Gallifrey Stud – Breeder of Pet Rats

It’s often assumed anyone who’s an hobby breeder is good that is not the case and often some can be as bad as rodent mills. Breeding rats well is not an profitable business unless you cut some corners.  These breeders are often called back yard breeders.

et shops get their rats from rodent mills; they often say they get them from breeders, using this as a way to hide that it’s a rodent farm. However, no good breeder, especially one who cares about the well-being of their rats, will sell them to a pet shop. They want to keep track of how their rat is doing, and pet shops don’t facilitate this level of care. It’s essential to be cautious about the sources from which you obtain your pet rats, as some unscrupulous breeders may prioritize profit over the welfare of the animals, leading to potential health issues. Always consider adopting from reputable breeders or rescue organizations and ask for a paystub or other documentation to ensure transparency and responsible breeding practices.

Please get worried if they aren’t registered with NFRS. Anyone who doesn’t want to at least be on the breeders list normally means they are trying to hide things. Also worry if they keep the date of birth of they litters quite, breed hairless (which are banned from showing by NFRS due to heath issues and I also know of no good breeder that breeds them), Hide how they keep there rats, don’t make it clear if they cull or not. Anyone selling kittens before 6 weeks is an really worry. Most good rat breeders I know wait till about 7 weeks. Each litter is different and you have to see how they are doing I once homed an litter at 9 weeks because there were an few runts in the litter and I didn’t think they had grown enough. NFRS recommend minimum of 6 weeks before being rehomed. Just because an rat is weaned does not mean it’s ready. An rat breeder should have enough spare cages that they can spilit the boys and girls when they get to about 4 and half weeks. From that time it is possible for them to breed. Check which food the rat breeder feeds and the bedding they use. No good rat breeder feeds nuggets uses saw dust or keeps they adults in tanks. Also anyone willing to home out single rats doesn’t understand how an rat should be kept.

Most good rat breeders will have another job as you can’t make a living being an hobby breeder. Anyone breeding more than one type of animal is also an worry.

If an breeder doesn’t question you about how your going to keep the rats or doesn’t want to be kept up to date on how they are doing I would worry about this as well.

People also get confused about a few things thinking anyone who keeps there rats in an shed or out house does not care about their rats or in hutches. These are in fact some of the best breeders I know. It’s an great idea to do this as it makes quarantining of animals easier with separate air space.

It’s important to question the breeder yourself and find out about them also see what they ask of you on any application forms.

If I don’t have any kittens available I will always be able to recommend an good breeder to you.

Although I’ve closed my wait list you can add yourself to the interest list on this page. It will give you updates on litters available kittens and when the wait list is open. Please note this does not add you to the wait list for kittens it is for information only.

Please note in order to be put on the wait list or get kittens from me you still need to fill in an application form.

I don’t have kittens ready to go for christmas the main reason I avoid breeding around Christmas is that Pets should not be given as christmas presents. Sometimes I do have some availbale in Jan but never for Christmas.

It’s very important that animals are not given as presents for christmas or any time of year. Too often people get bored of presents after a few days. This can not happen to any animal.

I refuse for my rats to be homed to people I believe are just getting them as a present and have not fully researched into looking after them. You will find many other breeders think the same as me. In fact many breeders do not breed around December so in order to avoid this.

People often think Rats are a cheap animal they are not they need a good big cage which can cost a bit toys, food, bedding and loads more and this is a lot when added together. You must also be aware that although breeders try breed for most heathly rats they can not promise that a rat will not need to go to the vets at all. So checking your local vet costs is important as appointments range from £15-£30 and that’s without the cost of treament added. Pets have on going costs for their whole lives.

Breeders talk about a waiting list because of the limited amount of litters that are born to them a year also the fact there are often not enough rats to go to people on the list. Sadly you can not control nature so sometimes the litter may be very small or be of only 1 sex or a totally different colour than a breeder thought there would be.

Being patient for a well breed heathly and friendly rats is a lot better in the long run than having a rushed buy e.g going to a pet shop.

So this is part of the reason they should not be promised as a present.

I’m quite willing to put people on my list who have fully researched and don’t mind waiting, people who are in a rush are the ones less likely to be accepted. I have refused people to go on the list and I’m not the only breeder to do this.

I ask you to fill a appicaltion form in because I need to make sure you have researched. If you are confused or want some advise about how is best to look after rats I have put a large amount of information on the site and please email me if you have any questions I would much rather you did that before filling the form in I’ve had to send a number of forms back asking people to look into things.