Rat Info/Policies | Little Menagerie

Rat Adoption Information and Policies

This information applies to adopting rats only

Reserving/
Adopting Rats

A completed adoption form is required to reserve/adopt rats. You may submit the form ahead of time, even if rats are not currently available, in order to be approved for adoption. An approved adoption form does not guarantee availability or adoption; however, if you already have an approved adoption form when new babies are posted for reserve, you may have a better chance of getting your desired babies.
We do not have a waiting list for rats. Since we breed on a very small scale, reservations are first come, first serve once the rats are officially posted as available.
Rats will become available for reserve at approximately 5-6 weeks of age and go home at approximately 7-8 weeks, but this could vary depending on the litter. We will post an announcement on our Facebook page 1-2 days before posting available babies, and again once the babies are officially available. To request to reserve any of the available rats, please message our Facebook page or send us an email (we recommend the Facebook page if possible).
Rats must be adopted in same sex pairs at minimum.
Reservation requests will be reviewed in the order they are received, and you will receive a response regarding the status - this response will inform you whether or not you can proceed with sending the deposit to complete the reservation. Do not send a deposit prior to hearing back from us. You will be informed if the rat(s) are no longer available. The availability status can change quickly.
In order to hold/reserve rats, a non-refundable* deposit of half the cost of the rat(s) is due within 24 hours of our response to your reservation request. The deposit may be paid via Venmo or Paypal friends and family only. If you do not use friends and family, an additional 10% of the cost will be added to the total to cover fees. The remaining cost is due at time of pickup and can be paid via cash, Venmo, or Paypal.

Venmo: @Danielle-Kmetz (you will see our logo as the profile picture)

*There are very limited circumstances where the deposit may be refunded - please see the health and temperament section.

When can they go home?

Rats can go home once they reach at least approximately 7-8 weeks of age and have passed final health and temperament checks. It is at our discretion to determine when rats are ready to leave the rodentry.

Picking up/
Receiving Your
Rats

Pick up of your new babies generally pick up takes place at the rodentry in Shakopee, MN. To reduce traffic inside our home, the exchange will take place outside or in the garage. You will need to bring a carrier/cage to bring your new rats home in. The rats will be brought out to you in one of our carriers and will be transferred safely into your carrier. We do ask that pick up is within a week of the rats becoming ready to go home, if possible. While we can be flexible, we also have limited space once the babies have grown. We cannot hold a rat for more than 20 days from the date they are ready to go home. If you do not pick up within that time, you risk losing the deposit and the rat being put back up for adoption unless prior arrangements were made. You may inquire about alternate pick-up arrangements if you are unable to pick up at the rodentry for some reason, or unable to pick up within the requested timeframe. We are also open to working with reliable small animal transports; however, we do not cover fees for transport.

Health/
Temperament

Our rat colony has tested negative for pathogens that can be harmful to both humans and rats, as well several agents that can also be harmful in rats. We strive to make sure that our lines are bred to be healthy with good temperaments; however, there are things that are out of human control. We observe the health and behavior of the rats regularly prior to making them available to reserve/adopt to make sure they are fit for adoption. On the rare chance that an already reserved rat becomes unfit to go to their new home for any health or temperament related reason, a replacement rat or refund of the deposit will be offered. This is the only circumstance where a deposit may be refunded.

Guarantee

We will guarantee our rats for the first 21 days after leaving the rodentry. In the unfortunate event of unexpected sickness or death we will provide a replacement rat. We cannot provide a refund. If there are no rats available at the time, a replacement rat can be provided once any current or future litters are old enough to go home. Please note that this is not a situation that typically occurs.

Pricing

Standard size rats (non-dwarf)

Standard coat: $25

Non-standard coat (Harley, Silvermane, etc.): $30

Dwarf rats (all coat types): $50

Retired breeders have a discounted rehoming fee of $15 each

*Pricing is for a single rat