# My fiance is going to KILL me!!



## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

So, I've been talking to another local person, who's having some issues with money.. he's got 6 kids, and Christmas right around the corner.. he's selling off ALL of his snakes (11), and his Rat "colony" (17), and 2 guinea pigs. He explained to me that if they don't go, that they are well.. snake food. 

Well, I have lizards that eat pinkies, but I NEVER feed them live, and I buy them from the petstore.. the petstore gets them frozen, so I don't have to deal with the bad part about it.. you know.. the killing part.. 

Now, I'm not allowed to have snakes.. but.... well... I kinda told the guy I would take all of the rats, and the guinea pigs. $25 for all of them.. which isn't bad.. they all live in a colony, and they all get along. 

My fiance doesn't know, and well, something tells me that he isn't gonna like this.. but... I couldn't just let them get eaten.


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

Err... the Guinea Pigs don't live with the rats. haha.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

uhm, okay... well, maybe you can find a local rescue to help you with fostering and rehoming?


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## sonicboom (Sep 3, 2011)

have you ever had so many animals before? My 2 rats are a handful lol


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## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Oh my gosh! Seventeen is a lot of rats!
Do you plan on keeping them all? 
Are they males, females, or a mix? Are they properly seperated into different genders?
And what cage is possible big enough to fit a colony of seventeen?!
Good luck with the ratties!


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

My house is a zoo, I have a lot of pets. So, this is nothing new for me. 

However, I am not going to be keeping them all. No way. I plan to keep I think, 2. And they will probably be females. 

They guy is currently keeping them all together in a 150 gallon tank. So, the boys and girls are together. However, there are only 3 boys, and I will have them separate. 2 of the females are currently pregnant though. 

I have a tiered cage that can house 3-4 adult rats; just needs some small mods for temporary housing. And the females will be going into a 180 gallon tank. 

I have already started trying to find potential homes/rescues for them. 

My fiance, actually didn't have an issues with me wanting to save them, under the condition that we find them new homes.


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

mshill90 said:


> My house is a zoo, I have a lot of pets. So, this is nothing new for me.
> 
> However, I am not going to be keeping them all. No way. I plan to keep I think, 2. And they will probably be females.
> 
> ...


Oh dear I would stay away from this. That means 14 potentially pregnant rats, which means you could have a couple hundred rats.


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## binkyhoo (Sep 28, 2008)

AAAAAH! Did I read this right. 14 females and 3 males? Good luck. I am a newer owner, I hopw some one will chime in to help.


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

Who "doesn't allow' you to have snakes? If this is your fiance, you might have to examine your relationship. Also if you take in that many animals without him knowing about it, that doesn't seem right if he is living with you.
I would steer away from this whole project and stick with your own "zoo" or you will see yourself on Animal Planet in a month when all the rat babies are born. So do some calculation: from the 17 rats there are only 3 males so you have to assume that all the females (14!!) are pregnant and each of them can get about 10 babies which is not a large litter for rats. So you could have about 150 babies pretty soon.


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

I agree take them all in before approval because I wanted to save them. However I decided to only take 3 female babies that are 5-6 weeks old. And my friend is taking the guinea pigs. As for snakes... My fiancé is deathly afraid that's why I'm not allowed to have them.


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## calisphere (Oct 25, 2011)

< Snake person, but it keeps the family away.

I hope you're able to find homes for everyone! You'll have your hands full for a while, but we're always here for advice (though I'm new so I can't offer much). I'm glad you have the room for the 17 at the moment, even if they aren't staying. If I could take in more pets, I'd come and steal a few from you. Prayers for lots of homes in the near future!


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

Well, the woman actually recommended that I not take them because chances are they wouldn't adapt to life as a pet, as many of them tried biting her just as she put her hand in the tank. And with that, I heeded her warning. I felt bad that I couldn't take them all, but a lot of the people here made a point.. I had no idea which were and weren't pregnant.. And thinking about it.. wow.. 

So, I made a decision to get 3. I picked an adult female who was very nice and calm, and whom I knew wasn't pregnant, as last night she had given birth.. but the male wasn't removed and ate all the babies. She's rather large, and all grey. But she's extremely dirty, and extremely smelly. The aquarium was atrocious. It had 8 inches of nothing put urine sopped PINE bedding in it, and the small was enough to make anyone barf. She's so dirty and covered in urine, that the back half of her body is yellow/brown. 

The other 2 are curly haired 5 week old babies. One is all tan, and the other is I believe a hooded? She's all white, but her head is tan, with a white diamond on her forehead. Their father is a white Curly Haired. 

