Cold Hearted? Pets to food?

okay so I bought a pair of blue male rats to be pets...and they are jerks! No matter how much I have handled them...they bite. They bite through the bars of the cage if you touch it. THey bite when you try to feed...they bite when you try to clean the cage. They are nasty. And I just keep looking at them and thinking...
dang those sure are big jumbo sized......
Now mind you I have nothing big enough to eat them, but am I wrong to even think it? I mean they aren't good pets and not matter what I have done, they draw blood.
But am I bad to want to pass them over? What would you do with biting rats?

I guess being a snake owner and lover your not entirely wrong for thinking this way..I mean that is just the way nature is..so at least your not thinking of throwing them in a river or beating them to death...If they are truly being so horrible for you, then you should post them on craigslist to adopt them out..or ask a friend if they want a pet rat...Don't keep what your not happy with because it's unfair to you and to the pet..

I had the most beautiful silver satin longhaired mouse I found for only £1 at a pet store near me. He was everything I wanted in a silver moose and I couldn't wait to get those genes into my fawn and satin lines. Unfortunatley he didn't breed my females, he decided to bite holes in them instead. Panther, my big coral snow lad got a silvery moose that night. Oh yes, I felt awful... for Panther having to eat that little bastard of a moose.

if they are this nasty, i wouldn't want to adopt them out of give them to anyone as a pet, especially if they were unsuspecting...unless of course you warm them first that they are completely viscious no matter what, and that they are NOT good "cuddly, cute" pets

If they're that nasty, I'd suspect they may be off in the head, which is a possibility if they were heavily inbred to achieve the blue coat. Rats should really never be prone to biting or attacking people. I have two half wild ones, and while they're schitzo, they've never even done so much as mouth me, no matter how much I've handled them. How old are they? They might've also had piss poor socialization.

I'd try giving them to a rat rescue if you were going to give them up, since they'd have the patience for it. And neutering them might help, but it might not.

And additionally, for help with biting, I'd try asking over at Goose Moose. I learned everything for my pet rats there, more or less.

http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat

Aggressive male rats almost without exception are suffering from an inbalance of testosterone - it's fairly common in randomly bred rats. Your vet should be able to neuter them for you, and once the testosterone has left their body they should be fine, and be nice pets again.

Another thing I want to add is that rats and rodents in general are VERY people specific. They might be doing it to you but they might be fine with other people. I have seen many time a perfectly tame mouse go wild with a certain person. I also have chinchillas that exhibit this behavior, they just cannot stand some of my friends!

This is not necessarily the case but it may be something worth trying before neutering them (as was suggested in another post).

Let me be the bad guy...if they are edible, feed them. And don't let anyone make you feel guilty for it. It is what it is...the cycle of life, or whatever you'd like to call it. They are your rodents. Use them in the most appropriate manner for your own needs.

I don't mean to sound coldhearted or insensitive, but the bottom line for me is simply this...if I purchase a rodent as a "pet" and it makes a horrible pet, I have other "uses" for this rodent.

I keep breeder mice, and while they aren't exactly "pets"...they are useful and well cared for. If they decide not to produce, or to eat their offspring, or fight more than they breed...they are culled and become useful in another manner.

I also breed hamsters, rats, and mice at work. If I have a litter of hamsters, and one gets beaten up and loses and eye or gets a limb broken, it doesn't go to the vet, it becomes feeder. I can't sell it, I won't give it away, so I feed it off.

I have people come into the shop ALL the time with young mice, hamsters and rats that were "accidentally" bred. They want to give them to us. I will GLADLY take them, but I make sure that every person knows that there is a very high probability that all of these "rescued" rodents will become food for reptiles. If they don't want their precious babies fed to a snake, I won't take them.

Some may find it coldhearted, and that is OK by me. I call it being practical. Everything has a use...some uses require living, some require dying. It really is that simple, to me...

Nippy rats

all of my nippy rats (back when I had a bunch of them) got returned to the shop or fed to something.

fortunately our rarer rats never fell into this category. Especially my favorite american blue silver

You can try socializing them. Check that goosemoose site linked above, and do a search for "forced socialization".

I had some very timid and scared ones when I started out with rats, tried socializing them but ended up feeding them off. I've had the best luck with raising them up from pinks and handling them every day. They grow up to be perfectly tame pets.

Find a source for future rats where they get more human contact and aren't so terrified of humans, it makes a huge difference. Or barring that, get them very young, as in just barely weaned and handle them every day and they should turn out quite tame and social.

I LOVE rats. I had a biter once. He was poorly socialized and had some testosterone issues. I kept him and made sure he had everything he needed, I just never handled him. Over time, we came to an understanding and when he died I was sorry to see him go. (His name was Art Vandelay but I should have named him Crazy Joe Devola)

That said, I know that tame sweet rats are used as food everyday. Rare colors are prized but your most ordinary pair of pews or hoodies can be intelligent wonderful pets. As long as whatever you do with them is humane and they don't suffer, how can anyone have a problem with it?

Tyflier gave the best answer.


Connor

connord94 said:

Tyflier gave the best answer.


Connor

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I tried to rep you, but I can't rep in the "Feeders" section, nor can I quick reply :shrugs:


Connor

connord94 said:

Tyflier gave the best answer.


Connor

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<------ didn't know it was a contest........

Well first, if you ever do feed him to anything, kill him first. If he can draw blood from you he can kill a corn, or probably most other snakes for that matter. If he looks pretty, then you might want to keep him, but giving him to someone else or killing him may be the way to go. JMO.

Well first, if you ever do feed him to anything, kill him first. If he can draw blood from you he can kill a corn, or probably most other snakes for that matter. If he looks pretty, then you might want to keep him, but giving him to someone else or killing him may be the way to go. JMO.

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You really need to reread the OP posts.. These are Jumbo ratties.. Unless you have some freak sized corn, a cron snake is not going to be able to eat a jumbo rattie.. Hench this is why I have a BP and considering a red tail.. Something that can a handle a big meal.. I euthenize mice and rats, I do make it a point to to them down by the most humane method we can do..

Regards.. Tim of T and J

connord94 said:

Tyflier gave the best answer.


Connor

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I diasagree...I think TandJ gave the best answer...:dancer:

But really, there is no "best" answer. It's all a matter of opinion, and as such...there is no such thing as better or worse, right or wrong. Just different perspectives...

I do appreciate the vote of confidence, however...

I know exactly how you feel. I had a female mouse that killed ALL the colony's pinks except her own. I left it, thinking she was a first timer etc etc but she didn't stop. She was also EXTREMELY aggressive to the other mice! Cornflake enjoyed her immensely.

TandJ said:

You really need to reread the OP posts.. These are Jumbo ratties.. Unless you have some freak sized corn, a cron snake is not going to be able to eat a jumbo rattie.. Hench this is why I have a BP and considering a red tail.. Something that can a handle a big meal.. I euthenize mice and rats, I do make it a point to to them down by the most humane method we can do..

Regards.. Tim of T and J

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A. I did read the OP posts.
B. I know they're big, and like I said, they might be able to kill another type of snake.
C. If this a concern, I accidentally said "he" instead of "they" throughout my post. Opps.. :uhoh:
D. I hope that a corn snake can't eat jumbo rats, and sorry for implying that. If anyone does have a corn that can eat jumbo rats, then they must tell me!

Whats a cron snake? JK, I know what you mean.