# When you rescue feeder rats...?



## AshleighNicole (Dec 3, 2013)

When you rescue feeder rats, where do you get them?Do you tell the feeder breeder they're being rescued, or do you make them think they're staying feeders?We got our three baby girls from a breeder, and I'd like to get a rescue later on.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Check petfinder for rescues through shelters. 

Most feeders are bought from either "bins" at smaller stores (abhorrent conditions, literally a bin full of live rats) or from petco which is the chain that sells live feeders. 


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## toke (Aug 28, 2012)

I really do not recommend getting feeders unless you have ample time for them and lots of patience. I bought my "feeders" off CL from a man who was getting rid of his snakes and had them left over from a feeding. I told him that I did not own any snakes, and just let him come to his own conclusion. They were so unsocialized and traumatized that they would scream when anyone tried to pick them up. Four months later, we finally have a great relationship, but it is a road that I am not too eager to go down again any time soon. Rats that are bred for food can be just as fabulous as rats that are from a breeder, but you have to devote time to getting them to trust you. If you are looking for another quick friend, I would definitely recommend looking at petfinder as suggested. There are so many rescue rats that need homes and you still get the good feeling of rescuing a little girl. If you really want to rescue a feeder, definitely be sure you know what you are getting in to. It is such a rewarding experience seeing them go from deathly afraid of you to happy to see you in the morning, but it does not happen overnight and can be very discouraging at times.


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## monster_paws (Jan 17, 2013)

My girls are from a feeder bin and were in horrible conditions. Took them a while to get used to me. My Pecan willingly comes out of the cage to chill on me (I use the word "chill" very loosely, it's more like "run all over my arms, head, shoulders 10x") My other one, Pistachio isn't as social and needs a lot of persuasion to come and hang out. But I can tell they like their mama, so i'm okay with it.


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

Most places are happy to let you pick out rats for pets despite being primarily sold as feeders. But yeh while a lot of feeder breeders do breed for health (healthy feeders=healthy reptiles) many don't keep them in great conditions...all but 1 of my rats I got from feeder bins have had health issues & 2 of them passed away at a young age. As for temperament...all except my hairless, Herman were very skittish & did a whole lot of fear pooping until they gained our trust! My double rex is still pretty skittish & runs from me when I go to pick him up from the cage, but settles down once hes out. It is rewarding giving them a safe home & if its something you want to do then go for it  but like everyone has said do be prepared depending what kind of conditions the rattie comes from.


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

EDIT: Oops meant until WE gained THEIR trust lol!


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

My first rat was from a feeder bin. I got her at the flea market for like $3 - she was very young, about the size of a mouse, and she was not fearful at all. In fact she ran up to me and licked my hand, so she picked ME out  The conditions weren't horrible or anything - actually they were all in a large cardboard box, about 15 little rats. I told the guy I was taking her as a pet, and he said, "That's one lucky rat!"


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

I should also mention, since you're interested in rescuing, that I got 2 of my current rats from a shelter in another city. A bunch of rats were confiscated from an animal hoarder and the shelter was overflowing. I drove 4 hours each way to get them, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life. They were a bit shy at first but they warmed up fast. There's something very gratifying about rescuing animals - I highly recommend it!


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## JBird (May 23, 2013)

See, feeer breeders don't really care whether the rats are going to be pets or not. They do breed for health, and sometimes, temperament as a fun side hobby. Some feeder breeders enjoy keeping and breeding their rats, so while their living arrangements are crappy, they still get some socialization. I got all of my rats from feeder bins, essentially. My first three girls I adopted from someone who had gotten them from a pet store (almost always sold as feeders/pets), I got my first two boys from a feeder breeder/dumbo hobbyist in my area. He was a local guy, his rats were in pretty horrible conditions (roughly 50+ weanlings in one 40gal breeder tank), but were healthy and had fantastic temperaments, so who knows. 

I got Wolfe from a similar person, a feeder breeder/double rex hobbyist. Her rats were kept in a well-made rack system. Abhorrent by rat fancier conditions, but honestly not that bad of a setup. Clean & tidy, with big tubs! She sold all the hairless as pets, but didn't really socialize them well. Wolfe is terrified of anything and everything, and wants nothing to do with me or other rats, it seems. All he wants is to burrow and sit. 
All have very different personalities and it depends partly on their background and partly on their genes... Wolfe and his cousins were all skittish, whereas Dex & his family were more outgoing and had more interest in exploring me & their surroundings. Both the feeder breeders I spoke with were nice, educated people and bred for their own snakes/sold excess. They liked their rats, and yet the rats ended up having very, very different personalities.


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## bazmonkey (Nov 8, 2013)

Minky said:


> There's something very gratifying about rescuing animals - I highly recommend it!


