# rehoming help needed



## manic rose

got a message this morning that the rescue place where I got my three gorgeous boys from is closing. there are still some rats left to rehome. its located in Kettering if anyone is interesting in taking some on



> ifm rattery has officially decided to close due to family commitments. we have 3x baby boys 6 x baby girls and 8 adult females left to rehome. all different colours includeing blues, blacks, cinnemon and siamese all top ear except siamese which are dumbo. prices from £5 to £10 depending on colour and age. anyone interested email *[email protected]otmail.co.uk* thanks


(posted this in the rodent section before remembering about this section, doh!)


----------



## Snippet

The first thing that jumps out at me is that they're charging more money for the 'rarer' varieties. Why? All rats cost exactly the same to raise, so they should all be the same price.


----------



## Guest

Do they have a website?

something doesn't sound right to me 
I have never heard of a rescue charging more for colour type :/


----------



## manic rose

B3rnie said:


> Do they have a website?
> 
> something doesn't sound right to me
> I have never heard of a rescue charging more for colour type :/


think they also breed some as well as taking in rescues


----------



## $hAzZa

I can understand this sort of colour pricing on dogs, but rats? :blink:


----------



## Guest

manic rose said:


> think they also breed some as well as taking in rescues


Do they have a website?


----------



## ceretrea

B3rnie said:


> Do they have a website?


Can't find one but Preloved | very large liberta parrot cage. for sale in Kettering, Northants, UK They selling the cages already before finding homes?


----------



## ceretrea

Plus I have yet to come accross a rattery or a rescue of good repute that charges more money for colour.


----------



## Guest

ceretrea said:


> Plus I have yet to come accross a rattery or a rescue of good repute that charges more money for colour.


This is my thoughts, that is why I am doubting it. I don't mind helping genuine rescues but to take on breeder stock is a different matter IMO. I refuse to put money in breeders pockets for them to do the same thing over and over :nono:


----------



## ceretrea

Whats the matter, getting rid of the old stock so you can get 'better' colours to make more money? No thanks, I'll help rescues, or even [email protected] rats if they are in suitably dire need, I'll buy from responsible breeders (and I set my standards very high) but I'll not help unscrupulous money makers flog their stock.

And in my book, you don't sell an animals cage while you still have the animal. If they are in that much need let them give their babies away for free to a genuine small animal rescue and shut their operation down.


----------



## manic rose

B3rnie said:


> Do they have a website?


no website, sorry.



ceretrea said:


> Whats the matter, getting rid of the old stock so you can get 'better' colours to make more money? No thanks, I'll help rescues, or even [email protected] rats if they are in suitably dire need, I'll buy from responsible breeders (and I set my standards very high) but I'll not help unscrupulous money makers flog their stock.
> 
> And in my book, you don't sell an animals cage while you still have the animal. If they are in that much need let them give their babies away for free to a genuine small animal rescue and shut their operation down.


whoa beginning to wish I hadn't posted this on here  :cryin: I dont feel some of these comments are entirely far to the woman who runs this place - she runs it from her own home and has the rats in the spare room and some in the lounge. when I got my 3 boys from her she genuinely seemed to like rescuing the rats and finding them good homes so it must be a damn good reason why she is stopping. thought I would be in and out of there in 10 mins but ended up stopping a couple of hours getting advice on the rats and listening to her rescue stories. considering she has three young children and a houseful of rats to look after was very good of her to take her time with me.

I cant comment really on why some rats are more than others but to call her an "unscrupulous money maker" is a bit harsh.


----------



## ceretrea

Perhaps you could have added some more information on your original post.

I stand by that if she is in genuine need of help she wouldn't be charging the most money for the rats. She' be asking for help and donations like the other rescues do.

If I have been harsh, I apologise but thats the way it looks from here.


----------



## Guest

manic rose said:


> no website, sorry.


So no way to check this person out then?

Sorry but I have been taken for a ride with "rescue"(breeders) before so I like to look into things when they don't sound right 

I wish I could help I'm just not convinced enough


----------



## Snippet

$hAzZa said:


> I can understand this sort of colour pricing on dogs, but rats? :blink:


I don't get it even at all. You can get several different colours in a litter of puppies, and they all cost the same amount to raise, so why would the rare/ sort after colour be worth more? It's like [email protected] charging more money for dumbos. Dumbos can be in the same litter as top eared rats, and they are not different in any other way then where their ears are, so why charge more money for them?


----------



## ceretrea

Snippet said:


> I don't get it even at all. You can get several different colours in a litter of puppies, and they all cost the same amount to raise, so why would the rare/ sort after colour be worth more? It's like [email protected] charging more money for dumbos. Dumbos can be in the same litter as top eared rats, and they are not different in any other way then where their ears are, so why charge more money for them?


