Current Litters
All our babies are handled from a very early age, typically starting a day or two after birth, to get them as well socialized to humans as possible. We also preference temperament first, as well as health, as breeding friendly rats who are happy pets is our primary goal. We breed for pets only - no feeders - and raise the babies in a typical household environment where they're exposed to regular human activity and sounds and even to friendly cats. Babies stay with us until at least six weeks of age (or longer if we have any health concerns about the litters, which is happily pretty rare.) All our breeding stock are pets first, breeders second to us and stay with us for the duration of their lives, even if retired from breeding due to age or health concerns. We began breeding rats in the early 2000s as it was very difficult to find healthy, well socialized pet rats that did not come from inhumane small animal breeding mills that, unfortunately, supply most of the pet stores who sell live animals. We got involved in RatsPacNW, a rat fanciers club serving OR, WA, ID, BC and UT, and were mentored closely by its founding members when we decided to try rat breeding. We also support several local small animal rescue groups with donations, adoption referrals and transportation. All our breeding stock is pedigreed and tracked for health over time and we work with a small consortium of other pet rat breeders in the Northwest to keep our gene pool healthy. This is our hobby, not a business, and almost nobody involved in rat breeding humanely makes a profit from it - all adoption fees go directly back to the costs of caring for the rats. There is an adoption fee of $25 per rat and, barring special circumstances such as providing a companion for a single rat who just lost their cagemate, we only adopt in pairs for the emotional well being of the rats, who are intensely social animals who naturally live in groups in the wild.
In light of the recent cases of Seoul hantavirus transfer between pet rats and humans in the midwest, we've done some research on the issues and have written up our research and plans for the rattery going forward, which you can read here. Though the likelihood of the virus being present in our rattery is extremely small, we are not able to test every single rat in the colony to be 100% certain. Please read our FAQ on the topic so you can make the best informed choice about adopting a rat into your home.
These are our litters are currently or soon to be up for adoption. Please email lynn@worldofrats.com for an easy online adoption application. To see our longer term breeding plans for the coming months, which are subject to change, visit our Planned Litters.
Litters Hopefully Gestating
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Dynasties of China
This litter should be as beautiful as it is friendly. I expect colorpoints including black-eyed siamese and marten, with Russian variants, all dumbo, velveteen, Harley, HarVel and smooth coat. Vesper is a party girl who is always on the go. She's extremely curious and loves out of the cage time. Moon is our little friendly werewolf. He's an amazing nanny for our young baby boy rats and puts up with them wrestling on top of him and using him as a trampoline. Babies will be named for the historical dynasties of China. Breeding was observed on February 25, so hopefully the stork will arrive sometime around March 18.
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Dynasties of China
This litter should be as beautiful as it is friendly. I expect colorpoints including black-eyed siamese and marten, with Russian variants, all dumbo, velveteen, Harley, HarVel and smooth coat. Vesper is a party girl who is always on the go. She's extremely curious and loves out of the cage time. Moon is our little friendly werewolf. He's an amazing nanny for our young baby boy rats and puts up with them wrestling on top of him and using him as a trampoline. Babies will be named for the historical dynasties of China.
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Dynasties of China
This litter should be as beautiful as it is friendly. I expect colorpoints including black-eyed siamese and marten, with Russian variants, all dumbo, velveteen, Harley, HarVel and smooth coat. Vesper is a party girl who is always on the go. She's extremely curious and loves out of the cage time. Moon is our little friendly werewolf. He's an amazing nanny for our young baby boy rats and puts up with them wrestling on top of him and using him as a trampoline. Babies will be named for the historical dynasties of China.
Types I will be working with in future include roans (always my favorite), dalmatian (face blazing and lots of white spotting on the body) which will be combined with down-under markings (colorful belly spots to match the upper markings on the back), colorpoints (black-eyed siamese and burmese) and the harley coats (long hair) which I will also be working into my colorpoints. For my possible schedule over the next six months visit my Planned Litters page.