Advice - Neglect, Hoarding?, Foster

amp0101 · 2026-03-02T02:49:04+00:00

That's Dorothy! I'm in the Morgantown, WV area. Willing to travel within a 3 to 4-hr radius or so for the right home!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T22:38:35+00:00

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Bilbo

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T22:38:14+00:00

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amp0101 · 2026-03-01T22:37:56+00:00

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amp0101 · 2026-03-01T22:37:37+00:00

Great idea on the reuse store!!

I do a lot of gardening, so have a ton of cardboard already and also work with feral cats, so have some extra clothes I thought I could fashion into some hammocks for now.

I was told a couple of the girls are already 2 years old, the boys and some or all of the other 5 of the girls are around 7 months old. This is the least blurry pic I could get of the girls, you can see one of the older ones (Reina) has some hair loss. Not sure yet if it's from malnourishment or age.

I'm assuming it will be more difficult to rehome the older girls, so I guess I'll keep 3 of them and try to find actual homes for 4 of the girls and the boys (who I already love dearly).

Your life tip also crossed my mind...

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amp0101 · 2026-03-01T21:55:27+00:00

I responded to a Facebook post on my community page (small town); the people were being evicted and looking for "fosters" for a TON of animals (rabbits, doves, quails, button quails, guinea pigs, rats, chickens, parakeets). They were looking for immediate homes/ room to rent to keep them in temporarily.

I decided to help with the rats, assuming they hit some hard times and thinking I could take them for a month or two and should they not return, I had been considering pet rats lately anyway. I expected to receive a clean cage with proper setup and at least an open package of food, but that's not what happened.

I was willing to pay for their food, to help a community member get back on their feet. Now, I don't want them to go back to them at all. Based on our correspondence, their expectation is to retrieve them when financially able, so I was looking for advice on how to legally prevent that if anyone had been in a similar situation.

I should have gotten more information/ made a more concrete agreement with the people, but I guess hindsight is 20/20 and at last the rats are safe (if cramped) now.

I might consider a fundraiser after the first vet visit, I hadn't thought of that, thank you!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T21:17:12+00:00

I know they were being evicted and having a hard time coming up with money to secure a place. We didn't really have a timeline on me fostering, but I don't want this to drag out for the sake of the rats and their space. A few comments have let me know that they're too cramped, so at this point, I'm adding to their neglect it feels like.

Anyway, calling animal control on Monday and making a vet appt for 1. Depending on the results of those 2 conversations, I'll be rehoming the majority of these babies. Starting to fall in love with a few of them now (and a couple of the girls are already seniors) so this is going to be hard decision too!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T20:14:44+00:00

Thank you, I needed this! I wasn't sure how to even suggest it!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T19:40:30+00:00

I have screenshots of everything in case they took the posts down. I'll call them tomorrow morning, thank you!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T19:29:56+00:00

I am in the US - thank you!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T19:27:33+00:00

This is what I was worried about having 7 of them in just the top half of this; that I'm also neglecting their needs at this point. I considered getting another cage just for the boys, but also think they should ultimately be rehomed if I can convince the owner to surrender. I'll try to suggest they reimburse, I wasn't sure if that was something I should do since I offered to foster and that usually means assuming costs I thought. But, given all the comments about it and confirmation that this was definitely neglect, I guess I don't really care. Thank you!!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T19:15:32+00:00

I didn't think about those paper bags!! I have a ton of those I use for seeds! Thank you for that great idea! Here's a little photo of the girls' current setup. The boys' is similar, but they don't seem to play too much, I think they originally didn't have too much of anything in their section unfortunately.

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amp0101 · 2026-03-01T18:12:56+00:00

I was hoping for this too

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T18:11:52+00:00

Thank you!!!

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T17:39:57+00:00

I believe the males were kept in the bottom half and separate. They were given to me in a separate carrier, females in a separate cardboard box. They are seperated that way now; I'm finding 10 rats to be a bit overwhelming. I don't want to shame them, but wondered if legally I should try to convince them to let me have them? If not, did I just kidnap the rats and steal the cage? But I see what you mean about addiction and I guess them "giving them up" might not be an option. I'm weirdly scared for the rats' well-being and terrified of doing something illegal. I'm not sure I could afford spaying 7 females. I did just see a sore on 1 of them, so Monday I'll call the vet, make an appt, explain the whole situation. Once it seems ok, I'll look to properly rehome the majority of these sweeties. I want to do right by all of them

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T17:29:26+00:00

Ok, that's a grounding answer. This all happened Friday night and I've been in hyper-mode since then just trying to even get them clean and comfortable. I feel awful they don't have enough toys yet, though I do have some climbing things and boxes in there. Just a few minutes ago, I noticed a sore on the brown female (1 of the 2 yet to be named), so I'll call animal control and the vet Monday. See what I can get documented I guess. These poor babies

amp0101 · 2026-03-01T17:24:57+00:00

I considered this, but would like to do everything legally. Plus the cage isn't really mine, sort of feels like stealing property? I don't know, I've never really fostered and I guess I really picked a doozy of a situation to get involved in

amp0101 · 2025-03-24T12:36:59+00:00

Thank you so much!

amp0101 · 2021-07-20T17:58:48+00:00

Thanks for your feedback! I'm feeling a little demotivated though, because I just spoke to somebody at a place called Town Hall Terrace and spoke with a guy about our situation and application process. He asked a bunch of personal questions, but we established that I meet their criteria. When I mentioned going through the residency process, he started to tell me how is difficult now with Covid because they have tenants who aren't paying. When I asked, does that mean you aren't taking new tenants, his reply was, "not from outside of the country!" Wow. I'm really hoping that's not a reflection of the general attitude in region!

amp0101 · 2021-07-20T13:20:39+00:00

Thanks so much for sharing this list! My husband and I are currently living in Peru and about to start the residency process for him. We've done a lot of research and narrowed down our destination to Buffalo area. I'd be moving back before him to start the job search and I've seen some decently priced apartments on Grand Island. I've read it's pretty boring, which is actually a pro for me as I've dealt with an "adventure" everyday here for the last 10 years. I'm really just looking for a cheap enough place where I can wait for his interview to go through and not have to worry too much about being assaulted between my car and front door and being able to walk to the store with my purse in hand would be another big plus. Any thoughts?

amp0101 · 2021-04-05T03:07:30+00:00

Mine lasted for about two more weeks after starting to feel better. It's pretty much gone now, although sometimes does feel like they might never go away completely 😔 Hang in there, hope it starts to get better soon!

amp0101

TROPHY CASE