I created another topic since the rescue is now open and not being started. I am VERY EXCITED to say that we now have a web site!! You can Pm me if you wish to see the link. I have removed it from here for a few reasons and one of them being the fact that I don't like or feel like being attacked or treated the way some members have been treating me. I'll be adding updates here every now and then.
Rat rescue Center Opened
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Wasn't there a user who used carefresh and ended up with a dead rabbit? I thought someone posted that the dust collected somehow on/in the rabbit's nose and ended up forming a large lump with a lot of puss that eventually burst, and the infection killed the rabbit.
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Carefresh and Total Comfort are actually great beddings. You shouldn't put them in the "bad bedding" list because of personal reasons.
You also shouldn't have your personal rats in the Adoptable section since, well... it's for adoptables.
Also, my best friend runs a rat rescue - do you realize how much it costs? In just the past couple of weeks, she has spent over $500 on vet care and surgeries alone. Along with that, you need to be willing to drive 2-3 hours or more in order to get your rescues to their forever home.
Not to be a nag, but... I find it kind of confusing that you're now labeling yourself as a rat rescue, when only a month or more ago you were advising people to breed their pet store rats.
You also shouldn't have your personal rats in the Adoptable section since, well... it's for adoptables.
Also, my best friend runs a rat rescue - do you realize how much it costs? In just the past couple of weeks, she has spent over $500 on vet care and surgeries alone. Along with that, you need to be willing to drive 2-3 hours or more in order to get your rescues to their forever home.
Not to be a nag, but... I find it kind of confusing that you're now labeling yourself as a rat rescue, when only a month or more ago you were advising people to breed their pet store rats.
i'll make it more clear on there, I tryed to show it are a personal opinion. I'll make that more clear. Yes the carefresh Bunny was mine 
, Thank you for your imput . If anyone knows of any bedding i haven't listed that they like or don't like let me know. Does eveyone like the exaple pictures??
, Thank you for your imput . If anyone knows of any bedding i haven't listed that they like or don't like let me know. Does eveyone like the exaple pictures??My biggest problem is that you say the litter was an accident.
Did you not put the male and female together, but later decide you didn't want to breed, but it was already too late?
If so, it is not an accidental litter.
And really, until you have true rescues in your facility you cannot vouch on how they are treated. You really should explain that you are just starting and no rats have been surrendered to you. You can say that you intend to treat them and spoil them. But until you have them, you cannot talk about what you do.
And instead of copying information from links, why not list the links on your website. If anything, it would lead them to finding more information because those sites have links, and their links have links on them, etc etc.
As far as bedding.. CareFresh is better to use than what you had your babies on (pine), even if you put them in it temporarily for a photo. It may confuse people when they see you using pine in your pictures, but saying you shouldn't use it at all on your info page.
When talking about bedding, you should confine your opinion in the "Rats Dos and Donts" to your experience with Carefresh and your rats, not other animals. And Cedar causes the same problems as pine and both can cause respiratory infections, scaring, difficulty breathing, etc. What type of wood do you mean when you say "Large Wood Chips?" You should specify because they might think you mean cedar wood chips instead of shaved cedar, which can be dusty.
And the Snak Shack you have listed isn't good for rats at all. It contains things that can be harmful to rats, like pine and cedar. It also is open to the air of the entire petstore and you could carry home SDA with one of those. Because they have some moisture to them, it is safe to say that germs and bacteria aren't just on the surface, but can burrow inside. Not to mention they contain alfalfa which is indegestible to rats.
As a rescuer myself, I will tell you. Your heart will be broken, your efforts degraded by irresponsible people. You'll lose money, not make it. Don't expect people to donate huge amounts of money or items like cages. RRR has not recieved one single donation in over a year and a half until Sunday. We recieved several free hammocks from myzoo2, on GooseMoose for buying a cage from her and for having rescues at the time. It was our first ever donation.
Did you not put the male and female together, but later decide you didn't want to breed, but it was already too late?
If so, it is not an accidental litter.
And really, until you have true rescues in your facility you cannot vouch on how they are treated. You really should explain that you are just starting and no rats have been surrendered to you. You can say that you intend to treat them and spoil them. But until you have them, you cannot talk about what you do.
