I'm not entirely new to owning rats(I helped take care of 7 around 8 years ago), but this is the first one in a long time(plan on getting another buddy for him ASAP). I searched for quite a while for a local breeder and even called a locally owned pet store(non-chain) with no luck in finding "locally" bred rats( I prefer breeders due to bad experiences with chain stores, most notably petco). I ended up resorting to Petsmart since the local pet store told me on the phone that their rats were not locally bred either(and look miserable from what I saw last time I was in the store). I ended up calling Petsmart to get more info on their rats.
The lady at Petsmart told me they had 1 rat(even though they should be sold in pairs) and that he had just got back from a local vet. I proceeded to ask her what the problem was and her response was that the rat had a testicle he had retracted into himself. She told me they were worried when discovering it(to my surprise) and immediately took him there. She claimed this was normal and that the vet said he shouldn't be neutered(and that he had no other illness). I ended up buying the rat saving him from loneliness, trusting what she had said.
After researching more out of curiosity I discovered that this could be potentially cancerous to the rat(some sources say it's a defense mechanism some say it's abnormal). I'm just wondering if this is something serious, or if the vet that they allegedly took him to(they said I could call and verify) was right and it is quite normal. My girlfriend is planning to pick out the 2nd rat as I'm very aware that they NEED to be in pairs(the lady at Petsmart said they would have more rats in-stock within a few weeks).
I know that getting rats from big chain stores is almost always a bad idea but after moving back down south(AL) there are not many places to choose from(when I had the other rats years ago, I lived up north and there were more local places/breeders to choose from) and the breeders down here are like 5 hours away.
Any help/advice would be much appreciated. Glad to be an active member as well
The lady at Petsmart told me they had 1 rat(even though they should be sold in pairs) and that he had just got back from a local vet. I proceeded to ask her what the problem was and her response was that the rat had a testicle he had retracted into himself. She told me they were worried when discovering it(to my surprise) and immediately took him there. She claimed this was normal and that the vet said he shouldn't be neutered(and that he had no other illness). I ended up buying the rat saving him from loneliness, trusting what she had said.
After researching more out of curiosity I discovered that this could be potentially cancerous to the rat(some sources say it's a defense mechanism some say it's abnormal). I'm just wondering if this is something serious, or if the vet that they allegedly took him to(they said I could call and verify) was right and it is quite normal. My girlfriend is planning to pick out the 2nd rat as I'm very aware that they NEED to be in pairs(the lady at Petsmart said they would have more rats in-stock within a few weeks).
I know that getting rats from big chain stores is almost always a bad idea but after moving back down south(AL) there are not many places to choose from(when I had the other rats years ago, I lived up north and there were more local places/breeders to choose from) and the breeders down here are like 5 hours away.
Any help/advice would be much appreciated. Glad to be an active member as well