where can i find a pet rat?

Question
QUESTION: hello i was just wondering if you had any clue where i could find a female white rat with red eyes for me?
  i have the same color male and i want to breed them(my mom won't know any thing about it):)
 i live in maryzville California and i need to know also because i have 1 male and he is sooo lonely.
 I'm in middle school so i can't give him the care and attention he needs 24/7.
 i can take care of him very well and i do but not when I'm at school or asleep.

ANSWER: Hi Kasadee

That is really really nice you worry about your rat and I bet he loves you alot too, like you love him,  but I have to tell you some stuff that is really really important that you understand and you probably never really thought of this before.

Did you know that female rats can have anywhere from 8 to 18 rats at one time?

You said your mom wont know about you breeding them but how in the world will you hide all of those baby rats and be able to feed them and put them in separate cages when they get older so they dont get pregnant etc..?

I am asking you to please not breed the rats. Dont do it for the rats sake. Dont breed because you LOVE them! I dont know if that makes sense or not, but breeding them  can be a total disaster if something goes wrong.

First of all, the male will eat the babies when the female has them so you will need to have a cage to put him in when the female gets pregnant.

Second, as I said above, rats can have up to 18 babies!!

Sometimes the female has a problem having them and has to be raced to the vet to have the vet take them out. If this occurs and you dont get her to the vet, she will die and so will the babies.

Next, what will you do with all of those babies? Rats mate as young as 5 weeks old so if you do not know how to tell the difference between baby boy and baby girl rats and dont get them apart, they will all mate and you will have hundreds of rats.  

I think your mom would be really upset at this point and maybe take them all away to a pet store and the pet store will end up selling them as snake food because they wont be able to sell alot of rats that fast.     

I dont think you really knew this could happen unless someone told you but it is all true.  I know you love him and worry he is lonely and your right to want to get him a friend, but get him a MALE friend. Male rats get along just fine if they are introduced to each other slowly.  Get him a friend around his age, not a baby rat though, or he may hurt him.

Rats get sick and can be expensive to take to the vets and so its important that you have just two rats instead of 100 of them, dont you think? This way you can really enjoy them.  I think you may probaly understand better now, and if you write back and still want to find another rat for your boy, I will help you find another boy rat for him and they can be buddies!  

Sound like a deal? :)



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for the info and it is a BIGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!! DEAL!!!!

 I've considered what you said and i have had a boy and girl rat before together and i found perfect homes for them but that was a long time ago and i don't know if any of my new friends would take them if i did breed them.
 yes i still want another rat and a MALE rat.i also want to know if you have any recommendations for toys for him to play with too???
 his cage has a canopy,bunny kabob hangy thing,a home made box with a nest like quality in it, and 2 ladders(one to get into the box and another to climb on top of the box).
 i have no more money so i was hoping in you cat tell my some home made things that he could like dig in or something(if they dig).

Answer
Yeah For Kasadee being a very responsible rat owner!!! I am glad you decided to get a male instead and not breed! If I told you how many unwanted rats get put to sleep in animal shelters because of people breeding without understanding how many babies could be born etc...you would cry!!
Anyhow, its fun to make things from the stuff you already have around the house!
Rats LOVE boxes and tunnels and things to climb in. If you have old socks or old tee shirts, get a box that he can climb in pretty easy and fill it with ripped up tee shirts etc...you can hide some cheerios or some other treat in between the layers of tee shirts  and watch him dig.
Rats love to hunt and dig so this will be fun for him! You can also get different sized boxes, cut holes for doors and windows and put them next to each other (tape them together) and some on top of each other and make a castle that he can hide in and climb in!  Give him some paper towels to shred up. He will love making a nest with them,but change them every day in case he should wet on them!

Balls  like a ping pong ball are a big favorite too...anything that you can roll.
Paper bags (never plastic!) are a blast for rats to climb in.

Last but not least, the best play toy for rats? Y-O-U!
I like to lay on the floor. Soon as I do, you can guarantee a rat is digging in my hair and another one is on my back walking all around. They love to climb on me like I am some 5 foot tall jungle gym *yes I am only 5 foot tall! :)

As for where you can buy another rat? White rats with red ares are very common and are usually sold as feeders. However, I dont recommend them because they are not always very healthy.  You need a pet store that sells just one sex. Our petsmart near my house sells all females and the other Petsmart across  town sells all males. This way there is no mix ups and no pregnancies to worry about.



There is a Petsmart here:

Petsmart
Yuba City
865 Colusa Ave
Yuba City, CA 95991
530-822-0623

is that near you at all?