Myco strikes again...

I went to petco a while back and bought out all of their "healthy" mice and rats so I can have some feeders and breeders.

Well about 5 day go by and every one of the rats is sick! pouring snot from their noses, sneezing like crazy and just laying around. I went back to petco with the death ticked and 10 dead rats to see if I could get my money back and they wouldnt let me. They stated that it was my fult that the rats were sick. I ended up talking with the gal who packaged the rats for me and told me that the ones I didnt pick died a few days later.

Who knows how long the rats had this. but right now I have no other option for food, unless I want to pay $8.99 a pop for weaned rats.
sorry I'm just a little peeved and wanted to vent a little.

Has any one found out how to safely ship rodents?

What's your history like with f/t?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jessie_k_pythons

I went to petco a while back and bought out all of their "healthy" mice and rats so I can have some feeders and breeders.

Well about 5 day go by and every one of the rats is sick! pouring snot from their noses, sneezing like crazy and just laying around. I went back to petco with the death ticked and 10 dead rats to see if I could get my money back and they wouldnt let me. They stated that it was my fult that the rats were sick. I ended up talking with the gal who packaged the rats for me and told me that the ones I didnt pick died a few days later.

Who knows how long the rats had this. but right now I have no other option for food, unless I want to pay $8.99 a pop for weaned rats.
sorry I'm just a little peeved and wanted to vent a little.

Has any one found out how to safely ship rodents?

---

one more reason for me to hate petco :mad:

thats bull that they wont give you your money back (15 day guarantee my butt!)

hope everything works out

Hun, mice and rats carry mycoplasma bacteria in their bodies from the day they are born. It is nothing that can be made to go away or can cause death(unless there is great stress on the body such as moving from place to place, illness, internal parasites, etc).


The rodents from Petco usually carry parasites, the worst being tapeworms and coccidia that I, personally, have found in them. If they aren't treated, they will quickly go downhill, stop eating, get sick and die. Myco can come up when there is a great toll on the body, such as stress or illness, and can flare up when these things occur. It is not the Myco itself that causes the illness, but instead it weakens the immune system so secondary infection can take over. If the secondary infection isn't treated with antibiotics such as enrofloxacin(Baytril), Doxycycline, amoxicillin, etc(or a combo of Baytril/Doxy), then the rat won't recover and will die. The majority cannot overcome a secondary infection, especially while their immune system isn't working properly.

If they are kept properly while you have them, such as proper bedding(no pine or cedar regardless of what people say), proper food(lab blocks and a good mix for the rats and just good lab blocks for the mice), no crowding, and proper ventilation(tanks don't allow this and if you plan on breeding get appropriate wire cages with deep plastic bottoms such as Super Pet or shallow sterilite containers with the lid replaced with wire mesh), they should have been ok.

I test my breeding colony of mice every so often for internal parasites, just in case one of the new ones brought something into the colony. I treat them preventatively every other month or so with either 1.87% ivermectin or Strongid T(pyrantel pamoate).

Sometimes you just get a bad source, and all of the rodents come in sick/dying/etc. They could have been exposed to something or been stressed greatly before coming into the store. I don't buy from Petco because of this. Their mice and rats are always unhealthy looking, and have parasites(which impedes them from absorbing enough nutrition and they aren't healthy for the snakes because of this). I have gone to different cities to buy new sources of mice, and have had good luck with that.

IMO, you should read up on the risks of not quarantining rats and mice from your existing colony(and you will eventually have one when you start breeding). Not quarantining can bring in a whole shebang of bad news(SDA, Sendai virus, parasites such as giardia, coccidia, tapeworms, hookworms, a whole party). 30 days minimum, and treat them for any illnesses while in quarantine(means a vet visit is necessary just to check for parasites at the least).

Just some friendly advice that I hope you will heed :) And maybe try to find a better source of rodents, LoL. You're close to Austin, I think(Ft. Hood, right? Or are you in Georgia, I don't remember). Go on down to Dallas, as the Petco in Temple is exceptionally disgusting).

OR if you want, I can give you a group of my mice who are bred by me, healthy and parasite free. Lab blocks too, if you want them.

I'm in Augusta and the nearest reptile breeder that will let me buy off of them is 320 miles away. only 2 of my snakes will eat frozen.

as for set ups for the rats and mice I had them in rubbermade females were paired up and the boys got there own place. The vet i have will not treat rodents. but I do have an endless suply of ivermectin (used it on the cat and the horses) I cant seem to find Baytril any where but there is a feed store that opened up near by that caters to Gator farmers and they might have it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nathanledet

What's your history like with f/t?

---

Only 2 of the 4 right now will take frozen ... Angel started off with frozen fuzzies but she has been getting stuned large mice now so I would have to say truthfuly only one snake I know will eat frozen. The other is a 50 50 chance.

The other 2 look at me like I have rocks in my head when I offer frozen :confused: and one out of that 2 is a 1200gr male who will only eat small mice. he flips out if you put a rat pup in there or even a large mouse.

I always seem to get the head case animals ... but i love them all to death.

Have you tried leaving the f/t prey in overnight? I tried it on a whim last week with LaVey; thought I'd see what he does.. and the rat was gone in the morning. (and no, I don't think thawed rats, can crawl out and escape, hehe.)

I tryed eveything with Baby and so far no luck.
Im going to place a wanted ad in the paper here to see if I cant find a local breeder of mice and rats. It is worth a shot.

Crap; I'd hook you up if you were up here in NY. Plan on taking any road trips to Buffalo?

Now I'm not trying to hijack this thread or anything. But I just bought 1.1 large rats from pecto last night. I'm housing them in a tall tub with a water bottle, food bowl (rat food consist of corn, little o's and lots of other little things) and aspen bedding. Well the male sneezed at least 5 times within an hour. Should i be worried?