Any breeders in SA?

[cassie]

Hello

My name is Cassie and I live in South Australia. I have never owned a rat before, but have recently become interested in them and so am trying to do as much research as possible to see if they would be a suitable pet for me.

I have two giant breed dogs and also belong to an Australian dog forum, which is where I saw some beautiful photos of other members' rats and heard their stories, and that is what inspired me to look into them further.

I am looking for a breeder in SA, if anyone knows of one I would be very appreciative.

Thanks, look forward to learning more from you all!

Cassie

[skitch]

Zomg, yay! Another South Australian.. heaps exciting!

We dont have many breeders down here.. the only one I officially know of (I know there's atleast one other, however.. but I dont know his details!) is this one: chocrat.weebly.com/index.html. She is just starting out and her next litter is in a few months .

Hope you get approved soon! There aren't that many South Aussies on the board so it will be good to have you. Make sure you stop by the South Australian thread and say hello to the rest of us! ^_^

[cassie]

Thanks for the reply Skitch, appreciate it!

Ohhh what a shame there are not many SA members or breeders! Wonder why that is? Don't Adelaidians like ratties? Unfortunately that link you gave me came up with an error when I clicked on it. It says "Site not published" whatever that means...? Can you tell me where abouts that breeder is located anyway?

Like I said in my original post, I am first and foremost a dog person and lover. I know it is a HUGE no-no in the purebred dog world to obtain a puppy from a petshop or an unregistered/unethical breeder, does the same go for rats? I want to do the right thing and source my rats from the best place possible

Thanks again, look forward to when I have 10+ posts!

[skitch]

... that's weird! The link wont work for me on this site either, but when I click on it from elsewhere it's fine? Hmm.. maybe try entering it manually and if that doesn't work, this is the email that's on her site: Email: [e-mail].

I think there's plenty of rat owners out there (I certainly know more than a few!) but most of them dont seem to keen on the idea of joining a forum.. sad! . I'm actually working on creating a club/assocation for South Australian rat owners, though! I've just registered a domain name and am not working with a website builder to make something awesome . It should be up and running in a few weeks, I'll keep you posted! I figure it was about time someone in SA created one since most other states have one.. it will hopefully be a useful resource for anyone in SA who owns a rat or is considering owning a rat.

I personally think it does. I choose not to buy from any of the petshops in Adelaide in these days because I'm yet to find one that cares for their animals properly. Pet store knowledge of rats is EXTREMELY poor in this state.. I've been told some amazingly stupid things by supposedly reputable petshop employees. Most petshops also fail dismally at socializing their animals and therefore alot of petshop rats will end up bitey and unhandle-able.. if you buy from a reputatable breeder you know that the animal is healthy, friendly and as an added bonus most breeders will offer support throughout the life of your rat if you ever have any questions or need some help . The dilemma in Adelaide is that there aren't many breeders so alot of people have to resort to petshop rats because there's literally no other choice.. I've certainly had to do it in the past :/. Hopefully someone will have some babies available when you come to get yours!

[cassie]

Ahhhh Skitch you're a champion! The site works for me when I enter the address manually rather than clicking on the link - thanks!

Definitely keep me posted on your SA club/website idea Sounds great.

As for the pet shop stuff - yeah I don't really like to support pet shops that sell live animals at all. I have heard some absolute horror stories about puppies and kittens from pet shops, everything from unhealthy animals to poorly socialised or barely handled animals, even selling them as different breeds to what they actually are, also for twice the price! I'd not be surprised if it were a similar story for rats.

Which brings up another question - how much would I expect to pay for a pet rat from a registered breeder?

Thanks again so much for your time

[Kim]

Aug 13, 2009 1:02:37 GMT 10 skitch said:

chocrat.weebly.com/index.html.

The above link doesnt work because of the full stop at the end.

Try it below without the full stop

chocrat.weebly.com/index.html

It will work

[cassie]

Ahhh so that was the problem, thankyou Kim I have managed to view the website now and will send them an email when I get a chance. Thanks!

[skitch]

Yeah, I've heard a lot about that too! When I was vet nursing we used to get people bringing in their supposedly vaccinated puppies that were sick and ended up testing positive to parvo virus because a petshop in Adelaide was selling puppies with forged vaccination certificates! Doesn't get much more dodgy than that.. it had apparently been going on for a very long time.

Hmm.. I would think nothing more than 15 - 20$ unless they are epsecially fancy from a breeder. I cant be positive on that.. but it's what I've read on interstate ratteries sites and I think it sounds pretty fair.

Aug 13, 2009 19:17:50 GMT 10 Kim said:

Aug 13, 2009 1:02:37 GMT 10 skitch said:

chocrat.weebly.com/index.html.

The above link doesnt work because of the full stop at the end.

Try it below without the full stop

chocrat.weebly.com/index.html

It will work

LOL I Feel so silly! Thanks for clearing that up Kim .

[Kim]

Aug 13, 2009 22:42:58 GMT 10 skitch said:

LOL I Feel so silly! Thanks for clearing that up Kim .

Dont feel silly, its such an easy thing to do accidentally, I know I've put links in myself that were off cause I added or didnt add the smallest thing... like a full stop..



As for costs of rats from breeders, I sell all my rats for $20 and I think thats a fair price..

So I would say any rats that are $20 - $25 would be good .. rats that are $30 - $40 or more are too expensive in my opinion.

But just because someone is selling a rat for $20 - $25, doesnt mean they have good rats.. there are so many new but dodgy breeders popping up these days that you do need to be careful..

I heard about one who was taking in rescues just so she could have breeding rats.. There was no know history or pedigree on any of them... and with problems in some rats like small eyes, missing eyes, weak hearts (causing heart attacks/strokes), internal bleeding, seizures and so on.. it can be a risk breeding rats that have no info..



Ok I'm rambling a bit now.. which I sometimes do.. sorry about that..

[cassie]

That's not rambling at all, it's all very helpful info, thankyou!

[cassie]

Hoping someone notices my post count is over 10 soon LOL! ;D (Just so eager to see the rest of the forum, that's all!)

[snowball]

Hi guys! It's great to meet some fellow South Australian!

While I don't know any breeders around SA, but I would definitely love to be updated if someone has found one. God I just love those tiny critters.

[skitch]

Hello there! I'm from SA too

My friend Katie is a breeder, she is having her first litter in November.. take a look chocrat.weebly.com/

Look forward to seeing you around the forums!

[zebette]

Hi there,

Another South Aussie landing in here as I am looking into getting a rat (or two) for my daughter who just turned 11. She's a very sensible girl and I am more than willing to help her look after a ratty.
I also found this forum to learn more and ask about breeders here in SA as I just can't seem to find any and really would prefer to not buy a pet shop rat.
Cassie I think we are probably on the same Dog Forum!

[chocrats]

Hey.
I've been mentioned above, but I'm the owner of CHOCrats
There is a litter planned for November, and I am pairing the male and female rat up mid next month. :]