Product Review:
Seaside Pets: Fine Handmade Pet Supplies and Crafts

It’s incredible how much talent there is in the Rat and Mouse Club of America. We’re lucky to have Pamela Sorrentino, creator of Seaside Pets, in our midst. Pamm is making several items of interest available to all of us with pet rats and mice. I’m going to try to talk a little about each one. I must say that I’ve tried every one of the following products and all are terrific!

My first knowledge of Pamm’s talent came when I saw some artwork she had done for Diane Newburg several years ago. Diane had given Pamm a photograph of one of her rats and Pamm had created a drawing and mailed it to her. The drawing was beautiful and really caught the personality of the rat.

Recently, when I lost Woody and Bo, Pamm asked me for photos of them and gave me two beautiful drawings, both of which competely catch the essence and personality of each rat for me to enjoy for the rest of my life.

Pamm offers these pet portraits in black and white or in color. The 12 x 14 inch drawings are matted and mailed to you which allows you to go to your preferred artwork framer to choose a frame that fits your own home decor. Black and white drawings are $30 each and color drawings cost $50 each. Quite a deal and a great gift idea!

Tagua nuts, as Pamm describes them in her product brochure, are a sustainable rainforest product which is used as a replacement for elephant ivory. They are harvested for the vegetable ivory palm without any harm to the tree.

What Pamm and her father do to these Tagua nuts is truly amazing! The nut is mounted on a wooded base with a tiny wooden cap which completes the ‘egg shape’ of the piece. Pamm then completes a drawing of a rat on the face of the nut using the scrimshaw etching and inking technique. This is something that every collector of rat and mouse things needs to have in her collection! The price of each one of a kind piece is only $30 and would make a lovely gift for the holiday season.

Pamm is making several different things for your rat’s comfort at Seaside Pets. Her Pocket Hammocks are fleece lined for comfort and warmth with cute outer fabric designs such as cats and mice, rats, etc. They range in price from $6 to $9 each. Her Deluxe Pocket Hammocks are fleece lined with the outer fabric being denim for long life. The denim straps are reinforced with metal for added strength. They also come with an adorable little mouse applique sewn on the outside! They range in price from $9 to $12. Pamm has mouse sizes of her hammocks available, too. They are $3.50 and $4 each. Critter campers, a fleece lined sleeping bag can be purchased for $7.50 each.

Seaside Pets also offers an adorable wooden rattie bed that will accommodate one of her hammocks or that you can just put some old T-shirt fabric into for comfort and warmth. The beds are made from non-toxic wood to ensure the safety of our little chewers. The beds start at $12.

What can I say, but that Pamm has a lot of patience in creating these beautiful rattie blankets! When she presented me with one that had Woody’s name knitted right into it in big letters, I was afraid to use it! Woody did get to use it for a short time before he died and it appeared that he was in the ultimate comfort zone. The rat size blanket is approximately 2-1/2 feet square and is personalized with your own rat’s name. It is knitted in your favorite colors, bordered in lace with straps to use as a hammock. The rat size is $35 and the mouse size is only $10. Order early if you want to get one as a holiday gift, or better yet, order a gift certificate to give to the receiver so they can pick out their own colors and personalization.

Terrific, healthy treats for your rats. My rats can’t get enough of them! The homemade biscuits come in Wheat, Wheat Berry, Peanut Butter and Honey, and Oatmeal Apple flavors. The latter two are my rats favorites! Pamm is making them available plain or fortified with chromium picolinate or antioxidants to help keep our pets healthy. They come in 4 oz packages and are priced as follows. Plain $3.50, Chromium picolinate fortified or antioxidant fortified $4.50 each bag. Give your ratties a special treat this holiday season and order these for their stockings!

Seaside Pets is also offering custom T-shirts, Sweat shirts, and stationery with a photo of your pet on them! They can also put the artwork from your custom Pet Portrait on a shirt or stationery. Of course, you must pay for the Pet Portrait also. T-Shirts are $15, Sweat Shirts are $25, and stationery runs .35 a sheet plus $5 for the design.

A hand turned wooden urn that you can use to place the ashes of your beloved pet into, or just have it made to commemorate the life of your pet. A picture of your pet is drawn on the urn with a sentimental quote as well as the birth date and date of passing. What a wonderful way to keep your pet with you forever whether or not you cremate! At $12 you’ll never find anything comparable.

Every one of these products is extremely high quality and is worth much more than Seaside Pets is asking. All of these would make terrific holiday gifts.

We regret to announce that in February 2002, Pamm Sorrentino, the President of RMCA New England and a wonderful, wonderful rat friend passed away.

All products reviewed become the property of Rat & Mouse Club of America.