# Rat Rescues . . .



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

Hello, this is a little bit of a rant/rave, but its also a question since I want to know why.

I've had extreme difficulty adopting from rescues. I live in Georgia (The ******* state . . .) and the only reputable rat breeder and rescue are in Atlanta, a fair 3hr+ drive from where I am. I've tried adopting from the rat rescue, but their policy was we had to drive up to do a 'meet-and-greet' on a date we couldn't negotiate with, go home while they considered, and drive back to them in order to get our rats. My transportation is extremely limited since I am 15 and, ironically, my parents have trouble finding the time to drive me to go get my learners permit.

The reason the Atlanta adoption fell through was because my dad, who is in law enforcement and works odd hours, can't just drop everything to drive to Atlanta twice. Then, to add the icing on the cake, someone else in my family wrecked and we had to be home to care for them. When everything had calmed down, I brought up the adoption and my family just looked at me and said 'no'.

Recently, about 4 months after the Atlanta adoption, I found four gorgeous boys on Petfinder and fell in love. Their page said they wouldn't adopt if you lived an hour outside of their home city, which is four hours away from us, because driving is stressful for the rats. I messaged them about adopting to me anyway because, hey, why not? And they said it was because "they don't have the necessary network of volunteers to coordinate a home check that far away." They responded to that question within hours of sending it, but when I sent a follow-up email asking if a lengthy skype interview would be an acceptable home-check and telling them we could meet them within fourty-five minutes of their base city (during our vacation, mind you), its been two days. I feel like I'm being ignored just because of where I live, and its discouraging me from trying to do the right thing and adopt from a rescue. The only place I can get rats from otherwise is Petsmart, and I recently educated myself beyond adopting from them again . . .

I apologize for the long rant. I'm just . . . really frustrated with this because I think that I could make a good rat parent to some rescues (Heck, I've had two girls for a year and they love me) but the rescues just seem not (want) to be flexible enough to work with us. 

Why is this?


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Rescues can be a real pain to work with. I heard many similar stories to yours. Why are they like that? Not all of them are, but many are. I guess the persons rescuing the rats get super attached to them and are super wary to let them go...why on earth do they need a home inspection? It doesn't make any sense. They should ask a dozen questions, yes; but a home inspection? They could ask for a picture of your cage too, that I can understand. But being all super zealous like that, and people will just buy rats instead of rescuing rats. You are 100% right to stay away from Petsmart and other stores though- no one should sponsor rat mills. That being said some rescues REALLY make it hard for some people do do the right thing. Any reputable breeders around you? Even if you need to drive a few hours it would be worth it.


----------



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

I don't know why they need a home inspection! I'd think they'd be grateful to adopt all four of the rats out to one person. And they won't respond to any of my emails anyway, so I guess its a lost cause. Here are there petfinder listings, if there's anybody who lives a little closer that feels they can adopt them . . .

https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/35056563

There is a breeder, but once again they are in Atlanta. They're called 'Phoenix Gate Rattery', I think. The only problem with them is that they won't hold rats for more than a week once they're up for adoption, once again limiting me since I can't ask my family to drop everything to drive me to Atlanta.


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

How far is Atlanta from where you live? I know some breeders will drive the rats to you or half way for a small fee so that might be an option.


----------



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

I think I exaggerated a bit. I looked it up and its about a 2 and a half hour drive to Atlanta, 5 hours there and back, which doesn't seem that bad but when you can't drive yourself its hard finding somebody willing to do it for you. If you do know any breeder in Atlanta that'll do that, I'd love to look at their listings.


----------



## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

You could keep an eye on your animal shelter, or Craig's list for a rat nearer to you.

I know of a rescue that once adopted out a rat to a couple that said they had other rats at home so they wanted to adopt only one. They said all the right things and went home with a rat. Then they emailed the owner of the rescue a video of their snake eating the newly "adopted" rat. Things like that may have made some rescues paranoid about such things. I believe that at least in some cases the home visit is to try to determine that you don't have snakes as pets. I understand your frustration and I do hope that you work something out to get what you want.


----------



## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

Well rescues have to be a bit careful and choosey to make sure all the rats they take in get set up in loving, caring forever homes. You may be awesome and honest but probably half the other people are not... Mostly they want to weed out flippers, breeders and people who are more hoarder types or cant care for their current pets. Home visits do show that. They are also usually run solely by volunteers who have to take time out of their lives too. It is also important to know that there are soooo many people who are flaky. They probably have people set up meetings with them all the time and never show up. It sucks that you have to pay for other people's bad stuff but it happens.

