Edit: Rats are NOT solitary animals. :D
----- Original Message -----
From: Naomi
To: AMRIS_rodents_and_rabbits@...
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: AMRIS Rodents & Rabbits Hello Everybody!


Hi there. My name is Naomi. I'm a first time poster, but I've been reading for
a while now.

I have eight ratties. Three adult girls, three teenage boys and two baby
girls. I felt the need to respond to Jamie &James' email as I was disturbed by
its content.

To Jamie & James:

I just wanted to say that I agree with everything Kathy has said. By breeding
this rat over and over and discarding the babies you are teaching your children
that life is cheap and animals are disposable.

I have never bred rats, but a family member has bred our family dog (not my
choice). After her puppies were taken away she became despondent and depressed.
It took her more than a year to get over it and come out of her shell again.
Even then, she has never been the same since. She went from a happy, carefree
dog to a reclusive, serious animal in one day.

Today she can be a mix of both. But I would never do that to an animal again.

I also wanted to say that I believe four weeks is too young for the rats to be
separated. Five weeks or six would be better.

Further, I just wanted to make a point about supplying pet stores with rats.
When you do this you don't know where the babies will be going or what will
happen to them. People treat rodents like toys a lot of the time. They are not
given the respect they deserve. Some of them will no doubt, go to feed snakes,
as many snakes will only feed on live food.

If you bring these little babies into the world it is your responsibility to
ensure that they are taken care of and have good lives. There is no way of
ensuring this if you sell them to a pet store.

Rats do not always make good kids pets. They are pretty fragile and can pretty
much take a kid's finger off. I've had my finger bone broken by a rat.

I don't want to be offensive, but I find what you are doing objectionable and
I feel as though it needs further thought.

I hope you decide to reconsider.

Naomi.


P.S: I hope your stud buck has company in that cage. Rats are solitary animals
and do not cope well with isolation.

P.P.S: Pease take your rat to the vet to get his problem cleared up.


----- Original Message -----
From: Katherine Medina
To: AMRIS_rodents_and_rabbits@...
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 8:52 AM
Subject: Re: AMRIS Rodents & Rabbits Hello Everybody!



Hi there!!

well...i hope i dont dont sound mean..but there are so many rats in
shelters..i dont understand the need to breed the poor things.....

people just dont seem to understand that animals...like humans..have
feelings...maternal feeling too...

when i first go a pair of mice..i thought i had bought two girls..but in
fact..one was a male..which was evident when my little girl had a litter of 12
babies...

and it is a heartless thing to seperate the mother from its babies without
need..to make a couple of bucks....

she was so protective of them.... ...whenever i took one away to inspect
for their health..she would come out of her nest...put her little paws up in the
air as if asking me to give her back..an not go back in until i put her
back..then she'd grab her by the skin of her neck and rush back into her little
house with her....it was clear to see that she was crazy about her little ones
and they were crazy about her...

one of them was so attatched to her mum..she'd be by her side
constantly...each day shed be out looking over her girl..like a tiny lioness
making sure they were safe...

and when she died a year later... her constant conpanion would squeek
mournfully...she refused to even play with her other sisters who would nudge her
and groom her to try and make her feel better...

so my perfectly healthy little lady died of a heart attack a day and a
half later after her mum..im sure it was of a broken heart...

so if i have children one day...i'll be sure to let my kids know that
animals..even rats and mice are not toys....but living..breathing creatures who
also have emotions...thats the kind of thing that would give me "delight"....

i think its cruel to keep breeding a poor rat and giving away her children
each time..leaving her with her maternal feelings...going through the pain of
childbirth..and then having it torn away..for a few dollars....

it would never happen in humans...they would never get a woman pregnant
over and over again and take away her child each time .......so then why do it
to a little defenceless animal??...

just think about that...

hope i havent offended you in any way...

Have a Great day

Kathy :)




James <OzScrnWriter@...> wrote:
My daughter Jamie - 8yo - have joined to gain more information about
successful breeding of rats. Jamie has just midwifed her third litter
and sold them to our local pet shop [at 4 weeks] where I am delighted
to say she has a waiting list of her friends from school and Guides.
Bathurst is becoming a very rat-freindly town with the under 10's!

Our main sire is approaching 18 months and has developed a loss of fur
and some redness under his chin - they are kept very clean and he is
in a separate cage except for mating? However, my daughter also has a
fancy guinea pig and a cockatiel. I am wondering about mites [we do
live in Bathurst but it is winter]or whether it's a function of his
advancing rat years. I haven't seen him scratching inordinately.

Any advice gratefully received.

Jamie & James







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