The fancy rat is a nice, curious and intelligent pet which is fully capable of coping in a new home if its owner does not want it anymore. The rat deserves a better fate than just being killed or served as snake food just because its owner lost interest in it.
The normal lifespan of is, a fancy rat that is well cared for, about three years. Unfortunately the lifespan of show rats and pet rats in Sweden today is down to a mere 1 1/2 year. Maybe this depends on bad breeding methods, maybe it depends on the fact that so many rats today are euthanised just because the owner got bored with the rat. Today a rat that is more than 2 - 2 1/2 years old is a rarity and should be treated as such.
The authors of this article have during many years taken care of rats from many different places to find new homes for the rats. Rats of all ages and in different circumstances. One rat was found running lose in a street, several rats came from different rat breeders that did not want to keep them and other rats used to be nice pets that the owners got tired of. Finally, at different occasions we took care of rats that were destined to be snake food but that we instead took care of and gave a chance to a life as pets instead.
How do you do it practically?
Rats that already have been pets in their former home usually get their own cage and stuff with them which makes the whole thing much easier. Besides, such rats are usually very tame and therefore easy to find new homes for. As a beginner in the art of finding new homes for unwanted rats, we highly recommend starting with such rats. To find the unwanted rats you can contact a small pet club or a rat club close to you. That is where many people turn to get help in getting rid of unwanted rats.
The rat is unbelievably adaptable and copes very well in a new home. However, the rat is a highly social animal and therefore very depending on its cagemates. A lonely rat is a sad rat.
It is normal to keep many individuals of the same sex in the same cage. Six or ten rats of the same sex tend to thrive excellently together. The crux of the matter is that they are territorial animals and therefore all introductions of new individuals to the group must be done gradually and with caution. You never mix males and females since rats are highly prolific and usually get many and big litters.
Colours?
We know through experience that rats in unusual colours are much easier to find new homes for. Maybe you want your new rats to be unusual and cool, but it is the temperament of the individuals that you are going to spend quality time with. Often as "boring" animals as the common white laboratory rat will make quite wonderful pets!
Age
It is possible to find new homes for rats of all ages! Really young rats should stay where they are, though. Rats should not be sold before the age of six weeks. Young rats up to four - five months old is naturally easy to find new homes for just because of their young age. But also really old rats - about two years and older - tend to be easy to find new homes for since they today are very unusual. Older males with nice looks and a good temperament can be really easy to find new homes for among breeders. The breeders might want to use such a male in breeding to lengthen the life expectancy of their future rat babies.
Tips!
Rats are very intelligent, curious and have great learning capabilities, meaning that they demand a lot of attention and interest from their owners. Therefore you should avoid accepting into your care many rats at a time to find new homes for. The simplest way is to just accept one cage with the rats living in it. If there are more than three rats living together in the cage then you can separate them into smaller groups, but never put lonely rats in new homes unless the new owner already has suitable rat companions for the new rat!
It is today not expensive or hard in any way to take care of and find homes for unwanted rats, but it takes time to keep the rats you have in your care happy and contented. They need your time to get the correct care and activity. NEVER accept more rats than you easily can accommodate and activate. Remember that it sometimes takes many weeks before you have found new homes for all the rats.
It is also very important that you take the time to pet, cuddle and activate the rats you have. The more tame they are the easier they are to find new homes for. If you accept a rat that is not really tame - take your time to make it really tame before you try to find a new home for it! A younger rat is often very easy to tame. Rats under a year old should be possible to make very tame, trusting and friendly in just a few weeks. The time spent is in fact an investment in that particular rat's future.
Ads
Our advice is that you search for new homes directly among the public, i.e. put ads in papers with a big edition. To try to find new homes through any of the three rat clubs or other small pet clubs in Sweden is usually not a good idea. Ads in their papers often do not raise any answers, since the members of these clubs already have plenty of rats besides the fact that they have access to pedigree rat babies directly from responsible breeders.
The value of the rat
See to it that you get paid for rats! If you do there are less chance for them to end up as snake food and you will get some compensation for rat food and such things. Remember that some snake owners may call on ads for free or cheap rats. A few snake owners will gladly lie to you and say that they want the rats as pets. Furthermore you help raising the status of the rat through the fact that also unwanted rats get a value. Never leave unwanted rats in pet shops! Pet shops are profitable companies and can't afford to feed and care for unwanted rats. The risk is very big that the rats in those cases are euthanised or given to a snake owner as food for the snake.
Knowledge about rats
To be able to find new homes for unwanted fancy rats you need to know something about the temperament and behaviour of the rat in general. I.e. you should be a rat person. It can be important to know that a normal rat does not bite. And if given the care and attention they need they will become very affectionate (as dogs) since their personality naturally will evolve due to how they are treated.
Once in a while you can find a rat with a bad temperament. This is quite rare, but happens. Such a rat is easy to spot even to the novice in the ratty world since such a rat actually may bite, and bite hard. There are two typical causes to such a bad temperament. One is that the rat stems from bad breeding, and the other is that the rat is frightened from bad treatment. Rats with a bad temperament are often put down.
In the case of bad breeding usually only males that are affected and these can be treated. The cause is a hereditary fault with the hormones which can be corrected by a castration/neutering surgery. A few weeks after the operation the rat will be a normal appreciated pet rat again. This hereditary problem often shows up before the age of one year. To evade more problems you just do not breed any close relatives to the affected rat.
In the case of a frightened and misunderstood rat the problem may resolve itself through time if the rat is treated well.
These cases of bad temperament must not be mixed up with the rat's natural territorial tendency to pinch or bite with its teeth in order to defend its home - often its cage. Especially pregnant females might do this and it is a natural behaviour for the rat as a territorial species.
Written By: Eva Johansson and Ann-Zophi Pålsson.
Copyright Eva Johansson.
Last update: 11th of August 2006.