Meet Templeton: My Pet Store "Pocket Pet"

I will never again buy a "Pocket Pet" from a Pet store. I had to learn the hard way. Maybe my bad experience can help someone else out.

What is a "Pocket Pet"? So called pets are "small animal pets": Gerbils, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Rats, Ferrets etc. These types of pets are what are frequently labeled (sadly) by caring pet breeders as "Disposable Pets".

Why would they call these little animals such a horrible name? Disposable pets... Kind of like paper plates. What's wrong with this picture?

Well, they call them this because this is how these animals are treated by breeders for pet stores (most of them anyway). The cost of properly breeding "Pocket pets" is greater than the financial pay off for breeders. The only way that most breeders can make money from these animals is to breed as many as they can, feed them cheaply, and get them out as fast as possible to a store. These types of breeders don't care if the animals are healthy. They don't care if they are taken away from their "mommas" too young. They don't care if these animals have a healthy genealogy. They don't care if these animals don't get proper interaction, or good temperaments. All they care about is money.

These animals are often brought home by people as pets then the pet dies with-in a year or less of being home. It's sad, but it's alright, just go to the store and get a new one.

Like a lot of people I made the mistake of not researching before going to go buy my first "pocket pet". This was a big mistake on my part. I trusted that the pet store would answer my questions and let me know everything I needed to know about my new pet. I figured it's a pet store, they must know what they are talking about, right?

I am pleased to introduce Templeton.

This is Templeton. Templeton was my very first pet rat. Templeton was bought by me from a local pet store in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. (As my husband puts it, to "protect the guilty" I will not state the specific store.)

Please notice Templeton's size compared to his/her food dish. The "food dish" that Templeton is eating from was a "home-made" dish. Templeton's dish is the lid to a baby food jar. I had bought a proper dish from the pet store but it was so much bigger than Templeton that he/she simply couldn't get to the food. So I improvised.

Notice the rodent wheel. I knew Hamsters like wheels, so I asked the pet store if my rat would like one. They ensured me that my baby would love a wheel.

Wrong! Some rats do enjoy a wheel, but this type of wheel is dangerous for a rat! A rat can easily get it's foot caught and broke, or get it's beautiful long tail broken from this type of wheel. There are special wheels that are made specifically for small animals that can be easily injured by these "Hamster Wheels". I was not told this though.

I was also not informed that my baby was much too young to be separated from it's Mother. I wound up e-mailing some breeders in the area and was told that my poor Templeton was only about three weeks old! It still needed it's momma.

I was also not informed that my baby was not bred to be a pet. My baby was bred to be a feeder. This cute little baby was bred to be fed to snakes etc. This means that my baby rat was not loved, not handled, not cared for. Why care and love something that is meant to be food?

I was also not informed that the bedding that I bought was actually harmful to my rat! That the bedding could cause respiratory problems!

I was also not informed that rats are a colony species of animal. They need to be with others of their own kind. When getting a rat as a pet, you should always get at least a pair so that your rat is not alone. It's even better to get three or more, but two is alright.

I was also not informed that my baby rat was infested with lice. About 24 hours after bringing home my baby rat, I started letting it get to know me. It instantly just bonded with me, not wanting me to put him/her back in it's cage etc. I also noticed something funny in it's fur and it was scratching like mad. I tried to contact the store but was told my baby probably had dry skin. I didn't think so! That sure looked like tiny little bugs to me!

Then I began researching. I found a few breeders in my area. I took many photos and e-mailed them to the breeders. Lice..... my baby had lice! No, these are not the kind of lice that feed off humans. It did mean that my poor little baby, who was already too small to be away from momma, and too small to survive this infestation, would most likely die from anemia.

The pet store would not help. They swore up and down that their rats did not have lice. I even went to the store and pointed out the rats they still had and pointed out the fact that it was lice. They declared still that it was dry skin! It was not!

My only real options were to take my baby to a vet and get a special medication for it. This would cost me approx. $75.00! I had just spent about $90.00 on my rat, it's cage, food, food dish, water bottle, and a few toys. I didn't have a spare $75.00, not for a few more weeks anyway.

I was also told I could try going to the pet store and buying a flea shampoo for kittens and only using a small drop. There was a risk that the chemicals would be too much for my baby rat though as kitten are much larger than a baby rat.

