I stand horribly corrected...

She didn't like it much at all.. but I did get a GOOD look at her neck.

She definitely has a few small scabs and what appears to be some sort of (non moving) black specks?  I couldn't get a close enough look at those tho with her wriggling around. 

So there won't be any intros at this time, based on that...    ... Mites?

.... I'm also pretty sure the new kid just sneezed and mucus came out *sigh*  I can't win! This just wasn't my year to get back into rats.

Well, as I said... the introduction process is new to me. I've always bought my rats together. So no, I wasn't aware of the quarentine  But the cages were only side by side for a few minutes before I saw what was going on with the new kid and I separated them.

So.. I have since taken the  new kid (who didn't even get named in this short time), back to Pets Mart. I spoke with the manager and made him aware of the fact, this is the 3rd rat I've bought from them that has been sick. He did confirm they use the same breeder for all Pets Marts in the area. These were actually transferred from ANOTHER store! ...ugh.. so I suggested they speak with the breeder and further advised him the rats that were immediately in the cage with this one... are probably going to have the same problems. (Most likely that just went in one ear and out the other, but I felt obligated to say something at least).

So with their 14 day guarantee on their animals, she will see a vet tomorrow, and they'll let me know by Wed what's going on with her. I told him I WANT HER BACK! (Their 14 day policy makes me a little nervous as they do put the animal back up for adoption if they are able to treat them successfully). He promised he will call me on Wed with some sort of update from the vet.

Side Note:
While standing there, the cashier behind me turns around and says .."awww your rat has a COLD! I used to have rats... one got a cold and I gave her OTC decongestant..."   ...  ...Did you say you "USED to have rats" ?? ... I'll take my "chances" with the vet.


As for Snootles.... *sigh* I'm calling the OTHER vet in the area that treats rodents tomorrow... I'll have to take her in I suppose for that. In the meantime I'll look around on here for treatments for Lice (?? that sounds like the lesser of two evils from what I've been reading thus far) ... see if I can find something useful to treat her with on here as I really don't have the $$ right now for a vet bill (I'll have to find a way if it comes down to that). THIS again is something new to me. Never had to deal with lice/mites on my rats before. If anything good comes out of this streak of bad luck.. it'll be a learning experience at least.

I've never bought from this pet chain before. I've either gotten from my sister who used to breed them, or from the local mom & pop store. The last time I checked, their rats REEEAALLY looked to be on their last limbs. I liked the idea of buying from the bigger chain, in hopes of being able to give the ratties a better home than someone buying for their obnoxious 5yr old (which I was witness to today.. I feel sorry for whatever animal went home with that kid). It's just a shame people that work at these stores aren't given at least basic training on these sorts of things.

Oh, and as for the bedding they were in... I honestly.. have NO idea what that was. I've never seen anything like that. It didn't appear to be any form of wood... imagine diced up egg cartons or mcdonalds cup carriers (dark brown, super thick cardboard like paper). They must have just started using that within the last month as well. Last time I was there they had Aspen bedding.

Just so I can be sure I'm clear on this...

There is OTC Frontline/Revolution.. correct?  ... the OTC is good for lice but not mites... is this right?

I actually hit up the list of vets from here when Plo got ill... unfortunately I wasn't able to get her there in time as she ended up passing that same night. I'm going to give them a call tomorrow if for any reason I need to get something prescribed for Snoots. If I can get something OTC for this that'd be awesome.

I feel like a terrible rat mom right now. I understand they have so many health issues.. I've just never dealt with so many, at the same time, and in such young ones! I blame the pet store & breeder more than I do myself.. I just feel helpless right now. I figured in my situation, the vet that the pet store provides will at least be giving her a chance. ....I really need a name for her haha that's the other thing I feel guilty about... "the new kid" .. she really is a pretty lil thing.

(Note this was just the travel cage you see her in, not intended to be any sort of permanant housing... just the pet store to the car and home and back again heh.)





Also got a great picture of Sy Snoots in her hammock today

Revolution (selamectin) will kill lice and mites.  Frontline (fipronil)doesn't seem to work on mites and can be toxic if ingested.  I don't know if it works on lice or not.  I recommend Revolution.  You just put a small drop on the back of their neck and your good for the month.  You can get it from a vet or www.canadavet.com

Got Snoots to the vet! Turns out he has rats of his own.

They did scrapings and ran another test, haven't gotten those results back, but the doc highly suspects Mites. I suggested Revolution and Ivermectin.. he chose Ivermectin saying he has has almost fail proof results with that. He gave her an injection and sent me home with some to treat her with every 12hrs (already diluted ...fill eyedropper to line he has marked).

I was worried about the injection, I saw some people advise against it.. but it's nearly 12hrs since her visit.. she's doing just fine =) ... other than being a bit beside herself. I had to throw out her favorite sleeping spot.. (no possible way to clean it throughly ... ) I gave her a new bed, similar to her old in shape.. she's a bit skeptical .. I feel bad for that.

He also suggested not using ANY sort of wood bedding.. but newspaper instead. Seems like the obvious choice eh? .. So baby girl is on her way to recovery.

