hey everybody so today's video is kind
of based on a frequently asked question
that I get but I also get this from
people who don't own rats so I figured I
would go ahead and post a video about it
though the question that I get sometimes
is where do I get my rats or were can
you get rats in general and there's a
few different places so I kind of just
wanted to go over them in depth and tell
you where I got my rats from and the
kind of pros and cons of each
so Kin Kin here is a true rescue and i
did post her story it's been a quite a
few months now so you guys might be a
little familiar from where I actually
got her she did come from a pretty bad
situation and so I consider her to be a
true rescue and the reason that I'm
saying true rescue is there's some
misconception on rescue rats and getting
them from a pet store and whether or not
that's considered a rescue but that's
probably something that I can save for a
different video but Kin Kin is shy she
doesn't like being held but you know she
will take streets and everything from me
but that's definitely one of the things
that you have to take into consideration
when you are adopting a rat from a
shelter from a rescue you don't know
their background most of the time you
don't know how they've been bred you
don't know who their parents are it's
just a lot of unknowns but on the other
aspect of that you are giving the rat a
really good home she needed a home and
lord knows where she would have ended up
so whether or not you know she likes to
be held or caught hold it doesn't really
matter to me it matters that she has a
good home and when you adopt from a
rescue or from a shelter they're usually
low cost around five to seven dollars
and
times they will even have the rats
already fixed for you which is a huge
plus not all shelters do that but I have
seen some where the rats will come
spayed or neutered because they don't
want them to reproduce so adopting a rat
can be really really great it can be
cost effective but you may want to be
prepared for having to give them a
little extra TLC just because you don't
know what you're getting into when
you're adopting a rat okay so next up
during in here yes the little fat boy so
cute
so durian uno Casimir and kiwi are all
from Raiders they're from three
different breeders adopting from a
breeder can be a really great option
depending on what you're actually
looking for and if you're looking for a
specific color and I definitely suggest
looking for a good breeder in your area
when it comes to good breeders they are
not in it for profit they are in it for
temperament health reasons and sometimes
you know specific colors depending on
what they like and you know what their
goal is for their breeding lines a lot
of times there will be a waiting list
though so that can kind of be a con
especially if you're looking for red you
know right now you can get kind of you
know impatient waiting sometimes when it
comes to really good rat arees they only
have a few litters a year so you may
even be on a massive long waiting list
and it could take up to year for you to
get the rat that you really want but in
the end if you think about it someone
who has taken the time and focused on
breeding out tumors and other health
problems with respiratory issues out
rats have then it might be a little
worth it
to wait that long to get the rat that
you really want because in the end
they'll be with you a lot longer and it
will save you a lot of heartache another
con for breeders is that rats from
breeders are normally a
a little bit more on the expensive side
I think the most that I've paid for a
rat was around $40 I probably wouldn't
do that again because I do feel as if I
got a little cheated but um I would
expect to spend around $25 for a good
rat from an ethical breeder also kind of
the norm now not to be allowed into
somebody's home I did see a lot of
people complaining about a specific
grader because she wouldn't let people
inside of her home but in my experience
that's kind of the norm now you know
they don't want you bringing in any kind
of disease or anything like that so I
wouldn't really be too turned off by the
fact that you know the specific breeder
that you're looking for doesn't let you
in their house it is their private house
and you know like I said they don't want
diseases being brought in and stuff like
that you also may have to fill out an
adoption form sometimes they are pretty
extensive having to put down all of your
veterinary information they just want to
make sure that their babies are going to
a good home now when it comes to
breeders you have to be really careful
you have to screen it them really well I
have been duped in the past when it
comes to a really good freighter and you
want to ask them tons tons of questions
and if they're a good breeder they're
not going to mind answering all of your
questions they want good adopters and
you want to find a good breeder you
definitely don't want to end up
supporting backyard breeders byb rears
which are breeders that bring nothing
but for profits and the next place that
you can buy rats from are the pet store
and Skye is a pet store rat I personally
did not go and pick her out somebody
else did because you know she looked
hairless when she was a baby and they
knew I was looking for a hairless rats
is the one had picked her up for me I'm
not sure if I would have done it if you
know I was there myself but um you know
I can't really say now but she's here um
I have had no issues with Skye but she
did come with a severe upper respiratory
infection
um so again that's something just like
the rescues that she'll have to kind of
be prepared for when getting a pesto
wrought a lot of the questions that I
get on my facebook page are from people
who have bought in rats from the pet
store
and they have come to them extremely
sick whether or not it's parasites or
it's a respiratory problem a pro to
buying from a pet store is that they're
normally pretty cheap they're normally
you know five to ten dollars and they
usually have a variety of different rods
to choose from but again you have to be
careful when you're buying from either a
big-box pet store like Petsmart or Petco
something like that those rats are
coming from huge mills across the
country do you definitely do not want to
be supporting a company or a brand or
anything like that that buys the rats
