True story -



I was in the pet/feed store and a lady came in carrying a cage of two adult rats and a bunch of young ones. She walked up to the girl behind the desk and says "I came in here a couple of months ago asking for 2 female rats as pets 'cuz I didn't want any babies. You sold me these two as females and they have obviously had babies. Your sexing was wrong and I want you to buy back everything rats, babies, cage and all."



The girl behind the desk said that she could buy back the rats to be used as feeders but would not buy back the cage and accessories 'cuz the pregnancy was not her fault. "I have raised rats for over 10 years; I know they were female when I checked them. What you have to realize is that certain types of rats kept in a single sex colony can change sex so that they can breed."



Has anybody else seen a gender changing rat. I should have bought the ones she brought in 'cuz I want one. They sure would be nice to have; you would never have to worry 'bout the male-female ratio, they would simply change sexes to meet their needs. Oh, and think about how easy that would make breeding for specific coat traits - you wouldn't have to worry 'bout having a male and female of each trait. If you only had two females of a rare trait you could keep them together long enough to cause a sex change in one and breed them ('course it would suck if they both decided to switch sexes and you suddenly had two males on your hands).





Isn't it amazing what the idiots at the pet store will say to avoid blame?
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Russ

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