Where to Buy Pet Rats 

I got my first rat, Charlemagne, from PetSmart because I didn't know anything about rats at the time. He had a respiratory infection while still in the store, and he was taken to the vet, given medication and was nursed back to health before the store would sell him. I actually got him for free because he had scratched his face and had a hairless patch, so they couldn't sell him as he was considered "damaged." He is the sweetest, most charming and loving boy, and the hair grew back and he is flawless. I got a companion for him two weeks later, again from PetSmart, and this little boy, Winston, is the complete opposite. He is incredibly smart but does not like to be held or pet, even after working with him for 18 months. So it's exactly as you say in your video, you never know what kind of temperament you're going to get. About 6 months ago, the manager at PetSmart asked if I would adopt another rat, a poor boy that was in his little glass enclosure for 4 months, all by himself, and was not socialized at all. He bit me and drew blood the first time we met. I of course brought him home, worked with him very patiently, and today Fievel is extremely affectionate and loves to have his face rubbed. I'm still working on integrating him with my other boys but he really doesn't seem to like being with them at all. Do they reach a point where they're just too old to socialize? He doesn't have any self-harming behavior and is actually the best about using the litter box and not tearing up his fleece.

I've had rats all my life, aside from my dogs rats have been my favorite pets. I'd been without any rats for a year or so since the last of my boys had passed, I had this one bloodline going for six generations and I just hadn't found anyone to keep the line going with. So when my last boy died I was a little heart broken and didn't want to just go out and get a new rat. Well earlier this year a friend and coworker of mine called me up and said "Hey I got this rat to feed to Snakers and I just can't do it, she's to sweet. Would you want to take her?" . So I said yes and went and got her the next morning. And she's without a doubt the sweetest little lady I've ever had! She's about six months old now, black and white hood with perky ears. I named her Domino, because she's reminds me of the X-men character, cause I'm big into comicbooks, and because se's so lucky.

“Hey my owner is speaking to the camera, let’s play her a song with our water bottle” My hamster was drinking at the same time

I rescued my baby rats from a rat mill that got raided for animal abuse

i have one question... WHY IS RAT KILLING PRODUCTS SPONSERING THIS VIDEO?!?!

The rat was simply escaping in the background

I work at Feeders Supply (please don't attack me!) I love animals and it breaks my heart whenever we sell rats or mice, I love them. I hold them all the time, walk around with them on my shoulders. I truly believe that when people come into my store to buy a rat as a pet its saving their lives. The rats we get are so sweet and would become snake food otherwise. I actually plan to rescue some of the feeder rats we get because they're so sweet and deserve a chance. Whether or not they're the healthiest doesn't matter as much to me, I just want to save them from being eaten.

where I used to live had a REALLY great small pet store, I got my first hamster 4 years ago from there. They take great care of their animals and have big cages for them to begin with, They don't sell any small cages or bad hamster products. I miss that place so much.

I work at PetSmart and all of the rats we've gotten are healthy and friendly. I had a rat I had from petsmart that lived for 4 years. We also aren't allowed to sell them to snake owners only friendly pet parents. The only thing that is upsetting is where they come from but once they get to the store they're taken care of very well. We love our babies.

I got two of my boys, Lambert and Paul, from the feeder bin at a local mom and pop pet store. Both of them had horrible myco problems, I wasn't sure they'd survive treatment. Paul was practically skin and bones when I got him. But they were soo sweet I couldn't leave them there when I had the ability to save them, even though I knew better than to encourage the absolute awful conditions the pet store kept them in :/

When I purchase my first rat in a small pet shop in a mall, the employee took her out of the cage and was playing with her. She was soooo friendly and I knew it was because the employee took care of her. My second rat came from Petland Discount, the dude just told me to pick up any rat I want, that was a red flag for me. The rats were scared but I still bought one, but she never lost that fear, sadly :( Lesson learned. So before you purchase a rat from a pet store, look to see how the employee engages with the rat or any animals they sell.

