I had a new rescue surrendered last night and I thought I would share is story. He was purchased along with a buddy from a local pet store when they were just tiny bubs. They were kept as pets for a little girl for a good year or so. Then the mom met a new boyfriend and moved in with him. The new boyfriend is terrified of the rats and is also a farmer. He told the mom that Farmers kill rats they don't keep rats as pets and banished the rats to the garage. These two boys lived in the garage up until about a month ago. One of the boys passed away from what sounds like a URI to me. The little girl got bored with the remaining boy and was not paying any attention to him. So the mom decided to surrender him over to me. His name is Whitey but I have real issues with calling him that so I have been calling him Blanco until I can figure out a name that is much more fitting for him. When I got him I had to really do a double take to make sure he was even a boy as his boy bits were sucked up so far into his body. They said the garage was heated but I am not so sure how warm it really was. Needless to say after being in my home he is starting to look a bit more like the boy rats I am used to seeing. His coat is covered in dirt and grime. Not just normal rat grime but dusty dirt like you would find in a garage. He stinks very badly. He has not been handled in about a month and is a bit skitty. But if you let him come out of the cage to you he lets you handle him just fine. He is very skinny and they were feeding him a lab block by 8 in 1 which right on the front of the box it says "CORN AND MOLASSES BLOCK" Amazingly he does not seem to have any parasites but he is getting a bath here today and treated for them just in case. He was kept on pine bedding and given string to use as bedding. No hidey home no food dish no toys no enrichment whatsoever. Just his string and a water bottle. They just put the blocks in the cage on the bedding. He has snarfed down a big bowl of ensure, baby food, suebees, and several HT blocks. He is so dirty that I am unsure what his true color is. I am guessing possibly some sort of beige but who knows. Oh and he has not let out one single sneeze since being here. OK so pictures.....
His cage that he came with:
Surprisingly it is a good size cage for 2 rats
His cage that he came with:
Surprisingly it is a good size cage for 2 rats