09/07/2026
Hi everyone. This is going to be a very long post, but I encourage you to read it through.
I’ve been getting a lot of messages wondering if I’m still raising rats. For several months, I wasn’t sure if I would be. The year has been a real disaster in every aspect of my life. Everything I love and enjoy doing has been on hold as I have struggled with serious physical and mental health challenges of my own as well as having to care for a mother with Alzheimer’s , a dad who was in and out of the hospital the last 5 months and trying to save 2 animals with serious health concerns,that are near and dear to my heart, all on my own. I ended up losing one of my animals, but the other has made a miraculous recovery and is doing amazing. My dad had heart surgery and is also doing amazing. While there are still far too many stresses and difficulties in my life, things have calmed down enough that I realized I need to continue on. My rats are an important part of my life and help me get through each day.
The next thing I want to talk about is the future of my rattery. I am a big believer in being transparent about my breeding program and the rats in it. Due to all the struggles I’ve been going through really, starting 4 years ago, I feel the quality and consistency of my animals has suffered. I was just going through too much to realize it.
I typically raise 2 litters every few months. The last several years, I have had a few individuals in what feels like a few litters a year, that were great with me, but when they went home with their new people, they became fearful and would bite. Because it was happening infrequently and despite how sweet their parents were, each time it happened, I’d retire the parents of that litter and all would be well again for awhile. Id just deal with it the best I knew how and went on. This year, I had 2 litters at the same time with a few individuals in each of them that did this. I think I was in shock when I first started getting these reports and didn’t want to believe it. It broke my heart to know the people who trusted me to provide wonderful pets, had to go through this. Some of those rats came around and became good pets. Others, did not. I asked for those rats to be brought back to me, but not everyone did. This situation has been extremely stressful and heartbreaking. I don’t ever want anyone to have a bad experience. So, I took months away from doing any breeding and considering what to do.
I decided that if I was going to continue to do what I love, I needed to try to figure out what went wrong and when, then to make big changes. I have been bringing in newer varieties the last several years. I think I let my standards fall a bit in an effort to produce these beautiful newer varieties and continued to raise them the way I always have. That was the mistake I made. The original animals I brought in were nice rats, but with each generation , things began to change subtley enough, I didn’t realize it. So, I’ve decided I am not going to be bringing in anything new and will be focusing strictly on temperament. This means I may not have as many rats available for awhile. I won’t know what colors I will have either as I will not be focusing on that. I promise, it will be worth it!
Fortunately, my dwarf line is a completely separate line from my normal size rats. They have have always been my favorites. I just hadn’t been producing many because they haven’t been popular. That’s going to change.
I will still be raising both normal and dwarf sizes, but my normal size rats will start being bred in with my dwarfs. So, I will still have both sizes. I began this project about 4 months ago with a single litter. I was so extremely excited about what I got, I repeated the breeding. This second litter is just as exciting as the first.
I also have done three litters with the same normal size buck and doe so I can really get to know what this pairing will produce. I am encouraged with the results, but there are consistently a few babies in each litter that are fearful, while the rest are very outgoing and friendly. I will only be placing the boldest, most fearless, people loving babies from these litters and any other litter. So, there might be a few of these babies available. Some are 7 weeks old. If any of them pass muster, they will be available in a week.
The other litters I currently have are very promising. I’m very encouraged by their fearlessness, willingness to come over, be picked up and want to hang out and explore with me, for their very young ages. It is too soon to say for sure, but there will likely be some of these babies available next month.
After these litters, I won’t know for sure when I will have anything available. I have just put a few pairings together, so it will be at least 3 months if not longer, depending on how the babies turn out.
If you are interested in getting some babies from me, please do contact me. I’d be happy to go into more detail about current litters and future plans so you can decide if I’ll be the right breeder for your next babies.
Due to all these changes and because I have a tendency to keep far more rats than I will ever need for my program, I do have some really sweet older girls available. Most range from 5 to 8 months of age. A few, are about one year old. They’ve all been born here and most have been sweet, friendly girls from day one. A few were really shy at first. Probably because I went overboard with trying to prevent them from bonding with me, so I didn’t pay any attention to them the first 6 weeks. It took them a while to learn to trust. The 3 I kept from those litters have turned into really sweet, friendly girls. I sent one to live with a trusted, long time repeat buyer for awhile to see how she’d handle the change. She handled it very well. Her foster mom said she was very enjoyable to have. She has been nothing but a joy to have here since coming home.
The younger girls have all had some handling once or twice each week from birth. They have grown up with no fear at all and have a lot of confidence. They’re as sweet and sometimes as obnoxiously (in a great way)friendly as their mom. I just can’t decide which to keep, but I can only keep one! 🤦🏻♀️
Since these girls are older, my first priority is for them to go to homes that are experienced rat owners that will keep in contact with me and update me on occasion. Not $
If you think you’d like to bring home a few of these girls, please message me.
Thank you so much for sticking with me and reading this book of a post. I’ve loved and have had rats in my life for 35 years. I really love raising them, but my priorities are with you, my fellow rat lovers and newcomers to the beautiful world of pet rats. I want nothing more than to share these amazing little “pocket puppies” with everyone so they can all experience what fun, loving creatures they are. I will always be here for everyone who takes home my babies for support, advice and anything else you need for your babies. Thank you!
In loving memory of Shimmer. The best little girl I ever had and a big reason why I’m still fighting. You were a tiny, but very bright beacon in my life. I wish so much you were still here with me ❤️
