Pet Roof Rats (Rattus rattus) Available for Adoption

[ocdumbos]

Roof Rats (Rattus rattus) are an arboreal species of rat closely related to the pet store variety (Rattus norvegicus or Fancy rat.)

They are slightly smaller, more slender, have relatively bigger ears and eyes and their semi-prehensile tail is as long as their head and body combined. They are gentle, intelligent, social and friendly. Somewhat more active and athletic than Norway rats, they excel at climbing and jumping.

Some people mistakenly assume these are "wild rats", but we have been breeding ours for years, and we think they are great pets. If you think you might want a rat, but want something different and unique, maybe Roof Rats are a good alternative?

 

[Admin]

Hi,

Are you giving these away for free?

Thanks.

 

[ocdumbos]

Hi,

Are you giving these away for free?

Thanks.

Correct. One of the reasons is that we are hoping to promote awareness and appreciation of this type of rat as a pet, so we are currently not charging for pet adoptions. However, we do screen people to make sure that they will be cared for and also offer a free online Roof Rat care and ownership training course to help with that.

Another reason is that, when we moved to our new home and applied for our local business permit, we were told by the county that there are zoning restrictions against selling animals out of our home here. However, they told us that there is no restrictions on breeding them and giving them away to people. And we could sell pet related items, such as hammocks and etc.

So we decided that, because we are one of the few breeders of domesticated Rattus rattus (Roof Rats) , we sort of had a moral obligation to keep breeding our lines. At least until more people started breeding them. So, if you are a breeders and you would like to breed a different kind of rat, we are happy to supply you with breeding pairs for free. Hopefully, at some point, others will take up the cause and we can re-evaluate if we want to keep breeding these rats ourselves.

By the way, here is a picture of our first solid black Roof Rat with a white tip marking. Previously, we'd only seen this marking in Agouti Roof Rats with white bellies. I wasn't sure it would be possible to breed this combination, but here's proof that it is!