Can I bypass quarantine for new rat by taking him to vet?

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Cricketnbowie

Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
14
Location
Kentucky
After losing my Cricket this weekend I’ve been desperately looking to adopt another boy to keep his brother healthy. Chowder hasn’t been eating much and has been trying to chew out of his cage since his brother passed despite me giving him plenty of enrichment and free roam, so I think he really needs a new buddy. I found a 1.5 year old for adoption, which is perfect since he’s right around Chowder’s age and hopefully they will grow old together and pass around the same time (seriously, I love having these little guys in my life but it’s become far too heartbreaking to love and lose them).

As I understand it this new guy is coming from a hoarder situation and was living in a mischief of 7+ rats. The lady who runs the rescue is fine adopting him out alone because she doesn’t expect anyone to adopt the whole mischief and just really wants him to have a nice home. However, I would hate for him and my guy to be alone any longer. I usually quarantine a new rat for two weeks, but if I take him to the vet for a checkup before beginning introductions can we bypass the quarantine period?

Thanks for any advice. He’s a cutie that I will name Mochi :)

We are in Kentucky if that changes anything due to the virus that’s been going around in other states
 
My understanding of quarantining is that it allows you time to observe your rats' health over a period of time so you can catch illnesses and/or parasites that are not necessarily apparent at the time of purchase/adoption. If the new guy is carrying something nasty but is asymptomatic, a vet won't likely see it.

Being that vets are trained to catch stuff that we might miss, an exam might lessen your risks but probably wouldn't be a full replacement for a quarantine.
 
My understanding of quarantining is that it allows you time to observe your rats' health over a period of time so you can catch illnesses and/or parasites that are not necessarily apparent at the time of purchase/adoption. If the new guy is carrying something nasty but is asymptomatic, a vet won't likely see it.

Being that vets are trained to catch stuff that we might miss, an exam might lessen your risks but probably wouldn't be a full replacement for a quarantine.

Got it! I guess I will just prepare for a quarantine. Thank you
 
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