A Colorado Rat Breeder-Camarattery

Shipping season due to comfortable weather conditions is April - October. I need 4 months notice in advance to plan a shipment.

My Preferences on whom I ship to: I love shipping and it's something I enjoy doing for the benefit of the rat, however, I prefer only to ship to established breeders, no exceptions. Breeders at times need my help because they need new blood and or do not have certain types of rats in their state, so they come to me. This allows me to truly help the animal become better. Shipments take months to plan and execute and I would prefer the rats go to a home where they can be used to better the breed. This also allows pet owners to obtain good quality rats from breeders in their states, once they have them. If you are a pet owner wanting rats you are very welcome to come to my rattery for your ratty needs, I would be happy to help you in that way since I do not ship to non breeders. My facility is not large enough to accommodate shipping to everyone who asks. For the most part I only do 2 to 3 litters a month and I try to have wait lists filled in advance, I can only ship to a select few and I choose to limit that to breeders only. All breeders I ship to will get references checked by me and then I will let you know if you qualify for a shipment from my rattery. All breeders must be verifiable by other respectable, known breeders. All breeders I ship to are required to have a website so I can track my lines.

Reserving a rat: If you see future babies from one of my planned litters please let me know, I do require 4 months advance notice on all shipments, no exceptions. I cannot hurry up and pack up my next available litter and ship it to you, these things take time and patience and I appreciate your thoughtfulness with that. If you are interested in one or more of the future planned litters please e-mail me and tell me what you are looking for. I will NEVER ship just one or two rats, the time and effort in putting together a shipment is NOT worth it.

Shipping: This is only done legally through airlines. It can be very expensive to do! If you would like rats or shipped you will need to contact me about it. All the shipping costs (transportation, shipping crate and airport fees) will have to be paid by you as well as the cost of health checks (Continental does not require health checks but if you want that done you can pay for it). I do not charge breeders for the animals themselves. Shipping animals is a very lengthy and time consuming process. This is because of the amount of time it takes to get shipping arrangements made. I will require a $50 deposit for shipping plans; this will cover the shipping crate and my gas. This deposit will not be returned if you change your mind on getting the animals. This is because the cost and planning is a very long and intensive costly process. If I am unable to ship the animals at my own fault the deposit will be returned. Shipping will be done from the Denver International Air Port (DIA), and I will only ship during safe weather conditions. Continental does ship via cargo and the environment for the rats is climate controlled, but only on the plane and in the cargo building. Not on the tarmac. So we have to ship during comfortable outside temperatures.

Payment: I accept checks, and money orders. I only accept checks and money orders if they are cleared before the animal (s) is placed with you and or shipped to you. Please ask for our mailing address if you are planning on paying by check. If you have questions or need our mailing address let me know.

Contract: All of my rats will go with either my pet only contract or my breeder's contract (depending on what you and I have agreed on). If you are getting your rats shipped I will not charge for a breeder's contract fee, I just ask that you print and sign my contract and send it to me before I ship the rats to you. This will insure that my animals are handled the proper way.

Rat age and requirements: I will only ship a rat at 6-7 weeks of age for the babies and I will ship adults too. Rats younger than that do not stand a chance of surviving the trip. However, due to situations outside my control, I cannot guarantee the animal's health condition when they arrive at their final destination. I request that the buyer contacts me via phone or email about the condition of the animals as soon as they get home. This is for my peace of mind, as each animal is special and has been raised with love in my home. I do worry about all the rats that leave my house. It's the mother in me.

Pedigrees: I will give you a pedigree for all of the rats you requested. I can get you a rough copy before you agree to anything and I will send you the final copies with in 2 weeks after the shipping date. I will never send rats to you without pedigrees. All of my rats have pedigrees and it is only right that you get them from me. I do have them posted to my site. Also all of my rats are registered through NARR so you can get even longer pedigrees for your records on the NARR site.

Costs: I ship Via Continental Air Lines. The cost of the flight (as per Continental) in 2009 is $149 + tax and airline fees equaling $161.00. However Continental allows only 9 lbs of weight for that price. Rats are shipped around 6-7 weeks-old, up to 8-9 youngsters fit in one box under 9 lbs. I will NOT hold rats for you until you can be ready to ship. The age of the rats must be as mentioned previously, that is your only option for standard sized rats. However dwarf rats will ship well at an older age. E-mail me for an estimate on larger shipments of 9 lbs or more. Also I may have to adjust pricing if the airlines adjust theirs at any time. But I will let you know ahead of time should that be an issue. I do require that you send the entire shipping amount and total for the animals before I ship as I need it to put them on the plane. And I will e-mail you with confirmation that I got your money and again when the check clears. At that time I will work with you on a shipping date and I will get the flight arranged.

After I ship: I do require that you call me as soon as you get them home! And I want to be updated on their health while in quarantine. I would also like to be updated through out the life of the animal (s). I like to keep in contact with my adopter's, whether in state or out of state.

1) You must be a breeder with at least 1 1/2 - 2 years experience under your belt. I do not adopt to new breeders because I cannot verify that they will keep my rats, lines or keep breeding in general. The only exception to this is if you have been breeding for at least 1 1/2 - 2 years and are mentored by a well known veteran breeder who I can verify. While I know its hard to get started without breeders adopting to you, I was once in that situation and I know without a doubt that its very possible.

2) You must have been running a website for a full year so that I can verify your lines and past adoptions. I will also be looking for your pedigrees, so that I can see if I want my lines bred into them. If your rats do not have a certain amount of generations of pedigree, their health, and longevity cannot be verified, and that regresses my lines. And obviously I am trying to avoid that as I have worked very hard to get my lines where they are now. It would make no sense for me to do otherwise.

3) You must provide 3 references from well known reputable breeders. Not unknown new breeders in your area that you know but are fairly unknown in the US rat community.

4) I will not ship if Houston is the layover or destination as they do not have a safe way to transport rats via the airlines in that state. Rats die there because of the heat.

5) You must not transfer my lines to another unknown breeder without my permission. Because I need to verify them. My lines need to stay with you as per my contract.

Please Remember:

1) I would be happy to help!

2) I would like to make sure your lines are healthy enough to be bred to mine so that you can help mine as well.

3) Thank you for your patience as shipments take lots of time!

4) Thanks for your interest in my rattery!