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Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / September 2003Need a rat rescue in Washington state
Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick rats. I have 4 subadult male blue rats (two are hooded), and they all have a respiratory problem (sniffling and sneezing, still active and playful). I am 60 miles north of Seattle, WA and will drive a reasonable distance to deliver them. They are all housed together in a large glass terrarium and I am happy to donate it as well. A little background... I am a reptile rescuer and rehabilitator, through www.pnhs.net. Someone dumped these rats on me and said "take these sick rats, use them for snake food". Well, I have a number of problems with that. First, these are pet-quality rats, they're all totally tame and sweet and friendly (I've handled all of them repeatedly). Second, I NEVER feed live rodents to my animals. Third, I have no facilities for humane euthanasia of the rats (c02 gas), and I am TOTALLY OPPOSED to inhumane euthanasia of prey. Lastly, they're so sweet and cute. I cannot do it. I am an advocate of early and often vet care, but with my current housing of over 30 reptiles, nearly half of which require ongoing vet visits and expensive medications, I simply do not have the funding to get care for these ratties. I also am seeing some ill repercussions of keeping rats in my reptile room - all my snakes can smell them and are active and rubbing their noses on the glass regularly. My goal with the reptiles is to have them as tame and healthy as possible so I can take them to schools and science fairs and help children learn about them... to prevent the reptile phobia that so many adults carry. I don't bother trying to push them on adults, I know most people that have a phobia are not going to get over it (nor do they want to try). My apologies in advance for dumping sick rats. This has been a hard choice for me but I simply cannot afford vet care for them and I am not willing to use them for snake food. I purchase frozen rodents that were raised to be prey animals and put to sleep with c02 gas. That is the only way I can mentally justify the death of such awesome animals. Further apologies from me for those that are opposed to keeping reptiles because they eat rodents, or those that have become sqeamish after reading my post. If anyone can help me find a home for these ratties I would be most grateful... I'll check back here, or email me at fr0glet @ fr0glet .org TIA fr0glet Poor little guys, I wish I could help, they sound adorable. Alas, I live in Australia. In the mean time, does the terarium have a lot of ventilation? The ammonia from their urine won't be doing their breathing any good at all. If you can, get them into well ventilated cage. Good luck re-homing them. > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick rats. I > have 4 subadult male blue rats (two are hooded), and they all have a [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > TIA > fr0glet "Dale Voss" <dvoss@dodo.com.au> wrote... > Poor little guys, > I wish I could help, they sound adorable. Alas, I live in Australia. > > In the mean time, does the terarium have a lot of ventilation? It has a screen top, and I really haven't been smelling much of anything from the tank. It has a lot of substrate right now though. Probably good advice. I have no wire enclosures, only aquariums and terrariums (though I must have some 50 of those). > Good luck re-homing them. Thanks for the wishes. I figure I must have some karma worked up to be able to find these guys a home! fr0glet > > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick rats. > I [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I > > am happy to donate it as well. Sorry to nag, but ammonia sinks..... any way you could drill holes in the bottom to vent it a bit more? > "Dale Voss" <dvoss@dodo.com.au> wrote... > > Poor little guys, [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > I > > > am happy to donate it as well. "Dale Voss" <dvoss@dodo.com.au> wrote... > Sorry to nag, but ammonia sinks..... > > any way you could drill holes in the bottom to vent it a bit more? No, I cannot drill holes in glass. fr0glet > "Dale Voss" <dvoss@dodo.com.au> wrote... > > Sorry to nag, but ammonia sinks..... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > fr0glet Hi Fr0glet, How wonderful of you to be so thoughtful for these poor little critters. Would it be possible for you to drop them off at the vets and tell them of your situation? If you are already known at the vets for your many reptiles, then they will understand these poor rats were dumped on you and you can not take care of them. Perhaps your vet could medicate them and put them up for adoption.  SignatureJoanne Mom to 14 rats http://community.webshots.com/user/joanneb70 j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca remove "no spam" "J&S Bouchard" <j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca> wrote in message news:DS_bb.4884 > Would it be possible for you to drop them off at the vets and tell them of > your situation? If you are already known at the vets for your many reptiles, > then they will understand these poor rats were dumped on you and you can not > take care of them. Perhaps your vet could medicate them and put them up for > adoption. I did indeed speak to my vet about them. Unfortunately they declined to take in the rats, they do present animals for adoption but only through a local no-kill animal shelter (and that shelter takes cats and dogs only). They offered me a group rate for euthanasia, but I declined the offer as these rats are so sweet and friendly. I think they should be someone's pets. I keep hoping there is a Washington group willing to take them. I've left a couple of messages now, one replied they only take healthy rats. :( fr0glet > "J&S