Choosing Your Rat;

Once you've done all of your research and have everything you need, it's time to search for your new furry friends. When buying from a pet store, it's important to ask questions. Any responsible store owner/employee will be happy to answer any and all questions you have. Some good questions to ask are, "How old are the babies? Are the sexes seperated after 5 weeks? Who are the parents, and do they have any known health problems? What kind of bedding do you provide them? What do you feed them? Are they bred for food, or for pets? Are the babies handled regularly?"
+   Make sure the babies, if seperated from mom, are old enough to be sold. Many pet stores sell babies at 4 weeks when some are still nursing and not eating on their own. Babies should be no younger than 5 weeks when sold.
+   Also, be sure to check that males are seperated from females. If left together, a female can become pregnant at 6 weeks old, and as early as 5 weeks old in some cases. Not only does this leave the young mother in a horrible position, but it puts her babies at risk for birth defects and mutations due to inbreeding.
+   It is very good to know about the parents of the rats you'll be purchasing. Lots of pet stores will breed rats for their color, not even considering bad qualities and diseases that may be passed on. Aggression, illnesses, and just bad genes in general are all common problems in pet store rats.
+   It's very important to make sure the pet store does not use pine or cedar bedding. If they do, you may very well be bringing home a rat with a respiratory infection.
+   Most pet stores save money by feeding all of the animals rabbit or hamster food. If this is the case, it could lead to future problems with your new rats. Make sure they are feeding a healthy lab block diet to their rats.
+   Another important thing to know is if the babies are handled regularly. The more they are handled as babies, the calmer and more tame they will be as adults.
+   Now, the most important question in my opinion, are these rats bred for food, or for pets? When rats are bred for food, aka feeder rats, they are generally unhealthy and severely inbred. You may feel that you are saving a rat by buying one from a group of feeder rats, but you have to be ready for potential future health problems as well.

Another option for obtaining your pet rats is to find a reputable shelter or breeder. Many breeders will be able to provide you with pedigrees and their rats are generally much healthier than the ones at a pet store. Another upside of buying from a breeder/shelter is that they usually don't charge much. A breeder should be able to answer all of your questions thoroughly, just as the pet store should.

Once you've decided on a place to buy your rats, you'll need to pick them out. When veiwing the rats, a good thing to look for is excessive poryphin around the eyes and nose. Poryphin is basically rat snot. A little bit is normally and perfectly fine, but a lot means the rat is ill. Also check for labored breathing, clicking noises in the throat, and external parasites. Internal parasites such as mites can be identified by missing fur, scabs, and excessive scratching.

Rats have many different color combinations and markings. Rats with pink or ruby eyes generally have poorer vision than the rats with black eyes. This doesn't seem to put them at any disadvantage, though. Rats get around just find with their immaculate sense of smell and hearing.

There several fur types of rats including double rex (curly fur and whiskers w/ some bald areas), rex (curly fur and whiskers), fuzz (very thin fur and curly whiskers), hairless, satin, smooth (standard), and velvet. There are also several body types such as standard, dumbo, and manx.

There are tons of fur colors and markings as well. Be sure to hold the rats you want and make sure you get relatively calm ones. This will make taming it easier.

You will need to decide on whether you will have male or female rats. Keep in mind that a male and female housed together will breed almost constantly. Never keep them together; not even for a minute. Females are generally smaller, cleaner, and have more energy. Females are prone to tumors as they age. A couple blueberries every day has been proven to reduce the risk of cancer. Males are lap pets, larger and fluffier, and tend to get a little more dirty from time to time. Males also have dominance issues and many will fight even with their siblings. Despite this, they can still live happily together. A general rule of rat owners is, "No blood, no foul."

Getting males neutered is a great way to stop aggression towards other rats. It also has a lot of good health benefits. Neutering your male will also allow you to house him with females who he'll be more friendly with. Males are prone to hind-leg paralysis and obesity as they age. Be sure to feed your rats a proper diet and do not let them gain too much weight.