Quarantine for Fall RodentFest 2010 begins NOW
Anyone bringing animals to RF must begin pre-show quarantine now. No animals in, no taking animals to shows/events, no new litters. Any signs of infectious disease or ANY lice/mites mean you must leave your rodent pets at home this time.
Health check at door : any pregnant or injured animals will be turned away.
Be very attentive to signs of lice/mites, as these are common problems in our rodent pets. If you see them on one animal, assume ALL animals & cages are infected. It takes more than one round of treatment to eradicate the parasites because unhatched eggs often do not die — wait for 2nd or even 3rd round of eggs to hatch and keep treating to kill the adults. You may need the help of a vet and/or stronger drugs than the “mite spray” the local petshop sells. Consult your vet for help on detecting & treating parasites. ”Not knowing” is not an excuse for bringing mites or lice to a show and infecting others!
If anyone is found to have broken quarantine, they will not be allowed to bring animals to RF until otherwise told. Quarantine & health check only works if everyone follows the rules.
How do I reserve a table at a Rodent Fest?
WHO NEEDS TO RENT?
Anyone interesting in bringing animals for sale, adoption, or pick-up should have a table. Vendors of crafts, food, pet supplies, caging, clubs, rescues, or any other sales or display area also requires a table.
You may not bring animals, literature, or other items to the event to sell or give away if you don’t have a table — this would not be fair to those who paid to rent a table. Sorry, but if tables are sold out, they’re sold out.
NO SELLING/GIVING of animals in parking lot. Anyone sellling/adopting/giving animals out who did not bring them into the room and through Health Check is in violation of health check rules, and it’s not fair to everyone else who went to the trouble of quarantine & health check.
NO SHARING OF TABLES without checking with that event’s Organizer. Depending on venues, contact with venue, and other reasons, sharing of a table may not be allowed. It also makes it impossible to get a head-count or be able to tell the public what types of vendors to expect. Your animals & merchandise may be turned away at the door, if your name is not on the Registered Vendors List.
WHAT IS THE COST?
Cost may vary depending on where the event is held. In the past it varied from $20-35.
Tables rented in advance are generally cheaper than those day of the show.
Availability of a table is NOT guaranteed – these events usually sell out weeks to months in advance — so rent your table early. Fall RodentFest 2010 set a record – SOLD OUT 3 months in advance.
AND HOW TO I RESERVE ONE?
Contact the specific Event Organizer for that venue for availability and pricing.
Tables are rented on a FIRST COME / FIRST SERVE basis. And, your table is not guaranteed until payment is received, so don’t delay on turning in your table rental.
ALL VENDORS…
Should set up before the venue opens to the public. Doors will be unlocked at least one hour before “Opens To Public” time (stated on that particular event’s info). Plan to stay for entire event.
Vendors must follow the same rules as all attendees.
Vendors may set any price for their animals. You may give them away, if you wish. Tip: cages with marked prices will sell out alot faster!
Vendors may ask people to sign an adoption/sales contact. Any sales transactions are between vendor and buyer, and The Rodent Club is not responsible for mediating.
With animals: must follow Quarantine and Health check rules. To protect the health & safety:
- show staff reserves the right to exclude an animal, a whole cage of animals, or a whole carload of animals if a disease or parasite is suspected.
- all animals should be in cages or restrained (eg. on a harness or in the hand) at all times.
- we recommend you label your cages “DO NOT TOUCH” and/or use solid-walled cages. Show visitors don’t always realize some rodents may nip if figures are poked through the cage.
- bring ample bedding, food, and water. Tip: you may want to bring extra bedding. It’s not uncommon for water bottles to suddenly leak during transit or set-up, soaking a whole cage floor.
Do not bring:
- this is a pet show, not a “feeder” market. Please no “feeder quality” rodents. Please also don’t bring reptiles which eat rodents.