What part of Georgia do you live in? I know a breeder north of Atlanta in Resaca. She is awesome 
https://www.facebook.com/Fairytailsrattery/?fref=ts

Other Georgia breeders, I don't know all of these personally so I can't recommend them or not. 
https://www.facebook.com/chrm.rats/?fref=nf
https://www.facebook.com/blackdynastyrattery/
https://www.facebook.com/thewinteryratrattery/

Yes many breeders are often willing to meet you atleast part way for a fee. The breeder who will only hold a baby a week, that is pretty common. Babies cost alot of money and take up space & as I said some people can be super flaky & they will keep pushing back the pickup. But... most breeders are often willing to hold longer if you pay a fee and/or deposit. You just have to ask  But they will probably 100% want a specific date/time chosen ahead of time. I'd sit down with your parents and figure out a day(s) that they will surely be able to take you.


----------



## Sabatea (Aug 23, 2014)

I live in Georgia as well and I've tried to contact this rescue before too... They seemed like a nice one, but I've emailed them twice and it's been about 3 weeks now and I haven't gotten an email back, at all. I was trying to ask them about maybe becoming a long-term foster for a rat or two to keep one of mine company for when I put my little one down, and they never replied... I finally went through Craigslist and found a single rat to bring home and keep. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they were busy, but I dunno... Really kinda irked me that I didn't even get a single message back, I mean if they didn't want to do the fostering with me they could've just said so and I wouldn't have to waste my time waiting for a response. Oh well though... 

Sorry to hear you struggled with them a bit too...


----------



## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I definitely understand why a lot of rescues or so strict, but at the same time, some of their really picky rules make it 1000% easier for people to just turn around and spend $5 on a pair of rats from a petstore. I could understand more if the rats were special needs in some way. But I know I would be super nervous when adopting out rats too personally, but the way they're going about it is pretty deterring for people to want to go back to rescues. Usually home inspections are done by dog rescues to make sure the home and fencing is safe etc.

Do you have any small reptile shops near you? You could rescue a pair of feeders. A lot of reptile shops breed their rats on site. Usually not very carefully, but they aren't from rat mills at least. You could rescue a couple rats from being a snake's dinner. These rats would end up being sold and more bred anyway, so it's maybe a little better than supporting a pet store.

Could you try craigslist? I know a lot of people will post rats up there for free because their snake won't eat it. Or they just don't want them anymore or just need to rehome them.

I've had really frustrating interactions with a local rat rescue too who loooove to pretend to care about their rats, but as soon as the rat is off their hands, they forget their policies of health follow ups and will make it INCREDIBLY difficult to get meds for them and the care they promised during the short post-adoption period. And they have no qualms about being very rude about it and making you feel like you're the bad person in the situation.


----------



## smoteymote (May 28, 2016)

Kamira said:


> I think I exaggerated a bit. I looked it up and its about a 2 and a half hour drive to Atlanta, 5 hours there and back, which doesn't seem that bad but when you can't drive yourself its hard finding somebody willing to do it for you. If you do know any breeder in Atlanta that'll do that, I'd love to look at their listings.


Is there a friend or someone you know that would be willing to drive you? I know at that age I had a couple older friends that I could have talked into driving me! Payment was gas money and usually lunch or dinner!  

This rescue sounds really obnoxious though. I'm sorry they're giving you so much trouble!


----------



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

I understand why they're so strict, but the problem is that they're barely giving me a chance. I've sent them two emails with my phone number which have been ignored and recently messaged them on facebook and got left on 'seen 4:49PM' I'm just so frustrated with this culture right now. I understand that rescues want the absolute best for their rats, but this rescue isn't even trying to adopt theirs out. As another poster said, they're making it really easy for people to go out and buy rats for 5$. They're called 'Without Malice Animal Haven', if anybody is feeling like investigating. I don't want to buy from any pet store for any reason, since it goes to the breeder to breed more rats and though I know that snakes need to eat, I personally don't believe in feeding them live.

Smoteymote- I do have friends that drive, but we live in a small town and almost all of them are guys so my parents might think I'm trying to secretly go on a date. That's a good plan though, I think I'll ask around.