I could also wait it out and wait until my baby was big enough to use the kitten flea shampoo safely. My baby would most likely not survive this long though.

I did what I felt I had to do. I bought the kitten shampoo. My baby was beginning to show the signs of anemia. My Templeton was weak, lethargic, having trouble eating. My poor baby was starting to have trouble walking because it was so weak.

I weighed everything heavily in my mind. Three days I had my baby. Three days and I was attached and in love. Only three days in my life, and this baby had become my "baby". Templeton craved my attention and love. Templeton loved cuddling with me. Templeton hated being away from me. Obviously it would. It needed a momma.

I tried the kitten shampoo that night. I dried Templeton off and though he/she seemed to be behaving a little better. I took two pictures. I then put Templeton in his/her cage and I went to bed.

To this day I do not know if it was the kitten shampoo, the lice, or a combination, but when I woke the next morning, Templeton had died.

Ironically the two pictures I had taken of Templeton that night before were overexposed. This created a look of a white glow, almost angelic. This is what I call the picture of my "Angel Rat Baby".

I was so heartbroken over the loss of this little animal that had only been a part of my life for three days. I felt sick that I wasn't able to save it... and I was angry! Angry that I had trusted a pet store and they had failed me beyond anything I could have imagined.

They didn't care! As long as they made their sale, it didn't matter to them! It didn't matter that this poor animal suffered and only lived a short few days. It didn't matter to them that I was heartbroken.

These are animals. They are intelligent! They are sociable! They love other ratties and they love people! They are not paper plates to be used while needed and tossed away. I don't feel my little rat, or any other "disposable" pet is any less than a dog or a cat. I loved my baby just as much as I loved our family's toy poodle when I was growing up, or my childhood friend Doc, a huge, orange cat!

Never, ever again will I go to a pet store for a pet rat. Breeders love their animals just as much as I do. Real breeders, not "rat mills". These breeders spend more money than they will take in from the sale of their rats. They do their best to make sure the breeding is healthy. They interact with the babies right away. They often have gigantic vet bills just to make sure their animals are properly taken care of. And they don't rip babies away from their momma before they are ready.

Pet store "pocket pets" can be tempting. You don't have to wait. You get your pet the moment you leave the store. They are much cheaper (The current rats at our local pet store are $7.00 per rat, my breeders charge between $15.00 and $20.00 per rat). Your local pet store may be easier to get to than a breeder.

My advice to you if you are looking to get a "pocket pet".

1. Research the internet to learn as much as you can about your future pet. Find out about diet, habitat, etc. Make sure you really know how best to care for your pet.

2. Research the internet for a local breeder. Typically they are easy to find. There are many sites out there with lists of breeders by location.

3. Research your breeder. Most will have a website. Look it over well. Ask any question of the breeder that you think of. If you have questions, do not let those questions go unanswered! Every breeder I've talked with actually loves it when potential "adoptive parents" ask them questions. They know that you are concerned about your future pet this way and they are concerned about finding good homes for their animals.

4. If you simply cannot get your pet from a breeder, for whatever reason, and you decide to go with a pet store, make sure you drill the pet store with questions. Ask them things like:

• How old is this animal
• Are the males kept separate at all times from the females
• Where do your pets come from?
• Are they bred to be pets or bred to be feeders?
• Have the been checked out by a vet?
• What are they being fed?
• What kind of bedding are you using?
• How long have you had these animals for sale?
• Does anyone interact with these animals besides cage cleaning and feedings?

If the pet store cannot answer these questions for you, don't walk but RUN out the door. Don't turn back!

5. If you simply must have your pet now, cannot get one from a breeder and are not sure about how well the pet store answered these questions, then at least save enough money to take your new pet to a vet for a well check-up ASAP after bringing it home.

Call around before you even go buy your pet. Find a vet that specializes in your type of pet. Most vets are straight-forward about weather or not they will be able to see the type of pet that you are getting. If you're not sure where to find a vet, look on line, or try to contact a local breeder. There are usually sites online that will help you find a vet, and breeders are typically more than happy to share information on the vet that they use.

Trust me, it is going to be emotionally easier on you if you take the time and money to have your pet checked out before something tragic happens. If it turns out that your pet is healthy and doing wonderful, then you can feel at ease. If it turns out there is something wrong, you can get your pet treated immediately before the situation gets bad, or try to return your pet to the pet store.

Templeton... I love you and miss you!