Y’all reallt have to look closely for breeders. I ended up finding my favourite breeder through her husbands snake booth. She sells them for about $3 each, talked about their care and parents, offered to meet me half way in case it was far away, and if I got babies she offered a home made cage so that rehydrate be safe and some hammocks and toys, all free with the rat. She’s the dream breeder

I'm on a waiting list to get two rats from a breeder. I'm so excited to get my babies.

1:54 that jump 😁

I had been trapping rats and mice from my workplace, I loved how they stood up in defense and hiss or screech whenever I pulled them out of my live catch traps. One day I chose to get some mice, soon my sister wanted a rat and so I got it from a reptile store(Feeder girl). My sister couldn't keep her because she got scratched up bad and I didn't like the mice droppings(a dropping every minute) so we traded, and ever since then she has been the sweetest thing I've ever had.

I would also like to add that in Northern California, or at least the PetSmart in San Carlos CA, don't carry rats anymore because of people buying them for snake food rather than pets. The employee told me that most if not all PetSmarts have stopped carrying rats for sale. Not sure if all of the chains are doing this but I'd thought I'd pass on the info.

From experience, buying rescues is as risky and not worth it as buying from pet shops. Got a rat with genetic issues that made him bite, not many know this but most breeders will tell you "once a rat bites, it will always bite and you can't fix them." Had to return him but kept his brother. Sadly he had tons of nutritional and weight issues, so on top of the heartbreak of returning a violent rat that can't be fixed, I had to panic and try feeding him back to health. Sadly found out afterwards that these non breeder rats will get tumors with age, so that's great :))) Please, it's 100% worth paying every penny for a breeder rat, and even a 2 hour drive is worth it too. It saves you from a LOT of heartache, risk of getting yourself sick from your new rat, saves money, etc. Remember you can get parasites and worms from a rescue rat, and the cost of meds to kill worms inside of you is a LOT. you waste more money from rescues than breeder rats sometimes if you're unlucky. Also if you're on a budget and can't afford two breeder rats.... Maybe you shouldn't have rats cuz then I doubt you'd afford a vet fund, cage, toys, etc.

Great video, as always! Very informative and important. Both my boys came from the only reputable breeder here in MN. I highly recommend her to all Minnesotans! ❤️

petsmart is pretty responsible atleast once they get to the store when theyre young. the stores are always same gender. if any sickness signs are noticed we immediately quarantine them in the back and if theyre not improved in a certain time were required to take them to a qualified exotic animal vet and then we treat them extensively. the housing conditions arent the best but they are meant to be temporary. only feed oxbow. i try to socialize them as much as possible but its def not enough and they get little exercise

Your shirt, hair, & makeup are all very gorgeous. Anyway, my Daisy was a feeder rat & she was one of the best

wow, i never knew what feeder bins were before. snakes need to eat too, but its so sad to see all the rats stuffed in the boxes and that one pic of the pinkies :(

I am sooo sad! Today I went to pick up some food for my hamster at petsmart, and I have already planned that when he dies, I'm getting two rats (lol that sounds really morbid). Just out of curiosity, I wanted to hold a rat just to see what it was like because I have never held one before. Before I go any further, I just wanted to say that I have watched over 100 hours on how to take take of rats and everything I need to know. So back to rat holding at petsmart, the second I held a rat, I could instantly tell that I had a respiratory infection (breathing is raspy and really loud) and the woman was like "yeah I try to get them to be more social, but no one has any time." And I felt soooo bad for the poor babies. I know you aren't suppose to buy animals at pet stores so I was crushed when I saw these poor animals.

Where can you find good ratteries in your area? Its hard for me to find good breeders without driving 2+ hours.

i live in Germany and i got all my rats from a good pet store and they love me and they are healthy and great

Hi ! I love that you did a video like this explaining all the pros and cons, fantastic! I am actually thinking of adopting a pair of rats for our household, BUT I decided to do a foster to adopt scenario with one of the rescues that does lots and lots of rescuing rats. They have a few pregnant rats right now that are going to be giving birth soon, so I will get to have two males when they're ready.

