Petstore rats?

[PrincessRat]

Okay, so in my town we have two pet shops. Petco, and a smaller local pet store. The smaller store has move for sale and feeders and other mice for sale as pets. Then they have rats for sale as pets which they specifically say "pets only" and they don't sell rats as feeders..unless of course someone bought a rat sneakily as a feeder then they couldn't really do anything about it, but they don't sell any of their rats to be used as food and they specifically state that they are for pets only. Also, we have a breeder in our area and that is where this store gets their rats. They will also sometimes buy rats from people who come in and have had unexpected litters or something, as long as the rats are healthy. I have always gotten my rats here (except Rarity, my double Rex, who was given to me as a gift from my father who lives out of my state.) and have never really had any major Health issues until Anya got pneumonia and ling cancer and passed away at age two. One of the rats who was bought at this store lived for nearly 7 years with no major health issues or even showing signs of a uri or anything.
They do keep their rats in tanks which isn't good at all, but they handle them often, feed them lab blocks and give them fresh treats sometimes, use carefresh bedding, and they have fresh food and water and a clean cage every time I have gone in there.
And the rats always look happy, playful, and healthy. I know pet store rats aren't the best, but would anyone else agree that this place does at least semi-decent job with their rats?


-Rats are my life-

[Rat Daddy]

I suppose I would have to agree. Overall there's a natural bias against pet shops because in fact most rats do get sold as food for something else through pet shops. But most pet rats are distributed through pet shops too.

I suppose we all secretly share a dream that each and every rattie born will find a good human home or live a long healthy life free to frolic in an ideal preditor free natural environment. But this isn't ever going to happen. For every pet shop that doesn't sell rats as reptile food another one picks up the slack.

I suppose the very best we can do is to encourage pet shops to treat their animals as humainly as possible and support those that do.

In general, given that most pet shops that sell feeder rats buy bulk unsocialized rats of various sizes, they do a pretty good job of caring for them. Most use paper based bedding, and feed lab blocks of reasonable quality because there's no profit in dead rats as feeders or pets. And as far as handling goes, I'm not too sure many of us would reach into a cage of 50 jumbo rats that have never had a single pleasant human experience.

Oddly enough, this is a growing fancy and rats are becoming more popular as pets. Every pet rat touches several lives. At my local pet shop that sells feeder rats, many of the staff own or have owned pet rats. And to some degree that's improved the care the rats get in general. As pet rats become more prevailent things will get better for all rats, but for now it's all a matter of degree. We regretably need to define the standard of care based on the harsh reality of the industry rather than against our fondest dream of a better world.

I suppose it's better to support pet shops that have higher standards of care than others and encourage them to do even better. If a pet shop can sell 30 pet rats per week at $15.00 each and the pricey supplies and cages to support them rather than 40 feeder rats for $5.00 each I'm pretty sure the economics of the situation will change the reality more than boycotting them ever will. So personally given the other places I've seen, and given the information you have provided, I really wouldn't have too much of a problem with the pet shop you have describled. It sounds like a pretty good place to get a new rattie friend.

[Rat Daddy]

One point of disagreement.... my ratties all came from feeder bins and they were all the very best rats ever... So I have to disagree with your comment that pet shop rats aren't the best. Perhaps some aren't, but just because a rat is in a pet shop or feeder bin, that's no reason to assume it's inferior to any other rat. If we assumed that they were all defective, it might be easier to feed them to a snake, but in my experience it isn't true.

[RatMama13]

My Ampers parents were feeder rats. The instructor at college wanted new bloodlines for breeding. Granted most of the rats we bred were food but they were wonderful just the same! Two of my other ratties were pet store rats and Thisbe probably descended from some. They do make wonderful pets and more and more people are realizing this. I think if you have inspected the conditions of the store and the rats and are comfortable with them then it would be fine.

[PrincessRat]

One point of disagreement.... my ratties all came from feeder bins and they were all the very best rats ever... So I have to disagree with your comment that pet shop rats aren't the best. Perhaps some aren't, but just because a rat is in a pet shop or feeder bin, that's no reason to assume it's inferior to any other rat. If we assumed that they were all defective, it might be easier to feed them to a snake, but in my experience it isn't true.

When I said they "aren't the best," I meant that a lot of times they have more health issues and stuff. All of the rats I own and have ever owned were pet shop rats, and they make GREAT pets. A lot of people act like pet shop rats are just terrible and like no one should get them, but they do make great pets. With a lot of them you just have to worry about more health issues sometimes that may have been avoided with getting a rat from a breeder, but even rats from the best breeders can have health issues. I have had very few problems with my rats and they're pet shop rats.


