Where Can I Adopt My Rats? You have four basic choices to acquire your new rats from. They are - breeders, pet stores, shelters, and rescue groups. Breeders... A "reputable" breeder is a wonderful choice to adopt your rats from. If a breeder is reputable, then you are virtually guaranteed healthy, well socialized rats. It is always good to support these people that work so hard to improve the rat as a species to make rats the best animal companions they can be. You can locate breeders in your area by checking with local vets/pet stores, searching the internet, checking with rat organizations, asking in rat forums on the internet, or you can visit our "Links" section to see what ratteries we have listed. (Some of our links list tons of ratteries by state.) How do you know if a particular breeder is reputable once you find one? First you can see if you can find any word of mouth about a particular breeder. You can do this by visiting different popular rat forums on the internet (we list many forums in our "Links" section) and do a search for the breeder's name or rattery name to see what's been posted about them. You can also post on the forum yourself and ask if anyone has heard of the breeder your looking at. Next, you will want to contact the breeder themselves to interview them and see their facility. A reputable breeder will be concerned about you bringing possible illness into their facility if you currently have rats residing in your home. Offer to shower and put on clean clothes directly before coming to their facility to insure that your not carrying any viruses from your rats. If the breeder won't let you visit their rattery even though you have no rats, go to a different breeder. If the breeder won't let you visit their rattery due to the fact that you have rats, ask for detailed pictures of their facility and interview them over the phone to discover the following information about them... They should keep their rats in a very clean and healthy environment. If their enclosures are filthy, move on to a different breeder. They should keep their rats on proper litter and be giving them a proper healthy diet. Their cages should not be over crowded with too many rats. Their rats should have toys to play with. They should maintain strict quarantine practices. They should provide veterinary care to their rats when necessary. They should keep close records of past generations and future breedings of all their rats to prevent the breeding of undesirable temperaments and health. Their number one goal should be to breed for the best temperament and health possible, not for looks or colorations. They should handle their pups everyday, practically from birth, so that they are well socialized. They should be very knowledgeable of rats, rat health, and rat care. They should show concern that their rats go to a good home. If the breeder follows the above practices, they are a good reputable breeder, and a good choice to adopt your rats from. Breeders usually charge a slightly higher price for their rats but it's worth it. Breeders can usually offer more of the unusual varieties and colorations which rats can come in. Pet Stores... You can find some really wonderful rats at pet stores, and pet stores are most certainly the most plentiful and easiest places to find rats. However, pet shop rats are usually not bred well, so health and temperament is more of a question mark. You can locate your local pet shops by using the yellow pages. We recommend first making a list of all the pet shops you would like to visit in your area and then give each of them a call before you drive out there. Ask them if they have any rats for sale, what sexes they are, are the males and females separated by the age of five weeks, and are they well socialized? If they don't have what you are looking for, then call the next store on the list and ask the same questions. This will narrow the field, and save you from driving all over the place. When you visit a store, you will want to make sure that they keep their animals in a very clean and healthy environment. If their enclosures look filthy or there animals look sick, move on to another store. Some pet shops breed their own rats, while others get them from various private breeders. Ask them for detailed information about were they get there rats from. You want to avoid buying any rats from a pet shop which purchases there rats from a "rat mill". Rat mills are just like puppy mills only with rats, and they are absolutely horrible. Please do not support a pet store that buys from these mass breeding facilities. Do not expect pet shop employees to necessarily know a lot about rats or their proper care. You need to make sure that the pet shop separates their male and female rats by the age of five weeks. Otherwise only buy males from them, because the females could be pregnant. Some stores will separate "feeder" rats from "pet" rats. Some don't. Shelters... Rescuing rats from a shelter can be very fulfilling, and there are many wonderful rats in shelters. You can locate your local shelters by using the yellow pages. Give each shelter a call and ask what rats, if any, they have available and how well socialized they are. Some shelters have websites you can visit to see a picture and description of each of the rats they have up for adoption. Do not expect shelter workers to necessarily know a lot about rats or their proper care. We have found some of our sweetest rats at shelters. Rescue Groups... Again, rescuing rats can be very fulfilling, and rat rescue groups will usually have a large selection of rats to choose from. Rescue groups that specialize in rescuing rats will most likely be very knowledgeable in the proper care of rats and can help you with your questions. You can locate rat rescue groups in your area by checking with local vets/pet stores, searching the internet, checking with rat organizations, and asking in rat forums on the internet. We list rat organizations, rat forums, and rat rescue groups in the "Links" section of this site.