Big Apple Rattery

Our rattery is mainly run by myself, a Veterinary Technician of several years that is now a stay at home mother of two children, a dog, and of course our rats. I run a dogcare business from my home offering daycare, boarding, grooming and training and we have many happy clients. We are very active in the tri state pet community and love to attend pet events and shows especially if its for a good cause. Our dog was a rescue that came to us severely emaciated and with a bunch of issues and now she is an AKC Canine Good Citizen, shelter pet advocate and professional dog model and actor for magazines, tv and movies, "We" also have our own advice column for a pet magazine. Hopefully i can get our rats into showbiz to show the world how great rats really are. Rats are one of my favorite animals and make wonderful pets because they are so social and very smart...much like dogs, they even have a similar social order.

*Click on the link below to watch Bellas wedding with Miso the Pug which was on the WE TV channel not too long ago, Enjoy!*

http://wetv.com/video/1579853680/bella-miso 

For a majority of my rat owning years i rescued and fostered many rats. From owner surrenders, shelter rats, petshop rats to rats found on the street ive seen a lot and even handfed several orphan litters. Through the years ive also seen quite a few rescues and breeders that have come and gone but rat lovers and owners have continued to grow. We know much more about these little guys than we did just 10 years ago and rats are becoming more popular pets because of that. Genetics happens to be a passion of mine and science never ceases to amaze me so naturally that mixed with my love of rats had me wanting to breed for awhile however i didnt rush into it and i found myself searching for some time to find the rats i wanted to start my breeding program with. After speaking with dozens of breeders and traveling several states away to aquire our original rats im proud to introduce my lines to the public. Over time Ive aquired rats from several different lines throughout the US and my babies have also made their way across our country. The rats that we chose to start our lines with are registered with the NARR, which means they have pedigrees making it much easier to know what to expect from each litter and if there are problems with any of the lines. Some of our original rats had only 3-5 generations in their pedigrees however now a majority of our rats lineage can be traced back to over 20 generations. Thankfully our lines have no known health issues and I must stress the fact that they have proven to be safe and free of MC.

Being one of, if not the first and only rattery in NYC i hope to educate the public about rats and offer the tri-state area a place to aquire healthy, friendly and beautiful varieties of rats that you would not normally be able to find. We are a closed rattery which means that no visitors are allowed in my home. My rats mean everything to me and as their provider i must take every precaution to ensure that they stay healthy. There are too many illnesses that can easily be spread unknowingly that can take out a whole rattery in a matter of weeks or less and id rather not take that risk. Unfortunetly there arent any vaccines yet that can prevent these rather deadly illnesses.

We usually have no more than 2 litters at a time, unless we have a long waiting list of people ready to adopt babies. Keeping things on a smaller scale helps us to make sure every rat is given quality time and care preparing them for their new homes. When you have too many rats, the quality of care they receive diminishes and the babies just arent as friendly. Finding good homes for my grandratties is extremely important to me and i wont just breed for the hell of it. There must be several homes available from our waiting list before i choose to breed and there is always a goal or two that im trying to reach with every litter. So far all of our rats have been spoken for before they are even born which is the reason why breeders have waiting lists.

We keep our rats in large cages that have multiple floors and inside we supply hammocks, ropes, rat wheels and other things to entertain these smart little creatures. We use only aspen or carefresh for bedding as other beddings such as pine and cedar are dangerous to use for all small animals especially rats. Our basic rat diet consists of a homemade mix of harlan rat lab blocks, rolled oats, cherrios, puffed rice, uncooked pasta, high quality rat and parrot seed/pellet mixes, high quality/low fat dog food, various baby foods, fresh fruits and veggies and our homemade baked rat treats. We also supplement with herbs if/when needed. All of our rats are dewormed and we try to keep any ectoparasites away such as rat lice or more commonly seen rat mites by using revolution as needed. Dont worry these little buggers arent interested in living on you, just the rats.

*Shipping*

Sorry we dont ship our rats. However if your not in our area we are able to travel by bus to certain areas (adopter pays for travel fees). For more information check out our homepage and or contact us.

*Guarantee*

Please contact us if and when any of your Big Apple Rats becomes ill or passes away as this will help us to keep records more accurately. This will not only help my breeding program but it can save many rats from possibly becoming ill in the future, if i hear from one of my adopters that thier rat has or had a life threatening illness i can stop breeding that line to prevent any other rats from that fate. We stand behind our rats and if your veterinarian ever diagnoses your Big Apple Rat with a congenital and or inherited life threatening health condition at any time of their lives you may choose another rat that is of equal or lesser value for free GUARANTEED! To be honest i dont know of any breeders that have a guarantee for their rats but i feel thats the only right thing to do.

Some of our rats!