-Rats are my life-

[unlikelyfather]

Many people are mistaken if they think that when folks say pet shop rats are bad, that the people mean the actual rats in the pet shop - that's not it at all. What people condemn about rats in a pet shop is that often (99% of the time, unless it's a privately owned, non-chain store -- and sometimes even then) they get their rats from a mill ...which is a deplorable way for these rats to come in the world. However, as people keep buying the rats, the store gets money and they keep stocking them from this inexpensive yet extremely inhumane and unhealthy type of environment.

The reason that rats from pet stores "get a bad reputation" is not because they're all evil and make horrible pets, though they tend to have more health problems and in some cases that could mean behavioral problems, but because people don't condone supporting these businesses who put animals through these conditions just to make profit off of selling them. It's very much supporting businesses that don't care about these animals at all. Even though they may have excellent conditions for the animals in the store, it doesn't negate where the animals came from.

The reason I, personally, am all right with getting pets from a pet store is I can't hold it against those animals for being born there and often times leaving them in those conditions is just impossible when I feel such empathy for them in their small cages and poor conditions on pine bedding.

But you do have to realize that you are, most of the time, supporting these stores with the methods in which they're acquiring these animals. It's very much like a puppy mill, just boxes and boxes of animals being bred for no other purpose than to breed more generations for money. They live their entire lives knowing nothing else. It's horrific.

So that's why.

Feeder and pet store rats are generally the same as any other rat - lovable pets we're all absolutely enamored by. It's not their fault that they came from such a situation or that their breeding and environment aren't quality, and that this means their health is poor.

The saying "don't hate the player, hate the game" can be applied here - we don't hate pet store or feeder rats. We hate businesses that thrive and capitalize on the exploitation of these animals and treating them unfairly. Everyone deserves a happy life, and the fact that there are animals in tiny cramped cages just to supply those pets in the store is not something that us rat fans would want to support.

Personally I don't shake my head at those who buy them from the pet store because those animals deserve happy lives and I don't think they should be blamed for where they come from - but I do seek for things like pet mills or animal mills to be shut down due to their horrendously cruel conditions. Those are my two cents.

[PrincessRat]

Many people are mistaken if they think that when folks say pet shop rats are bad, that the people mean the actual rats in the pet shop - that's not it at all. What people condemn about rats in a pet shop is that often (99% of the time, unless it's a privately owned, non-chain store -- and sometimes even then) they get their rats from a mill ...which is a deplorable way for these rats to come in the world. However, as people keep buying the rats, the store gets money and they keep stocking them from this inexpensive yet extremely inhumane and unhealthy type of environment.

The reason that rats from pet stores "get a bad reputation" is not because they're all evil and make horrible pets, though they tend to have more health problems and in some cases that could mean behavioral problems, but because people don't condone supporting these businesses who put animals through these conditions just to make profit off of selling them. It's very much supporting businesses that don't care about these animals at all. Even though they may have excellent conditions for the animals in the store, it doesn't negate where the animals came from.

The reason I, personally, am all right with getting pets from a pet store is I can't hold it against those animals for being born there and often times leaving them in those conditions is just impossible when I feel such empathy for them in their small cages and poor conditions on pine bedding.

But you do have to realize that you are, most of the time, supporting these stores with the methods in which they're acquiring these animals. It's very much like a puppy mill, just boxes and boxes of animals being bred for no other purpose than to breed more generations for money. They live their entire lives knowing nothing else. It's horrific.

So that's why.

Feeder and pet store rats are generally the same as any other rat - lovable pets we're all absolutely enamored by. It's not their fault that they came from such a situation or that their breeding and environment aren't quality, and that this means their health is poor.

The saying "don't hate the player, hate the game" can be applied here - we don't hate pet store or feeder rats. We hate businesses that thrive and capitalize on the exploitation of these animals and treating them unfairly. Everyone deserves a happy life, and the fact that there are animals in tiny cramped cages just to supply those pets in the store is not something that us rat fans would want to support.

Personally I don't shake my head at those who buy them from the pet store because those animals deserve happy lives and I don't think they should be blamed for where they come from - but I do seek for things like pet mills or animal mills to be shut down due to their horrendously cruel conditions. Those are my two cents.

I strongly agree with everything you just said here.


-Rats are my life-