My rat rescue...

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Ratlova30

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Thanks for the comments, a lot of females in particular are bred with the health problem and so a lot of them get mammary tumors. The only way to prevent it is to get them fixed which is quite costly. Weedcali, I don't know the number of the cage I have but I know it's the Martins skyscraper cage. Titan is a very sweet guy, he'll probably be getting moved to crosbys old cage today.

Next I have Mariah(Lilac Dumbo) and Norway(Black hooded), they were given to me because their owner was moving across the country. Their previous owner worked in a pet shop which is how she ended up with these two beauties. She had gotten Norway first and Mariah had come in as a feeder, extremely under weight and most of her hair gone, she did her best to nurse Mariah back to health and took her home. When I got Mariah this girl was in tough shape, I don't blame her owner she did what she could do. However both Mariah and Norway have Upper Respiratory infection which is common in a lot of feeders. Mariah had 80% hair loss and her hips were messed up. Mariah also had mites, which is caused from her low immune system which in turn resulted in her hair loss. So the first thing I did was get them on a good diet and since they've gained weight. Gaining weight seems to have helped Mariahs hips, granted I don't know what is wrong with them they kind or bow out(hard to explain). They don't seem to hurt her but we'll see if she developes arthritis with age. There's nothing you can do for URI unfortunately. For her hair loss she has to get a bi-weeking injection of Ivermectin. it boosts the immune system which gets rid of the mites. Mariah now has a full coat of hair. It was interesting to see her hair come in cause I would have never guessed her to have a white belly and a white spot on her head.

I love these girls a lot, they're never interested in me only what I have to offer them;) but their fun to have and they drive the boys wild. They will be moving into Titans cage once he moves and hopefully they can spend the rest of their lives in that cage but it depends on how Mariahs hips are.

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WeedCali

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It is a shame that many rats have bad genetics. ive always had pet store rats because theres never any breeders around me.
 

Ratlova30

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I have "breeders" around me, although I don't consider them a real legit breeder because they charge $20 per rat, don't have a complete history of their parents, grandparents and so on, and are not pedigreed which tells me their not looking to breed the healthiest rats possible their looking to make a profit. I wish people who buys these rats would get educated and realize what their supporting, and realize they they could probably get the same poor quality rats and the pet store for just a few dollars.
 

Fishfriend1

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Titan looks like he had a nice life with you. I like what your doing, but have never been a big fan of rats (i saw one of those naked ones when i was like 5 and it bit me and i have never really gotten over it) but i do think that even rodents deserve a nice home and a good life. Good Luck with what ur doing!
 

Ratlova30

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Thanks fishfriend, rats are not for everyone and there's no shame in that. I have a low tolerance in mice, yes I know weird. I think mainly it has to do when I was in high school. I used to breed rats and mice for my teachers snake. Her classroom was a small building outside the main school and she had three separate rooms that were attached to the main classroom. We kept the rats in the main part of the classroom but the mice got their own special room due to their stench. Mice urine is absolutely a pungent smell, and even after just cleaning the cages the next day their was that horrible smell again. Male rats have a musky smell but it's easily controlled. The students gave me the nickname of the baby killer because I was the one that fed the snakes. So I guess the smell of mouse urine is why I do not like them and the only mice that have come into my house were frozen and shrink wrapped.

So due to Titans health failing he got moved to crosby's old 20gal long and the Norway and Mariah were moved to Titans huge cage(which they went bonkers over, they love it) I decided to put up my ad again stating that I can take in more rats at this time and this is the email that I received:

"Hi, my names Ashley i'm 15 years old and i live in puyallup... due to my dad not wanting my 10 female rats anymore i only have till thursday to get rid of them :( i love them but he said i cant keep them anymore, their are 3 adult females Emma , Pixie (double rex/patchwork), and Annebelle, and then the 7 babies from emmas oops litter born on april 12th, i have a huge homemade cage they come with , its 6 ft tall split into two levels like a martins, 2ft wide, 3 ft across, and the bottom has a made lilnolleum try to keep litter in, i love my rats but my dad is only allowing me to keep my two adult males... :( i have tried finding rescues and homes but i cant, ... its coming to close to the deadline i dont want them to end up as snake food or in the pet store, my rats are all very loving and love being talked to and tooken out for playtime. Ok i will attach photos of their cage and also, of some of them as babies and the adults. Also, i will include their hammocks , and their toys. I also, if you want will make more stuff for them for you to keep , if that will help :). i also, attached a pic of the cage it isnt thast good but it shows what it looks like :)"

And here is my reaction to the email:

:jaw:

So... I'm a little shocked as to what has been asked of me. I was expecting a max of three rats and I'm being asked to take ten and this is how I feel::barf:
So here's the problem I am facing at the moment, putting aside my own shocked, so overwhelmed I want to puke, beating my head against the wall because I'm actually considering doing this feeling... I share a home with my mother. We decided to live together because neither of us wanted to live alone and her health is failing. Not to mention she's my best friend:rolleyes:. My mother already thinks I psychotic for having 11+(never can keep count anymore)aquariums with the intention of getting more but also my small rat rescue, I've never gone above 8 rats at a time(avoiding that overwhelming feeling I get) and I have 5 rats now. To jump from 5(soon to be 4) to 15 is extreme even for me, and this is how I think my mother reaction will be when I break the news :angryfire::angryfire::angryfire::angryfire::hitting::nilly::wall::cry::duh::rofl:

What would you do guys?
 
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Ratlova30

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Thanks for the input guys...or not:(....so to update myself:) I snapped some pics of Titan in his new home. I figured it was time after he attempted to climb out the door of his cage but couldn't. I tried to to snap some pics of the girls in their new cage but when I turned on my camera the lens wouldn't zoom out, therefor it wouldn't allow me to take a picture so my camera appears to be broken and I want to cry:cry: so I guess I'll call HP tomorrow and see if there's anything they'll do because at the moment my cash flow is at a stand still. Anyways I attached pics of Titan in his new cage.

Next order of business, I decided to agree to take in all ten rats after I did a little of this :barf: and a little of this:nilly: and my mother did a little of this:cry: I sent the email giving the A.O.K and I spent the rest of the night getting ready for the new arrivals which consisted of rearranging the fish/rat room and examining my supply of rat food. Two weeks ago someone graciously donated 25lbs of rat blocks which I was very very thankful for and looking at that bag of rat blocks made me think of how quickly it will be eaten with 15 hungry hungry eat you out of house and home mouths. The way I feed my rats will have to change for sure. Fortunately I use paper shreds in most of my cages so that won't hurt the pocketbook as far as bedding goes. D*mn my mother for letting me do whatever I wanted when I was a kid:popcorn: just look at what I have gotten myself into...

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user_name

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dude those rats are pretty cool looking. A few years ago I had a pet mouse and it was the best pet i've ever had.... For example, he would escape his cage and take pleasure in trying to "cuddle" with me. God only knows how that guys survived....
 

Ratlova30

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dude those rats are pretty cool looking. A few years ago I had a pet mouse and it was the best pet i've ever had.... For example, he would escape his cage and take pleasure in trying to "cuddle" with me. God only knows how that guys survived....
Thanks User_name, they are very beautiful rats. Out of the ten:headshake2: rats that will be dropped off tomorrow, one is a double rex patchwork rat(The hair grows so curly that it breaks off making her hairless) and one of them is a black berkshire. The rest will be black hooded, black hooded barebacks and black hooded broken backs. Maybe I'll try and take pics with my phone.
 

Fishfriend1

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Good Luck with them!
 

Ratlova30

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