Stupid petsmart/petco.. Good thing I quarentine...

[crazyj83]

He UStarting my breeding colony and went to pick up a few females from petco... I get them home, put them in my qt tank and this morning I wake up to one almost dead and the other coughing so bad its not funny... Long story short if not for qt my intire colony would be compermised... Good thing I didnt use them as feeders to my bps... Sorry for the rant butan I'm livid right now...

[Rhasputin]

Look for a good rat breeder next time. Buying pet store rats is asking for nothing but trouble.
Glad they were separated!

[crazyj83]

Look for a good rat breeder next time. Buying pet store rats is asking for nothing but trouble.
Glad they were separated!

You do rats? I'm lookin for females

[TrueDatxD]

the weaker ones will always die off. i made a siamese out of a black berkshire hairless rat. never would have thought that would happen! but i agree, breeders are your best bet..

[chondrogal]

We had a recent outbreak of Sendai Virus hit one of the big time pedigree breeders here in FL due to a friend bringing home a petshop rat and no QT. The friend started losing rats and brought a sick one over to the breeder's home for help with figuring out what was happening. Needless to say, several deaths, lots of time nebulizing, treating with antibiotics hundreds of dollars and nearly 2 months later they can now say they have gotten through this exposure and are finally "safe" again.

http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/


It has long been a contention of mine that you can get healthier rats from feeder breeders much more often than from pet shops. Support your local feeder breeders Good luck with the rest of your feeder colony, hope they don't catch what the pet shop rats had. In home QT is often not enough to protect against some of these viruses.

[medusasmorphs]

I'm not surprised Petsmart/Petco are the worst at just about everything. Extremely overpriced and its rare to find a knowledgeable staff. Last time I walked into a Petco in the city there were 30+ crickets crawling all over 2 baby ball pythons, I didn't know where to begin with them. Oy and their Leopard Geckos always look so under nourished....Good thing you quarantined!