# do i keep them or not



## andyqt (Apr 3, 2010)

hi, i got 2 female rats 1 week ago today. one of them started to nest last night and when i came home from work she had had a litter. i have not even held the 2 girls yet because star, the pregnant one was a bit agressive, know we know why.

we dont know weather to keep them or if we even have the room to.

i was talking to the guy in the pet store where i bought them and he told me to bring the pups back to him if i want.

i'm not too sure how to seperate them form the mother as i am afraid that she will attack me.

please help, andyqt.


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## xxchelle (Aug 1, 2009)

They need to be with mom until 5 weeks old, then the males need to be separated.

Removing them now and taking them to the pet store means they will be used for snake food. Please do not do this. We can give you advice to help them find good homes once they're of age, or perhaps look into rescues/shelters around you and give them a call, see if they'll take them in.


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## andyqt (Apr 3, 2010)

i dont have a second cage or anything for them.

i dont know if shelters would take them, i'm in ireland and rats are not very popular here. very few pet stores even stock them


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

www.fancy-rats.co.uk/community is a UK based rat forum. It may be a good idea to join and post for advice and help. There may well be some people on the forum nearby that can help you out with cages etc or adopt some babies when they're old enough.


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## clarry (May 19, 2008)

Seeing as she has just given birth i think an aquarium would be ok (although, again not sure im just going on what i have read in the past, as I thought one of mine was pregnant and did research) as she cannot then try to take the pups up on to levels, and im sure they arent too expensive. If not If you remove them from the mother before about three weeks im pretty sure their chance of surviving is low, and even lower if the likely hood is of them becoming feeders. Once they are old enough to be weened you could give them to a rescue such as :
http://animal.rescueme.org/ie
who take small rodents and are based in ireland, or you could advertise them on http://www.preloved.co.uk or gumtree which is for the UK and ireland to give them away for free.


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## andyqt (Apr 3, 2010)

animal rescue.org will not allow me to post an add from ireland. i
really want to get rid of them asap,
i know this sounds bad and maybe it is but we are only new to this and need a quick solution


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

andyqt said:
 

> animal rescue.org will not allow me to post an add from ireland. i
> really want to get rid of them asap,
> i know this sounds bad and maybe it is but we are only new to this and need a quick solution


If you want rid of them ASAP, then your best bet probably is to post on fancy rats for help. Someone may be able to take mother and babies until the babies are old enough to be weaned - perhaps returning the mother to you afterwards.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Would you like me to post on fancy-rats forum for you? If so, where are you located in Ireland?


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## clarry (May 19, 2008)

http://www.ispca.ie/

you could look here, but to be honest if you are insistent on a quick fix and separating those poor babies from their mama at a young age then I dont know how much more I can help you. Not to attack you or anything but perhaps you should have done some more research before just getting the rats, as if you would have joined a rat forum or even just loooked at one before you would have known the risks that came with getting rats from a pet shop, obviously not that i am blaming you for that rat being pregnant before coming to you, or indeed for you not knowing, but most books and internet sites will tell you that the best place to get rats is from a breeder, and if this is not possible perhaps try a rescue. 
I hope your issue gets resolved.


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## andyqt (Apr 3, 2010)

just checked the ispca site. will ring them in the morning. dont think the will help me with rats seems the put 37 dogs asleep every day in ireland. i want to do the right thing and did do reserch before i bought them. there are not many places to buy them. i drove abiut 50 miles to buy mine.


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## clarry (May 19, 2008)

Ok, well hope all goes ok, but this would be a great place for you to contact, are you anywhere near Cork by any chance?
This is a rattery which breed rats however they say on their site tht they occassionally have rescue litters up for adoption, and therefore may takes yours on. I think the idea that lilspaz had about them taking your girl until babies are weened and then returning would be good, and perhaps you could suggest this upon contacting them.
At least with a place like this ou know those babies will be getting correct care and going to good homes 

http://www.irishrats.co.uk/


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## clarry (May 19, 2008)

http://irishrat.proboards.com/index.cgi?

there is also the Irish rat forum here


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

clarry said:


> I think the idea that lilspaz had about them taking your girl until babies are weened and then returning would be good, and perhaps you could suggest this upon contacting them.


I changed into someone else? When did that happen


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## clarry (May 19, 2008)

hahaha sorry about that!! I think I had just read a post by lilspaz or posted on by lilspaz before...oops. Sorry stace!


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## andyqt (Apr 3, 2010)

hey guys, got the number for the breeder where my pet shop gets his rats and he said i can bring them to him. 
i did this and he put the pups in with another new mother and she took them straight away. she only had 6 herself and i had 11 so she put them in 2 groups to look after them. this is the best i could do. 

sorry if i sounded a bit harsh at first, was just in a bit of shock after what happened, andyqt


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## ArmyWife3409 (Apr 4, 2010)

Well, good for you and good for the pups then. If you don't have the resources available to start their new lives, its good that you were able to find someone who did. Now there's 11 innocent new babies who wont become snake food. That should make you feel pretty good about yourself.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Actually, OP said they were returned to the "breeder" that supplies rats to the pet store the mom was originally bought from, so 99% chance they will return there to be sold to meet the same fate when they're old enough. A poor decision that OP should not feel good about, but there wasn't much we could do about it.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Jaguar said:


> Actually, OP said they were returned to the "breeder" that supplies rats to the pet store the mom was originally bought from, so 99% chance they will return there to be sold to meet the same fate when they're old enough. A poor decision that OP should not feel good about, but there wasn't much we could do about it.


Don't forget feeders are illegal over here (I think). If I remember correctly, the OP is in the UK. Live feeding doesn't seem to be done over here much. Obviously that doesn't necessarily mean they'll go to a good home though.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

I used to live in the Uk until I moved to Canada, and trust me... LOTS of people live feed. Theres pretty much no way to regulate or enforce that rule. I agree with Jaguar, the OP could of just waited and considered options - been a responsible rat owner. I know babies are alot of hard work, but for the first two weeks they barely do anything. He had time to look around and find suitable arrangments for them instead of doing what was convienient for him. Can you imagine how much his doe grieved because he took all the babies away so soon. Also her milk could back up and cause an infection, because they suckled for a little while then stopped.


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## clarry (May 19, 2008)

That was my sentiments exactly on the other thread, with the same OP. I found a load of options, even found a breeder in Ireland (which is actaully where they lived, I dont know if the same rules apply about feeder rats as UK) who takes in some rescues and could possibly have taken these pups, owell some people dont want to hear it. The OP clearly stated they wanted a quick fix and thats what they got. We can just hope the babies went to better owners, if the baby he bought from this pet shop was pregnant, likely hood is the same thing will happen with those pups. Lets just hope they get more of a chance.


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