rat care book recommendations? (novel-esque post, sorry!)

[lansauce]

okay, so my family is currently in the process of opening up a mom n' pop pet supply store in vaughan (ontario), it's a bit of a messy situation as we were supposed to be buying the business from someone, but he kind of just walked away from the whole situation and now we're trying to get the stock from bankruptcy trustees .. but anyway, we're hoping to open by july 1st

obviously once some of the current stock is sold, we'll be ordering in new items, including pet care manuals. dog/cat/bird manuals are all covered, i have plenty of experience caring for all three. the store will not be selling live pets of any kind, but there are still enough pj's pets and petsmarts out there and i want to make sure that good, well-informed pet care information is available.

that being said, i'm still fairly new to rodents in general, my two rats are my first rodent pets ever so i don't really feel like i'm in a good position to tell what a 'good' rat care book is. does anyone have any suggestions? ideally of course i'd like to find one that discourages breeding or at least doesn't have a section on breeding at all .. i don't want to put the idea in anyone's head that they're qualified to breed their pets because they 'read allllllllll about it in this one care book' haha


edited to fix typos :emb:

 

[SQ]

the Rat Health Care book by Debbie Ducommun (just ignore the section on home euthanasia ... it is in there for emergency situations) See www.ratfanclub.org book section for info.

 

[victoria]

I agree. I know there are some people out there that don't like it at all and there is some info in it that's a bit dated but it is the best out there and it'd be better it was as available as the other crappy ones.

If you're looking for small animal supplies, you should look to see if you can get Ferplast or Savic products. They're fairly new in Canada and have some really cool products (like the Sputnik) and cages, particularly for birds and smaller rodents, and they are not widely available here.

 

[jorats]

I have yet to find a book that is suitable and accurate in rat care.
Even the magazine Critters is not that great.
The one mentioned by SQ is really the best for care.

It's absolutely wonderful that you will have a say in pet products and no live pets sold. We will certainly push your business and link you on the forum and every time someone asks.

 

[Moon]

You might be better off doing a "care sheet" for some of the smaller animals, and placing the sheets by appropriate products. I'd love stores to do this.

 

[lansauce]

SQ - i'll definitely look into that book, and see if i can get some copies for the store.

victoria - we're planning on carrying savic products (my boys love their sputnik! ) i'm not sure if ferplast has a canadian distributor, but i'll be doing some more homework and if they do, then there will definitely be ferplast products available as well

jorats - wow, thank you so much! the recommendations will be a huge help in getting the business off the ground. we still have to settle on a store name but when we do i'll be sure to let everyone know

moon - that's also an excellent idea that i hadn't thought of, and i may very well just do that! it will mean a lot more research on my part since i'm really not a rodent expert but i'd be happy to do it to ensure that people are properly informed on how to care for their pet :nod:

 

[ryelle]

the Rat Health Care book by Debbie Ducommun (just ignore the section on home euthanasia ... it is in there for emergency situations) See http://www.ratfanclub.org book section for info.

you can't really sell a book and say "ignore this bit and this bit"

people will be carry out home euthanasia after reading this book sold by Lansauce's store and thinking its fine

ETA: i agree with writing your own care sheet, getting it professionally printed and handing those out instead

 

[victoria]

the Rat Health Care book by Debbie Ducommun (just ignore the section on home euthanasia ... it is in there for emergency situations) See http://www.ratfanclub.org book section for info.

you can't really sell a book and say "ignore this bit and this bit"

people will be carry out home euthanasia after reading this book sold by Lansauce's store and thinking its fine

ETA: i agree with writing your own care sheet, getting it professionally printed and handing those out instead

A lot of people prefer a book. My husband's cousin was getting a hamster last fall and his aunt and uncle (not the girls parents) bought her a hamster book for her birthday. They would not have gotten her a care sheet but gone elsewhere to get a book if they couldn't find it at one store.

It's not perfect but it's a lot better than the others out there, many of which are routinely available at pet stores. I found the book when I first got rats, it's the reason I got my first two rats spayed and even considered that there may be rats at animal shelters. When the time came to put Buster down, I asked about the euthanasia methods described in there and my vet explained that they were very dated and not acceptable anymore. So many people already will not pay for humane euthanasia for a small animal and will use horrible methods instead, ones that are worse and more accessible than those described in the book. If people take their rats to the vet like the book suggests, they should get the same info I did.

victoria - we're planning on carrying savic products (my boys love their sputnik! ) i'm not sure if ferplast has a canadian distributor, but i'll be doing some more homework and if they do, then there will definitely be ferplast products available as well

There definitely is one because their products are available at some pet stores here. I bought an awesome hamster cage for them (Critteri 15) that I use for my my and I love. It was the last one though because they discontinued it when they found not enough people were willing to spend that much on a small animal. Like the other pet supply companies they have some unsuitable stuff, but they have some pretty decent stuff as well.

 

[ryelle]

i would prefer a book too, but i worry about the dangers of people knowing how to do "humane" euthanasia's at home

 

[SQ]

The rat health care book is an excellent book containing important information that covers a large range of rat care and health information. It is updated frequently, the info in that book isn't old and the info on how to have your rat put to sleep by a vet is good. Having said that, no book is perfect but like jorats stated, this is the best book available on rat care.

It is the short section on using CO2 at home that I and others have a problem with - it is in there for emergencies such when a rat is suffering horribly and there is no vet available or no vet willing to put the rat to sleep humanely (ie a vet that is only willing to do a heart injection on a conscious rat). You can always add a sticker to that page stating that home euthanasia is not humane or not recommended.

Care sheets are a good idea but no care sheet is going to provide the same information as a 49 page book.

 

[ryelle]

It is the short section on using CO2 at home that I and others have a problem with - it is in there for emergencies such when a rat is suffering horribly and there is no vet available or no vet willing to put the rat to sleep humanely (ie a vet that is only willing to do a heart injection on a conscious rat). You can always add a sticker to that page stating that home euthanasia is not humane or not recommended.

yeah, and i remember that guy not so long ago who was advertising home euthanasia on craigslist or whatever before lol

 

[lansauce]

thank you so much everyone for your feedback - it's all very helpful.

It is the short section on using CO2 at home that I and others have a problem with - it is in there for emergencies such when a rat is suffering horribly and there is no vet available or no vet willing to put the rat to sleep humanely (ie a vet that is only willing to do a heart injection on a conscious rat). You can always add a sticker to that page stating that home euthanasia is not humane or not recommended.

Care sheets are a good idea but no care sheet is going to provide the same information as a 49 page book.

that's another excellent idea, i will be sure to put an advisory notice of some sort in the home euthanization section. hopefully it won't be too hard to deter people as the location we're aiming to get is right next door to a very reasonable vet's office - the main vet there isn't super experienced with small animals but she does treat them, and without the 'it's only a rodent' disdain i find so many other vets have :nod: i will likely have care sheets attached to certain products in addition to the book when the time comes