No one say that rats from pet shops are bad like it's bad to buy them but the rat themselves aren't horrible its just their conditions. A LOT of rescue rats are originally from pet stores.

I got my first two rats from someone who was probably a back yard breeder unfortunately. I was impatient and there weren't many other options at the time, I also didn't know any better at the time. My second pair came from a rescue centre where they'd been seized from someone who'd been letting them run free and breed free. They were the children of one of those rats. Might have been born in shelter or just before. My next rats will be shelter rats too

hi, i used to have a rat called milkshake when i was younger and now i have recently got 2 mice they are very difficult to catch and they are not bothered about me so i am begging my mum to let me get a rat as well as keeping the mice because i still love them and at the moment they are saying maybe so that means yes but i have to wait until my birthday so this vid was helpful thank you xox

I personally have never owned a rat but I had a hamster a few years ago but your channel has inspired me to get an animal of the rodent variety your rats are so cute as of right now I'm personally looking into gerbils but in this video you gave me some ideas I've never thought about so thanks for that

I got my first rat Bandit from petsmart. I got him for free because somebody brought him back after their rat bit him. I'm not sure if every petsmart does this but they had him checked by a vet before they gave him to me, and I never had a single health problem with him. He was a year old when I got him, and he was the sweetest thing ever. He was like a little puppy, he was affectionate and playful and he was so good that I'd let him run around my house every day. The workers at petsmart held and played with him every day before I adopted him so he was very good with being handled and never bit once even when his tail was accidentally stepped on. He lived with me for about a year but he passed away last august 😔 I miss him so much

I understand that buying rats from pet stores like Pet Co, Pets Smart or from other places that receive rats from mills, is just giving them more money to keep doing what they do. But here's my way of thinking about it: Sure, you're giving those terrible stores a profit. BUT, imagine if people stopped buying from them and they went out of business. Now, I don't work at either kinds of places, but I can't imagine what they would do with those animals they couldn't sell. The optimistic side of me thinks that they would send them to be put in different stores up for adoption, but I don't think that's realistic. It's like grocery stores having to sell their milk before it soils, whatever doesn't sell before that time needs to go... I know that's dark but I'm just making a point. Anyways, I buy my rats from pet stores for lots of reasons. One, because they are cheaper and those stores are pretty much the only pet stores around where I live. Second, because why not? Even if you refuse to buy rats from those stores they're more likely going to be fed to snakes or not be sold at all. To me, when I buy them I think to myself that I'm probably giving these animals a better and longer life than they could have possibly had, and that's what matters. Btw I DO NOT condone the mistreatment of animals in animal mills.

I have Four rats, 3 of Them was pet rats the last one was a feeding rat that i reascued❤ I love Them all😍😍

RatGirl this was awesome. I'm looking for pet rats for my kids. Thanks for taking the time.

Rats are so cute! I want some but I have a dog and move a lot :'( they're so adorable and want to spoil them!

There’s this pet store in my town called home grown pets and they have really good and healthy animals and it’s not a chain store. They hand feed and raise their animals and can even get a hold of breeders for you if you’re looking for a specific type of animal.

Pet Smart Canada is incredibly responsible animals are given clean food and water every day, monitored for signs of illness and treated if found. If an animal has any signs of illness or even just a scratch to the eye or something they're moved to a safe "quarantine" and monitored for 3 days and if they show no signs of improvement a vet appointment is made. Their breeders go through extensive screenings and frequent surprise visits. If you take an animal home from a pet smart you have 2 weeks to do any returns or exchanges and if your animal is sick you can bring it right back and they will treat them for you completely, vet appointment everything and once they're healthy you can take them home again. As a pet care Employee i have complete insight into the treatment and care of these animals. They are always thoroughly cared for, happy and healthy.

Great video. Can I ask where you got those deep trays I see in the bottoms of the Critter Nation cage behind you? I have the same cage, but with the stock shallow pans and bedding goes everywhere. I tried the manufacturer's clip-on shields but they worked poorly. I'd love to try what I see in your cage!

