LA
Well-Known Member
We all know that Petsmart is a bad place to get rats. Rat Mills, staff that's not knowledgable, I could go on. We talk about how unhealthy these rats can be physical wise but we don't talk about behaviour too much in pet store rats. I wanted to let you know what I have gone through with Lily.
Lily as some of you know I purchased in Sudbury at PetSmart there. I fell in love with her through the window, and when the associate put her on my lap she started to brux and then climbed up on my shoulder and bruxed in my ear. I chose her then, well she actually chose me. I walked out of the store with her on my shoulder.
After that she started showing signs of low confidence, nervousness. She slinked away when you tried to pick her up. She started to panick a little when you did actually pick her up and she would run up to your shoulder and slink around your neck. She was never comfortable when you held her. Then she started to self barber. Her front arm was almost bare, and then she started in on her other one. Fortunately she hasn't gotten further then that. When I got Olivia and Pearl, Pearl tried to play with her, but you would just hear whines from her and she would run away. She is my most talkative rat and she was a sweet rat but she had what I would call a serious lack of confidence issue. So I started working with her. I would pick her up and talk to her. We spent a lot of mommy and Lily time. I would tell her I loved her and cuddle her. I would try and play with her. Every chance I got I would pay special attention to her. Eventually she came around. Now when someone picks on her she fights back. She plays with Pearl now, and man can she swing her hip. She's become a ratty-fu master. She still barbers but it's not as bad. And you can tell by her face she's more comfortable on you. She is now more daring.
Now lets talk about Willow, she's a totally different case. She is from the pet store my friends used to own. I know she was as well taken care of as they could and it definately shows. She's loveable, she loves everyone and anything. You can dangle her and she doesn't care... well until she finds something more interesting to do, then she squirms away, but the look on her face says, 'let me go, I wanna play' not 'omg I'm scared of dangling'. I can tell that Marion took good care of her despite the fact that she was alone in the cage for a while.
Now it also could be in Lily's nature that she's like this but I have talked to a friend said it's most likely the petstore. I tell people I have a rat with confidence issues and they look at me funny. But it's true.
Now this can come from anywhere but just another thing that shows that rat mills are not a good thing.
Lily as some of you know I purchased in Sudbury at PetSmart there. I fell in love with her through the window, and when the associate put her on my lap she started to brux and then climbed up on my shoulder and bruxed in my ear. I chose her then, well she actually chose me. I walked out of the store with her on my shoulder.
After that she started showing signs of low confidence, nervousness. She slinked away when you tried to pick her up. She started to panick a little when you did actually pick her up and she would run up to your shoulder and slink around your neck. She was never comfortable when you held her. Then she started to self barber. Her front arm was almost bare, and then she started in on her other one. Fortunately she hasn't gotten further then that. When I got Olivia and Pearl, Pearl tried to play with her, but you would just hear whines from her and she would run away. She is my most talkative rat and she was a sweet rat but she had what I would call a serious lack of confidence issue. So I started working with her. I would pick her up and talk to her. We spent a lot of mommy and Lily time. I would tell her I loved her and cuddle her. I would try and play with her. Every chance I got I would pay special attention to her. Eventually she came around. Now when someone picks on her she fights back. She plays with Pearl now, and man can she swing her hip. She's become a ratty-fu master. She still barbers but it's not as bad. And you can tell by her face she's more comfortable on you. She is now more daring.
Now lets talk about Willow, she's a totally different case. She is from the pet store my friends used to own. I know she was as well taken care of as they could and it definately shows. She's loveable, she loves everyone and anything. You can dangle her and she doesn't care... well until she finds something more interesting to do, then she squirms away, but the look on her face says, 'let me go, I wanna play' not 'omg I'm scared of dangling'. I can tell that Marion took good care of her despite the fact that she was alone in the cage for a while.
Now it also could be in Lily's nature that she's like this but I have talked to a friend said it's most likely the petstore. I tell people I have a rat with confidence issues and they look at me funny. But it's true.
Now this can come from anywhere but just another thing that shows that rat mills are not a good thing.
I would say a socialized rat that was cared for and had proper nutrition from birth or prior to it, etc has a greater chance at being a happy, well-adjusted rat but you just don't know.
