# My first PEW, any tips?



## Stephanee (Jan 12, 2014)

*So I tried searching the forums, but it kept telling me it was too much of a common search and refused to help* . Anyway, today I almost witnessed one of the more horrific things I don't think i'd be able to get through if i saw it. One of my neighbors knocked on my door frantically to tell me there was a group of young boys messing with a stray rat and knowing I have rats, she told me I should see if I can set it free else where so the boys would stop. So as I walk over to them..I see this deep black bucket thing and as I came closer the smell of gasoline and alcohol hit my nostrils like a semi truck! 

Long story short, turns out the boys thought it'd be funny to buy a rat from Pet Co. (because they were cheap do to a sale), and burn it! JUST TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. That was their argument. One of the careless parents didn't seem to mind and argued "_It's just a rat, and they're just boys experimenting_". Man, was I angry. Longer story short ~ I rescued him, I drenched him in dish soap, washed him off and he's now cuddled up with my boys snoozing just hours after. I watched him for several hours, he seems thankfully healthy. 

Any tips on PEWs? I've never had one, I only know they have poor vision ): I want to make him feel as comfortable as possible, although my boys already welcomed him with open tails. I want to keep him, he's a little on the jumpy side but hasn't tried to bite.


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## Stephanee (Jan 12, 2014)

*UPDATE: *I'm 99% sure this little guy is blind. This breaks my heart, I'm just glad he's alive, and not BBQ'd.


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## Snikida (Sep 28, 2013)

Oh my gosh! You should report it to the police! That's animal cruelty, an also a precursor to becoming a serial killer. That's a pretty big red flag! 

As for tips I really don't have any. But I am so happy you saved the little guy, and I hope you both take good care of evh other 


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## Stephanee (Jan 12, 2014)

I certainly did! I'm taking him to the vet first thing tomorrow morning and if he's good to go, looks like i've got a new little man .


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Pews aren't blind, but very close to it. Minimize the light to help his eyes and remember his impairment as it can mean nipping more frequently, trouble navigating cages so don't switch it, and being easily startled. 

I hope those parents are fined. Also report it to PetCo because there are no animal sales to anyone under 18 unless with a parent signature. 


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## Stephanee (Jan 12, 2014)

Maybe he's not blind, hopefully not. Thanks for that info! I wish he'd let me hold him again, he has all the reason to hate humans at the moment. 








Also, the parent of one of the boys did sign a contract, supposedly not knowing what his son's intentions were.​


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## winddance (Oct 6, 2013)

Omg i really hope charges are laid That is just disgusting... So happy that he found you though! He is safe and sound now


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## Lesti (Jun 25, 2013)

Poor thing  I'm glad you saved him, and I hope those boys get punished. He's a cutie! Got a name yet? Are you keeping him? 


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## Stephanee (Jan 12, 2014)

I want to keep him but I'm not 100% sure yet, I would prefer to find him a home since I'm not home a lot. My other boys come with me almost everywhere since they're trained which leaves him home alone ):. I do want to though!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

There was someone here that claimed they had a PEW shoulder rat... they are very uncommon because their inability to see well makes them very frightened and spookable outdoors. 

So, while I'm going with the odds being stacked against a PEW that can travel with you.. it isn't completely impossible. 

Best luck!


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## ratsoff2ya (Aug 19, 2013)

i am not 100% certain but i'm pretty sure that there are little to no humane laws protecting rats and mice in the US. laboratories don't even have to report how many rodents they kill for tests. pretty horrible. either way, thank you SO much for stepping in and rescuing this little guy. he's so handsome! 4/5 my rats are dumbos so standard ears are a novelty to me. so cute.

i have a siamese with ruby eyes who is incredibly skittish. she has had some traumatic incidences in her life but i have a feeling most of it is her being near-blind and terrified. i recently read a post about rat vision on tumblr - not sure if it's totally accurate but it seemed believable. http://bestrats.tumblr.com/post/73243178622/9ratsandcounting-visual-acuity-the-rats-world so i think that's pretty important to take into account. if you can't see anything, everything is bound to be kind of terrifying - especially if you've been horribly abused in the past.

good luck with the little dude. do you have a name for him yet?


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

The legal status of rats is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the law and for he most part we are better off that way... If this ever gets sorted out we may not like the outcome.


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## worldvsunicorn (Jan 15, 2014)

This is heartbreaking. Some humans need a swift kick in the head - regardless of age! Disgusting
I can't believe PetCo let him buy one without checking if he even had rats at home or a cage or anything!

Thank you for being his guardian angel! If you can't keep him, I hope you can find him an amazing home


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## Andyurgay (Jun 10, 2013)

Petco sells rats as feeders, they don't know or necessarily care what you are buying the rat for so they don't feel a need to ask about cages and such. Lots of people buy them as feeders for their reptiles from petco. So long as a person over 18 signs, it's theirs to do what they like. working at PETsMART I've refused to sell numerous rats to people who just thought they were cute and wanted to keep one alone in a bird or hamster cage. We are allowed to refuse to sell our animals. I dont know if petco is allowed to since they sell feeders.

anyhow, I'm so so soooo happy someone came to you about it. That's just sick the things people will do to animals "just because". And that parents allow it. Regardless of a rat being considered a pest, I have to wonder if there is some kind of animal cruelty charges that can be brought? I'm sure trapping pest animals is allowed, but buying an animal from a shop with intentions to torture it cannot be protected. That's insane.

