Met the sweetest male rats today

[Little_Vixen]

Finally, after a bunch of pouting to the bf, he took me to the PetSmart to take a look at the rats there (Males because PetSmart does it by gender per store.)

I originally wanted to just oggle the ratties and actually check out the size of a single unit Critter Nation cage, they unfortunately had none at the moment.
BUT
I got to see the male sweethearts and the person who was showing me them let me in and let me hold them. After asking her a few things, I found out that these male 'fancy rats' hadn't been handled much to her knowledge and I was surprised, these rats were probably the friendliest I've ever seen, one even came up when she opened the door, though he decided he just wanted 'out' and proceeded to run around us in circles in the area *the door was closed so he couldn't get out into the store thank goodness*
I picked up one grey/white boy and after a few seconds he just snuggled into the crook of my arm, stuck his head against my sleeve, and let himself be petted, the same with Mister Runner, after we managed to catch the lil bugger.
These boys have the best temperment I've seen, they have good bedding and their cages seem to be in good working order and are just very sweet.
These rats have been so far very well taken care of, and their temperment is amazing, none attempted to bite at all. They actually all at one time or another came to the edge of the cage (not 3 inches from the ground so was safe to keep the door open) to investigate us but none nipped, nibbled, or bit.

The woman thought that they (the rats) hadn't been handled too much so that their temperment is that great is amazing, I wish I could steal them away and keep them in my pocket, even if they are petstore rats.

They had good bedding, water, an igloo, were in great temperment, didn't feel skinny or fat. What else should I look for in a petstore rat when I make my bf take me back in a few days when he returns stuff for his college? I won't be getting rats for a LONG time now because I'll be starting college in June and 'can't have any cute little distractions' as my bf put it. I hate when he's right sometimes. I do want to make sure I know what to look for in a petstore rat because I'm still looking but the shelters look like they don't house rodent exotics, at least not a lot, and again, no breeders or rescues found yet. Yet. Still working on it

 

[Rachael]

:heart:

 

[jorats]

Not too many of us will recommend buying from a pet store but rather, contact independent rat rescues. Quite a few people can do transports to bring rats into good homes. There are lots of rat rescue in America.

But... if you must buy from a pet store, look for clear eyes and nose, no sounds at all, active and friendly. Also, check the other litter mates, if one is sick then you can bet your little one will be too at some point.

 

[Rachael]

I wote a big message out but for some reason I only posted the smilie in it :/

 

[Little_Vixen]

Awww okay Rachael, I just thought you did the heart because the ratties were so sweet :heart: hehehe. They really were but Fluffy wouldn't let me steal them, just stuff 'em in my pockets and sneak 'em home. Meany Fluffy... Fluffy = bf

And it's not that I will be getting a rat from a store, it's an option and I want to be able to recognize signs in these rats to see if they are healthy and happy if this does indeed become the first place option.
And they seemed both, their coats were sleek, soft, their eyes were clear and active, they were active and extremely friendly. I didn't seen any scratches on them, heck, even all of the rats, at one time or another while the door was open, came up to the edge to say Hi, it was actually very cute (Now my bf totally understands the obsession too :wink2: He loved the little guy he was holding, curled up right on his arm to snuggle) I also posted on goosemoose and after a bit of harsh facts and going straight for:
Have you tried *this site* *this site* and *this site*?
I'd explained that I just wanted to know what to look for and that I had checked those sites.
I got some more stuff to add to what you contributed for what to look for that helped a bit.

1) no discharge from eyes/nose and is alert and active (Check)
2) no sneezing (Check)
3) actually LISTEN to its lungs and see if you hear wheezing (Check)
4) lots of scratching/itching could mean parasites (No check, none were scratching I mean)
5) feel the rat for lumps/bumps, check coat texture, eyes, flip the hair back and look at the skin/ does it look dry? scratches? black things? (Didn't flip the hair back but the coat was soft, clean, obviously groomed from his cagemates, didn't feel any bumps and he was quite a fit lil bugger)
6) ASK the worker for some info. how old are they/where did they come from? if they dont know they should find someone that does (She didn't know much and we didn't have enough time because we had to hi-tail it back home before Bf's son got home)

I do have an offer from a member on here that if she's in chicago at the time she'll go to the rescue and pick up some babes for me and drop them off (She goes through my town to get home I guess). Due to that I won't be getting rats until after my first semest in college, which starts in June(My original plan was to get them in June) and ends about november, it's going to be a while so I wanted to make sure I knew the options.

Thanks for the Info and the kinder, more polite words. *huggles all around* I'm a bit afraid of getting flamed on goosemoose now because I mentioned the possibility of getting from a petstore o.o;

 

[fenshae]

Yeah, people on Goosemoose can tend to be a bit....uh....extreme. I won't go there anymore because they're sort of rat-nazis.

I used to work for Petsmart and as far as pet stores go they are probably THE best. They actually take pretty good care of their animals -- as good of care as they can given the nature of the business -- and in my experience the associates tend to really care about the animals, or at least a lot of them do.

Sounds like you've got your list pretty much covered. Also be SURE to do a proper quarantine for new pet store rats if you have any rats already. They are probably the most likely to be carrying something nasty.

Another thought I'll toss out there, because I'm in the same boat as you with rescues (there's NOTHING in my state; there's two breeders in the state north of me and one rescue in the state west of me, but both would be well over 8 hours away) but I wanted to shy away from the pet stores -- I started doing my own "rescue work" by lurking Craigslist and Kijiji ads as well as putting out my feelers with all the shelters in the area. All of my current guys were obtained that way.

 

[Rachael]

Awww okay Rachael, I just thought you did the heart because the ratties were so sweet :heart: hehehe. They really were but Fluffy wouldn't let me steal them, just stuff 'em in my pockets and sneak 'em home. Meany Fluffy... Fluffy = bf

I did, I'd wrote more in the post, that was meant to be they sounded so adorable :thumbup:

 

[Little_Vixen]

See I'd had complaints from someone who apparently their petsmart was badly taken care of, she complained of how both of her rats died not to long after she'd gotten them and that it wasn't nice ect.

But that's a risk you run with every rat you get, via breeder, rescue, or a petstore.

There is however, an idea that I got from someone who posted on my thread. There are sometimes 'unsellable' rats, that are kept in the back because maybe they are sick, have mites, maybe cage aggression ect, that you can ask about and they'll let you adopt for I think same price as the other rats or maybe cheaper, I've yet to look into it at the store here yet.
If I can't find any breeders or rescues close enough, and I've been searching hard the past 3 weeks, (I don't really want to have people driving over state lines to give me some baby rats personally for some reason) I will check out this opportunity before any others. Besides, this petsmart, my bf has lived in TN 20 some odd years and out of all the petstores around, he says this is the best one, it has the best energy (Very friendly people) and is generally overall good. After being in there myself, I believe him.

I'm also, once I start college so I know the hrs I'd be able to work, am going to try to apply there as a animal care associate (person who feeds, cleans, cares for the animals) :dance: Though I wouldn't mind working in the grooming area either :giggle: I really do love all animals