Right now I have them in a temporary 40 gallon breeder tank, as I got extremely behind schedule from having to sit in traffic for 2 hours, and that threw out my time to get the big cage ready. But, They have the essentials, and I finally found a use for all those extra bras that I have but never use.. Cut off the straps, and the cups make perfect padding for their little house! I was told my tiered cage might not work out well because the little guys might be able to escape.. so they won't be in this temp tank for very long. I would move the female in there, but I don't want her to establish a territory and cause issues for the other two. 

I ended up trading in a lizard at a pet store and I was able to get all of the rat supplies I needed/wanted to start. These poor ratties.. Eating Cheap Guinea Pig food all their life. Now they have good ratty food, and treats, and they don't know what to do!


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## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Aww! They're really cute!
If they're smelly and dirty, you could fill a sink or a tub with about half and inch of water and bathe them with some baby soap.
Good luck with your three girls!


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

That was a good decision to just take the ones you could handle. Give them some time and a good diet and with a few weeks they wold start to look and smell better. What a crappy home they were in; almost abusive. Keep an eye on the adult as the male could have bred her right after the birth. The male ate the babies so he "knows" for sure that the next offspring is his, lots of animals kill other male's babies before breeding the female. I personally would wait with bathing them to first give them time to settle down and trust you. 
Enjoy them!!


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

He was the only male in that tank. So, he knew the offspring were his to begin with. She said that he has always done that, so she normally removes him, but didn't get to it in time. 

The next step is ordering a ferret nation cage, and spoiling them! 

In the mean time, I bought them a few toys, and some bedding to help them feel more like pets.


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## wheeljack (Mar 17, 2011)

Re the girl whose litter was eaten: Rats come into heat within 24hrs of giving birth so if the male was still in the tank with her, she could be pregnant.


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

Well, it was only 12-14 hrs after she had given birth when I picked her up, and the male was more interested in all the other females from what I observed. Either way, if she has babies, it's ok. 1 litter is better than the potential 14 i almost got myself into.


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## TGQ (Dec 26, 2010)

I was reading this and saw you said ferret nation cage. Are you planning on modifying the bar spacing with hardware cloth? Since you've got girls they'll easily fit through.
Modifying can be a PITA so I'd suggest you order a Martin's 695, or if you're dead set on the ferret nation set up, try the similar Critter Nation instead.


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## calisphere (Oct 25, 2011)

They're pretty. I'm glad that you were able to take a few anyway. Remember, you must give us more pictures as time goes on and they become used to you. ;D


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

TGQ said:


> I was reading this and saw you said ferret nation cage. Are you planning on modifying the bar spacing with hardware cloth? Since you've got girls they'll easily fit through.
> Modifying can be a PITA so I'd suggest you order a Martin's 695, or if you're dead set on the ferret nation set up, try the similar Critter Nation instead.


I am not sure which cage my friend has, but it looks just like the ferret nation cages, and her girls are good in it. I will have to see which she has, I think she may have the Critter Nation now that I think about it. My adult female barely fits in the Chin Hut I bought them.. she's a plump little girl.


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## mshill90 (Oct 29, 2011)

calisphere said:


> They're pretty. I'm glad that you were able to take a few anyway. Remember, you must give us more pictures as time goes on and they become used to you. ;D


So far, they are really coming out of their shell. The 2 babies know what the sound of a crinkling bag means already! haha. 

However, the adult is a little pushy with food.. so, I'm hoping I can break her of that. The babies will gently take food out of my hands, where as the adult will aggressively grab it, and take off.


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## calisphere (Oct 25, 2011)

That's not good. Hopefully she learns that you won't eat her soon. How do you break that habit? I don't have a problem with my two rats, but it's always good to know just in case.


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## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

Small time feeder breeders who breed just to supply themselves and then for one or another reason, have no use for the pinkies, should be obliged to a)care for their colonies better and b) find homes for the rats. I knew someone local to me who adopted to ex feeder breeder rats both pregnant and unwanted as the snake had died. She took them in and care for them and distributed them amongst the local pet shops and that all well and good but between the two feeder breeder rat litters and one oops litter all the same space of time, she was looking at rehoming 40 odd baby rats. 2 months done the track one of the local, proper breeders is saying their rescue is at bursting point and their well bred rats don't sell so they have suspended the breeding program. End result, lazy breeding in my neck of the woods and probably less healthy rats available to purchase in general. Kinda got off topic there, whoops, needed to rant  :-(

Edit: pity you couldn't save them all but very wise.


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