Ummm should I worry about disease

Hello all I just wanted to run this past you guys.
My friend emailed me and said that if I start raising rats that I had better be careful cause I could catch diseases that could kill me.

It hadn't even occured to me since so many people keep rats as pets and to breed as feeders so I checked and there is the rat bite fever and something else you can get from the multimamal (?) (AFS).
Not sure of anything else but I didn't look any futher either.

But anyway I just wanted to run this past you guys and get your take on it.

Thanks
rhsm

Well I've been keeping regular rats for over 4 years, ASF's for over a year. Far as I know I'm not dead yet. :)

All joking aside, if you use common sense you should be fine. Buy your breeding stock from a good source so you aren't bringing in nasty rats from a nasty rat breeder. Feed them well. Provide drinking/sipping water bottles not drinking bowls. Use rat safe bedding for them (no cedar or pine products). Clean them on an appropriate schedule for the size of enclosure and the number of animals it holds so your breeders/feeders aren't sitting on urine and feces soaked bedding. Provide reasonable ventilation both in the enclosures and the room that holds them. Remove and isolate any obviously ill rat from the general population. Wash your hands after you work with the rats. Just use basic good sense husbandry methods.

It is highly unlikely for any ASF's in America to carry lassa fever. Not unless they came into contact with infected fecal matter straight from Africa. It is one of the reasons ASF's were banned from importation into the US years ago.

I have also not heard of any zoonotic diseases to infect humans from their own collections of feeders or pets, though it is possible. These are more worrisome in third world countries or places that have big problems with wild rodent populations as pests.

All in all, buy from a good breeder.

You dead yet Connie? :D (sorry I couldn't resist)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

You dead yet Connie? :D (sorry I couldn't resist)

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Not yet! :rofl:

Me neither though I think one of the evil ASF's gave me a look that could kill. :P

I got bit by one and it got a bit infected does that count?

:wave: not dead yet

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Originally Posted by rebeccabecca

I got bit by one and it got a bit infected does that count?

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I'd rather be bit by a snake any day over a rat bite (well except our 9 foot snake that is LOL). They tend to fester if you don't get right in and do the hot water and soap thing. I always put on a bit of neosporin too just for good measure.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Far as I know I'm not dead yet. :)

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Not yet! :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Clear

:wave: not dead yet

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sorry to tell you guys, but your dead, bp.net is heaven here:gj:

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Originally Posted by 771subliminal

sorry to tell you guys, but your dead, bp.net is heaven here:gj:

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Oh well then I'm an angel! :banana: (and if you don't agree with me I'll bean you on the head with my halo! :P)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Oh well then I'm an angel! :banana: (and if you don't agree with me I'll bean you on the head with my halo! :P)

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*ducks halo* yes franky your an angel just dont hit me LOL

I'm bleeding from my eyes and have black spots on my body.Am I going to die??? Really has anyone tested these animals? I'm sure in order to sell them they to test them to see if they are carriers of some crazy illness right???

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Originally Posted by 771subliminal

*ducks halo* yes franky your an angel just dont hit me LOL

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:)

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Originally Posted by rebeccabecca

I'm bleeding from my eyes and have black spots on my body.Am I going to die??? Really has anyone tested these animals? I'm sure in order to sell them they to test them to see if they are carriers of some crazy illness right???

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No that's just a the last stage of your morphing into your natural alien form, dear (my these cold meds I'm on make me think odd thoughts LMAO).

I'm not sure really how many rules and whether those rules are enforced on the suppliers of rodents to pet stores. Some of it is just common sense though. I remember a big deal last year about a child getting sick from their pet hamster. The hamster bit the child on it's lip. No it's not nice the pet store sold a sickly hamster but my first thought as a parent was "okay why in heck is little Billy being allowed to kiss a nasty little furry creature anyways!"...yewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Good sense says that in order to not get sick from any animal, whether that's a pet or a feeder/breeder animal, you should:

- purchase the animal from a reputable source that keeps their animals in good conditions with enclosures that are not overcrowded or filthy, that feeds the animal appropriately for it's size and species

- if they won't let you see where the animal is normally housed, walk away fast, they are probably hiding something

- keep that animal yourself in good conditions so it can stay healthy and fight off any naturally occurring health issues

- wash your hands, hot water and soap, a simple thing but often ignored, hand sanitizer is also your friend

In my house the rule is "no kissing anything that can lick it's own butt". After we got into snakes we add to that "and also if it slithers through it's own poop". So far none of us are dead (though occasionally as the mother of teenagers I wonder if I'll survive another week!)