[OnlyOno]

My dearest Picasso, whom I have had for a little over a month now, is going to be getting a friend some time in the near future. I know, I KNOW, rats should have companions, don't tell me that one again (lol), I'm just not sure what I should get her.

She is the sweetest, most energetic creature around, and I want to get her someone who is just as playful as she is. She's a hairless and I was wondering if she should have a hairless friend, or if a furry buddy will be okay. I've heard that furries often scratch their nakie friends on accident cuz they don't know any better and the nudies have more sensitive skin. There's not a decent rat breeder around that I've found, so I buy PetsMart, which I know is also usually a no-go, but out of like 9 hamsters from PetsMart I've only ever had one die right away. They have blues and other pretty rats (altho I'm sure their genetics aren't as beautiful, but that don't matter, I won't breed 'em), so what you all think?

 

[Stephanie]

i have gotten alot of my boys from petsmart iriquoi is rather nippy with my hubby and steve is a horny little thing but all in all i have a great experience with petsmart ratties. the only one that was ever sick was gir and he had tumors all through his little body when i got him but for the most part i would just say when you pick out the new friend make sure you listen to him/her and make sure there is no raspy breathing i get some of my rats from a place that sells them for feeders and they are some of the nicest boys i have ever owned jackson is two now and still in pretty good shape sam and tweakers passed but we had a nasty virus rake through our rats (four rats passed in a month) jackson survived it for some reason and like i said he is still in pretty good shape although he is getting old

 

[Night]

People that breed rats for pet stores breed for quantity, not quality. Although many people love their pet store rats, it's really not a good idea to get them from a pet store. Most pet store rats come home with a bad upper respiratory infection and mites. Also - hairless rats are EXTREMELY prone to health problems and skin conditions, so I wouldn't opt to get one from a pet store where their genetics are subpar.

If you really are stuck on the idea of getting a pet store rat, please make sure to quarantine him/her in a completely different airspace; meaning another house/apartment. Having them in a different room of your home isn't true quarantine, and airborne viruses can still pass to your resident rat. Quarantine should be done for every new rodent that you want to bring home.

I looked up your location on Petfinder.com, and there is a huge amount of rats at Larimer Humane Society. It's always better to adopt an animal rather than purchase from a pet store.

 

[Stephanie]

that was soo awesome of you night LoL i didn't think of doing that! you rock chickadee

 

[OnlyOno]

Mhmm, I'm not fond of the Larimer Humane Society myself, but I have my reasons. I might check it out again, but yeah, meh. Picasso sneezed for maybe a week after I got her, but on a healthy rat diet and a clean shaving-free cage she is all better. Her dry skin went away in a couple weeks with weekly nibbles of bread dipped in olive oil. Also, I've only ever had one animal come home to me sick from a general pet store.

The PetCo by my house gets their rats from a local rat breeder who takes decent care of them. They aren't sick and they are a healthy age and weight before he brings them in, if that makes any difference to you guys.

Anyway, for a hairless darling, has anyone else had one paired with a hairy without lots of skin damage? Just curious.

 

[Poppyseed]

Good luck! I'm going to try pairing a hairless with two hairy's after I get the larger hand me down cage from my ferrets over to them. It can hold 7 and has tunnels (but I'm sticking to three D: )! And the ferrets will be getting a new cage twice that size. But yeah I can tell you how it goes but it will still be a couple of weeks due to quarantine.


Picasso is a very cute rat by the way.

 

[KayRatz]

I wouldn't reccommend a PetCo rat. The breeder may take care of the rats but PetCo does not. I was told my rats were perfectly healthy, and right away when I got home I could tell that they were very ill. And they're both PetCo rats. So like I said, I'd rescue or adopt from a breeder rather than buy from a pet store.

 

[papricka]

Just a few days ago I got two rats from pestmart. The moment I got them home they were weezing and sneezing alot. I ended up taking them back just today and I got a new healthy pair of girls from another place. Look very closely at them I guess, before you get them.

 

[Stephanie]

i always always listen to all rats breathing before i bring them home also when you get them home they may be stress wheezing and sneezing i have had that happen every time i bring one home or take one to the vet the poor little ratties you returned were probably just stressed paprika and now they have to go through it all over again *nods* but i may have made the same decision depending on the sound of it

 

[Nazarath]

what bugs me is my friend wanted to buy a rat from a petco, I tryed to tell her that me and mom have healthy rats. However she wanted to "rescue" one so i figured i would let her learn by herself. I came with her to help her check for Mites and what not. She found a little girl she likes and while we were holding her and checking her skin and listening to her breathing, the rat "specialist" didn't seem to like us doing that because we got a firm "Our rats are vet checked, AND theres no need for you to make such a scene right here about a few possible mites" we left . When i braught her to moms she came around lol.

 

[KayRatz]

Dude, wtf. At our petco the rat specialist told me that the rats were vet checked and perfectly healthy, but they had URIs and one with an abcess when I brought them home. She also reccommended a cage that was definitely too small for them. And a bad food. But now I have a big enough cage and proper rattie diet :] Never take advice from petstores.

 

[Night]

Pet stores are just that - stores. Sometimes (okay, a LOT of the time) they will downright lie to you in order to make a sale and get animals out the door. Their "vets" are usually pretty terrible, and rarely give any animal more than a passing glance before declaring them perfectly "healthy" and ready for purchase. Pet store employees, at least 99.9% of the time, will suggest the wrong foods, toys, cages, and anything else they dare venture into, unfortunately.

Pet stores = bad.

Again, there are NO ethical, caring rat breeders that sell to pet stores. Although they may appear healthy, they're from subpar genetics and will most likely have many problems once they reach adulthood or their golden years.

 

[twitch]

i have a hairless in with 6 other furries. when she was new to the cage and finding her place in the heiracrhy she had a few sctratches. had she had fur i probably never would have noticed them. but its been a while and she's found her place. every once in a while i'll notice a small scratch but they never seem to bother her and none are serious. she seems to love to hang out with Spider (my fat elderly rat) or Tween (they're about the same size now though tween is twice Sweetipie's age. and tween is a silkie making her fur extrememly soft) so i don't know if she hangs out with them more because of their personailites (both are pretty laid back) or for their extra warmth and softness. but as for your question on how they get along, its no different then any other rats. they all have their own character and the furred don't seem to mind that Sweetipie is missing her fur. what they do mind is when she pulls thier tails and steals their food but that's a different matter entirely. *grins*

 

[Nazarath]

I'm trying to get a 2nd job at a petstore because i would like to improve the rep. that petstores have. I have a feeling i'll get fired if i don't "make" people buy carefresh or tell them that things in the store aren't so great for their pet and what not. Heck i wanna try

 

[OnlyOno]

thanks for answering my question poppyseed and twitch (finally! lol). now alls i gotta do is find someone just as amazing as picasso. that's the hard part.

and kayratz, i'm not trying to defend petstores, but i'd like to mention that the rats this breeder brings in stay in the store for 1-2 weeks tops before he brings more in. altho the petstore conditions may not be prime, it's not like a life of **** and death. now fish from petstores, that's a diff thing.