Embarrassed Myself In P@h

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Beans&Toast

Beans&Toast

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I feel so stupid now.

I was in Pets at Home getting nuggets for the pigs and I always have a little look at the animals in the adoption centre.
There was a beautiful rabbit called Ollie, not sure what type of rabbit but he was absolutely huge, and only about 2.
I asked a member of staff how long he'd been in there etc and the reply upset me so much it brought me to tears.

Ollie's owners brought him in because their kids had put nail varnish on his eyes and they had sealed shut. When P@H told the couple Ollie needed urgent vet care, they just shrugged their shoulders and said they no longer wanted him, so left him sitting on the counter for the staff to deal with.

There were also 2 rats up for adoption, but had no one interested in 6 months because they bite.
Again, I asked why..
The reason they bite is because their previous owner did not spend any time with them, did not clean their cage out and left them alone outside by themselves, occasionally throwing some food in.
Understandably, these poor little guys now don't trust humans and bite any hand that comes near them.

I just cannot understand how anyone can be cruel to animals, any animal. I feel stupid now but after hearing all of that I found it so upsetting and started crying in the shop like a mad woman.

I absolutely cannot stand cruelty to animals, whether it's a tiny hamster or a dog or a horse. It doesn't matter the size of the animal, they still need and want love and affection.

I really wanted to take Ollie and those 2 beautiful rats (who had no name) but I just do not have the space nor the money to look after a rabbit that big.

I could possibly adopt the rats, but I know nothing about them, if anyone could enlighten me as to the kind of care/home/ food rats need I'd be really grateful...

Sorry for the big rant I just had to get that off my chest.
 
It's so sad how people are so so heartless. I cry every time I watch an animal rehoming show on TV. I don't know anything about rats but I have known people who have owned them and they are supposed to have amazing personalities and characters. Poor little mites :(
 
Lossy said:
It's so sad how people are so so heartless. I cry every time I watch an animal rehoming show on TV. I don't know anything about rats but I have known people who have owned them and they are supposed to have amazing personalities and characters. Poor little mites :(
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Yeah they're meant to be amazing to keep as pets and love human interaction, but as they've had none since birth they don't know how to act around humans.

I so badly want to take them home, I'm looking into costs and cages etc
 
Awww the poor little things, its so horrible to hear that someone can hurt or abuse an animal like that. I wish people would really think about the fact that any pet what ever their size needs proper love and care. I have rats and they are fantastic, they need a good size cage, good food and lots of toys and attention, but beware they can get a lot of health problems. We recently took on a very poorly girl with pneumonia and it was only the fact that we found a rattie savy vet and have been able to spend time giving her the extra care that it looks like she's getting better.
 
nicky said:
Awww the poor little things, its so horrible to hear that someone can hurt or abuse an animal like that. I wish people would really think about the fact that any pet what ever their size needs proper love and care. I have rats and they are fantastic, they need a good size cage, good food and lots of toys and attention, but beware they can get a lot of health problems. We recently took on a very poorly girl with pneumonia and it was only the fact that we found a rattie savy vet and have been able to spend time giving her the extra care that it looks like she's getting better.
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Only thing is I'd be scared to keep them near the pigs :hmm:

The staff said they're looking at getting some sort of rat specialist in to try re train them so they can mingle with humans.

What kind of cost would I be looking at for the 2? Like food wise and bedding, is it around the same as piggies?

I don't want to just jump in and get them I want to know about them first but I just can't stand the thought of them being in there with no love or interaction.

Plus it would take a lot of time to get them to trust me, which is fine I'd just be worried that they never would. I'm not sure if it's maybe too late for them to be interacting with humans :(
 
When we got one of our rats she had never been held but is lovely now but I really couldn't advice you on that its a gamble. Foodwise we get ours online at a place called rat rations, at first glance it looks expensive but its worked out cheaper for us then shop brought as there is no waste plus its really top quality food I wouldn't use any other, it cost about 18.00 for 5kg but it lasts us ages. Then we give them something called daily rat 3 in their fresh food each night, this is not expensive .Bedding we use t bag paper from eBay a bale is about £19.00 but lasts forever lol. Cages, good ones can be picked up second hand.
 
nicky said:
When we got one of our rats she had never been held but is lovely now but I really couldn't advice you on that its a gamble. Foodwise we get ours online at a place called rat rations, at first glance it looks expensive but its worked out cheaper for us then shop brought as there is no waste plus its really top quality food I wouldn't use any other, it cost about 18.00 for 5kg but it lasts us ages. Then we give them something called daily rat 3 in their fresh food each night, this is not expensive .Bedding we use t bag paper from eBay a bale is about £19.00 but lasts forever lol. Cages, good ones can be picked up second hand.
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Thank you that's really helpful :nod:
 
Aw... don't feel embarassed! It's completely normal to feel that way when someone tells you that kind of things... I can't help it but cry when I see/hear things like that too.
It's truly awful that some parents, who are responsible of their kids education, behave like that... It's awful when it's done by anyone but... you get my point.

I'm sorry I can't help you about the rats, I don't know anything about them :/
 
Teddybear22 said:
Aw... don't feel embarassed! It's completely normal to feel that way when someone tells you that kind of things... I can't help it but cry when I see/hear things like that too.
It's truly awful that some parents, who are responsible of their kids education, behave like that... It's awful when it's done by anyone but... you get my point.