Bouchard" <j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca> wrote in message news:DS_bb.4884 > > Would it be possible for you to drop them off at the vets and tell them of [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > fr0glet Oh my... my vet would never put to sleep any animal that can be saved. I think that was terrible of your vet to offer such a thing. You are such a good person... Have you tried other rat forums? like: http://groups.msn.com/RatsRatsRats/homepage1.msnw http://www.goosemoose.com/rfc/index.php http://www.ratpalace.com/index.php http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ratlist/ I sure do hope you find someone who has a big heart like yours... SignatureJoanne Mom to 14 rats http://community.webshots.com/user/joanneb70 j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca remove "no spam" > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick rats. I > have 4 subadult male blue rats (two are hooded), and they all have a [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > TIA > fr0glet Kudos for you and your mission. I know far to many people that would advocate feeding your rats to the snakes. It seems that snakes get a better rap than rats, although not by much, I suppose. I am glad you hold yourself to such high ethical and moral standards. I, myself, was told on numerous occasions to give my rats to a local snake breeder, because I have an "accidental" litter of 13 (whelped three days after I got the mother!) along with the eleven I rescued. I am currently trying to find homes for them all (mostly Agouti Self and Agouty Berkshire markings), but it has been difficult. ...Geshel "Neo Geshel" <gotcha@geshel.org> wrote... > fr0glet@fr0glet.hates.spambots.org says... > > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick rats. I [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > better rap than rats, although not by much, I suppose. I am glad you > hold yourself to such high ethical and moral standards. Well thank you for those words. For the record, I think rats make notably better pets than reptiles (being smarter, easier to care for, and easier to bond with). > I, myself, was told on numerous occasions to give my rats to a local > snake breeder, because I have an "accidental" litter of 13 (whelped > three days after I got the mother!) along with the eleven I rescued. I > am currently trying to find homes for them all (mostly Agouti Self and > Agouty Berkshire markings), but it has been difficult. Cheers to your mission as well! Here's hoping we both find the homes we're seeking. fr0glet Bless your heart... Those ratties don't know how lucky they are to have landed with you. If I were closer, I'd take them in a flash -- but I'm in Arizona! Best of luck with your endeavour, you're doing a wonderful thing. Meanwhile, here is a website of rescue organizations in your area. There is a current address/phone number at the bottom of the page. Perhaps they can help? http://www.rabbitrodentferret.org/ This one is near San Francisco: http://www.rattieratz.com Y. -- Lucat bene si ergo Fortibus es inaero O nobil demis trux Sum es causen summit dux -- Anon > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick rats. I > have 4 subadult male blue rats (two are hooded), and they all have a [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > TIA > fr0glet Have you tried the schools? Maybe a responsible teacher would like them for the class. I realize they aren't feeling well and a teacher might be hesitant but getting them into a cage might make a world of difference in their health. I'm in Albany OR and I'd be there in a shot but I just bought 2 that were pregnant and now have 20. I know that the technicians at my vet's office are push-overs for strays. Did you call different vets in your area? One of the other vets in my town actually has a web site for this kind of thing. We have a public message board at my work so if you work at a large company or know someone who does that might be an avenue. Hope some of these suggestions help. Good luck to you and please keep us posted on your progress. And thank you for being such a nice person. > Bless your heart... Those ratties don't know how lucky they are to have > landed with you. If I were closer, I'd take them in a flash -- but I'm in [quoted text clipped - 75 lines] > > TIA > > fr0glet fr0glet <fr0glet@fr0glet.hates.spambots.org> blurted: > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick > rats. Just wanted to let you all know that I placed the four rats with a couple that live in Vancouver, BC. They do casual rat rescue, and I was referred by another rescue contact who takes in iguanas and large birds of prey. The couple I placed these 4 boys with said they were officially Not That Bad, and appeared well-fed and a little wound up from the car ride (1.5 hours to the border crossing, for me). They are experienced with rat respiratory illnesses and I know they will take good care of them. They liked that all the boys hadn't been exposed to females and get along well with each other. A great weight lifted off my shoulders!!! Thanks for all the support here, let me know if you ever need a reptile or amphibian rescued. :) fr0glet > fr0glet <fr0glet@fr0glet.hates.spambots.org> blurted: > > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > fr0glet Excellent!! We need more good people like you Fr0glet. SignatureJoanne Mom to 14 rats http://community.webshots.com/user/joanneb70 j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca remove "no spam" You did a wonderful thing. I wish there were more like you! Y. -- Lucat bene si ergo Fortibus es inaero O nobil demis trux Sum es causen summit dux -- Anon > fr0glet <fr0glet@fr0glet.hates.spambots.org> blurted: > > Hi, I need a rat rescue in Washington state that can accomodate sick [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > fr0glet |
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