that you need to medicate away from the others.
As for bedding, do NOT use pine or cedar. What makes it smell nice to us , irritated the rats lungs and respiritory system. Yesterday's News is a good one (made out of recycled newspaper) , and aspen wood bedding.
For food, type 'SueBee's rat diet' into a search engine. Its made of ingredients you can find in the grocery store. No other small animal food mixes are suitable for rats so don't bother with those. Supplement the Suebee's mix with a quality lab block (such as Harlan Teklad) or a suitable dog food like : Nutro Lite, Innova Senior, Natural Balance or Nature's Recipe vegetarian.
The hairless rat is a feeder too.the furry ones weren't unsociable because they're feeders, its because they havent been properly handled or socialized with humans.
If you take some of these rats, they will probably have myco infection or respiratory irritation because of the conditions they were kept in. The hairless one is sweet you say, so she's probably okay in the tempermant area, but the others will need some work. Sure, you'd be supporting the pet store..but you'd make a world of difference for the rat, which is what this is all about. Perhaps you should wait to see the actions that the SPCA or whomever takes so in case they seize the animals, you can adopt them from the shelter so you aren't supporting the store. Or, you can take you chances, get the rats, and hope that the pet store is forced to close down or improve its conditions.
^I just kind of started lecturing there..sorry! I just wanted to tell people how to care for their rats a little in this post, if they never research rat care themselves.
Good luck to you! I hope things improve for the animals soon.
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