And instead of copying information from links, why not list the links on your website. If anything, it would lead them to finding more information because those sites have links, and their links have links on them, etc etc.
As far as bedding.. CareFresh is better to use than what you had your babies on (pine), even if you put them in it temporarily for a photo. It may confuse people when they see you using pine in your pictures, but saying you shouldn't use it at all on your info page.
When talking about bedding, you should confine your opinion in the "Rats Dos and Donts" to your experience with Carefresh and your rats, not other animals. And Cedar causes the same problems as pine and both can cause respiratory infections, scaring, difficulty breathing, etc. What type of wood do you mean when you say "Large Wood Chips?" You should specify because they might think you mean cedar wood chips instead of shaved cedar, which can be dusty.
And the Snak Shack you have listed isn't good for rats at all. It contains things that can be harmful to rats, like pine and cedar. It also is open to the air of the entire petstore and you could carry home SDA with one of those. Because they have some moisture to them, it is safe to say that germs and bacteria aren't just on the surface, but can burrow inside. Not to mention they contain alfalfa which is indegestible to rats.
As a rescuer myself, I will tell you. Your heart will be broken, your efforts degraded by irresponsible people. You'll lose money, not make it. Don't expect people to donate huge amounts of money or items like cages. RRR has not recieved one single donation in over a year and a half until Sunday. We recieved several free hammocks from myzoo2, on GooseMoose for buying a cage from her and for having rescues at the time. It was our first ever donation.
For the second time i don't house them on pine, i wanted them the berkys to stand out so their dark coats wouldn't blend with thje dark purple try, So i placed the pine in there. I doubt them being in there for 2 pictures will kill them. Also thats not even their home, The boys live in a huge 3 story cage with cloth as bedding and the girls live in a 5 story with cloth as bedding as well.
Also when people contact me about the littlers i will explain all of this to them, I have nothing to hide. I don't want to get rid of these babies i want to find them good homes. If someone doesn't adopt them i don't care. I have no problem taking care of them.
I will add your opinion about snakshaks to list and will give proper warnings. I HAVE the facility already, we HAVE a rat room, with cages & climate control. We have extra food, bedding (mostly old clothes), hammocks, vet on call. I wouldn't have opened the rescue for surrenders if i didn't feel like i had everything i needed.
Also i know that my heart is going to be broken, I did do my homework and talked to a ton of rescues already. As fare as money goes that isn;t an issue as i've stated many times before.
Also when people contact me about the littlers i will explain all of this to them, I have nothing to hide. I don't want to get rid of these babies i want to find them good homes. If someone doesn't adopt them i don't care. I have no problem taking care of them.
I will add your opinion about snakshaks to list and will give proper warnings. I HAVE the facility already, we HAVE a rat room, with cages & climate control. We have extra food, bedding (mostly old clothes), hammocks, vet on call. I wouldn't have opened the rescue for surrenders if i didn't feel like i had everything i needed.
Also i know that my heart is going to be broken, I did do my homework and talked to a ton of rescues already. As fare as money goes that isn;t an issue as i've stated many times before.
I've turned 'Other Rat Treats' into "Rat Reviews" so now it can all be information on treats, toys, etc. So people can make choices for themself off of what other people (who have had experience with the item) think of the product.
I also added a "check it out!" page with three links on it (working on adding more links just need to learn how).
I also added a "check it out!" page with three links on it (working on adding more links just need to learn how).
*big sigh* I tell people about quarantine all the time, I swear I wasn't born yesterday - Yes I have a quarantine area thats in a totaly different area.
Listen I know I wont be able to make eveyone happy with my site. Some people don't believe animals should be put down in shelters, some people think riding horses is cruel, some people think rats are gross, I believe everyone gets my point. I'm not going to change everything about my site to make people happy because once I make that change someone else isn't going to like. HOWEVER I don't mind getting feed back that isn't rude, snobbish, or "know it all".
