Updated 7/27/10
Please help Social Rats get through the time that we will be closed due to my having open brain surgery on August 25th. I will be closing to adoptions on August 24th and, hopefully, reopening on September 7th. I will be in the hospital from the 25th to the 29th recovering, then will be home, hopefully on the 29th or 30th to recover. I do not know when I will be able to start making appointments for adoptions, but am hoping for September 7th. I will be reevaluating on September 5th to see if I am feeling well enough to be able to start making appointments again on the 7th. We will be relying on donations during this time and every dollar will count.
PayPal has been taken care of. Thank you to everyone who helped me with it. We now have it up and running and I have added a better email address for PayPal payments. It goes to the same account, but for email purposes, it will be easier than the previous one. New PayPal email address to use for donations and the like is payments@socialrats.com
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I am accepting first pick reservations now of the blues. Harmony's litter, which is our first second generation soy free MUST be approved for adoption before the reservation fee is paid. There are special circumstances that go with this litter, which I will be posting on a separate page in the coming future.
Ok, update. We do have blues that will be available on August 21st. Check the Litters Available page for more info on them and how to reserve them.
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Update:
I now have open brain surgery scheduled for August 25th. So please, if you are planning to adopt from me, now is the time to do it. I do not know how long I will be closed following my surgery and my husband, who is being trained now in their care, will be caring for them, so if you are able to adopt now, please do so. I woul dlike to be able to find homes for as many rescues as possible by that time so he has less to deal with. Once all medical issues are addressed, I will reopen to taking in rescues again.
More pressing issues. Due to current medical issues, I am closed to ONLY emergency rescues. THis means that unless the rat(s) are in life threatening danger, someone in the home is deadly allergic to them, or you have found a rat that needs to be rescued (neighbor moved out, left the rats, found a domestic rat outside, etc) I can not take in any more rats until I find homes for at least 40-50 of the rats I have here. I have 1 possibly 2 surgeries that I am looking at and may require hospitalization with those surgeries. My husband is not fully aware of how everything works with Social Rats, but he will do the best he can to care for them when I am not here, but unless I can find homes for the guys I have here, I can not take in any new rats.
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Just because I do not have pics up does NOT mean I do not have rats available. I have been very busy lately with rat care and am unable to get pics at the moment. In addition to caring for over 100 rats practically by myself, I also have a 2 year old to chase after and a hubby and home to care for. If you are looking for something in particular, like Fawn, Tan, Blue, Veriberk, dumbo, please just drop me an email at tami@socialrats.com and see what I have available. As of this writing, I have 4 cages of adoptable girls that range in age from 6 weeks to 1 year and 3 cages of adoptable boys that range in age from 6 weeks to over 1 year. All rats are soy free, and if they remain soy free, they will live to be between 3-5 years of age. This is also will much less vet visits than your typical pet store rat.
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Also, the blog is unlocked and able to be read. I have been in contact with a rescue in Bedford, TX that is also now a part of the Social Rats Reescue network, that has been soy free for 4 years now and her average life span for soy free rats is 3.5 to 4.5 years old. Going soy free makes a huge difference in lifespan and her cancer rats has gone down by a whopping 90% as well. So, not only will the rats you adopt from Social Rats live longer than any place else, but they are at a much lower cancer risk as well.
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We now have 2 adoption and surrender facilities up and running.
Chicago, IL - 60632
Tami - tami@socialrats.com
773-934-9949
hours: Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues 2-8pm (CST)
Wed & Thurs - 11am-8pm
Lebanon, IN - 46052
Rebecca - rebecca@sweetandlovingrats.com
765-891-2730
hours: Wed-Sun 2-9pm (EST)
Please call or email about available rats. We post pics when we have time,Rebecca now has her computer and will be posting rats soon. All facilites have both male and female adults and babies available for adoption.
Adoptions are made by appointment only. Please check hours for each facily.
Please take a moment to read the testimonials from some of our adopters. I think you will find it informative and helpful. Also, please do not think that you MUST adopt from me to get help with your existing rats. I am a rat lover at heart, not a lover of my rats only. I almost always reply within 24 hours unless I have to research something you ask or I am ill.
Please also take a moment to read our Code of Ethics page. It should give you some insight into what we do and what standards we hold ourselves to.
