ontario canada breeders?

Hello,

My family is looking into getting a pair of rats. I've been picking through the forums here and doing a lot of research online.

I would rather avoid a pet store purchase but haven't read a lot about any good breeders either.

I think my concern about rescues is their background....i know they need loving homes as well, but for just starting out I'm worried that we wouldn't be the right fit at this point.

A lot of the breeders I have looked into online seem to have a negative review on this forum.

I did find one that I did not read about on the forum and was wondering if anyone has heard of it? It's called Pixie's Pocket Pets and it is in Kitchener Ontario. http://pixiespocketpets.weebly.com/

Traveling to pick up isn't a huge issue. We are close to Brantford, so able to travel to Kitchener area, London, Toronto, Niagara. I'd rather be able to pick them up ourselves. I don't like the idea of "shipping" animals.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Hi december,

How awesome that you are getting rats!
The reason behind those negative reviews is that we are strictly a rescue, against-breeders forum. You see, there are sooo many pet rats that need homes all over the world, and many in your area, too. People who breed animals, adding to the homeless pile and messing up genetics just to make a living aren't really being ethical in any way. Getting a rat from a breeder, unfortunately, nearly never means a healthier, better rat. We really reccommend adopting one, and you could even find a cute baby, too, if you just wait for a homeless rescue rat to give birth.

Hi there, welcome to the forum!

I would also strongly encourage rescuing! You may not know their background, but you'll find most 'breeders' won't have much background either... they usually just breed indiscriminately for fancy colors and markings and not for temperament or health and then call them 'pedigreed'. I'm not really aware of any ethical breeders in Ontario.. ethical meaning they breed for healthy rats with good temperaments, colors, coats and markings are secondary, they don't have tons of litters on the go constantly. All that I've seen over-breed their rats and always have 5 or 6 litters on the ground with more pregnant females ready to go and are just in it to make money. I also don't know of any that have an adoption contract or that would take the rats back if you could no longer keep them.. Once you've paid for them, they're never thought about again.

I know someone who bought from a breeder around the same time that I rescued my last bunch of rats. Mine were hand raised by the foster. The mom was literally found on the street and no one knows who the father is, so nothing is known about their history. These three boys are so loving and friendly. They run up to me when I walk by the cage, they lick my hands and groom me, love to climb all over me and brux and they pine for my attention if I'm nearby but not paying attention to them. The ones from the breeder, with a 'pedigree' mind you, she's had so much trouble 'taming' them! They don't like to be held, 2 out of 3 of them are still fearful around people and they really aren't very social at all.. It's not a matter of knowing their background as much as it is knowing who was caring for them. Someone who genuinely cares about the rats is going to give you amazing pets. Someone who just wants your money isn't.

I definitely understand your concerns about being a first time rat owner though. And I wouldn't recommend that you rescue a 'special needs' rat at this point anyway. That being said, hand raised babies by some of our experts on the forum are some of the best rats you can get for an inexperienced owner! As Aida said, there is no short supply of young rats needing homes. You could try contacting Lilspaz, she currently has a rescued litter and I believe there are still some babies left to be adopted.

I agree with what has been said.

I have rats both from breeders and from rescues, plus those that I rescued myself. Overall, the rats who came from a breeder have been more skittish and have needed more work then those rats who have come from a rescue.

I have a group of female rats from a breeder who I still can not handle until this day! I have had them over 2 years now (the breeder gave them to me at 4 weeks old) and they are still skittish and scream when I pick them up... IF they let me pick them up. This is after I have devoted tonnes of time and energy into socializing them. I even had them young! Contrast this with a rescue rat that was raised by lilspaz, actually all the rescue babies I have adopted from her before I got into rescuing myself. They are handleable, sweet, friendly and best of all, they PLAY with me and not just amongst themselves. I have never, ever been bitten or nipped by them (well once, but I don't count it. My hands had the smell of peanut butter on them and I braced myself against the cage and she nipped my finger through the bars - totally my fault there!)

The point I am trying to make is that you are not guaranteed to get a great rat from a breeder. It takes a lot of time and energy to raise happy healthy babies (LOL Trust me, I just finished raising/socializing 2 litters, omg it was so much work!). If you do go to a breeder be wary of those who have multiple litters at one time. Honestly, there is... or was... only 1 good breeder in all of southern ontario who was truly trying to better the species, breeding for health and personality. I think she is now taking a break for a while.

