The Rat Room

A small hobby rattery in southern Ontario got slightly out of hand and quickly became overwhelmed with rats. They were found out and the landlord needed them all gone. Luckily a couple of good friends of mine decided to go and check out the situation. The rats were in a horrible state. They had 29 males crammed in a wooden crate type cage and 19 females in a much too small a cage. The rats were living on pine, no food and hardly any water. Almost all the males have sores, cuts and bruises. Some are in such bad mental state, they will need a neuter to help them cope with the stress of a horrible habitat and overcrowding. I wanted to help and decided to adopt two of the males. I brought them home and when the dust settled, the true personality of Big White came through. He is one stressed boy. He puffs up like a rat in a dryer and chatters loudly. He attacks any rat that goes near him. Lucky for me, he hasn’t realized that he could hurt me too if he wanted too. He’s still scared of me which is a good thing for now. I had him with his buddy Little Mink and they seem to get along fine until we got home. Big White doesn’t really like Little Mink. So for now I’ve got the two separated until their scheduled neuters.
Big White is now named Chief. I’m guessing he’s about 6 to 8 months of age. I know his type and with a neuter, he’ll soon be jello.
Little Mink is now named Doc. He’s just a baby, about 3 to 4 months old, which breaks my heart because instead of playing and bouncing and having a great baby time, he’s just totally stressed and scared. He’s unsure of his home, unsure of other rats and very unsure of me.
It’s so easy to breed. You put rat A with rat B and make babies and money signs dance before your eyes, until you realize rats are not in demand. It takes a special person to do things right. If you really need to breed, you need patience, time and space. You need money and a good vet. You need to know your rat’s background and have full support of your family. You also must have a demand or you will be stuck with the supply. Better yet… don’t breed at all. Don’t make more of these poor rats who ultimately end up needing a forever home.

It’s going to take me lots of work, time and patience with Chief and Doc. But I know I can get them to come around and be real rats enjoying life. They’ve had a super rough start… it’s time to give them an amazing forever.

Please meet my new boys. Big White aka Chief

And sweet Little Mink aka Doc