Ratteries or pet shop?

Question

I'm not sure if i should buy rats from a pet shop, or buy them from ratteries. Rats from ratteries are usually batter socialized rats, but they would have to be shipped, and I wouldn't be able to see their personality's. I'm not sure if i want to ship them though. Rats from pet shops are rarely handled and might not be healthy, but i would be able to see them in person and see their personality's. What should i do?

Answer 1

you should get rats from ratteries, but do not let them ship your animals, as the process is quite dangerous

if you really have NO breeders in the area, and must resort to getting a rat from a pet shop, ask to hold the rat first in order to check if he is  healthy or not.

remember, rats must be kept in pairs, so buy two if you don't have one already, as two rats aren't much harder than one, and its heathlier for your rat to have a buddy!

Answer 2

Adopt or rescue. Don't buy from a pet store or breeder.

Answer 3

Adopt www.petfinder.com and save a life. You'll get a healthy and tame rat. Pet stores are the worst place to get a pet http://www.cavyspirit.com/petstores.htm

Answer 4

Go to a smaller privately owned pet store, not petco or petsmart. The people have more time to handle the pets and keep them tame. Go to Pettin Place in Reno Nv!!!!!  ; )  Blues, hairless, curly, regular, dumbo  and everthing inbetween! We breed our own rats in large cages! We dont order from those horrible ratteries that are like a rats version of a puppy mill. We love our babies, treat them very well, handle them daily and give them fresh treats. We also have a large selection of rescued and "unwanted" rats that we find good homes for. Not all pet stores are bad, you just need to do your research and ask questions!!!!

Answer 5

Rats in well maintained pet shops are your best option. You can see how clean the environment is that they are being kept. What they are being fed and you can hold one to see how it responds to you.

I've handled many rats from pet stores and 99% have been super nice!

If you look hard enough a lot of times you can find curly haired or hairless ones in with the standard rats too.

Answer 6

get them from a shelter, petsmart is a horrible place to get rodents. The rodents come from Rainbow World Exotics, just search it up on google and read all the horrible things about it. They DO NOT care about their animals, all they want is your money.

Answer 7

you should get it from a pet store... if they ship them, then imagine what the rat would feel like.. lol... if you buy a rat from petsmart, or petco, then you can hold it, and see what its like.. :) and at the pet store, you can hold it as long as you want... :) as long as it isnt for the whole day..

Answer 8

How do you know that rats from a rattery will have to be shipped? You didn't post where you lived, but there are great rat breeders in almost every state. There are also rescues out there who would be happy to adopt rats to you. And instead of supporting a pet shop, you could check your local classified ads to see if someone near you is having to rehome their rats. You can check Craigslist.com, Kijiji.com, Hoobly.com, Backpage.com, or any of your local papers.

There is really no excuse for supporting a pet shop. If buying from a pet store is your only option, then your REAL only option is to not buy any at all. Otherwise you are just supporting an industry that is incredibly cruel and abusive to their animals.

I worked at PetSmart for three years. They are a little bit better than Petco, but they still mistreat the animals they sell. They keep them in tiny tanks, they feed them crappy foods, they almost never handle them, they don't treat them properly when they get sick. And not only that, but the vendors PetSmart buys their animals from is even worse. They breed any old rats together to get as many as they can. They don't select rats based on personality or health. Rats from breeders might live 4 or 5 years, while pet shop rats usually live 2.5 to 3 years.

Check out this post on one of the large Rat forums to see where PetSmart and Petco rats come from:

http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/community/vi...

If you buy a rat from them, remember that your money just supported that kind of abuse.

Please post where you live (city and state) and I will try my best to locate a rescue or breeder for you.

Answer 9

pet shop, a shipped rat might be mean for a while and most rats have the same personality so it doesn't matter if there socialized and you could probably tell if they were healthy or not if you picked one out yourself

Answer 10

RESCUE! Adopt and rescue ratties! There are so many rats in need of a loving and caring home. Do some research and find a ratty rescue that is near you. Or what I have done is go look on craigslist and find rats that can no longer be taken care of by their owners. I'm sure you can find the perfect pet and save a life too!

Answer 11

they ship them????

im getting mine from petsmart, i personally think that the petsmart out here is better than the petco out here

i think it is because they just opened up so yeah and there workers seem to care more unlike petco!