New little familymember!

Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
Advertise with us
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
N

Nici

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
82
Location
The Netherlands
So my mom and I went to the petstore today, and you all know what is most likely to happen when you enter a petstore who sell fuzzies, right? :lol:

I totally fell in love with a little black ratty. :heart: She kept licking my fingers and hand, but she ran away when you tried to pick her up or jumped out of your hand. But kept comming back after that. xD Sooo when I was finally able to pick her up properly, she stayed in my hand, licking :lol:

Video of me with her at the petstore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoPeSkNvv9U

Photos:
dsc00002fc5.jpg

dsc00001zs0.jpg


The introduction with the other 7 girls went great, just a few curious sniffs and such. I've never had problems with introducing a new rat to the group before, so I didn't really expect any problems either =)

I usually give my new rat(s) a name after getting to know their personality a bit better, but any name suggestions are welcome!
 
To be honest I never really heard of quarantine until I signed up for this site.

And I'm pretty sure it's not on any dutch rat sites either.. so I guess it's not really common to do here, but I could be wrong. I've been having rats for years in a row and I never had any problems not doing quarantine, none of my rats has ever goitten sick becausw of it. And (dutch) people I know who have been having rats for a long time never do that either. :?
 
No we dont do quarantine. well, some do but i get my guys from shelters, and if there is a virus or something i cant even get rats so i dont worry about an virus or something. If i would find a rat on the streets, i will take it apart from the rest for a week or 2. But thankgod i never found one. (only wild rats by the water :wink: )

But in the Netherlands, most ppl who go to rat forums, know about the horrible breeders who sell there rats to a petstore. so my question is; Why did you get your rat from a petstore??

See; http://www.jorats.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2113

We have loads of shelters and rattery's here, maybe next time get your rattie there.

A site for pet names; http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names.htm
 
Yeah I know, I read that topic aswell.
Well partly just because you have the feeling that you atleast 'saved' one rattie. And the local petstore here treats their animals quite well, the cages are always clean, the rats (and other animals) seem happy enough and aren't under bad conditions, and people can pet and pick up the animals and such if they want to so they can get used to humans a little. Even though I know it's still wrong to buy one at the pet store. And we've looked through a lot of rattery sites a lot of times when we wanted a new rat, or 2. And all we got was 'no rats available at the moment' and a rattery who did have rats for sale was like a 3 'til 4 hour drive from here.
 
Yeah so? That a store has clean cages and stuff doesnt mean you dont support the bad breeders AKA broodfokkers! And 4 hour drive? Whats wrong with that... Almost all my rats are from places far away. Thats no excuse. That only means your to lazy to spend a day to get a rat. And lots of people are willing to bring the rat closer to youre home, so you dont have to drive that far. And a rattery doesnt always have rats no, (thankgod they dont) thats why you come on a list if they think youre worthy enough to get rats from them. So you have to wait a while. If you cant wait; There are so many rats in shelters atm, that the shelters ask people if they have some place for a few rats because all there cages are full! Lots of baby rats atm at ratjetoe.
Getting rats from a store is not done, no matter what your excuse is.
Saving 1 rat, means another rat is taking his/her place. Do you wish that for that other rat? I know its tough not to fall for those poor creatures, thats why i never look at the animal corner in pet stores, although i hardly come there anyway. If you dont look, you dont get the urgent need to 'save' them.

Anyway, i hope youre happy with your rat, and NEVER buy a rat(or other animal) from a pet store again.
did you find a name already? the link a gave you has thousands of names, there must be a nice name between it. :)
 
I can understand not being able to travel. Not everyone can travel far.

For me, I don't go into pet stores where I think I may be tempted. I also try not to buy too much from stores that sell live animals either.
 
Well that depends on what is far. With 3/3,5 hours youre on the other side of the country so,a rattie never cant be very far. ;)
and most people are willing to drive for ya, because its such a small country, its very rare not be able to get a rat. if you really want it, there is a way.
 
I do fully understand what you mean and I agree with most things too. Already explained the whole thing a few times to my mom aswell. I'm not using anything as an excuse for it. And the travel thing isn't that much of a problem, 'cause my mom and I go to citys who are like 2 hours away often enough. We drove a few hours to pick up 2 rats from people who had little rats. And we've had some shelter rats before too. And we go to the IRF club day every year since they have replacable rats there aswell. So we're certainly not lazy to get rats from a place who is far away and spend a day on it. And thank you, we are happy with her. :) No I haven't got a name yet but I'm on it
 
:congrats2: on your new sweetie pie.
I watched the video and I can see why you couldn't resist getting a little rat that readily gives kisses like that. Looks like you two bonded right away. :kisses:

That is why I try not to pick up the rats when I go into a pet store. The resistance is just to great once it's in your arms and the rat's personality is so special and friendly. All I have to do is think of all the other ratties in shelters or in classifieds that need a second chance and home. :sad-p: But that is my personal opinion. :laugh2:

I hope your little sweetheart brings much joy into your life. She's one lucky rat! :cookie1:
 
jorats said:
Oh ya, I forgot!! lol, if I want to reach the other side of my country, it would take several days.
Click to expand...
:lol: I can understand that that's a bit to far yeah. LOL
I guess you don't have to travel THAT far to get a rat. :eek: ;)


I'm glad you understand me Nici, And i know its tough to let the poor rats stay in the petstore. But since you know that there are way more & better ways to get a rat, i hope you think twice before get a pet shop rat. But offcourse, i only can tell you why i think you should'nt do it, and its always your own choice to support a bad breeder and the pet store, or not. :)
 
You have a stop at her place then? I always drink some tea and have a talk with the ppl of the shelter. 3 hour drive & immediate getting the rat and go home is a bit to much for me also. Mosly i go by train, if my guy isnt at home (hes the one with the driver licence ;)) I think 4,5 hour drive and then 4,5 back is long enough yes. You do more traveling then me. ;) Mostly i go to places that are 1 a 1,5 hours away. There are the most shelters. :mrgreen:

and im sorry, im stealing a topic here. :oops:
:threadjacked:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top