u/Fit_Intention458

Im just curious it's very debatable on weather or not pet store rats are ok to purchase or not

Personally I don't have a strong opinion about people buying from them however I do strongly dislike how to treat them throwing them out, marketing small cages for them and just overall poor husbandry and I do hear their dogs and pretty much most animals there are from breeding mills.

I never bought rats from pet store but I hear the animals like rats come very very sick with respiratory issues all my rats are rehomed I never got a rat from a store or a breeder

Pretty much all my pet rats where free themselves I didn't pay for them the people I know who rehomed them to me where like 'please just take them" I did do research give them the ideal cages and they became a special interests I loved them so much

Just because they're free to get my rats doesn't mean they where cheap I actually had to pay like 200 for a critter nation cage and I did take them to the vet a few times for respiratory issues and an eye infection none of them every really gotten seriously ill and my current pair that I had longest is 8 months old they're doing well I did make some mistakes when taking care of them such as using the wrong bedding but overall I feel I did well for my first time having rats. I probably spend 1000s caring for them in their 7 month life and my new one who's 10 months I've only had for a week I already have to take her to the vet for a suspected pregnancy.

I did get a pet turtle from the pet store before as a kid he turned out to be ok but he was to aggressive I had to re-home him

I work at an exotic animal rescue as the husbandary tech and have pet rats we have probably 24 rats and their lives are better there probably not as good as if they lived in a home got free range and a cluttered cage with enrichment but they get a reasonable amount of space and are in a cage with other rats most of the time unless they're sick or quarantining or too aggressive we only have one lone rat there and I make sure to stay after to give her extra attention beyond basic husbandry to compensate.

Hi so I'm in a situation where I adopted a lone rat because her cage mate passed away she's a 10 month old female she's also very obese because her previous owner free feed her a unknown diet I assume

She's started to bite me when I stick my hand to get something in her cage

I've noticed shes a love biter meaning she playfully nips when I play around with her which isn't a concern

The bites aren't too serious they're paper cuts

This is particularly concerning because she had great temperament before she came along she came to me a day before her cage mate got euthenized and within the 3rd day she started agression she's always been known to be great with people

I do think this is likely caused by the stress of being alone for awhile

I've compensated by giving her extra enrichment and time with spend with me I usually hand feed her food and have her do tricks so that she can have more time with me to compensate for not having other rats with her

I've had her for a week and she's still quarantining unfortunately I can't start an intro until the end of this week because quarantine takes 2 weeks

As far as I know she seems healthy besides being obese but I don't want to skip quarantine

I've adopted her to introduce to my pair of 8 month old females

Her diet is 1.5 tablespoons of oxbow adult food a day and little bits of fresh veggies I don't give her any fruit right now because it's sugary but she can have little bits of it not not often I just generally avoid treats with her unless my other rats get them I avoid treats I general especially sugary ones

Any advice?