I'm sorry I can't help you about the rats, I don't know anything about them :/
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I think it was anger aswell that made me cry, just so disgusting people could treat a living being like this.

I don't know about rats either just trying to learn now.
Only thing is, I'm not sure if they'd be able to trust humans since they've been left that way for so long, so I'm not sure what good I would do them if I did take them:(
 
AbiS said:
Had they managed to fix ollies eyes?

I don't blame you for crying - it is utterly disgusting behaviour - poor bunny!
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Yeah he got treated, his eyes are fine now. He's such a beautiful rabbit, he was bopping about when I was talking to him so even after everything he's been though he still has such a loving personality:luv:
 
Aw :hug:I think I'd have shed a few tears too, like you I can't stand how people deliberately mistreat animals. People like that disgust me.
Rats make wonderful pets. The good news for these rats are two-fold. 1) they have the comfort of each other, and 2) are that P@H are looking to get a specialist to socialise them. I would suggest Going back to P@H and chatting about this specialist, and whether or not you can get involved with the process, or if they can be reserved for you ready for when they feel they are ready for adoption after this process has teaken place, or you may wish to ask for the details of this specialist to see if you can take them yourself but work with this person to help you to socialise them.
They would require a large set-up. Many people favour this type of cage Royal Suite 95 Double Ferret Cage |Great deals at zooplus because it has multi-levels and scope for adding hammocks, tunnels, ropes and houses. Rats love the comfort of material, but they almost certainly will detroy it - you may get through a lot of soft material toys, hidies, hammocks and comfort items. The advantage of a multi-level set-ups with plenty of places for them to go is that they can avoid your hands instead of going on the defensive to bite them. They may associate your hands with food and nice things after a while. Their world is a world of smell, touch and sound, just be aware that food smells on your hand may be mistaken for food itself.
I really suggest strongly that you try to find out about this specialist and what ever this person says may give you a better idea of whether or not:
1) they are likely to adjust well and accept you
2) whether or not you could cope with them if they remain defensive-aggressive. x
 
Critter said:
Aw :hug:I think I'd have shed a few tears too, like you I can't stand how people deliberately mistreat animals. People like that disgust me.
Rats make wonderful pets. The good news for these rats are two-fold. 1) they have the comfort of each other, and 2) are that P@H are looking to get a specialist to socialise them. I would suggest Going back to P@H and chatting about this specialist, and whether or not you can get involved with the process, or if they can be reserved for you ready for when they feel they are ready for adoption after this process has teaken place, or you may wish to ask for the details of this specialist to see if you can take them yourself but work with this person to help you to socialise them.
They would require a large set-up. Many people favour this type of cage Royal Suite 95 Double Ferret Cage |Great deals at zooplus because it has multi-levels and scope for adding hammocks, tunnels, ropes and houses. Rats love the comfort of material, but they almost certainly will detroy it - you may get through a lot of soft material toys, hidies, hammocks and comfort items. The advantage of a multi-level set-ups with plenty of places for them to go is that they can avoid your hands instead of going on the defensive to bite them. They may associate your hands with food and nice things after a while. Their world is a world of smell, touch and sound, just be aware that food smells on your hand may be mistaken for food itself.
I really suggest strongly that you try to find out about this specialist and what ever this person says may give you a better idea of whether or not:
1) they are likely to adjust well and accept you
2) whether or not you could cope with them if they remain defensive-aggressive. x
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Thank you so much this was a big help :luv:

I'm going to go back in and find out more about them, when I went in it was 15 minutes til closing time so I didn't want to stay too long.
 
Erm what disgusting parents not teaching their children to care for animals. I would have said disgusting children too but part of the blame is from parenting.

Poor little animals. Why you feel embarrassed I don't know, you shouldn't, crying just means you care.
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
Erm what disgusting parents not teaching their children to care for animals. I would have said disgusting children too but part of the blame is from parenting.

Poor little animals. Why you feel embarrassed I don't know, you shouldn't, crying just means you care.
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I just felt a bit daft crying in the middle of the shop. I get so emotional about animals though, I absolutely adore all animals and can't stand to see them mistreated. I went in again today to see the rats but it was so busy no staff were free to give me a hand. I just wanted to hug them and let them know they're loved, as silly as that sounds.
 
Rats are lovely animals, I used to be scared of them until my mum got one.Once they get used to you, they're very friendly.My rat used to sit on my shoulder and when I was sitting on the settee once eating chocolate porridge, he was on the back and kept running down and nicking some so they can be cheeky buggers lol
 
Aww there's nothing wrong with crying, they're both upsetting stories and I would have wanted to help them too.
 
rats are great pets and are far easier to look after in my opinion. I have 4 boys! Mine live in a Mamble Cage £39.99 from Amazon, I make them a shunamite mix for their main food, very easy to do lasts ages and they have a little bit of what I am having for dinner too, I just make a little extra! I use towels instead of substrate in their cage and change them frequently same as I do for the guineas, and mine are litter trained for poos!They are usually pretty easy to socialise even when they haven't had much handling, a bit of time and patience can win them over and you can always wear leather gloves in the mean time! They are prone to respiratory problems and lumps unfortunately
 
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