If you are interested in breeding some of our rats, please let me know so I can make sure that you get a rat that it is ok to breed, such as those from my own lines. I do not mind helping someone to set up a breeding program in their area. Just keep in mind, unless you are going to work it like a full time job, it will NOT be profitable to raise and adopt out pet rats. It has taken me a year, working with various distributors and such to maintain a line of products to help support my own rats and my rescue efforts. This is not something that you will get rich doing.
We are closed to all except emergency rescues due to health issues in Chicago. All other facilities still open to rescues. Please contact me at rescue@socialrats.com if you need to place a rat with us. If you are unable to drop the rat(s) off, then a surrender fee will apply, depending on location. Please read the Surrendering a Rat page for the info that we would need. If you would be interested in adopting, please let me know at tami@socialrats.com
If you are interested in purchasing the Social Rats Rat Guide, please contact me at tami@socialrats.com for more information. It is only $6 and it goes to help support our rescue efforts. We are hoping to have another eBook out this fall.
Our adoption fee is $15 for a single rat and $10 for each additional same gender rat. The proceeds of which go to support our rescue efforts. Adoption fees for our rattery bred rats is the same as for rescues, as we do not value our own rats any more or less than our rescues. Each rat is the same, priceless and invaluable to us. The proceeds from our adoption fees for the rattery bred also go into helping to support our rescues. Food, bedding, treats, toys, cages, cost of meds, all need to be paid and we work on constantly increasing our ratty fund for this purpose. We also feed a soy free diet, so this does cost a bit more than just feeding lab blocks, as we have a special mix that we use. Also, all of our rats are on Bi-Odor by Marshall's, which we do sell for $27.50 per 32 oz bottle. It virtually eliminates the smell of the rats, especially the males.
If the only reason you do not want a male rat is because of the odor, then Bi-Odor will solve your problems.
We also sell carriers to take your new rats home in, which are reusable, for $5 each. If you do not bring a carrier with you, you may be charged for a carrier before you are able to take your rat from our home. We also, on occasion, have boxes that we can have you use for transport as well. We do not allow someone to just walk out with the rat(s) without being in a safe cage or carrier.
We also sell food for the rats as well, which is a combination of Brown's Tropical Carnival rat mix and our special mix. You are always welcome to supplement with fresh fruits and veggies, but you will need to offer a protein supplement twice a week. You can use eggs, chicken, or fish. I use a combination of protein sources to include all of the above listed plus mealworms as well. We sell Social Rats Special Soy Free diet, which is the only soy free rat food on the market, for $2.50 per lb. You are welcome to buy as much as you like when you adopt and you are also welcome to return to purchase more. The proceeds of which also go into our ratty fund.
There has been confusion as to what exactly Social Rats Adoption and Rescue is, this has been clarified on the Who is Social Rats page.
If you are interested in fostering, please contact me at tami@socialrats.com We are always looking for someone to help raise rescue litters, or help to socialize rats that need a bit of work. You will be informed of any health or behavioural issues that we know of before you take custody of the rat(s). You are free to use whatever soy free food or bedding you wish to use, I will provide food, if needed. If you decide to feed your own choice of food, I do need you to run it past me first, because I must ensure that it is soy free before you will be able to use it with the rescue rats.
Because Social Rats Rescue is a network, not a typical rescue, I value the opinions of those who are fostering just as much as my own opinion. If you have a say about something, please feel free to voice that opinion. Open communication is essential in this network.
If you need to contact us about taking in a rescue or some rescues, you can contact us at rescue@socialrats.com Please include all of the info requested on the surrender page. You can also call Tami at 773-934-9949
If you are thinking of only adopting or owning 1 rat, click the video. Rats do better in pairs or groups because of their social nature. Imagine living alone and no job, no store trips, only allowed outside for a short time and even then you only get to spend time with a dog or cat, no other humans. You would get lonely and this is how rats feel being housed alone, even with being played with for a few hours a day, every day, is still not the same as a ratty friend to cuddle with.
Just so you are aware, we do not adopt out lone rats to a home that has no existing rats. Nor will we adopt out a male/female pair to a home that does not have other rats. This is because rats need companionship and human campanionship is not the same as rat companionship.
Because of the number of rats that we are now working with, we try to ensure that they are as social as we can. THose who are having a harder time socializing do get more time and those who are doing better on their journey to socialization get a bit less time.
We try not to house our rats alone, as this is not healthy. The only rats housed alone are pregnant mothers, in which case, are not alone for long. I do not recommend housing a rat alone, if at all possible.
