Rats as Pets
Cages
Bedding/Substrate
Toys
Feeding
Health
Breeding
Showing

General Information

Are rats for you?
Firstly you need to ask yourself a few questions:
1. Can you afford to provide a good size cageand accessories and vet care if needed?
2. Does anyone in your family suffer from allergies?
3. Do you have time to spend with the rats - rats love to explore out side their cages?
4. Can you "rat-proof" and area for them to play - rats love to chew wires and furture so will need a secure to "free-range"?

Rats live between 2 - 3 years on average.

How many rats?
Rats are very social animals so a minimum of 2 should be kept together, personally I would recommend 3 as this helps if one passes they still have some company.

Bucks or Does?
Bucks (males) are generally larger than females and have a more laid back attitude to life. They would rather fall asleep on your knee or inside your jacket than run around. Does (females) are much more active and love to run around and find trouble.
Does do have a high risk of developing tumours in later life which can cost a lot in vet fees for treatment. In my tens years of keeping rats I have had 2 of my 14 girls put-to-sleep for aggressive tumours.

Buck can be castrated and be mixed in with females but only if they are castrated, otherwide you could find yourself with a lot of mouths to feed in a very short space of time. Please see our breeding section for more details on this.

Breeders, Rescue or Pet shop?
Please take a moment to read this article which will show you were pet shop rats come from.

Breeders
Health & Temperment will be very important to any good ethical breeder. They should be able to provide you with information on the rats background and family and you may even be able to meet them. Expect to be asked questions and they will expect a few in return. Some will ask you to fill a form in others will like a informal chat - they all want what is best for the rats. They will keep in contact with you for the life of the rat as they will need to monitor the lines to make sure not problems arise. They won't have rats available on demand so do expect to wait for kittens!

Back Yard Breeders (BYB)
BYB are similar to Pet shops. Very little thought goes in to the health & temperment of the rats as at the end of the day they are breeding for profit. They will normally have a sliding price scale for the animals that they sell and have overcrowded cages. They may supply animals to a small independant pet shop but they will recieve very little handling due to the number of animals a BYB will have on the go at any one time.

Rescues
There are lots of rescues all over the country who take in rats for all sorts of backgrounds. Most are impluse purchased from a pet shop, which the children are now bored of. Rescues will do their best to find good homes for the rats that they take in. They will handled them and try and get them over any hurdles which may prevent them from having a home straight away eg biting, aggresion etc. Any litters born will be handled from a very young age so they are very friendly when they are homed.

Pet Shop
Buying your pets from a pet shop is a bit of gamble. You may be lucky and get a lovely little pet or unluncky and get one which is unhealthy and one which bites. Pet shops buy their animals from Rodent farms (animals bred on mass) which are housed in tiny containers and the females have litters back-2-back until they are of no more use to the farm. Very little thought is put in to health & temperment of the parents so it is pot luck as to what you will end up with. As the boys & girls aren't seperated early enough you may also get a few extra suprises!


A female rat with a litter of kittens at a rodent farm

Please see this article on where pet shop rats come from.

Choosing a breeder!
You have decided to get your rats from a breeder but how do you decide which one to get rats from?
These are some questions/things to look for that you could ask/speak to a breeder when you are looking to get some rattie friends:

- Do they require you to sign a contract when you take the rats on?
Most "good" rat breeders will ask you sign a contract for your rats. I give mine out as I don't give any of my rats for breeding at this stage and tend to pass people over to people with more experience.

- Do the rats come with a birth certificate and/or line history?
All breeders will be able to show mum and possibly dad (depending if dad lives at the same rattery). Again, most breeders will provide you with the line history but you may have to ask for it. All my rats got to their new homes with a birth certicate and I will supply full line history if this is requested.

- What diet do they feed? & What cages their rats are kept in?
All breeders will feed a diet that they believe suits their rats best. As long as the rats look good on the food they are being fed on then the food is suitable. Cages are a very personal thing and some breeders use hutches, some use large cages and some have small ones. As long as the cages are clean and aren't overcrowded!

- How long have they been breeding? & What their breeding goals are?
Just because a breeder is starting out doesn't mean they are no good. Find out the reason why they decided to breed. There are some people out there breeding for profit, if that is their goal then I would stay away. Good breeders will be breeding for health and temperment over show quality and money!

- Are there any health problems in the line that you should be aware of?
Some varieties/lines are more prone to illness than others. Ask the breeder if the lines they are breeding have any issues but do bare in mind that if the lines does have an issue that the breeder is working on it to try and fix it.

- Can you go and visit their rattery?
Most people will allow you to visit them to meet some rats if you are unsure. I allow people to visit but they must fill in an application form as I have had a few issues with people on previous visits. You will need to bare in mind that breeders still work and do other things outside of the rat world so you will more than likely have to make an appiontment to see them.

- Will they take the rats back if you are unable to keep them in the future?
Most breeders will take a their rats back if your circumstances change and you are no longer able to care for them. They want what is best for all the rats that they have bred and ill want to track their progress through their lives.

- Do they charge the same price for all their rats or do they have a price scale for the various varieties?
If a breeder has a price scale for the rats they breed, this implies that they are breeding for profit. They may still take the temperment of the rats in to account but not nessecarily the health. No matter what colour or markings a rat has it doesn't cost anymore to raise.

- Are registered with any of the rat clubs?
There are a large number of rat clubs across the UK. As a good breeder, I would expect them to be registered to their local one at the very least, even if they don't show. Most breeders will be registered with the National Fancy Rat Society (NFRS) and you can request a breeders list.