Know Your Source - Where did your pet rat come from?
By the Rat Lovers’ Association of Southern California

Most people find themselves going to their local pet store when they want to purchase a pet rat. What they don’t realize is that many pet stores, especially large, chain stores, purchase their “merchandise” through a distributor who obtains mass bred rats from multiple mass breeders. The situation is similar to that of puppies obtained from “puppy mills”, in that there is little regard for the physical and mental well being of the animals before they arrive at the pet store.

Mass breeders produce rats primarily as a food source for reptiles, raptors, and other carnivorous animals. These rats are referred to as “feeders”. Unfortunately, at the pet store there is little more than a price tag to differentiate a feeder rat from a pet rat; the animals are of the same quality.

A healthy, pet quality rat should have been weaned from its mother at about four and a half weeks old. Male rats should be separated from female rats at five weeks old, because they are capable of mating at that age. Human socialization, also called “handling”, is very important from birth through the fourth and fifth weeks of the rat’s development.

Mass bred rats are typically bunched together at a young age; different litters, males with females, and shipped in small, crowded containers to the distributor who then delivers the rats to the individual pet stores. These rats are exposed to viruses, bacteria, and parasites during transit. They arrive frightened and anti-social because they have not been handled. To complicate matters, pet store employees are not trained to recognize symptoms of illness in rats, and many times the pet store will not guarantee the sex of the animal because the employees are not trained to determine a rat’s gender. If a rat happens to be pregnant when purchased, most pet stores simply offer to take the babies.

A mass bred rat can certainly make a good pet, and many good-hearted people purchase these rats as pets, believing that they are rescuing them from becoming reptile food. But mass bred rats are typically ill, under nourished, under aged, and often pregnant by the time they reach the pet store, and this can be a sad, and expensive experience for both the rats and the rats’ new guardians.

Simply because a rat is a small, prolific animal does not mean its life is less important than a dog’s life. Rats need to be treated humanely before they reach their new homes, just as puppies do. Pet stores should consider the similarities between puppy mills and mass rodent breeders and stop selling mass bred rats. Until then, if you want a healthy, well bred, well socialized, pet rat you must know your source. Ask questions about the origin of the rat, wherever you choose to purchase it.

Rat Lovers’ Association of Southern California maintains a list of reputable rat breeders who breed for good health and temperament, and do not sell to pet stores. If you wish to rescue a rat in need, there are many waiting for permanent loving homes.