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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.