- anything that is illegal in the state or city the venue is held
- animals that don’t need to be there — if nothing else, this protects your pets from unnecessary stress. If the animals is not for sale, for pickup, or for showing, please leave him or her at home
- no nursing or unweaned animals. No injured, infirm, immunocompromised, or very old animals. Use common sense: a mouse born without a toe is birth defes
- very soiled cages or overcrowded cages: this is not fair to the animals. We also know from experience vendors with the nice looking cages make the most sales. Bring extra bedding. Wipe down aquariums. Do not bring 10,000 animals; having more animals is often seem more as “over crowded” than as “having many choices of kinds”.
Quarantine Reminder – begins 9/4/10 for Rodent Fest Fall
If you are bringing any rodents or other animals to RF, be aware the Quarantine begins on September 4th.
This means:
- no new animals in : no buying new mice, no picking up a rat along the way, no bringing a hamster back from a show. If you do buy a new
- no signs of infectious disease or parasite, even if you’re treating it.
- no brand new litters of rodents should be born during quarantine. They won’t be weaned in time. And until they’re weaned for a few weeks, they’re still operating on the mother’s antibodies in the milk (which could mask a germ).
Check out this good web page for rat/mouse Quarantine info:
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dosanddonts.htm
Please do not bring any animals that don’t specifically need to be there. Animals to sell/adopt and to show are ok. But don’t bring your favorite old rat for no reason. If nothing else, the stress of the long car trip, strange surroundings, and a full day surrounded by strange smells & sounds is stressful.
Visual health check at door.
Tables : SOLD OUT for Rodent Fest Fall 2010
Thanks to overwhelming support, the tables at the next Rodent Fest are all rented. THANK YOU for your support!
Just a reminder: you need to have a table and be a registered vendor to sell, trade, or deliver animals at this event. If you plan to share a table with someone, you must contact the event organizer.
We’re sorry to have sold out so soon in advance. It’s a new record for The Rodent Club!
Attn folks getting animals from Jennifer Erwin
Jennifer Erwin of Tennessee and her business Whiskers N Tails mice will not be attending this Fall’s RodentFest 2010 or future events in the foreseeable future. Her business solicitations (the animals and her club memberships she is selling) are also not welcome.
We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
FALL RODENT FEST 2010
Fall Rodent Fest will be held at the same location as Spring:
Leesport Farmers Market building, 312 Gernant’s Church Rd., Leesport, PA (near Reading, Pennsylvania)
Saturday October 2nd
Doors open to public at 10am – 6pm (vendors should arrive by 9am)
Admission is Free!
Animals for sale/adoption. Small-pet accessories, caging, treats, crafts, and more for sale. Meet breeders, rescues, and others.
Tip: Please bring cash as there is no ATM in the room.
Looking for a specific animal? We suggest you reserve it in advance or come very early. Some vendors sell out of animals early. BYOB: recommended you bring your own boxes (or carrier & cages), since some vendors may run out. You can seek out attendees by posting to Rodent Club’s Facebook Page or to the “MOUSE” email list.
Vendor info:
Update: we are SOLD OUT of vendor tables. Thank you for your support. Contact Lee with any questions about your table rental.
Animal sellers: we recommend you bring a written adoption contract signed by the buyer, especially if you’re placing stipulations on the animal’s sale (eg. no breeding, show/no-showing, no resale, etc).
EVENT RULES:
- Quarantine & health check rules in effect.
- This is not a “feeder” event — this is a show to promote rodents as pets & for show. Please leave your snakes at home, and please don’t come asking for “feeders”.
- No sales/trading/picking-up of animals in parking lot, bathroom, sidewalk, etc. All animals coming to event should be kept in isolation quarantine no less than 21 days before show.
- No animals allowed in that are illegal in the state of PA.
- Do NOT bring any animals that are sick, elderly, immunocompromised, or have recently had symptoms of infection or parasite.
- No nursing babies and no obviously pregnant animals.
- We prefer you leave your dogs at home. Please bring only the animals you wish to sell or show.
- All animals are subject to Health Check at the door. Health checkers, when in doubt, may exclude an animal, a cage, or a whole car-load of animals, if diseases or parasites are suspected.
