September Rat Tat Review

Don't let the adorable rattie on the cover deceive you - this book is not very rat-friendly. TFH Publications is a bit uneven with the quality of the books they publish, so do watch out when you buy books put out by them. They picked a winner with Rick Mays' The Proper Care of Fancy Rats, which I'll be reviewing in a few months, but this one is not worth buying.

The highlights of this book are the pictures, but some of them are mislabeled. There are many pictures of mice that are labeled rats, which is very confusing for new rat owners. Also some of the captions are strange. I laughed when I saw the "Do not hold your pet too close to your face" one! Obviously Ms. Fox has never experienced the joys of rat kisses. Also having a rat and mouse pose together may be cute, but if the rat is not mouse-friendly, it's downright cruel. And the photo of Ponderosa Pine Shavings illustrating a good rat bedding is enough to make any good rat owner go ballistic.

The text is even worse, with much of it reflecting common superstition or being downright misinformation. This could just be because the book was written over 10 years ago before much was known about rat diet, health, etc., but that means that this book should no longer be on the market. Some of my favorite awful quotes: "If you get a rat that is "mean", get rid of it; this is an incurable trait." and "A single rat is perhaps the luckiest, for there is no competition with any other rat for your attention." How about this one, "If you need to handle a strange rat... it might be safest to pick it up by the scruff of his neck." Ben, Gurgle and Gregle reluctantly volunteered for a rat-scruffing experiment, and I don't see how you can do it! Rats just don't have scruffs. At least mine don't...

Hopefully no one is paying attention to her rat care and breeding information. I pity the rats raised under these conditions! Her dietary suggestions with 50-69% protein go against the latest research which states that adult rats only need about 12% protein in their diets (babies and pregnant rats need about 20%). Too much protein causes skin and kidney troubles and is probably hugely responsible for the short lifespan of many rats. She recommends pine and cedar bedding, which have been shown to cause lung problems and worsen myco symptoms. As for breeding, she talks about the "harem system" of breeding rats, which I hope even professional breeders don't use - having one male to five female rats. Sounds like a puppy-mill type system. And she recommends weaning babies at 3 ½ to 4 weeks old. This is cruel for the small ones who are not really ready to be on their own until closer to 6 weeks of age.

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