chenoaspirit

I just got 2 young female rats from a pet store. They were housed with males so I am thinking my rats are pregnant. When I called the pet store today to ask if they were housed with males, I told him that mine appear pregnant. The owner wants me to bring the babies in to him as soon as they are born. I told him he would have to wait until they are weaned and guess what he told me! He said that he only wanted them when they are first-born, not any older. Of course I wondered why and when I asked him, he told me he freezes them ALIVE! And I suggested he separate the females from the males because they are so young and shouldnt get pregnant. He said that he wants them to get pregnant as often as possible so he can freeze the babies. Im so upset. Shouldnt that be animal abuse? I mean, that is so cruel. That is so traumatizing for the mother and the babies. And to freeze to death, thats a horrible death. Im so upset. It makes me want to go and rescue all the rats there at that store, but that will only encourage his behavior. He said that if he doesnt have alot of rats, then he would go out of business. Now, I know what they do with them, and that appalls me too. Rats are so sweet and so angelic when they look at you. They are treated horrible. Is there anything that can be done about this? Im horrified. I cant stand the thought of not going and rescuing at least some of them from such a horrible man. What would you do? This question is for all the rat-lovers out there. I dont want to hear about feeding snakes, my heart cant take it. :(

one hamster died of wet tail before I knew what was wrong. Then 2 more hamsters got wet tail. I had to force feed them special liquid food and pedialyte and their antibiotic. they fought me with it of course. They were beginning to improve, but last night as I was giving the older hamster her medicine, she was fighting me and was really strong, then just went limp in my hand and stopped swallowing and stopped fighting. I tried to stroke her throat to help her swallow but she wouldnt, the medicine just ran out of her mouth. I leaned her over to get it back out of her mouth because I didnt want her to choke on it. Then she was dying, but then I placed her in her old bed she shared with her male mate and she perked up ALOT so I would stroke her and encourage her to breathe because I thought I had accidently got the medicine in her lung and I was hoping she would cough it up or breathe enough to clear it out. She was up walking some, weak, but able to walk. She then went downhill quickly. She gasped for air for approximately 20 minutes. I stroked her and talked to her so she didnt feel like she was alone. I didnt bother her though. I wanted her to die in peace. I loved her so much. My heart is broken. The other one who was sick is now much better. If I had only not forced her to take her antibiotic but the vet told me to make sure she took it. I feel so bad. Please no one say mean things to me, Im already devasted. Anyone with experience with hamsters, what do you think happened? She was about 1 1/2 years old, I know thats kinda old for a hamster. She also had a nonhealing ulcer on her right side but it wasnt infected.