# Baby Rats Up for Adoption on Vancouver Island, Canada



## EleashaC (Jan 30, 2012)

Hey, guys. As some of you may remember, I ended up with two surprise litters from my recently acquired girls. I got them from a pet store that had been planning to use them as breeders for their snake food, but then decided that wouldn't make them enough profit; when we inquired about their rats, they told us we could either take them all, or they'd be getting the not-so-proverbial axe! Of course, all the males and females had been housed together (and been sold to us as "all boys"-- how in God's name anyone could mistake a vagina for a pair of those big danglers, I'll never know), and two of my girls came to me pregnant. 

The litters are two weeks apart. From the first litter, one girl and six boys remain. From the younger litter, there are two girls and two boys. 

The older litter is seven weeks old, and the younger is five. They were all separated by gender at four weeks. 

SOME POSSIBLE ISSUES OF WHICH TO BE AWARE:

One of my older girls might have just contracted a URI; I'll be putting her on antibiotics and monitoring the rest of the mischief for any signs of infection, so I'll be keeping them for at least another week, until that's all cleared up. 

The older rats came to me with a louse infestation, which I didn't notice until the first litter was born and the second was imminent, so I wasn't able to treat anyone with chemicals until the babies were old enough. I've since treated them all with Advantage, and bathed them regularly. I see no signs of the living lice, but there are some remaining nits, so I'd like to give them another round of bathing and treatment before sending them off to anyone else. 

Here's a picture of them from a couple weeks ago (my computer just crashed and deleted a bunch of my stuff, so I'll have to take some current pictures shortly!).


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## RatzRUs (Feb 5, 2012)

Ahhhh I wish you lived closer! I'd love too get my peanut and midnight a cagemate >.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Good luck finding them homes  I'm a bit too far away.


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## EleashaC (Jan 30, 2012)

Thanks for the thoughts, guys.  I've got all the boys living in my shower right now (thank God I've got the sliding glass doors, instead of a curtain!), because the cage in which the girls live is not rat-proof; they just free range in the rat room all day. 
*
Some stuff I just realized I should have added (most of which is pretty self-evident): 

-The babies MUST go in pairs (unless you've already got a rat that needs a friend); same sex, or one fixed. 

-References, while not required, would be greatly appreciated.

-I'll have a contract for you to sign, stipulating that you will not, at any point, intentionally breed these rats; and that you fully intend to secure for them any necessary veterinary care that may arise during their lives. 

-A picture (or at least a florid description) of your cage size and set up would be ideal. 

I'm very attached to these babies; I've cared for them like little human infants (better than I'd care for a human infant, actually-- I hate kids) since they were born. I'll probably cry when they go. I have to feel very comfortable with someone to let them have any of my ratties. 

If you're interested, by all means, tell me about yourself. Don't be afraid to brag about your love of animals and what a wonderful parent you'd be, lol. *


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