I'm not looking to please everyone because I know thats not going to happen. (Also Night on my home page it says "I am not a rat breeder"), heck for all I know someone could come to the rescue and clam i'm not a rescue because I don't have dogs or something crazy like that. I don't have anything to prove to anyone accept the rats the come here to the rescue. I can judge on how they will be taken care of because i will be the one careing for them.
Listen I know I wont be able to make eveyone happy with my site. Some people don't believe animals should be put down in shelters, some people think riding horses is cruel, some people think rats are gross, I believe everyone gets my point. I'm not going to change everything about my site to make people happy because once I make that change someone else isn't going to like. HOWEVER I don't mind getting feed back that isn't rude, snobbish, or "know it all".
I'm not looking to please everyone because I know thats not going to happen. (Also Night on my home page it says "I am not a rat breeder"), heck for all I know someone could come to the rescue and clam i'm not a rescue because I don't have dogs or something crazy like that. I don't have anything to prove to anyone accept the rats the come here to the rescue. I can judge on how they will be taken care of because i will be the one careing for them.
Naz, I think people are just trying to help. Sometimes critisism can seem strong but you need to learn how to take it, especially if you want to do what's best for the rats people are intrusting in your care. There will be suspision at the beginning, all new things are like that and the fact that you are incredibly young and live with your mother doesn't help. What happens when you decide to move out on your own and can't afford a house but have 12 or so rats that still havn't found a home? It just seems like an awefully large step for someone without a home of their own to me.
It's a great idea, and it's a better idea than breeding for sure but in practice it's not as easy as it sounds. Perhaps you should just foster liters for another shelter or be a foster parent instead of a whole rescue? How much money is in your vet funds? Do you have $2000+ ( I imagine you require higher than this even as this probably is just enough to help 3-4 rats if that)
And as for taking the link out and refusing to post it, I find that rather immature as well. If you can't take critisism or questions no matter how bluntly put or how pessimistic sounding they may be you're not ready for such a huge responsibility because people will be like that towards you in the beginning. I really don't see anyone being 'mean' or 'hurtful' here, I just think that they are doubtful and worried mostly. To do this, you have to learn to accept things like that and LISTEN even if you are already doing what they suggest, they are still trying to help and figure out if you are a properly ran rescue. None of that sounds 'mean' to me, they just are concerned.
It's a great idea, and it's a better idea than breeding for sure but in practice it's not as easy as it sounds. Perhaps you should just foster liters for another shelter or be a foster parent instead of a whole rescue? How much money is in your vet funds? Do you have $2000+ ( I imagine you require higher than this even as this probably is just enough to help 3-4 rats if that)
And as for taking the link out and refusing to post it, I find that rather immature as well. If you can't take critisism or questions no matter how bluntly put or how pessimistic sounding they may be you're not ready for such a huge responsibility because people will be like that towards you in the beginning. I really don't see anyone being 'mean' or 'hurtful' here, I just think that they are doubtful and worried mostly. To do this, you have to learn to accept things like that and LISTEN even if you are already doing what they suggest, they are still trying to help and figure out if you are a properly ran rescue. None of that sounds 'mean' to me, they just are concerned.
http://umgaziranchratrescue.tripod.com/
We can all find the site by Googling it Naz. Like Poppyseed said, everyone is just giving constructive ctiticism and while we may have our doubts, there's no question that what you're doing is a brilliant thing.
From a web-builder's point of view i don't think your site looks proffessional. I'm not going to start criticising the content, but you could do with making it simpler, for a start, and easier to navigate with more links to seperate pages. You also need to check your spelling and grammar, your spelling is bad and that's not a criticism, you just might want to run everything through a spellchecker, or get someone to proofread it I know this sounds like nit-picking but if you want a proffessional, respected and noticeable rescue then you need to smarten the site up a bit. At the moment it looks quite slap-dash and immature *cringe* i know that sounds harsh but i'm only trying to help, i know that's not the way you want to come accross to people.
Take all this in the spirit was intended - i'm not being nasy, i just want to give a few pointers that i think might make your rescue more successful.
We can all find the site by Googling it Naz. Like Poppyseed said, everyone is just giving constructive ctiticism and while we may have our doubts, there's no question that what you're doing is a brilliant thing.
