Why am I having such a hard time adopting out my baby rats?

Question

I advertised my baby rats on craigslist only to have people dog me about the 8 dollar price. My point was if someone wanted two as pets they would pay the dollar less than the pet store charges. I don't really want them going for snake food, does anyone have any suggestions?

Answer 1

set them free. that way, everybody wins. except the person who's house they move into.

Answer 2

They charge that much for a rat?? Wow!  I think that's way too much.

There's not going to be a huge demand for rats only for pets...a lot of people use them for snake food.  If you can't handle that don't breed any more.

Answer 3

Give them away to a good home. I wouldn't want any rats for pet purposes but that's just me. I don't like them.  

Answer 4

Gee, I do not know...there are soooo many people looking for rats these days

Answer 5

Talk to a local pet store and see if maybe their willing to buy them from you, but make sure the pet store is one that actually treats their animals well, But your actually selling the rats for verily cheap, at pet stores you will find them all for at least 16 that are not meant to be feeders

Answer 6

Yes! Learn from your mistake and don't go breeding animals unless you know you've got homes for the offspring!

We are always getting baby animals - rats in particular in because some numpty thought it's be a good idea to try a breeding program without thinking it through first. You might find a rescue centre like ours in your area that will take the rats and keep them until a loving home is found.

If not all you can do is invest in 2 big cages and ensure the boys are in one and the girls are in the other and don't let them get together again. Keep advertising and try and shift the males first as they are more likely to fight than the females.

Please don't breed animals again unless you've got your buyers in advance of the female getting pregnant (it's only 9 weeks from conception to weaning - someone who really wants a pet will wait!)

Answer 7

Not a very stable source of income. It would be practical enough to just let them loose. They will survive.  

Answer 8

we gave our baby rats away free to good home, and people that took them already owned pet rats, so we are 99.9% sure none of them went to snake food

Answer 9

I live in england and 8 dollars = about £4 for a rat. that's really cheap in england they cost up to £10.

If you find nobody wants them, you can keep them for very cheap prices. you can build a cage using wire mesh (chicken wire) and wood. use old bookshelves or drawers as a frame if you want.and feed them on fruit and veg.  I know someone who rescued a litter of rats and had to keep them, so i told them to try it and they are all happy now. (But you want to seperate or neuter the males/females to stop them mating).