I don't know what you have to agree to when signing paperwork to buy petco rats but I'm assuming there is something on there regarding it being a pet or feeder only. And charges should be brought against the kids parents so hopefully they will not have the chance to do it again.


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## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

If you haven't already, I would report this to the cruelty investigation department of the humane society. Someone needs to talk to the boys to explain to them that what they're doing is not acceptable, and I'm sure the cruetly investigators at the humane society would love to have this boy's name on file. His parents aren't doing their job, this needs to be turned over to the authorities. I know you said you reported them to the police, just make sure the humane society knows also. 

Thanks for saving him - you are an angel! I saw a photo of a burnt rat on the internet last night, during a photo search. I guess it's something that happens. People can be horribly cruel and this type of thing ALWAYS needs to be called out and punished. 

Whew. 

What are you going to name him?


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## imfine_thx (Jan 4, 2014)

My rat, Donut, has one pink eye and one black. If I come from the side of her Pink Eye, she gets a little spooked, but she never has bit me. It took her a while to get used to me though, especially since she is pretty skittish with new people, and doesn't like being picked up. 

As well, I am over the moon that there are people like you and others on this forum. The torturing of animals should be punished as much as humans. People always let there kids do anything. I saw a few boys try to set fire to a kitten when I was eight. I went out screaming bloody murder and saved the kitten. They were like sixteen. It was the most scariest moment of my life, but I sure as heck wouldn't have done anything different. Thank you for being a great pet owner. You're awesome. 8)


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## Stephanee (Jan 12, 2014)

I didn't hear back from the Police yet, not sure if they're even going to get back to me. From what I heard from a neighbor was that he was fined and in the process of being banned from adopting any animal from that store. I did call the local humane society and they were shocked. Sadly it isn't the first time they've heard of that happening around here. Good news is I adopted him out to my friend who's ratty just passed from old age! Her remaining guy seems to be around the same young age as Arson - she named him Arson


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## smknowitall101 (Dec 14, 2013)

I work at PetCo and we always ask if they have a cage, what it is like, if they have other rats, or have owned them before, etc. We care 100% about the pets we sell and we make sure they are going to a home where they will get love and proper care. If we feel like they won't, we can refuse sale, I know I have to multiple customers who I didn't trust! This is how it is at my store anyways, and hopefully at the others as well.

Anyways, we do sell feeders sadly. I'm not happy about that, but we don't sell them often at all as almost all of ours get sold as pets, which is good  

There is separate paperwork for pets and feeders, and on the feeder paperwork the buyer has to sign to agree to treat the animal in a humane way until the feeding. The pet only paperwork has an agreement to treat the animal humanely as well. So either way, the parent can definitely get in trouble seeing as that is a legal document, thank god!

What horrible children. I'm so glad the little guy got rescued! I would've done the same thing! Thank you  

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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

I'm SO happy you found out in time . You're this little guys guardian angel... Their parents are just plain stupid if they don't realise that this is a sign of psychological disturbance. I pray that justice is done. 


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

I don't even know how to react. This is beyond apalling. My faith in humanity continues to dwindle. I'm so happy you saved him. I really hope those kids never get their disgusting hands on another defenseless animal ever again.

My girl Toast has red eyes. She is EXTREMELY trusting of me and loves being held and running up my arm. (which is scary because she has a head tilt) but when she is running around and I touch her she jumps XD

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## ahrat (Aug 12, 2013)

If the PEW trusts you, it will be fine. My PEW is very hard of seeing, but is very curious because he knows I wouldn't let anything happen to him. He would rather hang close by me to let me be his eyes for a while. He will hang out on my shoulder, then once he gets used to smells and can figure out what's going on, will follow close to his brothers, but he's extremely curious and will break away on his own. I just suggest getting him to trust you as much as possible. And the obvious avoiding all the things that could harm his eyes more!


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## Ratbag (Nov 30, 2013)

What an appalling thing for that poor creature to be subjected to - you are an angel for intervening and saving his little life.

We have a PEW reserved to be collected next weekend along with two BEW's. I didn't realise PEW's eyesight could be so bad (I'm new to rats), though that might explain why the poor little fella squeaked when we picked him up to cuddle him last weekend when we visited the breeder whereas his BEW brothers were calm and happy to be handled.

Anyway, I'm glad your little rescued guy has gone on to be adopted into a good home.


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## Hero-wuff (Sep 27, 2012)

That poor baby. If I was in that situation I would end up in jail 'cause if come at them with the first blunt object I could find. Stupid kids. Stupid humans.

I have a red eyed hooded and he has always been a little scaredy but he gets used to everything eventually.


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## Jess <3 (Jan 23, 2014)

So i know that everyone else has pretty much said the same but wow, everyone involved in attempting to kill Arson are beyond disgusting. I was close to tears reading your story. That shop should really have those evil little boy's pictures up or something... I don't have much hope for any of them as they get older, with an adult that would not only stand by but actually DEFEND what they were planning to do?! Some people's lack of a conscience really is beyond my understanding. I'm so relieved that you had a neighbor kind enough to alert you to the situation and bravo for saving that little guy and confronting the monsters! 

I do have a red eyed girl and she can be a little skittish, she's still young though, and i also have a darker ruby-eyed girl who is just as confident as my black eyed rats!


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## wafflesmom (Dec 17, 2013)

OMG, sometimes there are threads here I wish I hadn't read. It is horrible that people like that exist. And people are breeding more of them.  You are an angel sent to that little guy in the nick of time!


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