Adoption help (long, skip to the boldface if you're busy)

[umbrella]

So, I have the three litters, and we need space for 12 males to be separated from their moms and sisters by the 27th, and we're going through 2.2 lbs of Reggie Rat food EVERY DAY (I've ordered some lab blocks since they're more nutritionally dense, but until then...) And I cannot find decent homes for a majority (aka all but three to seven) of the babies. All the rats are fine; great, actually, but I am really stressed. I don't want 40 rats. I cannot really afford 40 rats. I did not want to breed my girls (these are accidental litters), nor did I want any more rats, really, since I started working 25 hours a week and going to school 18 hours a week, and my attention and time were stretched pretty thin as it was. The adults were old enough to entertain themselves, but the babies have to be socialized, which is hard.

Goober's babies have spent way more time with her than me, and are getting skittish, like Goober. The other babies seem a normal amount of skittish to me, about as skittish as the breeder's babies I've seen. I still feel bad, since I'm supposed to be making them into nice, friendly little pet rats, and they are scared of me.  

I'm adopting out and selling some of my beloved reptiles since I no longer have time or money to care for them. I've racked up a large (for me) credit card bill. I'm neglecting schoolwork (though that's not all the rats' fault, it has a lot to do with the stress.)

Anyway, I've digressed, the original question was: What else can I do to find homes for the babies? I'm working on a Petfinder listing now, and obviously I've posted here. I tried talking to people at school, bringing some of the older babies to spark interest, but all I got was "Would you sell them to a lab?" or "Why don't you give them to a pet store?" or stories about how they used to have a rat (one single rat) that they kept in a ten-gallon tank, and he was really cool, could they have ONE of my babies? So that's kind of a dead end. Only one person at work is interested, and she's really more interested in adopting my tree frogs than the rats. I'm scared that if I put notices in non-ratpeople places (newspapers, bulletin boards, etc.) that they'll be snake food or neglected/abused. I've never had to give away pets before, I don't know if I'd be able to screen people well enough to make sure they had good intentions and knew what they were doing. Can anyone help? Does anyone have any good ideas to drum up interest in these guys? Would anyone like to foster some of the babies so they can have more personal attention?

Like I said, they're all doing fine right now. I just worry that I won't be able to find homes, that I'll find bad homes, that I'm not doing a good job raising them, that I'll run out of space/money/time, etc. I'm having a hard time sleeping these days, wondering how I'm going to feed and house 35-40 adult rats.

Sorry for this long post. I'm just having some, er, issues right now.

Jessi

[mamarat2]

bumping it back to the top Jessi  

[Nimue]

Jessi, have you contacted Heather from Rats Rock Rescue in St. Louis?  She might be able to give you some helpful, local tips.

[kevinrats]

Bummer.  Maybe you could post an ad in the paper, saying no feeders.

But when advertising rats, dont call them rats.  call them pocket pets or raffins, and when people ask what they are, tell them to come over and see.  
i dont know if this would work, but its a suggestion.

[umbrella]

I emailed Rats Rock, haven't gotten an answer yet.

Jessi

[Heather]

Oh gosh! I WISH I could adopt one from you! I cannot fit 11 rats in my Ruud though.. 10 boys are already starting to bicker. If you hold onto that little boy I took a liking to, I would most definately adopt him when I have room. It's not any help I know. I was in the very same predicament awile back last year. I ended up not finding anyone, and calling a pet store that PROMISED to sell them as pets, as long as they weren't PEWs. Well a friend of mine was in there awile after I took them there and said there were blacks, agoutis and PEWs in the feeder tank. I sure hope you have better luck. If I had any room, I would most definately adopt that little boy from you, or another if he was adopted already. I sympathize with you.. I really do. If you go to mazuri.com and find a dealer near, they sell rat food in 50 lb bags for cheap. I ge tthem for $18 a bag.. and it feeds my 13 rats for about 8 mos.

[umbrella]

That's okay, no one else wants any boys (besides the ones already claimed), so I will have SNK whenever you want him.

Thanks for the tip on Mazuri, I actually drove around to the feed stores here asking if they sold it right before I read your post   No one I asked has it, where do you get yours?

Mine aren't going to a pet store; I'd give them to Petsmart, where I work, but they don't take animals from individuals. Sigh. Plague of babyrats.

