# craigslist rats



## runrkatm (Jan 21, 2009)

Hey everyone,

I was perusing craigslist for rat stuff in my area and there was a man listing baby black hooded rats for pets. Out of curiosity I contacted the guy about them, and he said that he had rats from 3-6 weeks old available. My question is whether offering up 3 week old rats is a warning sign, and the fact he wasn't asking for an adoption fee. The fact that he stated they were for pets only is one redeeming thing though, right? Opinions? Thanks!


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## keysong (Jan 10, 2009)

Well, it is good that he's not offering them as snake food, but 3 weeks really is too young to be away from mom. Did he say anything else? Like, were they a pet store surprise? That he's offering them from 3 to 6 weeks makes it sounds like they're from different litters... which sounds like a backyard breeder to me.  It's weird he's not asking for a donation though... so maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am. :-\


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## runrkatm (Jan 21, 2009)

There wasn't much else. The link to his posting is here: http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/pet/1010590276.html. I emailed him for more info and that is when he mentioned the fact they were 3 week and 6 weeks old. Sigh.


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## keysong (Jan 10, 2009)

That's... kinda sketchy. Maybe you or someone else should ask him where he got the baby rats...? It's odd that he's not advertising how he got them, though. If he was a BYB then he probably would have mentioned it (they tend to be proud of themselves, I've noticed), and if they were pet store surprises then it's even more likely that he would have mentioned it. :-\ I dunno...


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## Three Deep (Jan 8, 2009)

That is really skethchy... I'm not too worried about him being a BYB though because 1) they are usually very proud of what they've done and 2) they usually make the "adoption fee" very much known to any potential customers. Maybe he rescued a litter, and doesn't know quite how old they are? Trying to be optimistic.


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## MadCatter (Aug 12, 2008)

3 weeks is certainly too young to be away from mom - I wouldn't separate them any sooner than 4 weeks. I'd call and ask him the circumstances he got them in, and why he's getting rid of them. 

Make sure he knows males and females must be separated no later than 5 weeks x.x


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## runrkatm (Jan 21, 2009)

I'll try contacting him again, but I haven't heard anything after mentioning that 6 weeks is probably a more reasonable time to adopt them out (maybe he insulted that I gave him/her advice). The fact that its so terse still bothers me.


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