** As for the new unamed girl...  (who is being treated under the Pets Mart 14 day guarentee), ironically enough, they send their animals to the very same vet that Snootles saw today... while the Vet couldn't even as much as tell me if she was there (because she's under Pets Mart)... I contacted the mgr at Pets Mart... who seemed a little shady.. I'm wondering if she even made it to the vet.. I'm quite nervous now.  I think I'll just call the vet tomorrow just ask in general.... if any rats have been brought in from Pets Mart in the last week.

Wait... they're treating her with margarine?     Oh no, wait, Nutrilite... vitamins, but that won't 'treat' anything!

Golly gee, this rat is sneezing let's leave her here for a week and see what happens so we don't have to pay for anything!  Grr.

I'm sorry to hear about all this trouble for the poor rats and for you.

I don't know how the stores are managed on a regional basis, but my local PetsMart seems pretty decent.  They have a better range of products than the other pet stores so I do shop there, despite reading about other people having problems like you have. I haven't bought a rat from them, just browsed.  They usually only have a very few rats at higher prices, and don't "restock" rapidly.  I asked about this when I was first looking to buy, they told me that all their rats go thru an isolation period in back and they don't stock a bunch all the time to discourage snake owners.


I've bought rats from a breeder, two locally owned shops and now, recently, Petco.  They all developed sneezes within the first two weeks I had them.  Only the Petco rat recovered right away, without medication; he seemed to be adapting to the new litter, which had a bit of dust in it (despite being "dust free").  I wonder if this might be why your store is doing what they're doing--a policy of isolating pets and seeing if the problem clears up on its own.  While it might make some sense financially, I don't see how they could justify a week to 10 days' wait in any case--if it's just some sort of emotional or allergic response to a new home it should clear up in a day or so!

My vets work on weekends, so that part of their story sounds credible, but your vet should be open to telling you if he has a contract like that with PetsMart.

I'm beginning to think it's impossible to come up with a hard and fast rule about the best place to get pet rats every time, always.  The rat from the breeder, Louie,  has lived the longest and is the healthiest and fastest to recover from myco flare-ups.  The local shop owners have the dirtiest and smelliest conditions, and are pretty open that their rats come from feeder farms and mainly go to snake owners.  The 3 rats I got from the local stores all reeked when I got them home and needed baths, while the breeder and Petco guys have come smelling quite nice.

Petco staff own rats and really seem to love them.  The little guy I just bought is also the friendliest and most playful of all the rats I've had.  The only one that would walk onto my hands, too.  A little shy about bieng picked up, but I think he'll be into it pretty quick.

While it's probably best overall to buy from a pet rat breeder, there's that whole problem of waiting lists for litters, or waiting for a rat show where there will be rats for sale.  When Louie's cage mate  recently passed away I planned to give him lots of extra attention and wait for a local breeder to have a litter.   Unfortuantely, he began grooming compulsively to the point of being covered with scabs.  So buying the little guy from Petco was sort of an emergency need.  Just having him has been the "fix" Louie needed.  Even though Louie's been so mean during the introductions that they're not sharing a cage yet, he's stopped being compulsive and his scabs have all healed up. 

So I have to say it's a plus I could go to a big chain and buy a pet rat, and at least this one from my local Petco (not Petsmart) seems to be a healthy, happy little gem.

I sure hope you can make your Petsmart honor their guarantee and help this poor little guy get better!

I just bought a rat from petsmart on monday. They told me she was on antibiotics (Septra) while she was in isolation, but I don't think they gave it to her for the correct amount of time, I think they just gave her enough to appear healthy. Because only after 3 days she's sneezing and making stuffy nose sounds when she's excited. I was contemplating taking her back to petsmart because they said they would get her healthy again and could notify me when she is better. But considering that they had already treated her before and it didn't work I dont think I would want to take her back. I also feel that if I take her to my vet instead I could get her better a lot faster than I'd expect for petsmart to do. And it also would mean that I could keep socializing her and be able to introduce her to my rats sooner. And after doing some searching on the forums for some advice I found your post and it completely convinced me to use my vet instead. Thanks for posting about this, hearing your story probably saved me from going through the same thing.

So, just to close this story... I never got her back (as originally feared).

I called nearly everyday for 3wks to check up on her. To the point where they assured me she had seen the vet, was being treated and I would be contacted when she was ready to be released. They KNEW I wanted her back.

I left the country for a week, and the day they called was 2 days before I was due home. The mgr left me a voicemail. I called my Mom back home to have her go and talk to him and ask him to hold her until I was back in town, (only 1 day!) ... I got home called them up.. and was told she had been put back on the shelf and sold the same day.

So I'm assuming right after they got off the phone with my Mom and assured her she would be there for me, she was put back out. I can only hope she went to a good home.

Well, I thought about that, but it wouldn't really do any good as I don't plan on getting anymore rats from them.

I actually ended up going with the breeder I found through my vet. I got two babies from her, and when I went to Pets Mart to get a bigger cage and supplies I saw him.. he obviously remembered me the way he would duck down an aisle every time he saw ME.

It irritated me but at the same time I had to laugh a little.. what a coward.