Finding Kittens

Where Can I Find A Rat Breeder / Kittens In My Area of the UK?

I get so many emails asking me this question that I thought it was worthy of its own page.

First of all, be aware that if you're after a particular colour, coat type or ear type you will have to wait longer and travel further to find the kitten of your dreams.

If you're new to rat owning:

• Please check out the cage size calculator before buying a cage. Rats need plenty of room - they won't be happy in a hamster cage!
• Be aware that rats are social animals - plan to buy a single-sex pair, not a lone rat. A pair of rats will be happier, more confident, and easier to bond with.
• Do plenty of research first, there's a lot of information on the Internet, books in your local library, forums to join. Don't rely on your local pet shop to give you the best advice on cage size, cage litter, feeding, or sometimes even sexing your kittens.

A good place to start looking is your local rat club. Many of the clubs have a list of breeders and sometimes the kittens available too.

If you can get to any rat shows you'll find that there will be people from all over the country at most of them, so you could try breeders from further afield and ask them if they are attending. A lot of people book rat kittens and pick them up from shows.

I also have a list of rat breeders and other sites on this site at www.rattycorner.com/links/linksfanciers.shtml which might give you some options, although I can't endorse them as I don't know them all personally.

There's a Yahoo mailing list called rat_lovers_uk at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rat_lovers_uk/ which would put you in touch with a vast number of breeders (and other rat lovers).

Online forums can help too. Try Fancy Rats, which has its own register of rescue rats for homing.

Another useful source is the NFRS rat kitten register which may help you to find the breeders who aren't online. Find their contact information at http://www.nfrs.org/.

Happy hunting!