Wow...yes...the world is spinning in ways that I never imagined possible.

I have been and continue to shelter-in-place (SIP) twice a week while needing to go into the office 3 days a week to support an essential bio-tech company based here in Redwood City, CA. As their Workplace Experience Manager, I am having to completely pivot to a new way of empathizing and supporting my team.

In addition to this, I am still very active with Rattie Ratz as their founder, president, and primary intake home. We continue to have many surrender applications and we are doing our best to accommodate as many needy rats as we can. Being unable to conduct our usual adoption fairs, we are still adopting rats out through pre-arranged, no-contact, private adoptions. Rattie Ratz is always looking for more homes and experienced adopters who are interested in providing homes to some of our more challenging residents. 

After almost 2 years of battling with Amazon to get, who I believe to be a reptile business, off my Teklad listings on Amazon, I have officially given up and shut down my Amazon sales completely. This is a HUGE deal for me because, like it or not, Amazon constituted about 75% of my total sales so, choosing to leave that marketplace is a *very* big deal for me and this business. I feel very strongly about feeder breeders and any business that enables that practice so I have no regret about shutting down my Amazon store because I am following my moral values.

Unfortunately, this does mean that I need to, pretty much, rebuild my business from scratch - again :( 

I know many of you have been buying from me for quite some time. You've seen the shop go through it's struggles and I am still trying my best to keep Teklad diets available to the domestic PET rat community. That being said, this truly is a community service business and I maintain and manage this venture on a *very* part time basis. I have a wonderful office management position that I love and I spend a lot of time, energy, and resources being the primary intake home for Rattie Ratz. In addition to that, I genuinely want domestic pet rats and their families to have a responsible and ethical place to source their Teklad diet.

That being said, I've just left the biggest online marketplace and, with that choice, I need help to get the word out and bring rat parents back to TheRatShop.com!! This is where a community based business *really* becomes a community backed business. Right now, I am not able to meet the minimum orders necessary to keep buying direct from Envigo. I need the greater pet rat community to help me out by letting their local rat groups and communities know that I am *NOT* selling on Amazon anymore. If you are buying from Amazon, you are not supporting me, The Rat Shop, Rattie Ratz, or any other rodent related organization. You are very likely supporting a business that provides food to snake bait breeders in the reptile community.

Everyone is free to spend their money and order from whomever they prefer for whatever reason. I just want consumers to make informed and educated purchasing decisions. My sales permit me to keep sourcing Teklad diets directly from Envigo. Your purchases enable me to donate all the food that Rattie Ratz needs to feed the rats in our care. Your purchases also enable me to be able to donate food to other rat rescue organizations when they are in dire circumstances AND offer Rescue Boxes at a discounted rate. 

Please help spread the word and promote/encourage folks to order their Teklad through TheRatShop.com. With your help, I'll be able to pull through this situation and continue to feed pet rats in need.

Thanks for reading,
​Diane

So...I founded Rattie Ratz in 1998. Five years later, I launched The Rat Shop with my husband, as a side business, to help me stay home and care for our first child. Since then, we had one more child of our own, fostered 2 additional children for about 2.5 years, and decided to separate. On top of that, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in June of 2012 and the sudden passing of Debbie Ducommun this past March has really made me stop and think about my life thus far. A lot has happened over the last 2 decades and times are really changing but I am still motivated and inspired to find new and innovative ways to help domestic pet rats, especially in my area, and give back to the greater rat community. Maybe people can even take my experiences and apply them to other areas, different animals, and/or completely different things altogether. 

I'm a strong believer in and advocate of positive impact. I was raised with the belief that, "if you don't have anything good to say, then just don't say it." I've been thinking, for quite a while, about the best way to share my experiences and, to that end, I have finally decided to launch a blog. When I started Rattie Ratz, I was young and naive. I noticed that pet rats in my area didn't really have a dedicated rescue group so I set out to fix that! Little did I know that the organization I started would even exist today, now 20 years later. I am so very pleased and appreciative of all the amazing rat folks that I met along the way. Each person along the way contributed something to the success of Rattie Ratz and we are still working on how Rattie Ratz can adapt to the changing times and continue to be a resource for this community. 

For Rattie Ratz's 20th anniversary, I've been writing a monthly blog and I am realizing that I have a lot of experience, knowledge, and opinions that may actually be able to help others make better and more educated choices about their rats. I do not consider myself a rat "expert" but I am passionate about domestic pet rats and their needs. I am also compassionate towards people and Rattie Ratz began because I was trying to help people who were facing hard times and needed to rehome their rat pets.

Now, I really want to share my 20+ years of experiences with you so you don't need to reinvent the wheel or have to learn through the school of hard knocks. As with most things that I start, I have no plan or vision. My motivation is to help educate, enable, and empower others so you can make the best choices for yourself and your own situation. Everyone is unique. Each person's life and situation is unique. I am happy to share my life and experiences with you and I hope this effort will lead to positive impact and interaction. 

Welcome to my next grand adventure!

Live, Laugh, and Love Rats,
​Diane Nesom