from rat mills so if you are going to
buy a rat from a pet store I do suggest
going to kind of like a mom-and-pop pet
shop where a lot of times they do their
own in-house breeding and they're not
getting them from large rat mills
that's where Skye came from it was kind
of like a small mom-and-pop pet shop
that it's not a big chain however this
also kind of goes with the rescue rats
and adopting from a rescue you don't
really know what their background is
you're not really sure what health
problems could arise later on in to
adulthood
so that's something else that you should
probably be prepared for when you're
buying a rat from a pet shop and lastly
littles are right here is from a fader
bin and a lot of people actually don't
really know what the feeder bin is
depending on whether or not your country
has them or not but a fader bin is
basically a large bin and I'll go ahead
and insert some photos so you guys can
see it because it's really not pretty
and so it's basically a large bin where
snake owners go to pick out food
or their snake this also depends on the
facility that you're going to buy the
rat from a lot of times feeder rats will
be free or they're really cheap usually
around two to three dollars so if you
are in a budget that could be an option
for you again Zara came to me with
really bad respiratory infection so that
was something that I had to deal with
basically as soon as I got her it was
within a few days so do not be surprised
if you do get a rat from a feeder bin
and it comes to you with health problems
they are usually not kept in the most
sanitary conditions they are basically
you know bred for food as unfair as that
sounds so there are a lot of people who
kind of make it their personal mission
to go out and get nothing but theater
rats because they think that they are
saving all of the rats when really this
is not the case if you're giving them
money you're basically enabling the
companies however on that note there are
a lot of feeder rats who have ended up
being great pets
Hazara is probably one of the most
outgoing rats that I have right now
though it really depends on your
finances and what you're prepared to
take on when you're going out and
finding a rat and another thing that I
did want to go over when looking for a
rat especially if you're going to go to
a pet store or a Federman then do be
prepared to end up with a pregnant rat
it happens so often pet stores do not
care feed urban facilities do not care
and a lot of times the feeder bins will
actually be at pet stores as well so if
you do go to a pet store and you only
see like two rats out at the front a lot
of times you can ask you know can I see
the feeder rats in the back and they
will let you go into the back and you
can pick out rats from there but again
be prepared for them to be pregnant a
lot of times they will put males and
females together and they don't care the
pet stores are there purely for profit
I'm sure there's some out there who
aren't and take really good care of
their animals but nine times out
ten pet stores breeding based on profit
so I want to go ahead and go over
everything again just so you can kind of
see it as more of a pro and con list so
first up is adoption from either rescues
or shelters and starting with the pros
of adopting is basically health shelters
and rescue usually take pride and making
sure that the animals they are adopting
out are healthy and they usually come
with a health guarantee as well as
possibly being spayed or neutered like I
mentioned in the beginning of the video
the next thing was price usually when
you're going to adopt the rat is not
going to cost that much it can even be a
minimum of five dollars and another
thing that you probably want to keep in
mind is that you're actually saving two
animals when you adopt from specifically
a shelter you're saving at the rat that
you're adopting and you're also freeing
up the cage so that another rat can end
up being put in that cage and then up
for adoption and then I also wanted to
mention return policies this isn't
something that I suggest doing is just
constantly returning your rats after you
buy them or any animal in general
however I did want to include this
because if you're looking for an
additional rat to add to the group you
already have if it doesn't work out then
a lot of times you know the best bet is
to return the animal and some cons are
temperament like I mentioned before you
don't know who has bred these rats you
don't know what their lines or through
aggressive or not and then also limited
availability not all shelters are going
to have rats all the time I also felt as
if I should mention variety because if
you're looking for a specific rat then
you're probably not going to find it at
a shelter however some rescues that have
more rats available may have one that
you're specifically looking for and then
now we can talk about breeders and as I
mentioned before you have to be really
careful when it comes to breeders and
make sure that you're going to an actual
legitimate ethical breeder are a lot out
there that do not breed for health and
temperament and are just breeding for
money so make sure that you're doing
lots of reach
before you end up buying from a backyard
breeder but some pros are health and
temperament if you are purchasing from
an ethical breeder they spend lots of
time lots of money lots of research in
to breeding healthier rats that don't
have tumors don't have respiratory
problems and stuff like that and also
breeding for good temperaments if you're
looking for a specific type of rat a
specific variety then a breeder might be
the best way to go they will take that
into consideration and you know pick
certain ones that they like so it's
easier to kind of narrow down what
you're actually looking for in a rat and
good breeders are always willing to take
back their rats no questions asked no
issues which can be a great thing the
cons of breeders are the price like I
mentioned before they can be pretty
expensive sometimes depending on the
variety and then also availability you
may be waiting for a really long time to
get your rats maybe even over a year
sometimes so that can end up being
disappointing and another thing that
people don't like is they're not able to
personally meet their rats that they're
going to adopt in person before they