I'd also recommend looking into rescuing from a shelter rather than a feeder breeder. At least it's not helping encourage the people creating the surplus.

I respect wanting to rescue an otherwise-doomed rat, but in all honesty, why? You get a rat that you know has a greater chance of having behavior and health problems. The feeder breeder gets your money AND the free space to breed more rats. If you were to buy a litter of feeder rats, the feeder breeder would breed an extra litter than he would have, and the end result is just as many feeder rats, plus the extra litter you have. If you were to buy from a pet breeder, he would breed the extra litter, and the end result is just as many feeder rats, plus the extra litter you have. The only difference is which ones live with you. Either way there are just as many feeder rats in the world.

Only rescuing from a shelter has a realistic chance of lowering the number of rats living unfortunate lives.

In light of its inability to make a real difference in the plight of rats, why not just get a properly-socialized rat or rescue from a shelter?


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## NuclearMuse (Nov 26, 2013)

I agree with bazmonkey. I rescue cats and rats, and I wouldn't rescue from a feeder breeder EXCEPT in a case like I just did where the "breeder" was trying to unload all of his rats and was not trying to breed more, so I did not contribute to a supply/demand cycle. If you want to rescue try looking into some rat rescues or aspca/humane societies near you. THere have been a TON of bad hoarder cases lately and rescues are very full with rats that need forever homes, which means that they don't have the space to save more rats that need them. So by going through a rescue you're actually helping multiple rats.


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## TheFuzzySphere (Nov 30, 2013)

All 3 of my boys are feeder rescues. Toke is exactly right. It is extremely rewarding but not without hard work and dedication. I was lucky in that all 3 of my boys were born in the feeder bins at the store that I got them from. So that means less contact with mean people and less moving around from breeding site to store. If you've ever seen videos on Youtube protesting the places that breed animals for pet stores, you've seen the god awful treatment those animals receive. I don't recommend watching one of those videos (it'll have you crying all day), just take my word for it, it's awful. With my boys never really being handled by too many people, and having a good mom to teach them to be afraid of people, the only hurdle I had to jump over was getting them to unlearn what their mom had taught them: to be afraid of everything. I have had ball pythons in the past and did feed rats to them. I don't have snakes anymore and won't be having any ever again. I loved my snakes, but since I've actually broken into the beautiful Narnia that is rat ownership, my snakes would starve. I just can't handle feeding rats to anything. They're too lovable. I try to make it up to all past rats that have become food by spoiling my boys every day. But on that note, I've experienced what Toke was talking about. You sometimes get blessed with those rats that have been through absolute **** and scream every time they are touched. Those are for the truly dedicated and patient. It's taken my boys, Frank and Henry, about a month to truly get used to my boyfriend and I. They got used to me first and then introducing them to my boyfriend was no task, as they started to realize that some humans are actually nice. Don't completely forgo the idea of rescuing feeders, just know that you may want to focus on rescues from humane societies (petfinder.com), or at least try to get feeders that are very young (just weaned) and haven't had too much interaction with unfriendly people (that hold them by their tails and worse). It's a lot of work, but you'll end up with a friend sharing a bond with you like no other, and you'll be an example of good in the world to a rat.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

First of all let me say, I prefer feeder bins... because they are my only local source for rat pups. I enjoy raising our rats from as young as possible so no one else screws them up... (we do enough of that ourselves.) But I find that early attention and care makes for better rat/human relationships. Plus you do get the upside of saving a rat from a horrible death. And paying under $3.00 for your new best friend.

I might add that pre-socialized rats from reputable breeders are a real bargain for first time rat owners of you can't find pups to raise yourself.

My local pet shop is big in the reptile food trade so brings in commercially farmed rats, takes in accidental litters and fancy breeder surplus. We've gotten a part wild rat that was part of an accidental litter and hand socialized by it's original owner, a high white dumped by a fancy rat breeder and of course our two true shoulder rats Fuzzy Rat and Max from the same bins. 

When rescuing rats from feeder bins all of the basic rules apply... Pick a healthy animal of good disposition that you can handle easily before you take it home. You are not doing yourself much of a favor by picking rats that are screwed up and sick. I also don't usually go for older rats although I've made exceptions... Spending half of it's life without human interaction is not a selling point in my book... it means the rat is going to be harder to socialize.

As our pet shop moves over 100 rats some weeks, we get a huge selection, so we do try and cherry pick, we only keep two rats at a time and try to choose the very best. Think about it... if you can only save so few rats which ones are you going to save... the big nasty biter or the cute and friendly pups? Who ever doesn't get saved goes to feed a reptile. Save the biter out of charity and the friendly pup becomes something's dinner. It's OK to cherry pick your new best rattie friend.

