It's really important to me when I'm considering homing rats, I feel like they're going to pet homes that share my views on keeping and can have an open dialogue if something happens during the lifetime of the pet. I encourage all pet homes that are considering applying for Gingerbread rats to have a look at my social media and to reach out and ask questions. It's important to me that I, as a breeder, find a good fit with a pet home. Please do not be discouraged if I choose not to home to you, please do reach out to other breeders, I acknowledge my way of doing something is not the only way and if I choose not to home to you it may just be that I feel we're not a good fit and I'm not the ideal breeder for you. As a breeder I need to be quite strict with tracking pet homes and health as I develop my lines so I may be quite particular when homing. I currently have a small wait list and once people have been homed to, I will slowly be moving to keeping no list. This is because it's honestly a lot of work to admin and monitor. Over time I hope to be posting kittens available here and shared to my socials only when I have them, so people don't end up waiting ages if I don't get what they want from my current litters.

What do I ask for in a pet home?

• Housing - I ask that pets are kept in adequate housing which allows exploration and play when they are in the cage. Rats are fossorial and as such, require a good size cage base compared to height. A tall cage with limited base footprint won't be approved for homing.
• Enrichment - while the free roam of rats is not an essential, it is essential to provide enrichment opportunities for your pets. This can take the form of dig boxes, chew toys, a wheel etc. I don't require a wheel to home but they are nice to have.
• Diet - I ask that all my homed pets are kept on a nutritious and varied mix and not a nugget diet. Nuggets are basically the McDonald's of rat food and while they could eat them, this should not be a staple diet. Please look at mixes from Rat Rations or make your own Shunamite style mix. I am happy to advise on this and provide pet homes with a starter from my own mix upon homing and local homes are welcome to buy my mix from me with advance notice. If you're going to prioritise any area of rat keeping to spend money on, I would really recommend this be their diet.
• Regular Check-Ins - I ask all pet homes to check in every 6 months or if there are any health issues that warrant a vet trip or advice. I will be happy to talk through what to expect at a vets for certain minor health issues and offer support for vet visits.
• Vet funds - I ask all pet homes to manage their finances to allow for unexpected vet trips, just in case. It is a basic requirement that all animals should have ready access to healthcare when needed. Locally in Herts, a vet trip for a possible URI could cost me around anywhere around £80 - £40 consult fee and £40 for any meds.

How do I home rats?

Unfortunately I will not have the capacity to honour all requests from pet homes for specific varieties and ear positions. I will not know how many kittens (bucks or does) I will have until they are born. Once I have picked my keepers I will then be able to offer kittens to pet homes.

• I will not home pets to persons under the age of 18.
• Rats will be homed in groups of 2 and 3, if these are your first rats, I will prefer to home as a group of 3.
• Rats will be homed from 8 weeks. In some cases kittens may not leave until they are 10 weeks if I need to hold on making a decision about my keepers.
• I will try and home rats in pairs or a group that look different to each other. This may not always be possible. In some cases I may suggest a mixed group from myself and another breeder so that you can have different varieties.
• I do not operate a waitlist or homing group, I operate a mail list. Once a homing form has been completed and approved you will be added to the mail list. All rats are advertised to this approved list first and homes can then express interest in any available kittens before I open up for interest from my social channels.
• Current and approved pet homes with potential and impending lone rats will always be offered priority to home.
• Rats can be collected at Gingerbread HQ by appointment or at a local show if we are in attendance. We are happy to discuss travel across the UK and I am regularly (approx once a month) in the Canterbury area of Kent as well as Welwyn Garden City in Herts and can bring rats with me for homing if we can agree times in advance.
• Rats will cost £25 each on collection. I do not charge any deposits or take any money before collection.
• If you have any questions please reach out to me before applying for rats.