# A bit of advice?



## North (Jul 23, 2011)

Hi everybody!
I just joined up because a few weeks ago I decided to buy some rats from Petco (yes, I know they're evil. I don't like to give them any money but I bough the rats specifically because I wanted to save just a few from being eaten) but of course, being as irresponsible as Petco is, I ended up with a female who was getting mysteriously round...
Well, last night she finally had a litter of _seventeen_ little ratties.
I intend to raise them as best I can to be tame and make decent pets, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice for how to adopt them out. I'll put up little ads around any local places I can, but do any of you who have experience with this have an idea of what the adoption price should be? I don't want to make it too high, but I want it to deter people who want them for feeders or who were just spontaneously buying an animal they won't want to take care of later. :\


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Hello!

I suggest reading this about "saving" the petco rats: http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/topic,4084988.0

Anyway though, I'd put an adoption fee of probably 15-20 per same sex pair. You can post on forums like this, with your location and pics, also goosemoose has an active adoption section. Most important however is to screen very careful, ask for pictures of the set up, proper food and bedding, vet references, chat with them about rats, etc. Feeders aren't the only worry, there are also a TON of people who want to keep them in too small a cage, on crap food, on pine, not give them adequate vet care, etc.

If you aren't sure what is the proper cage size, food, etc, feel free to ask questions!

I look forward to pics as they grow up.


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## North (Jul 23, 2011)

Yes, I know I shouldn't support petco and I know my money there supports horrible things, but the reason I didn't buy from a breeder is for one, I wasn't hoping to even have a rat as a pet (I love them but I shouldn't really have them with two pets in a small apartment already.). I only bought them because I saw how badly the store treated them and it made me angry and I wanted to save those specific animals. My intentions are to find them proper homes with people who do want to take care of them (and actually have done for the four males I had also saved.)
The other reason is that there simply aren't really any rat breeders up here. In Alaska all colored rats are illegal (for some reason the law makers seem to believe an albino rat will not harm the environment, but a hooded one would?) and the only place people ever really see rats is, unfortunately, the tanks of poor all albino creatures in the only pet store in town, so there's no 'market' for them really. I know all about how awful petco is and I despise them. I don't intend to keep giving my business or anything, I only wanted to help a few rats. Looks like I'll be finding homes for 19 of them now, but I do have a friend who used to do foster and rescue of secret illegal pet rats...(shh)

Well, anyway, the vast majority of the babies have made it past the first night (13 of 17) and what few remaining runts there were after that are all fattening up nicely now. Their development all seems to be on track and no crazy deformities or anything. Even my cat has called a truce with haunting the mother's cage since the babies were born. Pretty decent of him, really. xD

Who knows. My landlord likes animals quite a lot. Maybe I can convince her to let me turn the shed into one big rat playhouse and I'll just keep all the babies. xD They're terribly adorable.


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## A.ngelF.eathers (Jul 6, 2011)

North said:


> In Alaska all colored rats are illegal (for some reason the law makers seem to believe an albino rat will not harm the environment, but a hooded one would?)


I'm starting to think there's a misconception up there that PEWs have a lower immune system and wouldn't survive the wild or the winter. Which is derp because I can't imagine any domestic rat surviving a snowy winter, let alone the great white north. :-X


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## North (Jul 23, 2011)

Yeah, when I was buying the rats one lady behind me asked "Why do they only have the white ones," to which I responded pointedly for the cashier to hear, "Because PetCo does not view rats as pets and are not concerned with their breeding."
The guy got all flustered and said "NO ACTUALLY IT'S BECAUSE THE WHITE ONES CAN'T BREED."

I came back to the store a few weeks later to show him my _pregnant_ rat they had sold me without my knowing, and he didn't have anything to say about that.


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## ratfan06 (Dec 31, 2010)

Honestly, I did some research on the subject. The reason only white rats are legal is because they illegalized rats as pets, (due to infestations, or fear of), but not a lot of the reptiles that eat them. PEWs are less attractive to a lot of people than the more colorful types. Allowing only PEWs lets reptile people get their feeders, but deters most people from getting multiple rats as pets.

AS far as what they can and can't survive, rats live on every continent, (except Alaska and they've proven they can survive there too), and in every climate. They are very resourceful.