----------



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

Also, the rescue has given me two different reasons for not adopting out to me- One, they don't have the network to do the home checks. But on the adoption page the excuse they used is that travel can be stressful for rats and they don't adopt out of a 1 hour drive to minimize the stress on the animals. Is traveling for rats really that stressful? I've never heard of it before, or at least emphasized to this degree.

They did give me a response though, lets see if we can start a conversation . . .


----------



## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

I was living in Las Vegas and drove to San Diego to adopt rats. No one said anything about a 4 hour drive being stressful to them, and they both slept all the way home-one in a rat toob at the back of my neck and the other in the carry cage.


----------



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

I've gotten a response and we're moving right along, but now they're problem is that my girls are not spayed and the boys are not neutered. They would be living in a separated critter nation and I am absolutely terrified of breeding because of all the things that could go wrong . . . I know people have successfully had girls and boys in a separated critter nation and I know they can't mate through the bars . . .

I will not give up on these boys.


----------



## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Maybe the rescue can neuter them for you. Rat rescues often have reduced rates with a vet.


----------



## Kamira (Jul 15, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> Maybe the rescue can neuter them for you. Rat rescues often have reduced rates with a vet.


The rescue is very small. The person I'm talking to says that their discount vet moved away and that the one they're using now is expensive and is paid for out of pocket, which I understand. If the surgery from the vet I use is over 100$ for all four (which is a pipe dream . . .) I will not be able to afford them. But I'm also inquiring at a spay-and-neuter clinic known for targeting low-income areas, so maybe they'll cut me a nice deal. The other thing is that these boys are already a year and a half old, and I've heard elective surgeries are risky after 1 year. I also don't understand why the rescue is prompting me to neuter. The boys would be kept separate from the girls very securely and though I understand why the rescue wants them neutered, I don't understand why they're thinking up newer and newer reasons to not want to adopt to me. First it was my location, then it was they didn't believe my cage setup, and now they're worried that I'm going to throw the two genders together the first chance I get . . .


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

So... I'm pretty sure I'm too far out of the box to fill out a questionnaire, I've seen a couple and honestly couldn't fill them out with a straight face or rather fill them out with a straight face honestly. 

There are countless very fine rats that need good forever homes you can rescue without filling out forms or having your home inspected.

The rat in the following video was rescued from a feeder bin at 3 weeks old. It's pretty safe to say that all or most of her bin-mates were fed to reptiles within days of her rescue. 

https://vid.me/3edL

Fuzzy Rat very likely had hours or perhaps days to live when we found her... she lived an amazing full life as a true shoulder rat, she was the rat co-founder of immersion and she changed our lives, made hundreds of friends during her lifetime and improved the relationships that thousands of people have with their rats today... and yes through immersion was directly responsible for fixing biting rats that would otherwise have been put to sleep. 

And..... we didn't even have a cage when we adopted her... as an only rat.

I'm pretty sure no responsible rescue would have adopted a rat to us back then... but I think it worked out pretty well for Fuzzy Rat, my family and everyone who ever met her and who has benefited from her extraordinary life.

So yes, we adopt or rescue rats with nothing to lose, we give them a chance to become truly amazing and we don't fill out any questionnaires. 

Don't be discouraged if someone else doesn't find you suitable for their rats... the world is full of rats in desperate need of your love and care!


----------



## RatAtat2693 (Jan 13, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> Rescues can be a real pain to work with. I heard many similar stories to yours. Why are they like that? Not all of them are, but many are. I guess the persons rescuing the rats get super attached to them and are super wary to let them go...why on earth do they need a home inspection? It doesn't make any sense. They should ask a dozen questions, yes; but a home inspection? They could ask for a picture of your cage too, that I can understand. But being all super zealous like that, and people will just buy rats instead of rescuing rats. You are 100% right to stay away from Petsmart and other stores though- no one should sponsor rat mills. That being said some rescues REALLY make it hard for some people do do the right thing. Any reputable breeders around you? Even if you need to drive a few hours it would be worth it.


We require a background check to make sure you aren't known for animal cruelty, etc. Also makes it harder for the snake people to have snacks. When I ran my Craigslist rescue, I required an application and home inspection. However, I also brought the rats with me, so if you passed the HI, you got them that day.

Trust me, Grib, some people get attached, but I don't. I just want to make sure the animal I've poured my money into gets a good place to live. Most times you end up losing cash.


----------