Wont go anywhere apart from a shelter.. even if that means I need to travel miles

Great information. Thank you. Does anyone know if you have to supplement vitamin C to the rat? If so, how many milligrams?

I live in Nova Scotia Canada all the pet unlimited stores are closed down,thank you so much RatGirl for the awesome information 😊❤️🐀🐁 is uno doing good? When I had my rats I got my boys at a pet store

No responsible reptile owner should buy feeders from the places you described anyway. A sick or unclean animal could, and probably would, just make the reptile sick too. It's like McDonald's vs healthy, home cooked meal. If you do buy feeders, get them from a little pet store and look at how they treat both their feeders and pets, that's how I always judge where to bring my business. Mistreated feeders usually means that animals sold as pets aren't treated much better. At lot of reptile owners won't or don't want to buy live feeders unless they have no other choice, because sometimes that's all they can get their pet to eat.

I used to work for the breeders for Petco. We took good care of the rats and although so of the employees may not have, I handled and played with all of them whenever I could. I understand that there is a huge amount of hatred for places like this, but not all of it is warranted, and a lot of people just jump on the bandwagon.

Hey we have the same cage! Do you have good ideas for setting the cage up? A specific video maybe?

I got my first pair of rats in the back room of a Petco. Got 2 cute wittle pink eyed Himalayans girls, but after that I used a rescue named North Star Rescue. I've gotten so many from them even a few hairless ones and I haven't run across any major problems. I've gotten mostly females and only 3 of them ever got tumors out of the 7 I've had in total. One of the girls that did get the mammary tumors got them right after she turned 2 years old and they were small enough that I had them taken out. She lived to be a bit older than 2 1/2 but one of the tumors was cancerous and that's what killed her. All the boys that I have adopted from North Star have all been neutered by the rescue before I adopted them so I didn't have to worry about my girls having babies. For my last 2 neutered boys I paid $45 for the pair for the adoption fee. Not too bad since it would have cost me like $200 each to get them neutered myself.

There's a pet store in my area that's not a chain and they take care of their animals great cause sometimes they take rescues or if people don't want them and the employs at the end of the day let some of the animals walk around such as the dogs cats and birds etc

Great video. Quite informative.

i appreciate your informative post!

Your necklace is so pretty!

I'm getting my first two rat babies from a local breeder and I'm so excited I did so much research and she posts all pictures of her cages and she feeds them all organic food, I'm going today to check it out in person and possibly (probably) make a deposit, they are expensive ($35-$40) but this is mostly due to the extremely scarce amount of ratteries where I live (there are like 3) and the high quality food the rats are fed

i really appreciate your concern about ethical rat purchasing and emphasizing rescuing rats. I didn't know that anybody really cared about stuff like this but me. I want a few pet rats but I plan on waiting for a "true rescue" as I don't want to support any animal breeders. I have a big cage that I'm putting together and will be ready when I find that rescue rat. Also, I had never thought about getting a lab rat. I work at a medical university that does animal research so I think I'll ask around there. My craigslist leads all turned out to be breeders who just acted like they were trying to find homes for rescued rats - for a price, of course. But anyway, thanks for the informative video!

I asked this elswhere too, I want to ask you,- Where I live, there s what I knew to be a small animal living next to me for the past 1.5 yrs. Suddenly, it decided we should meet. It s a black rat with a light belly. The next day, it got closer, now, a few days later, it s coming to me when I call it, it climbs on me and hangs out with me. I can t pet it, but otherwise,. It s very clean with one blind eye. I was wondering if it is a lost pet? Or are all rats this social when they feel safe? What do you think?

I got my rabbit from a petstore He is super shy but so adorable xx

1:21 spider man spider man does whatever a spider can

Agh! Such confidence handling them ... I'm always afraid that I will get bit!

