# Spaying



## RatMom64 (Feb 1, 2017)

Jezebel and Delilah are 5 weeks old. I read that if you get them spayed it should be between 3 and 6 months. I have some time before that, but I'd really like to do that because I also read it cuts down the incidents of mammary tumors and other female tumors and problems by a huge factor. I want these two girls to live a long time. I live in the Dallas area of Texas and was wondering if anyone knew trustworthy exotic vets and about what I should expect the cost to be. I checked the list of exotic vets in the sticky thread and there is only one in Texas, San Antonio. Too far. Any others people could recommend?


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## RatMom64 (Feb 1, 2017)

No ideas in North Texas, I guess. How about this one? For those of you who have had females spayed, how much did it cost you? I'm wondering what a normal range is.


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## Ratloved (Oct 4, 2015)

All of my rats are spayed or neutered, but they were done at the cost of a rescue and I paid a fee to adopt. They actually lose money with each rat they adopt. The rescue cost to spay and neuter is 50$ per rat. If I were to take a rat to the vet it would cost between 230-265$, depending on sex, age, etc. I also think you can choose not yo have labs done before hand and that would knock off a bit from the cost. Personally I think it is do worth it. A single tumor removal will cost about the same and that is without the spay. Spaying doesn't guarantee that your rat won't get tumors, but it lessens the chance significantly.


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## RatMom64 (Feb 1, 2017)

Thanks! I'm going to check a rat rescue group here and see if they can recommend a low-cost option.


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## Ratloved (Oct 4, 2015)

Just be careful, rats are more difficult to spay and neuter that a lot of animals. I would not trust very many people to do my animals. Make sure the vet has prior surgery experience in rats. Good luck!


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## dontmindme (Sep 3, 2016)

Sorry, none that I know of in North Texas. You could always go to Little Rock  We have an exotic vet for the local zoo who's so good at rat spays and neuters no other vet in the area will do them. Spaying really helped my girls' attitudes. I'm pretty sure one of them was having heats every two-three days and now that she's not, she's a lot less timid and way more friendly. My other girl gained quite a lot of energy since then too. I've seen several North Texas/Dallas rat rescues on petfinder who might be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck.


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