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## A.ngelF.eathers (Jul 6, 2011)

ratfan06 said:


> AS far as what they can and can't survive, rats live on every continent, (except Alaska and they've proven they can survive there too), and in every climate. They are very resourceful.


Wild Rats, yes, but I'm not sure how well generations of tame rats would do.


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## HowlsOfAngels (Apr 9, 2011)

Believe it or not it's really warm under the snow, I used to find all sorts of little tunnels and things from burrowing animals. I have no doubt that rats could survive in Alaska for a time period given access to the right resources. And, of course, people would play a roll, though it is recommended to have bear/moose/everything else proofed garbage a lot of people don't pay the extra bit of cash. Also, I remember quite clearly using the back porch as a spare freezer. lol It worked perfectly, though it did on occasion attract unwanted visitors.

I remember ferrets escaping and surviving quite well there despite the harsh weather and even stray dogs/cats survive, heck, short-haired beasts manage well enough to get by for a few years. I lived in Alaska for 7 years before going to Texas (supposed to be a short trip), but we ended up getting stuck.


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

A.ngelF.eathers said:


> ratfan06 said:
> 
> 
> > AS far as what they can and can't survive, rats live on every continent, (except Alaska and they've proven they can survive there too), and in every climate. They are very resourceful.
> ...


There have been sadly colonies of domestic rats, like feral cats, from animals let loose. There was a famous case in CA, sadly there are still colorful rats in that area. Where I used to work, I would see marked, albino, etc rats, which were presumably the progeny of pets.

However, it is important to note that these released pets wreaking havok things are just scare tactics. If it were cats, no one would ban them in case some idiot owners let their cats breed out of control and became feral, and that is far more common and more devastating to natural wildlife, etc.


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## Terpsichore (May 28, 2011)

I think a good current example of this, is the population of large boas and pythons that has developed in the Everglades. A few irresponsible people release their animals into the wild, and ruin it for everyone else who is responsible. The media gets a hold of this kind of story and goes wild. Eventually the public's opinion is skewed. My mother now thinks that all snakes are 15 feet long, no joke lol. As a result of irrational public concerns, politicians push laws, without educating themselves, to gain positive publicity.

These kinds of laws based on little to no fact really make my blood boil.  I think that if the government is worried about people releasing their pets into the wild, they need to put regulations in place to prevent people from releasing their pets into the wild, not from having them. Let's face it, the irresponsible people that would keep an outlawed pet illegally are the same kind of people that will just let their pet run off into the wild to prevent themselves from being discovered and/or fined etc.


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## HowlsOfAngels (Apr 9, 2011)

I was watching a show about that the other day that was talking about that. Apparently a breeder not far from the Everglades had hundreds of snakes in a greenhouse and a hurricane came by and released them all because they weren't properly evacuated.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

HowlsOfAngels said:


> I was watching a show about that the other day that was talking about that. Apparently a breeder not far from the Everglades had hundreds of snakes in a greenhouse and a hurricane came by and released them all because they weren't properly evacuated.


Well isn't that just peachy! Poor snakes, and the poor everglades :/

I saw this awful image of a GIANT python that was dead and burst open from eating a native alligator whole. It was sad because the snake is a hugely harmful invasive species, BUT it's not the snakes fault :/ It's the fault of irresponsible people. And if these snakes can eat alligators, no offense to good snake owners, but they should NOT be legal pets. Certain animals like Macaws, crocodiles and Large constricting snakes I think should be illegal because to many people are plain morons.


As for the babies since we veered off topic. Post them on Goosemoose as said before, and here. Forums are the best place to find good homes.
Make sure to screen new potential owners well!


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## Odemus (Jul 23, 2011)

Hi North,
I live in alaska too, i totaly for got about petco opening up in fairbanks... i posted earlyer that i worked at the only store that was allowed to sell live rats.. Petzoo in wasilla.
but fairbanks is allowed to have them too.

sorry they we're such dummies about PEWS not having babies, thats just dumb, we try to separate males and females but alot of time we get them from "breeders" that keep them mixed till way past babyhood stage..

as a keeper of both reptiles and rats i understand both sides of the coin when it comes to pets/feeders. I hope you babies grow well and get super sweet

with my litters i take a few seconds several times a day to just reach in and foddle the litter as a whole and give momma a treat. when they are running all over i still reach in and might take out 3-5 babies for a second or 2 but a quick foddle 4-7 times a day goes a LONG way to getting sweet rats


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