I have a pet rat named Ambrosea I have had her for some time and now she has a lump on her left side if she is faceing I right side if her back is to u what can I do it don't seem painful to her

Omg FINALLY a you tuber that live in Virginia

We have local breeders here and they mostly breed for snakes, but their rats are pretty healthy. She told me she only had a case of mites with the rats with a customer one time but they quickly fixed it. They let you come into their home and I got to actually see and hold my rat who I have now. Her name is Skull. :)

I got my some of my mice from a feeder breeder and will probably get some rats from her as well, they're some of the most well tamed well socialized and healthy feeders I've ever seen. She breeds for health and temperament so her animals can be sold as both pets and food.

This is the best channel!!! Thanks

My 2 boys are from petsmart & are good but I'm getting another one & im scared bekuz my boys are both dominant & I don't want the baby to get hurt so what should I do.

I got my three girls from Animal Connection in San Francisco yesterday. Standard selves, for most part, with a little dumbo in one of them. AC got the rats (a small batch of 8 males and 10 females) the day before from a reputable, USDA-approved breeder based in Santa Cruz called Furball Critters. The breeder sells the rats for $15 each, but they are $24 at the store. Still, a very reasonable price considering that these are pedigreed rats. I can tell that the girls have been well socialized because, unfortunately, there was quite a bit of grabbing, pulling, and overall handling during transport and yet not a single attempt to bite. They also look healthy and well attended to, based on their weight. I decided to get them from a breeder because I just went back to being a rat parent after a very long time (7-8 years since my last rats) and I want to start with young and well-behaved animals (the girls are 6-8 weeks old) so we have all the time available to bond. Unfortunately ratties have a very short life span and I'd like to have the full effect of the relationship. My second option after a breeder, or a store who buys rats locally from breeders, would be adoption from a rat rescue. If I decided to add a fourth rat to the group, I would most likely look for adopting a youngish female. In the SF Bay Area there is Rattie Ratz (based in Pacifica, I think) and North Star Rescue (based in Sacramento) for N. California. I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL buy my pet rats from a mainstream pet store chain like Petco or Petsmart and I suggest you do the same. In San Francisco I think Petco stopped selling rats (although they continue to sell other animals) after a successful, signature-collection campaign. I believe that they should stop selling any live animal, bird, or amphibian because that are not ready, or willing, to properly care for the animals they sell. But this is my personal opinion, and this is supposedly a free country. If you buy a female from a pet store (of a feeder), be extra careful because sometimes the females are pregnant and you can end up with a litter of 6-12 pups before you know it.

can someone explain what going to a breeder is like? I've only rescued so far(from actual feeder rat breeders)

I've never owned rats before, but I did have 2 mice for about 2 years but I always wanted a rat, or a few!

this was soo helpful do you have a list of questions to ask the breeders

Do you get them locally or are you driving out of state. Where I live there are no ratteries or rescues. I got my 3 rats from a place that sells rats for snake food ;(. Do you buy rats from out of state and have them shipped?

If you free range them do they poop on your floor like my mice do?

My thing about pet stores, is there treatment of their animals is not the best and I don't want to continue to fund the improper care of animals, but at the same time I have the desire to save those animals from their miserable situation. It really is a catch 22, you don't want to continue to fund them, but you also don't want to let the animals already in there care suffer

Hi! I was wondering if you could help me. I am located in Aliso Viejo, CA. And I can not find 2 male baby dumbo rats. Please tell me where I can find those kind of rats. I am only going to be able to get them around February 5th

im going to be getting two rats in a few weeks and the pet store does the breeding themselves, i am going to be getting rat pups too, any suggestions on what to look for whne getting a rat as in signs of illness?

I want to buy my rat Barry a friend but I'm afraid that they won't like each other. How did you get your rats to get along so well?

I'm so happy for you we have a rat and I'm looking to another so he can have someone to play with

I have a 4ft long by 78in. Tall by 14 1/2 in wide rat cage. How many do you think could happily live in there with daily exercise?

Hey. Is pets and such a good pet shop to buy rats. I have one on my area and im not to comfortable buying one from petsmart.

can i keep my mouse in the same room i keep my rats obviously as far away from each other as possible, but do you think it will be okay?

