SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Are you are looking for good homes for pet rats?
There are a few things you may want to consider, especially if you place ads on kijiji or craigslist.
1. Screen very carefully or they will likely end up as live snake food, breeders, used in barn ratting, neglected, dumped outdoors, or worse.
* Let potential adopters know there will be an application process
* Check references including a vet reference
* Ask questions about care
* Make a home visit as part of the adoption process
* Require updates, pictures, and visits after adoption
* "Create a Facebook page with photos and information. This serves several purposes. It works for marketing as I can continue to upload cute photos and write about how cute/cuddly they are. I can also include adoption information as well as info on caring for rats. It also lets me find out about the people interested in my rats. I can check out their facebook profile, look at their photos (see any snakes? Other pets? Their children? What kind of family/home do they seem to have?), see if we have mutual friends and try to find out through word of mouth about them as well." (Quote from walkinggal )
* Check out potential adopters online, friend them on facebook and check out their facebook page, facebook groups, pictures, facebook friends etc
* Use a nonbreeding contract specifying good care, vet care, home visits, and containing a return clause in case the contract is not adhered to or the person no longer wants the rats
* Deliver the rats to their new home
2. Unless you are rehoming a single rat, make sure to only adopt out same sex pairs or groups.
3. Adopt out to homes having no more then one intact gender of rats in the household. Having two intact genders in the same household is an accident waiting to happen as rats are smart & very motivated, and people are not perfect. Many intact male rats are extremely stressed by having intact females in the same household and may become aggressive.
(Note, a few people have been able to successfully manage this type of situation.)
4. Ask a fee as this may deter snake owners. Asking a fee/pair is recommended.
5. You may want to include an adoption package with the fee.
Items might include: lab blocks, a handout on care, litter box, chew toys, a house, and/or a copy of The Rat Health Care book (book section at Rat Fan Club, but cross out the section on home euthanasia as it is inhumane)
6. You will want to make sure pets are not being given as Christmas presents, Easter presents, etc.
SPCA websites explain why this is a very bad idea.
7. Follow your intuition. If something doesn't feel right, it is a huge red flag,
Do not ignore it. Do not adopt, no matter how good the facts seem.
8. Give adopters links to internet resources,
such as ratshackforum.com ratguide.com and joinrats.com
9. Make follow up visits after the adoption.
10. Keep in contact several times a year over the life span of the lives of the rats.
- This will allow you to know how things are going, and you will be able to offer assistance if any is needed.
- It also allows you to track the health of litters so other adopters can be aware of any potential health issues.
11. Retain ownership of rats you rehome ......... allow them to go to good homes and give them guardianship or call them fosters ..... but retain ownership for their protection
Retaining ownership is a recent suggestion because of situations where people signed adoption contracts and the contract did not provide enough protection because ownership of the pet had been transferred to the adopters
.... such as the couple who adopted a pet pig from the BC SPCA - the people killed and ate the pet pig although they had signed a contract agreeing not to eat the pig, etc. The contract did not offer protection to the pet pig and the SPCA reported that they had no legal recourse
There are a few things you may want to consider, especially if you place ads on kijiji or craigslist.
1. Screen very carefully or they will likely end up as live snake food, breeders, used in barn ratting, neglected, dumped outdoors, or worse.
* Let potential adopters know there will be an application process
* Check references including a vet reference
* Ask questions about care
* Make a home visit as part of the adoption process
* Require updates, pictures, and visits after adoption
* "Create a Facebook page with photos and information. This serves several purposes. It works for marketing as I can continue to upload cute photos and write about how cute/cuddly they are. I can also include adoption information as well as info on caring for rats. It also lets me find out about the people interested in my rats. I can check out their facebook profile, look at their photos (see any snakes? Other pets? Their children? What kind of family/home do they seem to have?), see if we have mutual friends and try to find out through word of mouth about them as well." (Quote from walkinggal )
* Check out potential adopters online, friend them on facebook and check out their facebook page, facebook groups, pictures, facebook friends etc
* Use a nonbreeding contract specifying good care, vet care, home visits, and containing a return clause in case the contract is not adhered to or the person no longer wants the rats
* Deliver the rats to their new home
2. Unless you are rehoming a single rat, make sure to only adopt out same sex pairs or groups.
3. Adopt out to homes having no more then one intact gender of rats in the household. Having two intact genders in the same household is an accident waiting to happen as rats are smart & very motivated, and people are not perfect. Many intact male rats are extremely stressed by having intact females in the same household and may become aggressive.
(Note, a few people have been able to successfully manage this type of situation.)
4. Ask a fee as this may deter snake owners. Asking a fee/pair is recommended.
5. You may want to include an adoption package with the fee.
Items might include: lab blocks, a handout on care, litter box, chew toys, a house, and/or a copy of The Rat Health Care book (book section at Rat Fan Club, but cross out the section on home euthanasia as it is inhumane)
6. You will want to make sure pets are not being given as Christmas presents, Easter presents, etc.
SPCA websites explain why this is a very bad idea.
7. Follow your intuition. If something doesn't feel right, it is a huge red flag,
Do not ignore it. Do not adopt, no matter how good the facts seem.
8. Give adopters links to internet resources,
such as ratshackforum.com ratguide.com and joinrats.com
9. Make follow up visits after the adoption.
10. Keep in contact several times a year over the life span of the lives of the rats.
- This will allow you to know how things are going, and you will be able to offer assistance if any is needed.
- It also allows you to track the health of litters so other adopters can be aware of any potential health issues.
11. Retain ownership of rats you rehome ......... allow them to go to good homes and give them guardianship or call them fosters ..... but retain ownership for their protection
Retaining ownership is a recent suggestion because of situations where people signed adoption contracts and the contract did not provide enough protection because ownership of the pet had been transferred to the adopters
.... such as the couple who adopted a pet pig from the BC SPCA - the people killed and ate the pet pig although they had signed a contract agreeing not to eat the pig, etc. The contract did not offer protection to the pet pig and the SPCA reported that they had no legal recourse
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I've been going over all these things with my kids since we've had our two surprise litters. This is valuable life lesson information for kids when being responsible pet owners. You should post it on NB kjiji (If you don't already) since so many people post and have no clue about any of this information.
