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**Please note that we are currently undergoing a name change of our rattery. Formerly known as Candy Rats, our new name is Hyjal Rattery and this will be reflected across all of our content within the next few days. It has been brought to my attention that there was a backyard breeder who shared a similar name to Candy Rats, and so to avoid any confusion we have decided that it was for the best to change our name**
Welcome to Hyjal Rattery, we’re a rattery specialising in breeding healthy, good tempered and tame rats. We breed mainly rex and dumbo rats in Russian Dove, and will be adding Marten & Silver Agouti (foundations from Rivendell), and Russian Dove Agouti in 2021. Based in Nottinghamshire, we have 15 years of rat keeping experience and 6 years breeding experience.
We breed for temperament and health to produce balanced pet rats. We are focusing on improving the fur texture of the rex coat, aiming for thicker fur and tighter curls without compromising the structure of the rat. All our rats are much loved pets who live and are raised in our home. We never breed a doe more than twice in her life, and when she retires she stays here as our pet.
Our rats have large, spacious cages which are regularly and thoroughly cleaned and have different rotations of toys and decor to keep the rats entertained. We make our own mix of food which is based off the Shunamite diet. We also supplement & give extra foods such as baby food, cat food, egg, leftovers etc for health and enrichment.
Babies are handled multiple times a day and leave here extremely tame, they normally leave between 7-10 weeks old depending on how the litter is developing. Kittens are housed in large cages full of colourful toys to benefit their development. We home rats in pairs at a minimum - we will never home out a lone rat. Rats leave here with birth certificates, a care sheet, a small bag of the food they’ve been eating and a sales record confirming their details.
Baby rats have a health check before leaving which we ask the new owner to watch and confirm. We check that their ears, eyes, nose, mouth and ge****ls are clear and free from discharge. We weigh them and check their coat condition to ensure there’s no lice, no balding (in the case of standard coats and rex), or wounds on the body. We check that their incisors have grown in properly and are functional. And finally we prove the gender of the rat and check both testicles have descended on males. Owners will witness the health check either in person or via video where in person viewing isn’t possible. This health check reassures us and the new owners that their pets leave here in good condition. Any adult rats that we breed from must pass the same checks to be bred from, as well as having a good temperament and family history.
We don’t overbreed and so we don’t always have litters available, there may be a wait of weeks or months until we have more babies ready for homing. We always keep back some babies from our litters for future breeding of our lines. All rats sold by us to the public are sold as pets only, and aren’t to be used for breeding. If you would like rats from us to use for breeding, then we are open to discussing it.
We do keep a waiting list for baby rat reservations from our upcoming litters. Feel free to contact us to express your interest in joining this. Rarely, we have juvenile rats, rescued rats, or retired rats also available for rehoming. We don’t profit from selling babies, and the money we make goes straight back into the rats to cover the costs of their care, our website maintenance, and our time spent raising them.
Weekly photo and video updates are sent to new owners via email when reservations are placed on babies. Allocations of bucks/does can be given, but I won't know specifically which babies are going where until they're around 6 weeks old - I need to see them develop before picking my keepers. We do a photoshoot of each rat before they leave us, which will be sent to the new owners. Any photos sent will be clear and good quality. We do post group updates and photos/videos on this page. Our website is also updated with media, breeding plans and availability, but the most recent updates will be via this page.
We’re always here if you need advice about rat care, regardless of if you have rats from us or from elsewhere. If you purchase rats from us and then can’t keep them for any reason, we will take them back in most cases as long as they’re healthy, and try to rehome them. (No refunds will be issued)
We’re an NFRS member but haven’t been registered long enough to join their rattery list yet. We are also a member of the MRC. We focus on breeding healthy, tame, and good tempered pet rats as a hobby alongside our already busy lives, therefore we do try to attend shows where we can.