Downsides... with older feeders you sometimes wind up with mites, if the store doesn't take proper care of their rats... And if you are buying commercial feeders from big rat farms, you are likely choosing from among the more common markings or mismarked rats that weren't picked for the pet shop trade, they also are usually bred to have a grow fast and get heavy... Feeders are sold by size and weight, they are however not normally bred for longevity. Feeder rats don't come with a health guarantee.

Upsides... you are saving a rat from a terrible fate, you can get your rats younger and less screwed up, you get a variety of choice, commercially bred rats are usually bred for temperament so farm workers don't get bit as often and you save some money.

Basically... you have to go into every situation with your eyes open. No matter where you get your rats you will be saving them from some other fate. No matter where you get your rats what matters is health, age and temperament. Saving a few bucks on a nasty biter is not worth it. Buying a sick rat is no bargain, one vet visit and you could have bought two breeder rats.

So what can you expect from feeder rat that you raise yourself in a loving home?

It might look something like Max when you find it









It might be friendly and outgoing and enjoy crowds.








Or it might look like this and be more shy, still a great indoor rat. She came from a feeder bin and was neglected by her first owner... she prefers to keep to herself most of the time and likes about 5 minutes of human interaction per day, she would be a great rat for a busy person. Just toss a little clutter in the back of your pantry and you will almost never see her.










Or it could become a most amazing true shoulder rat like this...









And best of all.... it might look something like this when all else is said and done...


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Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










Both Max and Fuzzy Rat are/were highly trained true shoulder rats, they came from a feeder bin. Please do not take your rats outdoors without the proper training and personality.

Most importantly....

There's a debate about breeder rats, feeder bin rats, pet shop rats or rescue rats... It's actually rather silly... in the end you will hopefully share your life with an amazing animal and best furry friend. Rat pups that haven't been screwed up are just about all easy to socialize and train. Older rats that have been neglected or abused are going to be trouble, at least at first, and may never be "right". Great rats are great no matter where they are born. In the end you are choosing a rat that you will be privileged to share a life with. And everything depends on the rat you choose... Making a consumer statement that draws blood every time you handle it, isn't much of a victory when your prying it off your screaming toddler's fingers. It boils down to one rat. Forget everything else... pick the best rat in good health with the best personality... that's always going to be the right rat for you.

Disclaimer...

Lastly.. there are a few folks out there with lots of love and skills who dedicate their time and abilities to fixing screwed up rats. I know what it takes and I deeply respect them... I also know this is not a challenge that someone new to rats should undertake. A first time rat owner doesn't have the skills to deal with a really screwed up rat and won't help the rat any and may have a terrible first rat owning experience as the price for their kindness... I don't mean to discourage anyone who knows what they are doing and getting into from saving any rat... it is a wonderful thing to do... But if it's what you want to do eventually, get your first experience out of the way with a rat you can handle before you move on to a challenge that's going to take lots of money, blood, sweat, tears and most of all skill you may not have.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Coming to this post as a new owner, I've just got a little experience to share...
I got my three boys two weeks ago as feeders from petco. One was very outgoing and social, the other a little shy but is workable, and the third was extremely timid and actually bit on one ocassion. 

The smallest one died yesterday from indeterminate health issues and the other two are "sneezing" now, so I'll end up treating them with antibiotics for the next couple weeks and hope for the best. 

That said, I didn't have the option of a breeder or (that I knew of) a rescue as a first choice. 

I later learned that the same petco has a litter that will be adoptable in about 3 weeks, so I"ll be choosing a couple pups from that litter that will hopefully be healthier and more socialized... And I'll get them for free since they're for adoption (you might want to see if your local petco or petsmart has similar animals) so I'm thinking it's a win-win situation.

I'd say find the healthiest and most social rats you can. I agree with rat daddy that you want to go young. Even healthy rats only live up to 3 years, most only 2... So young= more time to spend with them. I would personally consider adopting older rats only if they had been very socialized and were good pets / healthy. If you see sneezing or anti-social behavior, I'd look else where. If you have the option of a good breeder, I'd go that route IF they have pups with good temperament...As others said, rats have individual temperaments so even rats from a good breeder may exhibit bad traits on an individual basis. 

Good luck!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I'm sorry for your loss... 

And about adopting healthy well adjusted older rats that were good pets and are very socialized... those aren't often put up for adoption... 