Breeders charge more money for some breeds of dog who have rare colours. Like blonde huskies or harlequin great danes. They would argue (I guess) that this is because those colours were harder to get so several litters had to be raised for that one puppy. I don't get it, all the pups up to then would have been sold so I think its just the fashion label. Like charging twice as much for a crossbreed because you can think of a cool name for it, such as ShiChi


----------



## manic rose

didnt think this thread would desend into a debate on the pricing of rats. not sure why it is different prices but to be honest I was more concerned over the actual rats. hate to think of them being passed from one rehoming place to another, would be much better for them to go to a good home where they could get settled and happy.

My boys from there were very tame right from the start as she would make sure to handle all the rats daily so they were used to human contact and knew it was ok to trust people. certainly made life easier for me as a first time rat owner


----------



## ceretrea

manic rose said:


> didnt think this thread would desend into a debate on the pricing of rats. not sure why it is different prices but to be honest I was more concerned over the actual rats. hate to think of them being passed from one rehoming place to another, would be much better for them to go to a good home where they could get settled and happy.
> 
> My boys from there were very tame right from the start as she would make sure to handle all the rats daily so they were used to human contact. certainly made life easier for me as a first time rat owner


Its because anyone who would ordinarily be genuine doesn't usually price based on fashion. And a rescue offering adoptive homes doesn't price at all, it asks for donations. You may know this lady, I appreciate that but we don't so we are finding it hard to understand.


----------



## Shadowrat

This person is notorious among the rat fancy. Or at least, I believe its the same one; she constantly changes her username.
But the tell tale signs of her are there: charging more for blues than other varieties, charging money for supposed 'rescue' rats, and....being located where she is. Im 99% sure its the same woman that other ratty people whinge about.

And I'll tell you why, if it is her.
She is a piece of work. 
She has claimed several times that she is no longer breeding, and yet every week there are new litters up on preloved from her. 
She will never give a rat away for free to a good home because she wants the money for them. I know very reputable trustworthy people in the rat fancy who have had dealings with her and she has been the same on each occasion. 
She is frequently rude, abusive and aggressive.

My own direct experience of her came when she was trying to get rid of two bucks. She was presenting them as 'just needing a good home' but they had a rather silly price tag on them (I think they were blue, can't remember).
As she'd been advertising them for so long, apparently with no takers, I dropped her a mail just to say that if she found herself in a fix, I would be more than happy to take the boys on here at my sanctuary and give them a loving home.
However, as a sanctuary, I would not pay money for them as that is my policy; I'd only take them on as rescues who needed a place to go.

Well, she sent me a hatefull mail back saying that if I could not afford to pay for them, then I could not afford to look after them (missing the point entirely that it isn't about 'affording' something; I _could_ afford them. It was simply a policy of my sanctuary not to pay for any rat, as it is for almost all rat rescues/sanctuaries) 
She then went on to say she would never allow a rat of hers to go to a 'sanctuary' as they were all badly run, the rats were never looked after, all riddled with mites and never given vet care.
I remind you that she didn't know me from adam at this point, hadn't even seen my website in which all my rat husbandry is laid bare for all to see). 
She just seemed angry that I'd dared ask her to consider letting her boys go as rescues for free.

After some back and forth, she eventually revealed that she had previously had dealings with another rat rescue in the same town as me, and just assumed I was the same person.
This other rat rescue is notoriously bad, with lots of horror stories springing from it. She'd just seen that we were in the same area, and launched into abuse at me.
She included such gems as 'I've been dealing with rats since before you were born, so don't even try anything' and her telling me she had run a rescue herself for years, and I knew nothing compared to her (though surely if she had run a rescue for years, she'd know its standard practise not to pay for rescue rats and not bite my head off over it when I was only trying to help her!)

I eventually managed to explain that I was nothing to do with these people, and again sent her to my website so she could see how well cared for my animals are. She never once apologised to me for being so aggressive.

A friend of mine mailed her to buy rats off her as companions for their existing rats, and was refused due to the fact that she couldn't collect them until tomorrow.
She said she needed them gone NOW.
A week later, the same boys were still up on preloved.

I've heard stories about her rats being mite riddled. I have not seen her premises first hand, so cannot comment, but the people I hear this off have no reason to lie.
And yes, charging more for certain varieties is a pretty big indicator of a shoddy breeder who is only in it for money.
And the fact that she bursts a blood vessel if you ever dare suggest taking on a rat without paying her only backs this up.