From a web-builder's point of view i don't think your site looks proffessional. I'm not going to start criticising the content, but you could do with making it simpler, for a start, and easier to navigate with more links to seperate pages. You also need to check your spelling and grammar, your spelling is bad and that's not a criticism, you just might want to run everything through a spellchecker, or get someone to proofread it
I know this sounds like nit-picking but if you want a proffessional, respected and noticeable rescue then you need to smarten the site up a bit. At the moment it looks quite slap-dash and immature *cringe* i know that sounds harsh but i'm only trying to help, i know that's not the way you want to come accross to people.Take all this in the spirit was intended - i'm not being nasy, i just want to give a few pointers that i think might make your rescue more successful.
Thanks Sara C - I am going to have the pages checked and edited and made to look just stunning, I know my spelling etc sucks, dsylexia sucks sometimes but I'm trying LOL
I know I have a lot of work with the pages and I'm working on them, I just wanted to get them out there so people could see what I'm doing.
Other Posters queried vet budgets and rat areas etc and living with MOM - LOL - We have a vet on call 24/7 - my Mom and the vet figure out the financial side - When I move out I will still have the farm here it is my home and should my Mom die or I sell the farm after that, it will always be here - the rat rescue is situated in a 20 by 15 insulated barn outside. It is climate controlled. There are two other barns on the farm as well, however this one was originally used for cheese making - oh no - wait - before you all shout - cheese making in 1937 - phew! It has been sterilized four times. My Mother runs the rest of the farm under Biosecurity and the rules and things she has to do are very strict. My Mom is giving me a small 8 by 10 outside storage room which I am changing into a quarintine area, so I won't have to go up to Red Bluff.
Anyway - I am going to continue with my rescue, I believe in what I am doing and appreciate the feedback. While you may not agree with my likes and dislikes etc I find that my methods etc work so until I find new ones I'm going to continue with mine.
I know I have a lot of work with the pages and I'm working on them, I just wanted to get them out there so people could see what I'm doing.
Other Posters queried vet budgets and rat areas etc and living with MOM - LOL - We have a vet on call 24/7 - my Mom and the vet figure out the financial side - When I move out I will still have the farm here it is my home and should my Mom die or I sell the farm after that, it will always be here - the rat rescue is situated in a 20 by 15 insulated barn outside. It is climate controlled. There are two other barns on the farm as well, however this one was originally used for cheese making - oh no - wait - before you all shout - cheese making in 1937 - phew! It has been sterilized four times. My Mother runs the rest of the farm under Biosecurity and the rules and things she has to do are very strict. My Mom is giving me a small 8 by 10 outside storage room which I am changing into a quarintine area, so I won't have to go up to Red Bluff.
Anyway - I am going to continue with my rescue, I believe in what I am doing and appreciate the feedback. While you may not agree with my likes and dislikes etc I find that my methods etc work so until I find new ones I'm going to continue with mine.
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I wish you the best of luck! I think the important thing is that you are trying to make a difference and are willing to save unwanted rats and give them homes.
hey if you try bravenet.com they have free webhosting that doesn't show popups or ads, etc. it's very nice looking and they have some simple layouts that you can use to get started. i use it for my own website (i think it's my profile site, if you want an idea of how it runs), and it might help make things look more professional!
i really love what you are doing, and i know that it will get better with time. after all, you're just starting, there will always be kinks. maybe you should bring your rescue back to ratforum.com when it's really nice and up and running, so that people don't criticize you. a lot of it has to be that everyone thinks they can be helpful because you're just starting out. it's that "fix it before it's bad in the first place" thing.
if you want any help running the site, i love building web pages and html/css, etc, and i'm pretty mean with photoshop. send me a message. holla!
i really love what you are doing, and i know that it will get better with time. after all, you're just starting, there will always be kinks. maybe you should bring your rescue back to ratforum.com when it's really nice and up and running, so that people don't criticize you. a lot of it has to be that everyone thinks they can be helpful because you're just starting out. it's that "fix it before it's bad in the first place" thing.
if you want any help running the site, i love building web pages and html/css, etc, and i'm pretty mean with photoshop.
send me a message. holla!1 - 20 of 96 Posts