- Show management reserves the right to ask anyone to leave the event at any time for any reason.
A reminder about mites & lice:
Mites and lice are a common problem with small-pets. But because of how contagious it is, we must take them seriously. If you had ANY mites/lice in the past month, without strict control measures, your animals may still be carrying them or their eggs. Typically it requires at least 2-3 treatments, timed as the next batch of eggs hatch, to eradicate mites or lice in a rodentry. If you have any doubt LEAVE THE ANIMALS AT HOME.
- Spraying with petshop “bug spray” is not always very effective and by itself is not considered enough to eradicate a mite/lice infestation.
- If this is your first problem with mites or lice, consult a vet. You may need a stronger drug such as Ivermectin. For the drug to kill the bugs without harming your small pets, doseage must be exact.
- After treating, it might look like the bugs have gone away. You may not see anything for 1-2+ weeks. However, what’s happening is the tough eggs did not die in the treatment. It takes time for them to hatch, grow, and re-populate your colony of pets. This is why it’s essential you give multiple treatments and you thoroughly understand what species you’re treating for, the length of its life cycle, and the most effective drugs to kill it.
- Even in a “closed” rodentry, mites or lice may appear in bedding, hay, or other products you buy. Some believe wild rodents may also bring mites/lice to your pet rats & mice. So, even if your rodentry has been closed to animals in/out for months, you still must carefully check for parasites.
For further reading on parasites:
Status of Spring RodentFest
STATUS OF SPRING RODENTFEST – May 1, 2010
“We have decided to proceed with our Spring Rodentfest as scheduled. I understand the worry it has caused my loyal vendors and I respect your decision. But I also must make you aware that if we do not have a good amount of vendors, we may have to cancel future Rodentfests. This is not a decision I want to make, but I will be forced to make.
Health check will be a combined health check of both group’s animals at the door of the Rodentfest. We will have Bobbi Johnson who is a certified vet tech with the health check team and the decision of the health check team for animals of either side will be FINAL and nonnegotiable. Those animals that fail health check will NOT go into EITHER show. There has to be a tiny shred of trust here. No one from either group will argue with the health check team. This is the best solution we have. However, if any species INCLUDING HUMANS, exhibit any signs of ringworm under black light or otherwise, they will NOT be allowed in the show hall. I understand all vendors stance on the issue of the health of our animals and ourselves. But please keep in mind that the public expects as full house of vendors. This is why we get such a nice traffic flow through at Rodentfest. If our vendor attendance is poor, and we have another show, our flow through may suffer dramatically. Keep this in mind when you make your decision on attending Rodentfest. It could make the decision on future shows.
Reservations for vendor tables are still being taken. The price for vendor tables is now $25 as the venue has raised the hall rental. This fee needs to be paid by April 15th. After this date, the tables will be $30. If you try to get a table the day of show, the price will be $35.”
Sincerely,
– Lee S.
Event Organizer, Rodent Fest Spring 2010
Rodent Fest Spring ’10
Rodent Fest Spring 2010 is scheduled for May! Come see us in Leesport, Pennsylvania on Saturday May 1st
Leesport Farmers Market, Leesport, Pennsylvania
Come meet breeders, owners, clubs, and rescues from all over the country. This is the largest all-rodent event on the East coast!
A limited number of vendor tables are still available. Email Lee for more information.
Volunteers are needed for the following tasks:
- set up
- take down
- health-check and/or welcome table
- clerk at judge’s table
Rat Show at the PA Pet Expo, March 19-21
Horse and Pet Expo, Reading PA
The Rodent Club will be hosting a booth at the Pennsylvania Pet Expo, including a judged rat show on Saturday.
Come learn about these wonderful small pets!
The expo runs from March 19th – 21st.
Contact Lee for more information or to register your rats in the show.
Welcome to RodentClub’s new site
Welcome to the new Web site! We apologize for the interruption in service, but a lapse in having volunteers to do the site caused it to go down for awhile.