Frankly, my emails to her happened around 5 months ago, and she told me then that she was no longer breeding and was just trying to home her last remaining rats. All this time on, and I see new rats up from her weekly.

I personally would avoid at all costs.
A purchase isn't a rescue, and I would never pay her for a rat. If she is truely just trying to find good homes for 'rescues', she would not be so insistant on money.

I never ask any money when I rehome a rat. I simply vet the new owners thoroughly to ensure they're not freebie hunters, and if they give me a donation, thats a bonus.

People can choose to believe or ignore what I've posted; up to them.
Frankly, I have no reason to lie. I didn't even know who this person was until she sent me such a nasty mail. It shocked me as I'd never recieved such a response to a friendly enquiry before, and I did a little digging in the rat community to find out if she was known, and discovered it isn't just me she has been aggressive toward.


----------



## Guest

Well that is interesting :nono::nono:


----------



## ceretrea

At the end of the day people like that can be really appealing to some. I once fell in the trap of buying a rescue. A dog advertised as a puppy from an accidental mating, the lady didn't know what to do and was adamant she was going to get her dogspayed. The money she asked for was towards those costs. I totally fell for it, she was nice and polite, charming, clean family home etc. I know others in the community who would defend her to their dying breath. 

1 year later when we rehomed him privately to an agilty lady, for reasons I shan't go into here but needless to say we miss him still but he is extremely happy now and not bored at all. I received a pm from a lady from a dog forum who had seen his picture. She asked where I got him from and then said she had his brother. What a small world! However, and clear from her pics and info, this dog was 2 years older then mine! She had the same line pulled on her, the dog was going to be spayed etc. We then found the neighbours dog (father to the pups) advertised on the web for stud.

It just goes to show that even staunch pillars of the community can be up to no good, I never fell for that again.

I've also been taken for a ride by rescues. It happens. Its why things like this spark my suspicion, not because I want to see her hammered, but because I have been bitten way too many times before.

The above post is certainly very interesting.


----------



## Erzs

This is very sad.  For someone to abuse anothers generosity and willing to rehome an animal is not something I had heard of before, at least not first hand. I hope its all a misunderstanding as my only concern here is for the rats that are supposedly up for rehome. I hope that whatever happens they find themselves with loving owners.


----------



## spoiled_rat

A somebody who is still on the recieving end of her abuse, fake rat enquiries, trying to get rats under different names, and so on, even 18 months later, I can only say one thing....I would stay well away.


----------



## Littlefoot

Ive lurked on this board for a while and just realised this is the lady I got my 3 rats from. We found her through preloved.

In my experiance she was nice. We had alot of questions which she helped answer. I contacted her and picked the rats up the very next day. (yes did all seem a bit quick) She did seem quite egar to get rid of them and we didnt spend long at her house. Only saw the rats in in the living room but all were in nice big cages, in good condition, no mites, ect. No problems with our rats from her so far except one bites, and i mean *BITES!* hes always been that way since we got him no matter how much we have handled him. Other 2 are lovely licky rats though.

Anyway we got our rats 5/6 months ago and so maybe this is when she stopped breeding like someone said.... Reading what other people have said makes me wish I'd have looked in to other places, and I would love to help find these rattys a home but no more cage space and I wouldn't want to hand over any money.


----------



## manic rose

ok feel a bit down now having read all that  geniuely thought I was helping to rehome rats, not encouraging a breeder. they might have been rehoming rats or they may be ones she breed, guess will never know for sure. took weeks to find some rats up for rehoming that werent too far from me so when I saw these I jumped at the chance. had been looking on rspca, preloved and some other sites for weeks but were either from breeders or were female rats when I wanted bucks or too far away.

dont get me wrong, I love my three boys to bits and would never be parted from them now but if had read shadowrats post before getting them I wouldn't have got them as I dont want to encourage breeders


----------



## niki87

manic rose said:


> ok feel a bit down now having read all that  geniuely thought I was helping to rehome rats, not encouraging a breeder. they might have been rehoming rats or they may be ones she breed, guess will never know for sure. took weeks to find some rats up for rehoming that werent too far from me so when I saw these I jumped at the chance. had been looking on rspca, preloved and some other sites for weeks but were either from breeders or were female rats when I wanted bucks or too far away.
> 
> dont get me wrong, I love my three boys to bits and would never be parted from them now but if had read shadowrats post before getting them I wouldn't have got them as I dont want to encourage breeders


 Awww hun you were just helping so don't feel down! Sounds like she has had even experienced breeders fooled so is not surprising she can fool a benevolent lay person as it were! It's a shame there are people like this.....if only they realised that you can get so much fun from just keeping 2 or 3 (or 11) rats as pets


----------



## ceretrea

manic rose said:


> ok feel a bit down now having read all that  geniuely thought I was helping to rehome rats, not encouraging a breeder. they might have been rehoming rats or they may be ones she breed, guess will never know for sure. took weeks to find some rats up for rehoming that werent too far from me so when I saw these I jumped at the chance. had been looking on rspca, preloved and some other sites for weeks but were either from breeders or were female rats when I wanted bucks or too far away.
> 
> dont get me wrong, I love my three boys to bits and would never be parted from them now but if had read shadowrats post before getting them I wouldn't have got them as I dont want to encourage breeders


Like you I was taken in before (as above). It does stay with you and you do feel bad. All I can advise is to remember what life you are giving them, thats what is important.

There are forums that rehome like Fancy Rats and even if the rats are too far away rat trains can be organised. My guys come from Cornwall, Norfolk, Surrey...all over and I don't drive 

Don't feel down about it, its one of those things and a good conman (or woman) is very hard to spot.


----------



## manic rose

ceretrea said:


> Like you I was taken in before (as above). It does stay with you and you do feel bad. All I can advise is to remember what life you are giving them, thats what is important.


they certainly get spoilt - their new cage arrived today then some supplements and treats from ratrations. just wondering now how much of what I was told is true now as was told they are brothers but two are rex Siamese coats and one is smooth black. is it possible for brothers of the same litter to be that different?


----------



## ceretrea

manic rose said:


> they certainly get spoilt - their new cage arrived today then some supplements and treats from ratrations. just wondering now how much of what I was told is true now as was told they are brothers but two are rex Siamese coats and one is smooth black. is it possible for brothers of the same litter to be that different?


I can't answer that but they will undoubtably be at least closely related.

Spoil them rotten and they sound like they will have a grand time with you


----------



## secretpennell

> is it possible for brothers of the same litter to be that different?


Yes it is.
I'm very sorry you've had this experience.


----------



## manic rose

secretpennell said:


> Yes it is.
> I'm very sorry you've had this experience.


Thanks, you live and learn I suppose!

(welcome to the forum btw)


----------



## tagalong

ceretrea said:


> There are forums that rehome like Fancy Rats and even if the rats are too far away rat trains can be organised. My guys come from Cornwall, Norfolk, Surrey...all over and I don't drive


yes they certainly do come from all over :001_smile: can it really be nearly a year ago i came back from my holiday with a car full of ratties :001_smile:


----------



## ceretrea

tagalong said:


> yes they certainly do come from all over :001_smile: can it really be nearly a year ago i came back from my holiday with a car full of ratties :001_smile:


Very nearly yes


----------



## simplysardonic

ceretrea said:


> Like you I was taken in before (as above). It does stay with you and you do feel bad. All I can advise is to remember what life you are giving them, thats what is important.
> 
> There are forums that rehome like Fancy Rats and even if the rats are too far away rat trains can be organised. *My guys come from Cornwall, Norfolk, Surrey...all over and I don't drive  *
> 
> Don't feel down about it, its one of those things and a good conman (or woman) is very hard to spot.


I can vouch for this as the Norfolk lads came from me & I don't drive either
There are some wonderful people in the rat community


----------



## noushka05

ceretrea said:


> Breeders charge more money for some breeds of dog who have rare colours. Like blonde huskies or harlequin great danes. They would argue (I guess) that this is because those colours were harder to get so several litters had to be raised for that one puppy. I don't get it, all the pups up to then would have been sold so I think its just the fashion label. Like charging twice as much for a crossbreed because you can think of a cool name for it, such as ShiChi


no reputable breeder would charge more for 'rare' colours in dogs either


----------



## myzoo

) ( just been reading this and i feel happy and sad t the same time sad that people like this exist as i too have been conned before when i got my first 2 rescue (breeder) boys i didnt know any better and paid for them i really shouldnt have the guy didnt have clue he was breeding everything even sold me 2 dwarf hammies saying they can live together becuse they have been together from babies.of course i didnt keep them together but still ended up walking away with 2 dwarf hammies.contacted me through preloved saying he was only charging to pay vet bills ect.but now i know better i know i was fed a lie he still somtimes has them advertised on preloved.
another case is the another ( thread in small animals its just so sad.like op hve said if they are genuinly looking for good homes why put a tag on the types colours any animal really ask for donations or if i rehome a rat i just say bring a treat for my lot .it discusting.makes me so sad people like this exist.

iam happy because seeing this thread has shown how much you all care about these animals and it help knowing you are watching and wont take any rubbish from anyone iam so glad people like you guys exist to help pick up the pieces not because we have to but because we care.thats why i love all you guys who care )


----------