Jessi

[gillianreeves]

same problem here. I have 28 rats  3 litters.
5 7 week olds
8 3 week olds
11 2 week olds

My mom is bugging me like ever since the first litter was born to get rid of them I put an ad  in adoption colum here, no responses. I called every single pet store around, nobody want them. My mom is driving me crazy. She insists on getting rid of them NOW! I can stand it anymore. I'm thinking of dumping them in a field somewhere and be done with it. I haven't slept in a week over this rat issue. She want them out before she goes on vacation Saturday. I am despreate. Is there someplace I can go where I can just dump them like a rescue and they got to take them and be done with it. I'm in Los ANgeles.

signed breaking heart

[umbrella]

same problem here. I have 28 rats  3 litters.
5 7 week olds
8 3 week olds
11 2 week olds

My mom is bugging me like ever since the first litter was born to get rid of them I put an ad  in adoption colum here, no responses. I called every single pet store around, nobody want them. My mom is driving me crazy. She insists on getting rid of them NOW! I can stand it anymore. I'm thinking of dumping them in a field somewhere and be done with it. I haven't slept in a week over this rat issue. She want them out before she goes on vacation Saturday. I am despreate. Is there someplace I can go where I can just dump them like a rescue and they got to take them and be done with it. I'm in Los ANgeles.

signed breaking heart

Do not, do not, do NOT dump them somewhere. It will be condemning them to a slow death. Contact the local Humane Society or animal shelter, or as a last resort, find a vet or shelter who will euthanize them for you. Do not dump them anywhere.

Jessi

[gillianreeves]

I perfer this option!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there someplace I can go where I can just dump them like a rescue and they got to take them and be done with it. I'm in Los ANgeles.

Anyone know of one?

if somebody can come and just take them out of my hands would be great. I want them to be alive and\happy. But my mom is putting sooo much pressure on me I can't take it.

[umbrella]

Here's the website of Animal Care & Control in LA.
http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/html/Main1.htm

Here's one for LA Animal Services. http://www.laanimalservices.com/

Here is a link to a big list of rescue organizations and other people who might be able to help you.
http://www.at-la.com/@la-pets.htm#rat

Jessi

[tunes]

I'm sorry for your predicament.  I had one surprise litter and thank God she only had three (she was too young).  I am up to eight and can't help you with adopting, but I can tell you where to get Mazuri.  Go to www.mazuri.com and do a store locator.  Once you find a store near you that carries it call them and ask if they carry purina products.  When I called to ask about Mazuri at the places listed on their website, everybody said they didn't carry it.  So I asked them why they would be listed on the Mazuri website.  Well, one of them was curious and said he would check, so he called around and Mazuri is a division of Purina.  So, if you can find a feed mill or whatever that carries Purina, they can order in Mazuri rat food.  It is very reasonably priced.  

I wish you luck.  I really wish I could help out, but for right now, eight is my limit.  

For the other poster - DO NOT TURN THEM LOOSE IN THE WILD.  If your mom is forcing you to get rid of them, and you cannot place them in loving homes, then be a responsible pet owner and euthanize them.  You are condeming them to a horrid fate if you turn them loose in the wild.  They could not begin to survive, probably even throughout the night.  They do not know how to forage for food, hide from predators, or anything else.  

[BabyBlue]

Bad Mouse. Why dont you post about these babies in the adoption section and see if anyone can help or offer other advice (I checked and saw that you posted about some babies last month, but nothing about these 3 litters). Letting them go in the field is NEVER an option.

Either way, you should start your own thread so we dont highjack rhinecats thread.

[kim]

jessi -
email surrender@kimsarkrescue.org and fill out our surrender form and we can list them on our websit e- we get a LOT of traffic and we can hopefully help you place some via word of mouth!

-kim

badmouse, where did your rats come from?

[kim]

badmouse/gillianreeve - i checked adoption and see no post of yours - where did these babies come from? you dont mention them at all in the past. dumping them off somewhere at a shelter, or in a field, is not the option. if you want to talk about it, please start a thread about it....

[Mirabell]

Hey - I am in the Southern Indiana area and I just PM'd you Rhinecat.

[lotsorats]

Rhinecat
Heather at rats rock is a good resource. Also petfinder. I adopted from the Humane society and they are a no kill shelter. If you run out of options.
I get my lab blocks at El MEl in St Charles it is like 14.00 for a 33lb bag. They also have great prices on litter. I get aspen in a huge bag for 10.00

[Heather]

That's okay, no one else wants any boys (besides the ones already claimed), so I will have SNK whenever you want him.

*sob* Yay! *in awe of SNK's beautiful markings!*

Like Tracey, I get my lab blocks from the local feed store, El Mel. There is one in St Louis.. across from Jamestown mall.. is that near you? If you went to locate a dealer online, you can just call them up. I bet one is closer than you think. And El Mel here does sell lots of bedding cheap. 3 cubic meters for $10. I stopped using aspen when I aquired more boys.. the cage just got unbearable. YN is good stuff. 34 lbs for 9.99-11.99. When I bought mine there was a sale on it. If you cannot find a cheap enough Mazuri dealer, I could possibly (depending on how far away you are in ST louis) buy 2-3 bags at a time and meet you halfway? Just don't try to slip SNK in my pocket.. though I might not mind anyway.

[umbrella]

I can get to Jamestown Mall easily, so that's no problem. Thanks for the recommendation.

Jessi