A Colorado Rat Breeder-Hidden Haven Rattery - H2R

      Improving temperament, health and life span takes years  of careful, selective breeding by dedicated breeders who really love domesticated rats and care about the future of pet rats.   I am very lucky to have benefited from those dedicated breeders who have come before me.  One of those breeders is Amy at Camarattery.  I am fortunate to have her expert advice  and guidance.      

       The variety and color we specialize in:  Black Eyed Siamese,  Burmese and Agouti (Wheaten) Burmese,  Russian Blue, Dumbo Ears, standard coat and Rex coat . These varieties are our main focus. Because temperament, health, life span and type are considered before color, we will have other colors and standard ears pop up in our litters from time to time.

     Why do we breed rats?
First and foremost, because it's our hobby and we love rats!  We breed only a few litters per year so that we can be sure each litter will be well socialized. This also gives us the time to evaluate our rats before we breed them and therefor improve each generation. We breed for our own goals, not just to produce rats to sell. Since I like to keep my rattery small, I keep only 1 or 2 of the best from each litter for future improvement of my lines.  The rest I adopt out to carefully screened families so I know my babies will be well taken care of in their "forever homes." I like to stay in touch with each of those families so I can keep accurate records of the health, temperament, and life span of the lines I breed. This way I can improve each generation of my rats.
 
      A Family Affair - All my rats are a  part of our family and are pets first, breeders second. My daughter Carisa is the "Director of Socialization." When a litter is 4 weeks old they go to her house to continue the socialization process. She just loves holding the babies. And all my rats adore her gentleness and patience. They all come running when she opens the cage door. At her house the babies get use to the sights and sounds of my rambunctious grandsons  playing and friends coming and going. By the time she is done with them they are ready to become a loving pet for your family.
Here is Carisa and Miya enjoying each others company. 

Adoption Policy: All rats are adopted out in same sex pairs, unless you already have a cage mate for your new friend. The exception to this is if you have adult males, then you must adopt 2 male babies so one doesn't get singled out and picked on during the adjustment to the new cage mates.
Rats are very social animals and get terribly depressed living alone, no matter how much time you can spend with your new rattie. All rats are adopted as "Pet Only"  on a strict "Pet Only" contract. Please see our Adoption Application  for more information.
If you are looking to breed, I recommend you contact Amy of Camarattery. She is a great mentor and loves to help new and veteran breeders improve pet rats.  

      We quarantine all rats that we bring into out rattery. Respiratory viruses can be deadly and we don't want to expose our beloved ratties to that risk. We are very strict about this
 

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*Please note:        We do not breed or sell "feeders" for snakes or any other animal. I know snakes have to eat too,  just not the ones I breed.  There are other sources for that. 

        We do not sell to pet shops or laboratories.  I want to know and stay in contact with the people who adopt my babies.  I care about what kind of homes my babies go to. I encourage all my adopters to keep me updated on their rat's health so I may keep accurate records to constantly improve each generation.

We do not buy from pet shops or rat mills for 3 reasons.
 
1. When I first saw rats in a "feeder" bin, I thought I was saving a life by buying one. But when I went back the next month, there were even more rats in those bins. I realized that I was really just helping to create a larger market for poorly bred, sickly rats. For every rat that is bought, two or three replace it. These businesses don't care why you are buying the rat, only that you are.  All they care about is making money from kind-heart people who are willing to buy these rats.  If everyone stopped buying rats from them for pets, they would be forced to breed less.
 
2. Rat mill or pet shop rats don't have a pedigree and have not been bred selectively for good health and temperament.  These people breed for only one reason: to produce as many rats to sell as possible in the shortest period of time. So when you buy from them, you don't know what genetics have been passed down to your rat.  Bad health? Aggression?  Short life span?  All of these are hereditary.

3. Pet shops and rat mills don't quarantine each group of new rats they get in. Many are sickly or have an infection of some sort. Respiratory viruses are very contagious, air-born and may go undetected until passed to every rat that's breathing the same air. Even with immediate veterinary care these viruses can cause permanent lung damage. I have known of ratteries that have lost 15 or more rats in one week because of a respiratory virus.  These are chances I'm not willing to take.

       I have heard of people who have gotten a non-aggressive pet with decent health from a shop, but this is an exception. You just don't know what you're bringing home when purchasing a rat mill or pet shop rat.
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