01/14/2023
Hello everyone! ā ļøtrigger warning animal abuse and neglectļæ¼ā ļøI really hope this post get out to a lot of people. Im a rat breeder and I canāt stress it enough when I say stop getting mad Rat breeders for the cost of each rat! So let me explain why they cost so much more then you local pet shop, hang tight this is going to be long.
In order to be a rat breeder you need to be extremely educated on rat handling and care. To be a ethical rat breeder you need to provide the correct living space for every rat in your care. You have to have the time and money to take a rat to the vet if needed, to to health testing, to feed them and much more! You are not a esthetic breeder if you buy rats to over breed and overpriced them in order to make a lot of money. Rat breeding basically the same as being ethical dog breeder and byb(back yard breeder). Ethical breeders donāt look at there rats as just money in there pockets, they are living loving pets!
Letās put things simply in prices Ethical rat breeders will put $100-$400 per rat cage, $100-$300 for cageļæ¼ accessories per cage, $100-$200 in food and treats per month, and $100-$1000 in vet care! Now this is just a estimated price some breeders will own more or less rats then other breeders making there monthly cost less or 3x more then a different breeder. Ethical breeder get healthy rats from other ethical breeders and have the rats heath checked before breeding them. This will higher the chances that you get a heathy rat! So between vet checks, food, cage care (bedding and litter), and water, if a breeder charge $5-$10 they wouldnāt be making Enough to care for all the other rats they have and will have!
Now lets talk about pet store rats. This is a very hard topic to talk about. Most people know thats pet store buy from mills. This being your ļæ¼ typical fish, dogs, cats, frogs, snakes, and the list goes on, but we are manly focused on rat mills. Rats will live in small dark and nasty tanks. They usually are starved or ļæ¼ dehydrate, they fight for space and ļæ¼ resources. Female rats are forced to have babies right after there litter was just born leaving them to care for 2-4 litter of rats at a time, while pregnant with another litter. They are denied medication care, are thrown around like trash, stepped on and lay helpless and pass away from hunger, dehydration or injuries. They arenyhandled and played with daily like a ethical breeder would! Meaning when they arrive to a local pet store they are sick, shy, aggressive, and unhealthy. But it doesnāt stop there, pet stores usually denied animals help and kill them in the back or just send them back to the mill. They promote improper care and cages for rats, meaning there new life at a home isnāt good, making them more sick and fearful, some pass away within a few days, other given back because they were aggressive due to the lack of handling.
So before you think about buying rats from pet stores remember you are just putting more money into these mills. If you say you canāt afford a rat from a breeder or you donāt wanna pay that much then you shouldnāt own rats! If your local pet store breeds rats there or buys rats from a local āethical breederā then chances are they arenāt ethically breed will have the same issue as mill rats and probably lived in the say way rats from a mill did! So please support your ethical rat breeder and buy heathy rats!