Where to Purchase Your Pet Rats:
There are three main places that people go to purchase their pet rats. A pet store is probably the first place you would think to go, but there are also rescue organizations, and rat breeders (ratteries). I will discuss all three.
Pet stores are convenient and generally charge very little for rats. But the afore mentioned pros (all two of them) are by far out-weighed by the cons. Pet store rats generally come from commercial breeders. This is especially true of large chain pet stores. Commercial breeders mass produce rats (and other small animals) in order to...well, fill orders. There is no care taken to breed for health and/or temperment and they have not been well socialized, if at all. Many of the rats in these stores end up as snake food. This pulls at the heart strings of many people and we may feel the need to "rescue" them. I'm guilty of doing this myself. However, just like with puppy mills, purchasing these rats helps these commercial breeders to continue mass producing these animals. There are "mom and pop" stores out there that buy rats from private breeders, or breed them themselves. These rats are more likely to be socialized and there may be a bigger variety from which to choose. With much patience and endurance, following these socializing techniques can help you transform shy unsocial rats into wonderful companions.The health issue is a bit trickier. If you decide to purchase from a pet store, take the time to examine the rats and their living conditions. Look for visible signs of illness. Porphyrine (red staining) around the eyes and nose, eyes sealed shut, sneezing, crouched with fluffed up hair...These are all signs of a sick rat. If any rats in the store show these signs, then I highly suggest not purchasing from that store. Or plan on dishing out a chunk of change at the vet right off the bat. Even if all of the rats do appear to be healthy there is the possibility of air bourne viruses, therefore it is routine for many rat owners to practice quarantine. I will go further into quarantine procedures later.
Here is a link from the Little Mischief Rescue website about why not to shop in pet stores: http://www.littlemischiefrescue.org/petstorerat.html
Rescue shelters - Want to be an angel for a rat or even better a pair of rats? Go to a rescue organization. There are many dog/cat rescues that will take in rats and several that specialize in small animals exclusively. The rats coming from rescue will usually have unknown backgrounds, therefore a health history will be unknown unless the rescue took the rat in as injured or sick and nurtured them back to health with the help a vet. An honest and knowledgable rescue will not knowingly sell a sick rat and will practice proper quarantine. Even so, if you already have rats at home take precaution and have a quarantine home set-up to care for the new rats for three weeks. This goes for all new rats coming into a home where rats are already living, whether they are coming from a pet store, rescue, rattery, or somewhere else. Err on the side of caution. Some rescues will have spayed and neutered adult rats for adoption. We will get into the benefits of spaying and neutering further on.
A Reputable rat breeder has one main goal. This goal is the betterment of the species. This encompasses several things including excellent temperment, excellent health, and conformation. Depending on the individual breeders there are other goals as well, but health and temperament should be the primary goal of every reputable rat breeder. To acheive these goals it is important to keep accurate health/vet records, pedigrees and notes on temperament. Reputable breeders spend a lot of time socializing babies from a very early age. Well socialized babies transition into their new homes with very little stress. Please keep in mind that there are no "perfect" rats. Even rats from long established dedicated ratteries can use improvement of some kind, whether it be a cranky rat that pops up here and there, or a genetic health problem that, though rare, still rears it's ugly head. For this reason it is incredibly beneficial to the breeder and ultimately the rats themselves if you take the time to let the breeder know of any issues that you come across with any rats you purchased from this breeder. Reputable breeders will take these issues into serious consideration. With that said, there are many other factors that bring down the health of a rat that is NOT genetic. These include environment (dirty cage, draft, alergens), diet, and exposure to sick rats, among other things. So get an expert diagnosis from a knowledgable veterinarian before deciding that it is a genetic issue.
Things to look for when adopting through a rattery - With the very real possibility of viruses being brought into the rattery, most breeders will not allow visiters into the home. There are other ways to insure you are dealing with a breeder who is breeding their rats for the betterment of the species and not someone who is breeding for quantity and/or to make a quick buck. A reputable breeder will be interested in insuring that their babies are going to a loving home. So they will ask questions and encourage potential adopters to ask questions as well. An adoption fee is set at a price to deter feeder breeders and breeders who breed to fill a market rather than improving the species. The 'higher than pet store' price also helps insure that these babies are not being purchased on a whim. Rats only live two to three years on average, but that seems to be too long of a commitment for many people. Just look at all of the unwanted rats that end up in rescue.
Babies bought from a breeder should be sociable and easy to handle. As mentioned above some babies are naturally flighty, but a good breeder will warn you of this before adopting them to you. The babies should be healthy. No sneezing, no discharge around nose and eyes etc.
Babies from a breeder should be clean and should not have a bad smell. This is a very good indicator of how well the rats are being kept. A rat kept in clean living conditions will not have a bad odor and their hair and tails will be clean with no caked on nastiness.
If a breeder does allow visitors in the home then you will be able to see with your own eyes how well their ratties are cared for.