I have 3 rats from a breeder they are from a local breeder who is actually my friend they were breed to be feeders or pets but yes they came from feeder bins and when I go to get my new rats I always want to get all of them

I actually got my rats from a high school teacher at my school. he was in and out of the hospital a lot so he couldn't take care of them anymore. but I do know the girl who had them before me. she had an "whoops" liter because the breeder gave her 3 boys and a girl even though she wanted all boys. so she had 15 more rats that she couldn't take care of them all. so my rats have been passed around a lot before I got them. and they are still very healthy :)

What do you think about getting rats off places like craigslist and offer up?

What do you do if your rat gets a repertory problem?

What kinda cage do you have

Can i ask u guys somthing were in the world do they sell films for cameras

where did you find your breeders do you habe thier information i literally cannot find any

I’m getting pet rats soon and I am going to get them from a small local pet store who gets them from breeders, i’m also going to hold the ones i’m getting first and make sure they have clear eyes, they are healthy looking, etc (normally they do have healthy animals there and if the animal appears unhealthy they bring it to the vet and then make sure its healthy before they put it back to sale) 🐀🐀

There are no breeders in my area. The nearest place from me is 5 hours away. The only place I can really get them is from a store like petsmart. (There are no mom and pop pet stores)

I would prefer to buy a rat pair from a rescue or breeder... but there's none in my area and I can't drive and my family isn't willing to travel for some rats. Do you know what I should do if I have to buy one from my local pet store or petco?

I just wanted to say that not all people who breed Rats and mice for feeders keep their animals in poor conditions. Yes this is the most common, most of the time. But I know tons of people who breed for feeders and they take care of their animals. Everyone is different. I have two rats and I have snakes as well, and I was breeding for feeders- and I always kept my animals in the best habitats I could provide. :)

Where Im from we have two maybe three chains of pet stores this is good because their quality is much better! Its such a small place that feeder bin rats dont exist as we are not allowed to breed Snakes here, the snakes that are here are only in Zoos. So Store rats here are in much better environments, as pet stores only have 3-4 rats at a time with two glass containers or Wired cages.

I am a feeder breeder. And I do breed for health and temperament. I take excellent care and I love all my rats

Its the circle of life and cheaper for snake owners to breed food then buy them and im and my friends make sure are rat/mice are healthy and dont do it to torcher them we even sell or give some away with pretty and cool colors

How many times a week/day do you feed your rats? I wanna get some, it's with vital facts like these, I don't always trust Google. Also, how long can rats go without food?

Where I live feeder rats are only 50 cents but sometimes you can just put one in your pocket and people don't even realize it

I just bought my two baby boys there the albino simese type kinds rat with red eyes there adorable I got them from pet smart and I'm a littler worried now but they guaranteed they were clean and had no health issues it's only been a few days but no one else wanted to buy the rats and I've fallen in love with them so I hope they will be okay and I found this video really helpful so thank you

How do you set up your cage

They love your hair.

Can someone help me look for breeders or rescues in WI near the Madison area?

Me and my mom are trying to get a rat because we looked and they don’t have any but ya basically I know how to take care of the rat because my best Freind had me take care of it so I’ve been looking so hopefully this helps

Is it ok for a beginner rat owner to house furries and hairless together, or is it not recommended?

My rats Dora and Butters were sold as feeder rats, they’re 14 months old now and the sweetest, best mannered little ladies I’ve ever came across. I’m glad I saved these girls from their terrible fate but I hate that I paid for two additional rats to take their place 😿

There's a bunch of rats around my farm but I want from the pet store obviously but there's no pop pet store where I live so My only option is the brand pet stores so yes I will try to check my rats for health issues

Where can I go to find Mouse/Rat breeders in my area? (Sarasota County, FL) Is there a search engine or something?

I really want to go to my local pet store and get a rat to feed to my “snake” but really I just want to keep it as a pet. Are feeding rats just as healthy as pet rats?