usually have adopted and paid for them
just because a lot of breeders do not
let you in your home like I had stated
in the beginning of the video
moving on to pet stores and the first
pro to pet stores is availability pet
stores are always going to have pets
that's how they make their money and
then next up is have to be price pet
stores in general usually sell rats for
pretty cheap when it comes to small
animals sometimes they're a little bit
more bone it comes to rats then that
usually they're pretty cheap and when it
comes to the cons it has to be health
and temperament just like the rescues
you don't know where these rats have
come from you don't know if aggressive
rats have been bred to aggressive rats
and they're also just not socialized in
general when they come from a pet store
which usually ends up being a lot more
work when you bring them home and then
most pet stores will not take your rats
back if something's happened or if
they're not getting along with your rats
at home
they are in it for the money and they
will not accept their pets back normally
and probably one of the biggest reasons
that you do not want to buy from pet
stores is that you are giving your money
to supporting rodent mills so that's
definitely something that you want to
think about when you just run into the
pesto really quick for some food and see
an adorable rat sitting in a tank all by
itself I know it can be tempting but a
lot of times it's best just to leave
them there and then next up our feeder
bins or rat racks as they're sometimes
called because if you noticed and some
of the pictures I inserted at the
beginning of the video they do keep them
in these racks I know not everyone is
going to have access to theater bins but
I did want to include it so the pros are
price like I have mentioned before a lot
of times if you're taking the rat home
as a pet sometimes they will give it to
you and then they're also pretty cheap
in general and then the next step would
have to be variety since they're
breeding so many rats they end up with a
lot of cool unique varieties that you
can't find in pet stores or even some
breeders don't have and since they are
breeding so many rats then a pro can
definitely be availability because
they're always going to have rats
however there are a lot of major cause
when buying from a feeder bin such as
health and temperament just like pet
stores you don't know where these rats
are coming from they are not taking
anything into consideration when they're
breeding them except for money so you
could end up with the sweetest rat
possible or you could end up with a rat
that ends up killing all of your other
rats in the cage and then you also want
to remember that you are supporting a
live feeding when you're buying from a
feeder bin I know snakes have to eat I
have no problem with that however I do
not support live feeding there are a lot
of other ways that you can feed your
snake without giving them a live rat and
then also few turbines do not take any
kind of returns and lastly I wanted to
go over lab rats I didn't talk about
this in the beginning of the video
because this is really not accessible
for the everyday person that is looking
for a rat but I did decide to include it
in the end because it can be a great
option for some people
as you can probably guess lab rats are
used in some kind of animal or
laboratory testing so when it comes to
pros health actually is at the top of
the list since they're going through
testing these rats have to be healthy
and a lot of times they are delivered by
caesarean section so they have a lower
chance of getting maiko and a lot of
times lab rats will be free because at
the end of their animal testing if
they're not needed anymore they are
going to be euthanized so sometimes the
companies will just give you the rats so
in turn you are technically saving a
life to prevent them from being
euthanized so when it comes to the down
side of lab rats it probably has to be
availability like I mentioned this is
not something that everybody is going to
have access to as well as variety nine
times out of ten if you are adopting a
lab rat it is going to be a pink eyed
white which is fine some people like
pink eyed whites but a lot of people
don't because they think that they're
kind of boring or that they're mean
which is usually not the case and then
you also want to take in consideration
that lab rat is not going to take your
rat back after you've brought in him um
if you are interested in adopting an
older laboratory rat then I suggest
going to your local universities biology
Anatomy or psychology department I have
heard that some are pretty strict and do
not adopt them out but then I have seen
some actually advertise for them on
Craigslist when they're done using them
so it definitely can't hurt to contact
someone and just ask and then I know
that Pfizer has laboratory rats and
almost all of their facilities so if you
live near a pretty large pharmaceutical
company like Pfizer then you can always
ask them as well so you can also get
rats online specifically Craigslist if
you live in the United States and I
think Canada uses kijiji the most but I
did kind of want to show you guys what
kind of ads are going to be popping up
when you're searching for rats on
Craigslist beware there might be some
odd
ads like I'm not really sure what this
one is about and then here I already
looked at this one it was some boys that
were available with some description and
they have here pet home only because a
lot of snake breeders and owners will
come here to find food for their snake
so these guys are feeders and then here
they're advertising for live or frozen
of this seems to be the same person and
then here's someone that is trying to
sell a cage so this is something that
you can check pretty much daily it's
always being updated and people are
constantly posting or you can even post
you know in in search of add yourself
I'm not sure why baby bunnies are
popping up when I typed in pet rats but
that's okay so I just wanted to show you
guys that Craigslist may be an option as
well so I hoped you guys enjoyed this
video if you have any questions go ahead
and comment below and also comment below
with where you got your rat just so
everyone else can kind of see where the
majority of people are buying their rats
but I will see you in my next video
thanks for watching