[bammargera23]

this is Jack on top of his cage

this is J.R. on his cage.

this is Ville the new one. i want to show him but I don’t know if he is actually show quality. does anyone here know?

this is Houdini (yes he has tried to escape before) he is so little! today I was looking all through the cage for him and could not find him! I finally found him in his little house! He is so fast 2! He jumped over the cage!

this is the 2 new ones together also showing just how small Houdini is!

 

[aqualaureena]

Houdini is gorgeous!

 

[bammargera23]

thank you! my dad love him 2! lol
oh, by the way, houdini is realy jumpy an wont let me touch him let alone pick him up. ville is sitting on my shoulder as i tipe this. does any one know how to make them get used to me. :?

thanks
Shannon

 

[chrisstrikeagain]

houdini looks like a possum! or some not a rat small animal/ what a weird paten but its cute.
ALL of them are cute

 

[Night]

Houdini is an African Soft Fur rat. Fancy rats or pet rats are a domesticated breed of the Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus). Two different species completely.

I'm 99.9% sure that AFS rats shouldn't live with a different species of rat - but instead others of their own kind. It's not safe or a good idea at all to house different species together.

Also - what kind of bedding is that, and what kind of cages do you use?

 

[Forensic]

Aren't ASF rats also known for being very skittish, nervous, and possibly aggressive, no matter the amount of socialization?

 

[bammargera23]

oh...well the pet store was telling me he was a dawrf! god i hate pet stores! i dont have another cage he would fit in....i cages i'm using are both rat cages from petco and the bedding is pine. what do i do? do i just have 2 sell him or somthing? i'm only 13 and i dont want 2 deal with having to get a smaller cage more of his kind and getting bite all the time...

 

[Taru]

You've got a few problem there. Pine is really bad for rats, you need to get a different kind of bedding as soon as possible. The phenols in pine and cedar (the stuff that makes it smell nice) is toxic to rats. Aspen is a good alternative, as are a bunch of other litters. Here is a link to a site explaining why you need a different bedding then aromatic woods (pine, cedar, etc.)

http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html

Also, you need to measure your cages, and put their dimensions into the cage calculator to see if you are giving your rats enough room to be comfortable. You can find a link to that in the "Rat Homes" section of this forum.

Lastly, if you can take the ASF rat back I would do so, and complain that they didn't label it properly, then get another rat friend for Ville. Be sure it's the same sex as Ville, you don't want babies!

Emy

 

[Forensic]

Yeah, if they won't take him back could you complain to their manager/corporate headquarters?

I know it's sad to return a pet, but ASF rats can be mean and that wasn't what you'd wanted.

 

[bammargera23]

Thanks Emy
I all ready made sure the ratties had enough room and they do. about the bedding though it says its a new brand...its not pine...I thought it was...i don’t know what it is...my friends use it all the time though. I just went out today to take Houdini back. I went to elmers (where I got ville) and got Bam! I will post a pic of him later but he is a hooded ginger like! so cute!

 

[Forensic]

Are they going to properly mark Houdini for what he is?

 

[bammargera23]

I don’t know. they said that he was not a ASF and almost did not give me my money back because they had no where to put him and my dad said well that’s not our fault and they put him in a container in the back of the store! I finally did get my money back and I got Bam at elmers!

 

[Forensic]

If he's not an ASF what did they say he was? He's not a dwarf rat. :?

 

[Taru]

It's good you got your money back! I would try and find out what they label him as, so that other people don't get put into the same situation as you. If possible I would call the headquarters of the store and complain about it. Even if you got your money back you should never have been sold a rat under false pretenses.

If the store doesn't know what it's selling, then I don't think they should be allowed to have any animals sold at all...but well that's life. At least make sure that they don't mislabel that little guy again.

Emy

 

[Poppyseed]

Do you have a picture of the bedding or the brand (like the bag) It looks like pine to me.

Personally I would not use the bedding even if it could potentially be pine. I would throw it out and use towels or old clothes until I could get enough money together to get carefresh if I didn't have enough at the time.

Poor Houdini :/ he probably will be sold as a regular rat again. Stupid pet store. I would also look into reporting them.

 

[bammargera23]

ok
yea this is the bag for the bedding

my friend has been useing it for as long as its been out and it has gave her no problums

and this is the new guy BAM!

vill was sleeping...

so where jack and J.R.

 

[Forensic]

Softwoods are woods like pine and cedar.

 

[Poppyseed]

Yeah, I would stop useing it a.s.a.p. She's lucky she didn't have any problems but I wouldn't want to chance it on my rats even if she hasn't. Use stuff labled aspen, carefresh, yesterday's news, or wood stove pelllets or even fabric bedding.

 

[uldaman]

my bedding is hemp

 

[bammargera23]

i was looking on that cage space thing and it does not take feet! i was so mad! lol any way i'm going to make a cage. how many rats would a 7" by 8" foot cage hold? bigger then a ferret nation i think...