My rat rescue...

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Ratlova30

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Apr 2, 2010
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I thought I'd share with you all something I'm very passionate about. I have a small rat rescue that I started a few years ago before I got involved with fish and even though my hobby for fish keeping flourished my rat rescue still comes first as to what I'm most focused on. On occasion I will take in a non-rat critter but not often. I started the rescue because I noticed a lot of people having trouble placing their adult rats, particularly black hooded and albinos due to how widely available they are and because most of them came from pet stores meant that most of them have health problems.

So... that's when the rescue started. I operate in a somewhat different manner than most rescues. I don't adopt them back out once their in my care, rats have a short enough life span as is and the last thing they need (especially since I get most during the last year of their lifespan) is to be tossed around from home to home. So they spend the last of their days with me. The other thing that I do differently is any animals must come with their own cage and supplies needed to care for them.

Anyways I won't unload all my rescues on you at once but I thought I'd share a hamster I picked up tonight. I don't really have the space for another hammie but he was rescued from someone else and needed a place ASAP.

So this is Crosby, pretty sure he's a Teddy Bear hamster but please correct me if I'm wrong. Hamsters are not in my area of expertise. Somebody was trying to sell Crosby at a garage sale. The person I got Crosby from said the guy said she could have the hamster for free if she just would take him and so she took him. She said he was in a disgusting cage. Supposedly when she got him home she said he had a limp and what looks to be a cigarette burn on his side. She said he screamed if you tried to pick him up. After a month of having him she couldn't keep him any longer and that's when she contacted me. I just picked him up not too long ago and he does have a very suspicious burn looking mark on his side. He's a very alert and active hammie but he will not allow me to pick him up. There's some before of after of him and his cage. He had to be moved to a smaller cage for space reasons but he doesn't seem to mind now that he has wheel.

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Taysius

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Nov 10, 2009
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Thank you! I've always had a passion for rodents and similar critters so it's nice to see someone taking care of the ones who need it. I can't have any of my own currently since my dachshund obsesses and would tear the house up trying to get to one.

Can't wait to see pics of the rats.
 

H2Ogal

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Mar 16, 2010
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Crosby looks pretty happy on that wheel. It's very nice of you (and your dog) to take care of the critters. :)
 

flossyfloofloo

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awsome we too rescue rats in england .

nice to know some ppl out there actually care for these guys .

we currently have 22 (3 new today) and of these 5 of the are high strung when it comes to other rats but the love ppl cuddles and fusses.
 

SubRosa

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Jul 3, 2009
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Rats are the most underrated pet around! I've been in the pet biz a long time and I can honestly say that I've never been bitten by a rat where I didn't completely deserve it, usually in the process of killing them for snake food. I can't say the same for mice, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs or any other furry little critter I've dealt with. If rats had a longer lifespan they'd be even better!
 

laurenrocksth

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:)
 

Ratlova30

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Thanks for the comments guys. Rats are very smart and misunderstood animals which is why I fell in love with them. Taysius, my four dogs have a high prey drive also, it takes a lot of training but eventually my dogs learned their boundaries. My lab/dane used to be overly curious, he's still curious at first but not as bad as he used to be. A couple years ago I decided to let him sniff one of the rat cages and one of my rats reached out and grabbed his nostril and wouldn't let go. That freaked him out pretty bad and since he doesn't like to go near open wire cages:rolleyes: In the end I usually just let the rats have their way with my dogs if their not keeping their distance from the cages.:grinyes:

Okay so this is Titan, thought I'd post him next since he doesn't has have much time left in the world. He's a 3 year old lilac dumbo. He came from a breeder who adopted him and his brother out to a family and then a year and a half later they returned him and his brother to the breeder. The breeder didn't want them so she contacted me. Titan is one of my favorite rats, he wasn't too interested in me before his brother died of old age but once his brother was gone he became one of the more needy rats that I had. He's a sweet heart and usually got what he wanted. All the other rats would only get a sugary treat after a cage cleaning and all he had to do was stick his head in the corner of the cage and reach out and beg and I succumbed to his cuteness every time. Titans getting very old now and I chose not to take current pics of him because quite frankly he's not looking to pretty. He's lost most of his fat and muscle mass. But here's some pics when he was a gorgeous husky male. There's a pic of his current cage but he's going to be moved to crosby old tank soon. I can't run the risk of him walking up those ramps anymore due to how unbalanced he is.

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WeedCali

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Is that a Martins R-695 with the old school small doors? lol i got one but its got the massive 14" doors :p

Ive owned rats for most of my life. and dumbos are especially my favorite. my two little girls i have now are the great grandchildren of my first dumbo who had to be PTS earlier this year.

I admire what your doing :)
 

Diann62

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My kids have always owned rats. They are gorgeous pets. Ours unfortunately seemed to get cancer. We'd have the tumors removed (by the vet) but then they'd come back so eventually we had to put them down. People thought we were nuts to put down a rat, but they were the sweetest most gentle pets we owned. We had a few hamsters but the rats were the favourites. My kids are grown so we stick with dogs now.
 
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