Does anyone here take their rats to show?

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K

Kaat

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I want to take my ratties to show however when looking over the score sheet you get heavily marked down for "fear" and according to them "fear" would be anything from urinating/deficating/ to squealing/attacking. I havent been to a show yet, but I assume there is a good majority of people, loud noises, bright lighting....how would you go about training your rat for the show life? I can handle them all day long and they are wonderful, but thats not the same as the all the stimulation of going to a show. Any tips?
 
I guess my tip would be to expose them to the bright lights and noises and see if you get her friends and family who don’t know them to come hold them and mess with them.
 
Hope it is ok but I am going to answer the question in your title

No, I do not
I do not expose my rats to different places where they run the risk of being exposed to airborn and often terminal rat diseases, such as SDA or Sendai Virus

My understanding after discussing shows many years ago with a rat breeder who missed rat shows : Rat shows were shut down for years because rats that went to them often caught diseases, came home and died after passing the airborn diseases on to all the other rats at home so those rats often died too. As a result, some places started having online shows where the rats did not go anywhere, and eventually people started risking the lives of their rats again by taking them to shows.

I also do not expose my rats to possibly stressful (stress can cause disease such as myco flareups) or dangerous situations.
 
Last edited:
SQ said:
Hope it is ok but I am going to answer the question in your title

No, I do not
I do not expose my rats to different places where they run the risk of being exposed to airborn and often terminal rat diseases, such as SDA or Sendai Virus

My understanding after discussing shows many years ago with a rat breeder who missed rat shows : Rat shows were shut down for years because rats that went to them often caught diseases, came home and died after passing the airborn diseases on to all the other rats at home so those rats often died too. As a result, some places started having online shows where the rats did not go anywhere, and eventually people started risking the lives of their rats again by taking them to shows.

I also do not expose my rats to possibly stressful (stress can cause disease such as myco flareups) or dangerous situations.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. Here are the bylaws for the rat show I am attending:
  • It is the will of the members not to allow breeders, exhibitors or vendors to participate in our shows who cull their animals and/or breed rats with the purpose of feeding them to another animal.
  • All rats must be pre-registered three weeks in advance. This means, pre-register any rat you MAY wish to bring for show or sale.
  • A three Week Quarantine begins at registration.
  • All rats will go through health check. None will be admitted if it is felt they may carry ANYTHING detrimental to the others - Including problems with mites, lice, skin, eyes, ears, respiratory, etc. Please DO NOT bring sick or contagious animals, there will be no safe place for them.
There is a lot in their bylaws but those are the main points regaurding prevention of spreading diseases.
 
It is good that they are taking some precautions, those will help but it is still a risk
If someone had rat that went through an outbreak, the quarantine period after all rats are ok varies according to the disease but the shortest length of time is 30 days …… however, those rats could be brought to a rat show after 14 days, so I assume that is a risk … and of course, people don't always follow rules and sometimes lie …. and people attending these events can be transmit the airborn diseases as the diseases can live in human noses
Just trying to let people know it is a risk because quarantines are not often discussed until after it is too late

Here is some info on quarantine
http://ratguide.com/health/basics/quarantine.php

Many rat owners practice a persistent quarantine as describe in the link.
Anyway, great to know that some precautions are being taken
 

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