# Lack of communication when adopting/getting a rat.



## Ratnamedbuddy (Jan 10, 2017)

Just need to let out some steam cause the animal shelter where I'm getting my new boy from have no communication what so ever! 
So I went and saw Emile last Wednesday, after letting me hold him they informed me he might have mites. They should of told me before hand in my opinion. So they told me they'd have to give him treatment and I could pick him up Saturday, I emailed them Friday to see if I could still pick him up and I got no replay so I decided to ring them. When I rang them they told me he has had 2 lots of treatment for his mites and I could still pick him up. This is where the miss communication really gets to me, I'm lucky in the sense that my friend works up there and her mum is one of the managers so she messaged me to inform me that he couldn't go home that day and actually needed one more lot of treatment on Monday so I rang them backup told them what I was told and they told me I could pick him up today(1st of july) at half 2. 
I decided to ring them yesterday and it went to answer machine so I left a message for them to get back to me and they didn't. So I rang them again this morning. They told me Emile never saw the vet yesterday and he will be seeing the vet today after the shelter closes so I can't pick him up today but I can pick him up tomorrow. 

I get that he needs treatment and I can't bring him home until the mites have gone because of the boys I have now but a bit of communication would of been nice. Like i have to either arrange transport or work around the bus scedual to be able to pick him up. Also in my opinion he shouldn't of been up for adoption if he had mites or any other illness until he's better.

I really hope I can pick him up tomorrow, the woman on the phone said she'll ring me after he's done at the vets and I really hope she does.


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

I'm not a vet so I don't know for sure but I believe that it's possible that you will want to keep Emile totally separated from your rats for a few weeks if he has been treated for mites. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the medicine for mites only kills the adults but there could be eggs that can hatch several days after treatment. Some medications stay in their system and then kill the new mites after they hatch.

I don't know for sure and I don't know what type of medicine Emile is being treated with but you might want to ask the vet some questions about this. If you need to quarantine Emile for a few weeks before introducing him to your other boys, you would want to do this somewhere other than your home. You would also want to make sure not to have direct contact with your rats for several hours after coming in contact with Emile (and you'd probably want to change your clothes and scrub your hands).

Or you could just treat all of your rats for mites.


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## Ratnamedbuddy (Jan 10, 2017)

CorbinDallasMyMan said:


> I'm not a vet so I don't know for sure but I believe that it's possible that you will want to keep Emile totally separated from your rats for a few weeks if he has been treated for mites. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the medicine for mites only kills the adults but there could be eggs that can hatch several days after treatment. Some medications stay in their system and then kill the new mites after they hatch.
> 
> I don't know for sure and I don't know what type of medicine Emile is being treated with but you might want to ask the vet some questions about this. If you need to quarantine Emile for a few weeks before introducing him to your other boys, you would want to do this somewhere other than your home. You would also want to make sure not to have direct contact with your rats for several hours after coming in contact with Emile (and you'd probably want to change your clothes and scrub your hands).
> 
> Or you could just treat all of your rats for mites.


Yeah they phoned me back and told me I can pick him up tomorrow but take him back in Wednesday next week (my birthday  ) for 1 more lot of treatment because there might be some eggs left. 
I can't keep him in another building but I've now got a spare room because my sister's moved out so I've moved his cage in there ready for him to go in to tomorrow. 
Sounds funny but I was going to cut up a rubbish bag and wear it over my clothes when dealing with him so the mites can't get on my clothes and then I'll spray bleach on my hands then wash them with soap just to be sure I'm not spreading anything.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

Ratnamedbuddy said:


> I'll spray bleach on my hands then wash them with soap just to be sure I'm not spreading anything.


Bleach on your hands? I think a good soap and warm water is enough. You can hurt your skin. 

I hope everything works out despite the slow/ bad communication.


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## Ratnamedbuddy (Jan 10, 2017)

Kelsbels said:


> Ratnamedbuddy said:
> 
> 
> > I'll spray bleach on my hands then wash them with soap just to be sure I'm not spreading anything.
> ...



I'm hairdresser, I'm use to having hair bleach on my hands so it's fine. 
And unfortunately not. They're saying I can collect him now on my birthday next week. 
It's actually kind of stressing me out. I want to help this poor little ratty, make the rest of his life happy and full of cuddles cause he was found as a stray, but all this lack of communication make me think "is it worth it?" 
I've been through something this before but sadly the people messed me around to much and didn't communicate and sadly the rat ended up dying of loneliness. That was from a pet shop though not the animal shelter


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

I would say just be patient. Next week isn't that far away and the less time he spends in your home while being treated for mites the better. If it were me, I would have requested that they keep him for a couple weeks while treating him, anyway.

Plus, now he'll be a birthday present to you!


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## Ratnamedbuddy (Jan 10, 2017)

CorbinDallasMyMan said:


> I would say just be patient. Next week isn't that far away and the less time he spends in your home while being treated for mites the better. If it were me, I would have requested that they keep him for a couple weeks while treating him, anyway.
> 
> Plus, now he'll be a birthday present to you!


I did keep trying to ask them to keep him longer but the woman got so angry at me down the phone yesterday I agreed to it, but my lift let me down so I had to ring again which is why they agreed to next week. She didn't understand that I wanted to wait for the final treatment because one of mine has just been nurtured due to a lump and I wanted to give him time heal before bring another one in the house especially if he had mites. 

I thought they were not going to let me have him after that tbh but the first two times they were the ones who said I couldn't take him home.

Do you think getting the train with him will be okay if I put him in a bag while he's in the carry cage? Can't get a lift on my birthday haha 
But yeah he's my birthday present to me from me


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