# adopted four abandoned rats



## bodega1027 (Sep 5, 2009)

Yesterday I was in the pet store getting cat food when I saw four rats sitting in a 12 by 12inch cage with no food and no water. I took them all home because I thought it was just terrible to be abandoned like that. There was one boy and three girls. One girl is just a baby but the other two I'm concerned might be pregnant. One is larger than the other and has a tumor on her side right under a nipple. The other one isn't as big yet but she doesn't have the normal squishy tummy rats usually have. I put the one boy in with my other boy and put the girls in a different cage. All the girls get along but I'm concerned what will happen it one of them has babies or if both of them do. I'm worried that separating them would stress them out. Any advice on what I should do?


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## KatieKates (Sep 4, 2009)

I'm pretty new to caring for rats and this isn't the answer to your question but... shouldn't you have done a quarantine before putting the new male in with the male you've had? I would think a group of rats that were kept like that would probably have some sort of sickness as well. Just in case, you know. I'm sure you don't want any healthy rats to be sickly... :'(

EDIT: I think that's very sad, even that one has a tumor. If you got them from Petco or Petsmart they have a certain time period during which any health problems found are the responsibility of the store. I believe. Did you sign a paper for them - it should be on there somewhere. Good luck!


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Did you actually buy them? Or was it a cage dropped off in a corner of the store? the sad thing is that if you bought them, you are actually supporting these practices,. That store needs to be turned in to animals control. I have done this several times with Scamps and more peole did too. The result is that they left town and eventually their whole company shut down. 
I can understand you took them home though. It helps the 4 rats but not the cause.


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## bodega1027 (Sep 5, 2009)

I did not buy them. Some person just dropped them off at the pet store right before I got there. I was worried they would just turn into rat food because they were free so I took them all.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

Good for you!


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## shinzo-chan (Apr 2, 2008)

Thats awful that someone would do that! Thank you for being kind enough to take them in, poor ratties. I have no experience with rat litters, so unfortunatly I cant help, but I just wanted to say that you are a wonderful person for taking them into your home at their time of need


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## aquaseafoam (Aug 3, 2009)

Are you sure they were abandoned? Did you talk to an employee about them? Maybe they had just been set aside for someone waiting to take them home?


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## bodega1027 (Sep 5, 2009)

I was very sure they were abandoned I asked a employee of the store when I noticed they had no food or water, that's when she told me someone left them there.


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