Additionally, many breeders keep their rats in breeding colonies with a certain ratio of males to females so they may not even be able to tell you for sure who the father is. Some breeders will put more then 1 male with the female, and again will not be able to tell you for sure who the father is. So what is the point of having a breeder baby? Their backgrounds can be just as unknown as a rescue rat.

Thanks for the info.

Can someone advise on good rescuers? Ideally we'd like healthy babies. I know that like every living thing there is no "guarantee" of course. Would just like to have the best chance possible. We'd need friendly rats that are ok being handled as well. Obviously they'd need to still adjust to us. That we can handle. I just don't want to bring overly nervous or fearful rats into the family.

Also, preference to a rescuer who will let us come and see them before committing. I want to make sure to arrange the best fit for all involved.

Thank you again. There is so much wonderful info here!

I can send you an application if you want to start there? I have to approve you before I will adopt to you

I can bring babies to you, and if it doesn't work out, you can and should return them to me. A good breeder and rescuer always takes back their former rats.

you can't get better, more socialized rats than from lilspaz and/or crumbilina!

I have adopted several rats from lilspaz and each one, young or old were a dream!!!!

Lilspaz is a very experienced rescuer, and has rescued old and new born rats of all types. She would be able to match some rats with the proper temperament for your family. She recently raised a litter of babies that are old enough to go to a new home now. I encourage you to contact her. :nod:

I will vote that you adopt from Lilspaz. She took in some of my special babies when I ran into personal issues and I know they get hands-on care. Her babies are as well handled as any you will find. I have some boys still who I believe are 99% likely bred "pedigrees" and they are naughty, and ill-tempered. My feeder breeder boys are the sweetest most loving babies!
I have given them all the same treatment and my best experiences have been with feeder rescues or oopsie non-intentional litters.

Thanks everyone. What an awesome group you all are.

I was talking to my friend about our plan on adopting rats over the weekend. Rats creep her out but that's besides the point. Anyway, she's the first person aside from my spouse that I have told of our plan. Turns out her boss recently got a couple rats (pet store). They're both girls but one ended up being pregnant. So now they have some babies.

So now I don't know what to do. My friend is going to try to find out some more info for me. But I'd appreciate your input....

He does not want to keep all the babies. I'm not sure on their genders or how many there are or anything yet. But should I consider getting them from him?

I'm totally confused now. What would you do?

Absolutely no problem going and getting them from him. Of course you're going to have to wait a little while until they can be separated from momma. But our rescues take in accidental pregnancies all the time. Get in touch with her boss and follow the pregnancy. Also point him in our direction if he needs guidance on care throughout the pregnancy we have lots of help to give.

Lol misread. He already has babies.... Def look into adopting from him. And while you're there maybe double check and ensure that his two girls are in fact both girls...

Not sure how old they are yet. My friend is working today and is going to ask and pass on my contact info to him. So hopefully I'll have more info soon.

Babies need to stay with the mom for 5 weeks? Is that right?

I'll let him know about this forum for sure.

maydecember said:

Not sure how old they are yet. My friend is working today and is going to ask and pass on my contact info to him. So hopefully I'll have more info soon.

Babies need to stay with the mom for 5 weeks? Is that right?

I'll let him know about this forum for sure.

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The boys need to be separated out at 5 weeks from all the female family members, the baby girls can stay with mom.

I hope he finds good home for his babies. I hate that pet stores don't take better care in sexing their rats.
It will be good for you to take some from him to help him out.

Spoke to him on the phone. His brother is taking two. There were seven babies. They are only two weeks old. I mentioned if he needs help finding good homes or a cool place to chat about rats that he could come to this site. Not sure if he will. He hadn't heard of it. We're going to make arrangements for me to go visit the rat family in another week or so.

I'm super excited. It's really hard not to tell my kids. We all went on a covert "play date" last night to my husband's friends house.... he has three kids and two rats. My kids got to interact with them and had so much fun.

I'm sure I'll be posting more questions as I continue to learn.

I'll make sure to post pics once we know who is joining our family!

Good luck with your new furry ones! And by the way, your friend who says rats "creep her out" just has not spent any extended time with a domestic pet rat so she is just going by the usual prejudice against rats (from media, etc).

Rats are probably the most lovable, charming and endearing animals around. You will fall in love. And they will love you back 100 times over.

And yes, be sure to come by here often, to post photos and ask questions! Lots of very rat saavy folks here.