Behaviour and Pet Store Rats

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I thought I would put in my two cents. :)

Even though my experience is very limited and was awhile ago...
I had a rat when I was in college, Winston.

Winston was a feeder rat. He was a sweet soft baby albino when I brought him home at about 4 weeks old.
There was a tank full of little ones and the clerk just grabbed one and put it in a box for me.
I was told he had never been handled.

This was about 15 years ago.
I now realize the petstore I got him from was really not a good place. They kept all the small critters in small aquariums and it smelled so bad.
The staff also had no idea what they were doing and convinced me that I should only get one rat or it would not be friendly.
(I still think about Winston never having another rattie friend, I am sure he would have been such a great buddy)
But it was the only one in our small town and it did not really occur to me at the time how wrong it was. :sad3:
It was actually closed down a few years later b/c of complaints

Anyway Winston was an amazing rat. He was never scared or shy. He walked right out of his box when we got home, a tiny little thing. :D
He was an adventurous, curios and cuddly boy. he just loved life and made everybody (that wasn't scared of him) happy. :giggle:
He loved people and was so smart. We pretty much kept his cage open when we were home and he would come and go as he pleased.
He mostly took "treasures" back to his cage and cuddled with us, then would go back into his cage on his own for bedtime.
He lived to be about 2 and a half years old with no health problems. He went to sleep one night and just did not wake up.

I am adopting two little boys from a breeder in the next couple of weeks and I can only hope that they will have a personality similar to Winston's.

So although I would not get another rat from a petstore, I do agree that a lot of it has to do with the rats own personality.
 
I usually shop at a store that does not sell rats.

At Petco, I pity the 3 pound rats in there 5 gallon tanks, but they gross me out. They are so depressed, it seems they have given up.

At Petsmart, the rats are in okay condition. They're cute and active, but I can't help but to think about snake food.
 
Ditto, I try to shop only at stores that don't sell animals at all. Otherwise I sit and am saddened by their poor little faces. I would love to take them all home, but I know better than anybody that if you take in a horde of animals, all you have is a full house and a waiting list to get in. From a rescue standpoint, it saddens me when people "save" the animal from the pet store because the animals with us are "safe", because I know that we always have a list of animals to take in that are not safe, and until someone adopts, we can't go and save those other animals.
 
Actually, the store I go to sells animals, but she doesn't sell live rats or mice because she does not want them to be sold as snake food.
 
My rats are from across the board. My Vixey (who recently passed) was from a breeder, and when I got her home she was afraid of the world...but she came around really quickly and ended up being one of my favorite rats. Currently I have 3 girls from pet stores, Suri, Teddy, and Minnie.

Minnie is an absolute brat, she will attack anything too close to the cage, she might even attack my hand if I put it too close to her outside the cage. She is the hardest rat to deal with right now, she will not be picked up and if you do she squeaks like your killing her...and she is in perfect health...I just think she needs more socialization

Suri is a sweet heart, she doesn't really like being held she would rather just run around...but she loves coming out of her cage and she loves sitting on my shoulder.

Teddy is just a big squishy. He isn't too into being cuddled but when you pick him up he is rather squishy...then he squirms to get away so he can play. But he will follow your feet around a room, and he likes to be where ever you are.

I have 5 rats from breeders. One was just doing it for fun, and although I should have known better the babies were just too cute to pass up, from her I got Blue and Cotton. These two girls are very curious but can be rather shy as well. Not very cuddly.

Then I just got Casper, he is a doll once you get him out of his cage...but so far for me he seems to be cage aggressive, which I did not expect.

Rhys was from the same breeder as Vixey, he is a sweet boy. But with him only having one eye he doesn't see very well so he startles easily. When out he rubs up against you, its the cutest thing EVER!

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture...ALL rats are different. But I can say that so far my most difficult rats have been from pet stores...that just may be a coincendence.
 
There was a breeder in my area, I took in 2 males, and my sister took in 2 males, all four were extremely aggressive. Fortunately, a neuter turned them into mush.
Breeders can't guarantee the best temperament in their rats.
 
Does neutering have this effect on most rats? What other effects does it usually bring? I'm interested in getting it done for my boys when they're old enough to stop the spraying :giggle: maybe calm them down a bit, they're very active! Are there any bad side effects?

I know this is irrelevant to the topic but I didn't wanna start up a new thread :roll:
 
It makes them smell like girls. :giggle:

Otherwise, the only possibly negative side-effect of neutering that I can think of is that neutered boys will be more active and less squishy cuddly than their intact kin. They still typically end up more squishy cuddly than the girls, though.
 

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