I have been looking into getting another rat lately and had heard that the store would be getting some dumbo rexes(type of rat). I have always despised the conditions in which they keep their animals, especially the mice and rats, but I went anyway. I found the rats, probably about ten, in a very small aquarium. When I asked if they were boys or girls, the woman said both. When I asked how old they were she said "21 days, we know what we're doing." Obviously they don't! At 21 days, rats are not even weaned from their mothers. If she was wrong about the age, then every female in the cage is probably pregnant!
Also on the subject of the baby dumbos, there was another cage sitting on top of theirs! Now I mentioned that they were in an aquarium and that doen't have good ventilation anyways, but to cover it too?! Those babies are probably running out of air as I type!*tears*
When I was done looking at the poor dumbos, I went over to see the other rats. I understand they are considered "feeders" and that all animals, even snakes, have to eat, but that is no reason the disregard them as living things! When I went to look in the cage, there was a rat, dead, just lying in the cage. A few rats were eating it, the rest were attacking each other trying to get at the food they had just been given. I can't imagine how hungry they must have been to eat one of their fellow cagemates. And the woman had just fed them and she didn't notice! She probably didn't even look into the cage!!
And another thing!(I'm on a roll here) There are WAY too many rats in the cages. There are probably 20 rats in a single cage at one time! And these are no fancy-shmancy cages here, probably no bigger than a 10 gallon aquarium!(I don't know aquarium sizes)
whew. I could go on, but I was smashing this into my keyboard, and now my fingers hurt. But as a final thought: All creatures, no matter how small, should be treated with respect and kindness.
P.S. DON'T BUY FROM PASS PETS!