Post by Nathan Pearson on Jun 12, 2007 9:25:30 GMT
My ratties are all from a local pet shop the only difference being daisy and bender where born and bred their and Midget was given to teh owner after being hand reared so she was technically from a home. The question im asking is would you say its more rewarding getting a petshop rat or a home reared one.
The start to daisy and bender life wasnt the best they where brought up in a cage barely sutible for 4 rats let alone the 12 that where in it. When we opened the lid of their tank at the petshop they cowered in the corner and when we picked daisy up she jumped from my hand and ran down the shelf knocking stuff off as she went (a semi sutible punishment for the shop keeper) thats before the shop keeper grabed her by the tailwhen i said "shes very nearvous" he said "they get nearvous when they are young". When we got daisy and bender home they where so nervous bender still donst like to be picked up a 18months on and daisy took 2 weeks to take food from my hand.
Midget on the other hand had a great start to life, she had big cage to play with her bros and sisters got handled everyday and it really showed when i put my hand in the tank at the pet shop and all the babies ran over to lick your hand, when we picked midget it wasnt cos she was the only one it was becasue she was a girl from the litter. When we got midget home she was happy and coming out right away and shes so much more intelligent.
And despit all that i can honestly say i would get a petshop rat again because if you look at daisy and bender now they are new rats, happy and loving. We can pick daisy up and bender will lick your fingers all day she even likes a stroke. all the work we have had to put in has been so rewarding and i have to say in a way i am dissapointed that midget was so easy to win over.
Petshop rats may have not had the best start in life and buying them may mean the shop keeper will breed more, but at the end of the day seeing my rats grow from nearvous kittens to confident and fat adults has been as fun as it has been challenging.
The start to daisy and bender life wasnt the best they where brought up in a cage barely sutible for 4 rats let alone the 12 that where in it. When we opened the lid of their tank at the petshop they cowered in the corner and when we picked daisy up she jumped from my hand and ran down the shelf knocking stuff off as she went (a semi sutible punishment for the shop keeper) thats before the shop keeper grabed her by the tailwhen i said "shes very nearvous" he said "they get nearvous when they are young". When we got daisy and bender home they where so nervous bender still donst like to be picked up a 18months on and daisy took 2 weeks to take food from my hand.
Midget on the other hand had a great start to life, she had big cage to play with her bros and sisters got handled everyday and it really showed when i put my hand in the tank at the pet shop and all the babies ran over to lick your hand, when we picked midget it wasnt cos she was the only one it was becasue she was a girl from the litter. When we got midget home she was happy and coming out right away and shes so much more intelligent.
And despit all that i can honestly say i would get a petshop rat again because if you look at daisy and bender now they are new rats, happy and loving. We can pick daisy up and bender will lick your fingers all day she even likes a stroke. all the work we have had to put in has been so rewarding and i have to say in a way i am dissapointed that midget was so easy to win over.
Petshop rats may have not had the best start in life and buying them may mean the shop keeper will breed more, but at the end of the day seeing my rats grow from nearvous kittens to confident and fat adults has been as fun as it has been challenging.