In these (very common) circumstances, p@h usually provide everything you will need for the babies, especially if you go in and make a loud fuss about them being incapable to see testicles, which in most rats are conker size LOL they are meant to be the 'experts' after all....

Please advise her, which im sure you have, not to give any other babies back to p@h either

My friend had a similar problem as I'm sure I mentioned before where PAH had given her a pregnant Chinchilla - she fought long and hard and it took a threat of legal action for PAH to pay for vet bills and give her a spare cage, the mother had had trouble giving birth and had some sort of problem afterwards so PAH ended up shilling out just over £600 in vet bills - which tbf they owed it. They'd mixed up sexes and even had a vet bit at the back..

I have bought rabbits and hamsters from PAH, and gerbil from Acorn. They all lived to a good age, but i wouldnt buy from a pet shop again. I got my guinea pigs from my cousins fiancee who had three guineas and didnt know that one was a girl, when she thought they were all boys! (i dont know where she got them from). My aunt stays on an island so I took two babies, and a neighbour took the other two. Unfortunately, no one knew she was pregnant until after she gave birth, so she got pregnant again… Bev didn’t know what to do, coz no one else who lived around them wanted any guineas… so she took them to PAH.

My friends brother is assistant manager in PAH, so I will ask her about how they do things with the live animals…

In the summer we purchased a bunny from PAH and have to say I was quite impressed with them, we chose one, the assistant there picked him up and said 'oh he seems to have a sore on the back of his neck' she took him off to see the manager and came back and said 'sorry we can't sell him until this has cleared up' so we chose another, again it was checked over and given a clean bill of health. So far he's been fine, a lovely little bunny!

You see, for me, I just cant understand why people buy rabbits etc from pet shops (this is not a personal dig at anybody BTW). The RSPCA and any local animal rescue are overflowing with unwanted rabbits. If you want to show rabbits then I understand going to a breeder, or if you want a specific breed. However, most people just want them as a pet, dont really care about the breed and so IMO, a rescue, ideally, should be the first port of call.

I've had rabbits, hamsters and mice in the past and I admit all were from a local pet shop. However, my last batch of 5 mice were from the RSPCA and i'd made my mind up I was going to rescue. Thats simply because I was more aware of the rescue option and the plight of these animals. My Mum has just added a cockatiel to the household but I urged her to get a rescue one which came from DASH.

My local PAH seem to be pretty good. I've never seen animals fighting or wounded animals. The only thing I have noticed is that they never seem to have enough bedding. The hamsters just lie curled up in the corner on a thin layer of sawdust. Like somebody mentioned, the lights are an issue too, especially if they have nowhere to bury themselves under.

My local pet shop chain is Kennelgate and they dont sell animals, I tend to go there.