# Why I regret getting my rats from a pet store



## Renigaed (Jan 30, 2018)

Hi everyone, I just wanted to address some things that have bothered me and I?d like it to be a warning for other people who are considering getting rats from a pet store. I got my rats from a pet store that I work at and I got them from another store location that I didn?t directly work in. Here are the problems I?ve encountered in the 3 months that I?ve had my boys. 1. They had respiratory infections when I picked them up. I thought they just had the sneezes from the paper bedding, but by the second day that I?d had them, Monty was so bad that his sneezes were wet and it sounded like he couldn?t breathe. It was a total of $140 to get them both to the vet and to get them treated. It took 4 weeks and then they were golden. 2. My rats had mange mites. They didn?t really show any signs of mange mites until last month. I was aware of a couple red bumps on Monty?s tail and Lester?s genitals but it hadn?t occurred to me that it could be mites. It became very apparent they they had mange mites two weeks ago. They were burrowing very badly into Lester?s ear and he had very bad scabs. They both had scabs in their body from scratching and they had red bumps on both their tails and genitals by the time I?d gotten them to the vet. My vet confirmed with a skin sample that they had mange mites and eggs. That was $100 to get them to the vet and to get the medicine to treat them. It?s a very big commitment to getting rid of the mites. It takes a lot of work and you have to keep up on it. I?ve had to bake the wooden ladders in their cage for 6+ hours, freeze many of their toys, and sanitize their fleece in the washing machine and dryer hard core. This happens weekly.3. The store that I worked at didn?t give me any compensation for the rats? illness, even though it was within the 30 day health guarantee. 4. Their health problems have pretty much already cleaned out my vet money lol. What I don?t regret: I got two very loving and sweet boys and I wouldn?t want any other rats.


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## ChloeJ (Sep 27, 2017)

Whoa. I guess this shows the importance of ethical breeding right now, rats are so susceptible to illnesses and genetics certainly aren't helping them. The backyard breeding that pet store rats come out of really hurts the species as a whole. I'm sorry you had to deal with all this, but I'm happy that your rats have good personalities.


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## Renigaed (Jan 30, 2018)

It's been really rough, especially since I haven't been taking my rats out to let them run around because I don't want to risk letting the mites spread. It makes me really sad because I have to just let them crawl around on me and it's just not good enough for me  They're being treated with Revolution though so hopefully we'll be able to get back to free ranging soon.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

Oh no! What a rough beginning, I'm sorry.  At least they sound like very lovely rats! I hope they're 100% better soon.


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