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?

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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?

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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.

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

What's your history like with f/t?

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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?

Separate them and get them each a same-sex friend. They need to settle in and not be stressed out by breeding and being pregnant. Wait a month and make sure they aren't having any respiratory issues.

Also, get that crap for rat food out of there. It contains nothing that their bodies can use and will only make them sick. Look at the sticky I made for a GOOD rat food mix, they will eat it all and it is very good for them. I don't even give my mice that pet store pre-mixed junk. Not worth it.

Also, do they have plenty of ventilation? Lack of proper ventilation is a main cause of respiratory disease in rats. They need alot of it, but not drafts.

woulda small CPU fan do good for sucking out air and bringing in fresh? I ask because in my old set up I had for all of my mice i placed 2 cpu fans in the tank lids, the only one that ran was to suck out old air and the other fan was to regulate the air flow coming in, so not to blow the poor mice all over the place. Other than that the lids were mesh wire.

They bread like crazy poping out babies right and left. with in 2 months of having them I had 8 litters of babies with an avarage baby count of 6 per litter.

I had more mice then I knew what to do with, but I also got my mice from a local breeder.

It's just stress and can last a few weeks to a month or better. If it stays with sneezing and a bit of porphyrin around the nose and eyes, it's ok. But if they get to the point to where they are hunched up, working to breathe(sides caving in) or aren't eating, then get them to the vet. Antibiotics are overused as it is and we don't want them to become resistant to the last few good ones out there.

So, as I said before, separate them, get them each a same-sex buddy, make sure they have good food and high-quality lab blocks, and leave them alone.

still would CPU fans like I stated above work for rats as well?

No, too drafty. You want air circulation in the room, not blowing on the rats themselves.

no no no, The air is being pulled from the top of the cage/tank/what have you. also the fan is set to 1 out of 5. 5 being for super servers with with very large and hot CPUs. 1 being for very light air movement for cpus with cooler cases around them. For the ones who have CPU fans with lights, it would be the setting only for show, cooler CPU boxes dont need fans.

in short it would be less air flow then a mild breeze out side.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

It's just stress and can last a few weeks to a month or better. If it stays with sneezing and a bit of porphyrin around the nose and eyes, it's ok. But if they get to the point to where they are hunched up, working to breathe(sides caving in) or aren't eating, then get them to the vet. Antibiotics are overused as it is and we don't want them to become resistant to the last few good ones out there.

So, as I said before, separate them, get them each a same-sex buddy, make sure they have good food and high-quality lab blocks, and leave them alone.

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Becky, are you saying that the sneezing is just stress? Mrs. Snuggles (the b/w one) is very sneezy, but doesn't have any porphyrin around the nose or eyes. She has a great appetite (eats better than Scarlett - as in she'll try most anything I offer, but not Scarlett), nice smooth coat, etc. I was getting a little concerned about her and wondered if I should return her and get one that's not sneezy - but I'm already attached to her.

No sneezies from Scarlett (but she trembles when I hold her). She's not working to breath (Mrs. Snuggles) and is not hunched over. No runny nose. And they're on your diet on your sticky.

No, they all get the stress-sneezies. Sometimes it can be allergies. But if the sneezes don't go any further than JUST sneezing, it's ok.

I always take fecal samples from Pet store rats/mice and get them checked for internal parasites. Regardless of the source. Although I've never had one have parasites from Petsmart. Petco is another story, as are small mom and pop stores.

These two came from PetSmart, and they were kept 2 to a cage (two fancy blues) and 3 to a cage (three hoodeds). One of the smaller hoodeds seemed to have some labored breathing, which now has me worried about Mrs. Snuggles. But the girl was chasing the little one around the enclosure, but I thought it could be fear breathing - but still skipped over her.


I'm keeping a hawk eye on Mrs. Snuggles. But like I said, eating well, smooth coat, clean ears, no discharge at all.

I wouldn't worry, Robin. It's not contagious, so if one in the cage had a breathing issue(probably from being too young and being stressed out from the shipping, etc), your beeb wouldn't have contracted anything from that little girl.

I've had alot of PMart rats, and they all turn out to be exceptionally sweet and calm(well... Harry has her moments and Millie is a crazy nutball of nekkidness, but you know how that goes, LoL).

Thanks Becky! I was getting really worried - even though she doesn't act sickly and is a chunky monkey! Good to know she's fine. And her name suits her perfectly!

should I try Petsmart again for breeders? They have them for 8.99- $10.99 depending on sex. and if the rats are good there then i might as well try it.

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Originally Posted by jessie_k_pythons

should I try Petsmart again for breeders? They have them for 8.99- $10.99 depending on sex. and if the rats are good there then i might as well try it.

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PetSmart only sells one sex as a store policy. The Fancy blues are $9.99 and the others are $6.99. Or were you meaning PetCo? PetCo sells both sexes, PetSmart only sells one sex.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

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).

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Becky,
How are you giving this to your mice that are infected. What is the route of admin?

What is your dose and do you dilute it with any carrier fluid?

Thanks
chris

It's horse dewormer. The dose for rats (to get rid of mites and external parasites) is an uncooked grain of rice sized dose once per day for 2 weeks. This will also get rid of internal parasites, excluding tapeworms and protozoa.

For mice, I give half that dose once and then a week later, I give another dose. It clears them up quite nicely. To actually give them the meds, I scruff them and put their dose on a toothpick, which they bite and in turn get their meds. It doesn't need to be diluted as the whole tube is only 1.87%(which treats a 1200lb horse). So it's very easy on their system.

Strongid is also a good alternative and tastes better :)

Becky,

Thank you for the tip.. I will get some and give it a shot.




Chris