Petsmart ratties

[Kimberly]

I know some ppl dont agree with Petstore babies, But our three boys all came from the same Petsmart.

We hadnt been able to locate any ratties at the humane society or any rescues in our area

My question~~ How can I find out where the rats come from? If I call Petsmart will they tell me??

Im not complaining one bit about our boys we are extremely happy about all 3 of them. They all have had good health Excellent Temperment and you couldnt ask for more loving ratties!!!

We had put in a special order to get Mater and waited some time to be able to get him as we wanted either a hairless or double rex. Thats why I was curious as to where the rats came from since we had to wait a while to be able to get one.

 

[Kimberly]

I just called Petsmart LOL She said they came from a Company out of Minnesota. Not from Private breeders.

So how would I find out who this place is??

 

[Vanessa]

Hi Kimberly!
Chances are that you won't be able to locate the breeding facility. Most that supply the large chain pet stores keep things under wraps pretty tightly.
It would raise a red flag for me if the pet store does not give that information to you freely. If there was nothing to hide or be afraid of, then PetSmart should be forthcoming with that information immediately. It is not like they would lose any business by telling you the information because breeders of that size would probably not sell to the general public.
The staff at PetSmart have that information, or can easily come up with it for you. The fact that they are not seems suspicious. You might not really want to end up knowing.
Or it could be that they are suspicious of you for asking. PETA recently exposed some of the worst small animal abuse and neglect ever at three PetSmart locations in the US (you can visit their website and see the results of their undercover investigation), so PetSmart employees have more than likely been told to keep their mouths shut at all costs.
I've seen pictures of a high volume breeding facility, and it wasn't pretty for those animals. They were packed into plastic drawers with not enough food or water and no enrichment at all. The reason the pictures were posted was that the breeder was under investigation for animal cruelty.
Often small animals will come from mill type facilities, just like cats and dogs. You just don't really hear about it that often because the emphasis is always placed on puppy and kitten mills.

 

[Kimberly]

That is so sad Im happy to have our boys and to see how happy they are and not to mention how spoiled.

 

[jorats]

In Ontario, we can always tell when there's a Petsmart rat. They all look alike and they all come from the same mill.

I have/had two Petsmart girls. Sweet, gentle, loving little girls. I just lost my Tresor, she was 28 months old and her sister is still alive at 29 months old. Neela is sick and has been sick for a very long time but Tresor was never sick until a few days before leaving me.

 

[Moon]

My first two girls (I am not counting the rats I had when I was quite young) were both from PetSmart. Maggie recently left us at 20-21 months. Emma is going strong but does have a growth on her neck.

Jo is right... the rats from Petsmart here are all pretty typical... they seem to range from agoutie hoods-beige hoods, with the occasional merle hooded thrown in. (at least, this is what I've noticed) Plus, they seem to be on the smaller side. I've never seen anything *particularly* fancy at my Petsmart. Although they always have skinny pigs... :?

 

[Lise]

They probably come from huge mills that usually supply the company with all of the rodents (hamsters, mice, rats, gerbils) etc. In some cases the same companies supply the frozen rats and mice as well.

I have gotten a (stupid) Petcetera employee to give me the name of the supplier they use in the past. However the companies most times are kept well under wraps as someone else said, so even if you know the name I found it doesn't help to get any more information.

 

[lilspaz68]

Petsmarts in Ontario had lots of pretty blazed rats. But I guess the MC dug into their profit margins so now its pearl merles.

Years ago my lovely Loca just before she left me. Loca got old and had a URI. But I didn't have an exotic vet at that time.

And not that long ago, Freya and Loki. Freya had a tumour removed and then was pts when 3 months later I came home to her rolling. The vet told me the benign tumour has mestasized to her brain (now I know it could've been treated) . Loki had a stroke and when weaning her off the prednisone starting having seizures that became more and more frequent until I had her pts at 27 months.

 

[mamarat]

I, too, have lots of beautiful ladies from our Petsmart. Although most are rescues I still have 3 oldies (28 months) from the original 4 Umpa harem.

 

[Shelley]

So far I've only gotten one Petsmart rat.. she is about 2 years old right now and has been surprisingly healthy. She still runs around and plays with the kids of the cage.. you really can't tell her age I think getting one from a store is really a game of chance.. you just never know. My first two rats came from a feeder tank in a store.. one died at about a year old, but the other lived to be over 2 years. My other two store rats I got shortly after the original two, lived to be 26 months and about 30 months. My oldest rat right now is Maurice, who came to me from a rescue in London, ON. He is 33 months old right now.

 

[Cait]

Hey Kim!!

What part of Iowa are you in? The ARL *usually* has rats, and usually a surplus. Lately there hasn't been though, though lots of gerbils and guinea pigs.

I also foster rats (well not for the next year as I'm in the dorms...). I know of 2 other people who rescue and foster as well.

So, in the future, there are options other than Petsmart. Which one did you go to?

 

[Kimberly]

We go to the Petsmart in Sioux City, as we live about 30 miles north of there

 

[SoA]

Years ago, I had a couple Petsmart rats - Morgan & Gabriel. Gabriel always had breathing problems, and died way too young. Morgan developed a huge tumor on his shoulder that was hard as a rock. It grew very fast and he had to be put down. No vet I went to wanted to remove the tumor. It wouldn't budge at all - it literally was hard as stone, almost like bone.

Aren't there rescues/shelters in your area? Homeless ratties you can take in? :?

 

[Kimberly]

None that I have been able to find. We are like in the middle of no where literally!! The closest towns to us are 30 mile drives either way we go. And absolutly no kind of pet stores in our town. Only a walmart and some grocery stores and blue bunny LOL


If I could find a rescue I would love to adopt a hairless boy. I have a thing for hairless ratties they just melt my heart!!!!


My location is Le Mars , Iowa which is close to the S. Dakota & Nebraska border. But anything within those 2 states would be a few hours drive I imagine for us. I do know Omaha is like 3 hours south of us. Minnesota border is like 2.5 hours north of us.


I even had checked through our local humane society which said they didnt have rats at that time and barely got any in