It's like buying a used two year old Jaguar car for $500.00. I'm not saying it never happens.... But when you see one around here, it's usually in a shore community right after a hurricane.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Ratdaddy- I agree. I adopted a cat from a shelter several years back and ended up with a cat that *might* have been used for animal testing by a lab (according to my vet who said this when shown a mysterious tatoo on his stomach and due to his behavior when given meds), and a host of health problems including seizures (which no shelter employees noticed) and an enlarged heart. I also rescued two kittens from a feral cat in my grandmother's back yard when they were apx. 4 weeks old and they've both turned out great... But cost a load in vet bills when very small. Now, if I do any future adopting it'll either be from a good breeder who tests for health and breeds for temperament or from a smaller rescue group if they have kittens that have been socialized, I will be avoiding adopting from large shelters. I guess that shapes my thinking on rats as well. 

There are few people that want to rehome rats due to moving, land lords, etc. but I would think most are due to them "not wanting" the rats and generally that means they didn't have time for them (unsocialized) or they have behavior problems... I'd just be cautious there. There are also some owners who look to rehome "oops" litters due to buying a pregnant female.. I think that would be my first choice when adopting. Often there are people on the forum with oops litters, there may be someone in your area... You might want to post in the "adoption" forum here and see.

Although I would recommend the options above (good breeder or oops litter rescue), I think going with a private feeder breeder is an option if you are down to that and pet store animals. I know some people online that breed rats as feeders and allof them breed for health and temperament in their animals (some are even obsessed with genetics and tacking pedigrees, traits, etc.). Like all other "breeders" some take better care of them than others and socialize better than others. The main difference is that due to their numbers, the animals don't get the enrichment and large cages that pet animals do. So you could stand a chance of getting a healthier animal from a private feeder breeder than from a store, but again, it depends on the individual person and how they treat / keep their animals. 

Note that they don't usually track lifespan or tumors, but most try to breed for animals with good respiratory function (i.e. myco resistant) and that are friendly and not aggressive. I don't think buying from them actually encourages them to "breed more" as some have stated. Most people breed on a schedule to ensure that they produce enough for their snakes at a given time, they will still breed x number of litters a year to do so regardless of the numbers of excess animals produced. The people I know of that do breed excess animals on purpose do so to supply other reptile owners, not the pet market. Thus, I don't think buying a couple rats from them will cause them to breed 2 more litters a year, etc. 

*I'm sorry if the above info on feeder breeders offends some, I keep reptiles, so am used to it, but am aware that many find this an unsettling prospect.


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## kjgannon09 (Oct 16, 2013)

My first rat (Jillian AKA my little Jelly Bean) came from a feeder bin. I was actually Christmas shopping for my dog and stopped by to see the pocket pets as I always do. A guy was buying 7 rats for his snake, and I was watching the employee pick them up by their tails and toss them in the box. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and asked if i could hold the one he had just picked up. She was freaked out and tried to get away so I tucked her in my jacket pocket. She was a gorgeous little black berkshire. Anyway, I just shopped for over an hour with the little rat in my pocket, just petting her and talking to her. She finally crawled out and climbed up on my shoulder, and eventually gave me ratite kisses. We were best friends before I ever left the store!

Jilly seems to be the exception among the accounts here though. I think it was the time in the store that won her over. I've been hooked on rats ever since, although most of my current rats are rescues.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

I took Toast home from the feeder bin when he was 10 days old. It was probably one of the most rewarding and hard working experience I ever had with a rat. I was first told when I picked him out that he was going to be aggressive and a biter when he grew up because that's what all the rats there were. I'm proud to say that he's never once bitten me or failed to trust me in certain situations. He's actually quite the cuddler! =P


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## AshleighNicole (Dec 3, 2013)

Gah, I quoted wrong.
Copying and pasting with a correct quote this time <3


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## AshleighNicole (Dec 3, 2013)

Minky said:


> My first rat was from a feeder bin. I got her at the flea market for like $3 - she was very young, about the size of a mouse, and she was not fearful at all. In fact she ran up to me and licked my hand, so she picked ME out  The conditions weren't horrible or anything - actually they were all in a large cardboard box, about 15 little rats. I told the guy I was taking her as a pet, and he said, "That's one lucky rat!"


Noooo it deleted my response D:Stupid mobile.This is what I was thinking of. If one popped out at me, and seemed to want to be saved, and seemed to know what I feel what I was there for, I would totally take it home.I'll do that later on in many months maybe. For now I'll pick out a rescue, in a month or two, once I'm more established with rat behavior.I've fostered and rehabilitated "badly behaved" dogs and cats, but these are my first rats. I'll focus on my new babies for quite a while, but was curious ^_^Can't wait to read more! Thanks for all the awesome replies.


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## anawelch (Sep 25, 2013)

It depends on the conditions of the feeder bin. We always kept ours very clean and with fresh food/water. It was also a highly ventilated rack system. Heres a few pics of feeders I grew attached to (this first is the one and only non skittish mouse IVe ever met in my life and the second is one of three baby ratties that I liked to play with):


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