If you wish to get a lone rat, then you must adopt a male who is already caged alone. Rats are social animals are thrive better with that companionship, which is why we rather adopt them in same sex pairs. Because of the issues that can come with trying to introduce males to each other, we do ask that you adopt a baby rather than an adult.
The chances of a baby introducing are much higher than an adult and although we will ALWAYS accept a rat back, it is our goal to find them the perfect homes. A rat that we have caged alone usually is because it come in alone and we have not had a chance to introduce yet, or are waiting for an available baby to house with him. However, there are some cases that a male just will not accept another rat, even a baby. These are the ONLY rats that we will adopt out to a single rat home.
Social Rats does NOT advocate fixing a rat unless it is medically necessary. Nuetering a male may help with hormone aggression, but the research done about female aggression leads us to believe that spaying her will not help much if at all. Also, if you plan to spay to prevent tumors, if your rat is soy free, her chances of getting a tumor is very low as compared to a rat that is fed soy. Please keep this in mind when making the decision to put your rat through surgery.
Our rescues may be a bit skittish or shy when you come to meet them or adopt them. This may be due to how they were when they first came to us. They may also seem to be skittish, simply because they do not know you, but will change once you get them home. We work very hard to get their socialization levels up and make SURE they will not bite you when they go home with you. They are ONLY up for adoption if they are making consistant progress and are close enough to being socialized that a few days of work will bring them fully out of their shells. This usually will happen during the bonding process with their new family.
All babies are sent home with a Rat Care sheet to help you bond with them and open up their personalities. I am working on writing up a Rat Care Sheet for adults as well. I will be posting those on the site soon as well.
Besides being social, rats are also very intelligent. Rats like to explore, cuddle, groom, ect. If a rat is alone and bored, they will either become lazy and just lay around, this may be depression. Otherwise they will try to escape, putting all of their energy into finding a way out of their cage by chewing and finding ANY weakness in the cage and exploiting it. Rats, especially males, if left alone for too long may not take to a new cage mate too easily, if at all. This is why we suggest always making sure that you have a cage mate for your rat, unless you intend on spending 12+ hours a day with it.
Please keep in mind we are pet owners/rat lovers first and foremost and a rattery/rescue second. We do not adopt out aggressive rats, period! IF, by chance, your rat does become aggressive or bites, please let me know immediately, so we can try to figure out not only why it became aggressive, but also the safest solution, not only for the rat, but also for your family.
I feel that most vets in our area are very limited in their rat experience and unless I come up with an issue that I am unable to deal with myself, then I do not take my rats to a vet. I have met too many vets that are more than willing to order unneeded tests and will intentionally misdiagnose rats to get the money for the treatment of them. Due to a vet like this, we lost a few rats and others were medicated needlessly. I keep meds on hand here. If you need help with treating a rat, let me know and I can probably help you with the meds needed for a significant discount to what a vet would charge you.
It is my recommendation that any pet store that will not allow you to hold a rat before adoption, that you reconsider purchasing from them. Please do not go to animal or reptile shows expecting to find pet rats there, as most of them are feeders with possibly very little socialization. If you are not willing to work with the rats for a significant amount of time and are not willing to risk getting bit and never having a rat that will be loving and social, then I suggest you avoid animal shows.
If you want to find a good tempered pet rat, look to rescues, shelters or breeders. These rats have been housed and cared for in a way to help to ensure that they are healthy and well tempered. Always make sure of the return policy when adopting. Cat Nap From the Heart does adopt out rats and does work with fosters to make sure their rats are social.
Here, at Social Rats, you are always welcome to bring the rat back if circumstances change, either with your family, or with the temperament of the rat. With rescues, we can not make any guarantees as to their genetic background, if you experience any issues with your rat that you adopted from us, please let me know and I will see what I can do to help
To inquire about adoptions, you can contact us at adoptions@socialrats.com
In the future we will be setting up a page to learn more about rats from markings and coloring (as we classify them for our own purposes) to how to care for your pet once it is home. There is a variation in classification of colors and sometimes markings, when it comes to different sites. So, we are hoping, to get up pics of the rats we will be working with the in the future so you know what we classify as a certain color.
I hope that you will check back to read up on this info and learn more about this wonderful pet.
We are now authorized to sell Prevue Hendryx cages, our prices are cheaper than most and you are supporting Social Rats rescue efforts and helping to care for all of our rats!!!! Contact for cages and prices. Most Prevue Hendryx Products are available, including bird and ferret cages.