My Thoughts On Recent Rat News

Not too long ago, a woman bought her ten year old grandson a pet rat from Petco (located in California). Shortly after the purchase, the boy contracted an illness from the rat and died.

I have read quite a few articles about this very sad event. Each article I read made it very clear they felt you should never keep rats as pets. In light of what happened, I understand why they feel this way. Even so, I do not agree that rats should not be kept as pets!

First off, just because one rat was infected with this disease does not mean every rat is. Secondly, the chance of a pet rat being infected with RBF (rat bite fever) is low. It is a very rare disease most commonly found in wild rats, not domesticated ones. For more information on RBF, go to: http://www.ratfanclub.org/fever.html

When purchasing a pet from a pet store, you are running the risk of the animal being sick. Many chain pet stores are profit driven and are not necessarily concerned about their health. These pet stores usually purchase their stock from animal mills. These mills do mass breeding and the animals are kept in very bad conditions. Obviously, producing healthy, loving pets is not exactly at the top of their priority list.

In conclusion, I just want to assure everyone that my goal as a breeder is to bring HEALTHY ratties into the world. My rats are raised in my home and are handled multiple times daily. They are very well cared for. They have a great diet and clean cages, they get lots of attention and love and they are very happy. In short, it is 'safe' to adopt my ratties. When it comes to health (and temperament) you have nothing to worry about. I am writing this post, so obviously my rats do not have any diseases like RBF! ;-)

Babies Coming Soon!

This is one of the new additions, Connie. She is a Wedge Blaze Banded Mink. She is one pretty girl with a great personality!

Little Connie will be having babies soon! The breeder I adopted her from said there was a possibility she was pregnant. Well, I know without a doubt this is definitely the case. I am excited! I am hoping she will have some Dumbo babies. Sparky (the father of the babies) has top ears so there is a good chance they will all have top ears. Connie's brother (Javier) has Dumbo ears, so I can still hope!! Either way, I know the babies will be great rats like their Dad and Mom. ;-)

You can see the 'bulge' in this picture.

 Such a cute face!

Rat Diet: The Good and Bad

This post is an informational post about what a rat can/should eat and what a rat can not/should not eat.

 Main Diet

A rat should have a nutritional, balanced diet. Their staple food should NEVER be a seed mix. Pet stores and even some grocery stores sell a variety of rat/small animal seed mixes. Definitely avoid these mixes! They do not provide rats with what they need to remain healthy throughout their lives. Instead, choose to feed your rats rat (lab) blocks (you can sometimes find a very good quality rat food at a pet store). They contain all the nutrients your rat needs. I feed all my ratties a mix of rat blocks, dog food and peanuts (raw peanuts are not good for them). It keeps them at a very healthy weight!

Treats

Rats do enjoy eating treats. Generally, most rat treats sold at pet stores are not very healthy. The absolute worst treat to give your rat is yogies. They are pure sugar! Rats definitely have a sweet tooth and can very easily become addicted to sugary treats. In fact, they can become so picky that they will not eat fruits and veggies. A better option is to give your rats small bits of fruits and veggies, scrambled eggs, unsalted and unbuttered popcorn, cheerios, chicken bones, a small amount of yogurt and even an occasional dog or kitty treat. Out of all of the treats I listed, chicken bones definitely rank number one with my rats!

Fruits and veggies

Most rats do love fruits and veggies. I listed the ones that are good for them below.


Fruits:

Apples
Bananas
Blueberries
Grapes
Peaches
Pears
Kiwi


Vegetables:

Broccoli
Carrots
Cucumbers
Peas
Romaine lettuce
Corn (my rats like them straight from a can)
Green, red, or yellow peppers

Foods rats should NEVER eat

Apple seeds
Green bananas
Mango
Oranges
Orange juice
Raw brussel sprouts- fine after cooking
Green potato skin and eyes
Raw artichokes
Raw onion
Raw red cabbage- fine after cooking
Raw sweet potato- fine after cooking
Rhubarb
Blue cheese
Licorice
Poppy seeds
Raw bulk tofu


I hope this post was helpful! You may want to do some research of your own. Even though I listed many 'good' and 'bad' foods for rats, there is a lot of additional information on the internet! I really do attempt to feed my rats healthy food, but I simply can not resist giving them a little bit of junk food every now and then. ;-)



Here is a picture of some of my boys eating yogurt. As you can see, they were loving it!

The Whole Gang...

 

This is Big Blue. He is one big, loving boy!

This is Fanny. She loves to give kisses!

This is Nutmeg. She is so social!

This is Sparky. He is a happy, little guy who loves treats!

This is Raven. She loves being pet on her head!

This is Aadi. He just soaks up attention!

This is Connie. She adores being held!

This is Dolly. She is one happy ratty!

This is Baily. She is super nice!

This is Ninja. He is Mr. Attitude!

This is Bonnie. She loves to relax in her cage!

 

New Additions...

Well, my group of eleven ratties arrived sooner than expected! They are doing great and seem very happy. I will post pictures of the whole gang tomorrow! :-)

You may be wondering where these rats came from. Before joining Sunshine Rattery, these rats belonged to a fellow breeder that I have been communicating with over the past six months. Due to personal matters, she was recently unable to care for them. She asked me if I would consider adopting all of them. She really felt I would provide them with a loving home. After much thought, I accepted her offer and agreed to continue breeding her wonderful ratties.

Even though they have been with me only a short time, I am enjoying them very much! I know without a doubt I will not be sorry I adopted this little herd of rats. :-)

-Meghan

By 6:00 tomorrow evening the name of my rattery will be changed to Riverside Rattery. My new blog address will be www.riversiderattery.blogspot.com.  

Rat's Nest

Rats and Kids

Rats make great pets for children! They are very gentle and loving.

Andy (my little brother) loves Bulls-eye! He is an extremely calm rat.

Organizing...

I am very excited! This Saturday a group of eleven rats will be joining Sunshine Rattery. In preparation for their arrival, I completely cleaned out all my rat cages and organized my whole rattery. I want things to be in order by the time Saturday rolls around. It took me quite a few hours to get everything whipped into shape!

As you can see, this picture was taken before everything was completely clean.

All the ratties slept like babies while I vacuumed!

This is the finished product of my work! Everything looks so nice now.

I put orange peels around the clean cages. Believe it or not, they suck up stinky smells!

*A Quick Side note*  For those of you who follow my blog, I will be changing the name of my rattery soon. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up! Sunshine Rattery has simply been a temporary name. After a lot of thought I came up with a few names I like better! I will be sure to give everyone the new web address before it is officially published. :-)

Like Father, Like Son...

Happy Ratties

As the 'baby' ratties get older I am really starting to notice their personalities. Some are super gentle, some are to the more active side and others are very curious...the list goes on. All of them are pretty similar in many ways, yet at the same time they all have their own unique traits that sets them apart from the others.

Now, there is one thing they all have in common: They are all so happy! No matter what, these little munchkins always seem to be content and full of life. :-)

~Meghan