Q: I have a male rat, not sure of age. I'm still not sure he is ok following purchase of a rat companion that turned out to be sick. I am skittish about adding another rat due to this bad experience and am paranoid that my rat might now get sick. When is it safe to adopt another?
A: Thanks for your interest in adoption! You're right that you should wait until any illness passes completely before introducing another rat, not only to protect the new rat, but to avoid stressing yours and making him get worse. I'm guessing that he has been treated by your vet but if he hasn't healed entirely by the time his medication course is through, call your vet about a follow-up, since he may require a stronger treatment to prevent him from crashing again.
In petstores and other places that have a large number of rats coming in contact with others (most stores get their rats from "rat mills" with hundreds, even thousands of rats being bred in little drawers) virulent strains of bacteria can flourish. Thankfully these are not transmittable to humans or other pet species, but they can be hard to control. This is one of the reasons that we quarantine the rats we foster to observe their health before adoption. Of course, just like in people, sometimes illnesses kind of just occur, but the risk is lesser if they aren't exposed to other rats or items that have been exposed to other rats (pet stores that don't sell animals tend to have less risk of sending you home with mites or germs). There are some great stores in the area that don't. So, if he hasn't already, we recommend that you have him treated prophylactically for parasites.
You may have heard about myco, a ongoing, contageous condition that causes chronic respiratory problems. Pet stores are usually hotbeds of this disease. It makes pairing rats who are likely carriers a difficult decision. On one hand, you don't want your rat to be lonely, on the other, you don't want to infect another rat. Just to add a wrench in the works, there's speculation that most domestic rats are carriers anyway, while others believe it can be controlled. It's a tough call, but in the end, if I were you, I'd make my decision based on the health of your current rat. If your vet feels that he is healthy enough to handle the stress and excitement of meeting a new companion, I would go ahead and proceed with adoption.
I'm really terribly sorry that your last match went so terribly wrong. How heartbreaking! Pet stores just don't usually do any sort of quarantine or basic preventative vet care so it's hard to know if you're getting a healthy animal. Add to that the stress of transport (according to store employees I've spoken to, animals often die in transit, having been treated much like freight) living on display, often in cages that are too small and/or overcrowded, and you have a very stressed little animal who is probably more susceptible to disease. We make every effort to keep our animals happy by treating them just like our own, with appropriately large cages that include hiding spots, toys, a healthy, carefully selected diet, vet attention, and human interaction. A freak death can happen to anyone, of course, but the risk is lower when an animal's stress level is lower.
Good luck to you and your ratty. Do let us know what you decide.
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