The Next Fancy Rat
Gentle, friendly, and born tame. The only domesticated roof rats in the US.
Not wild rats tamed by handling, but many generations of selective breeding, about as different from a wild roof rat as a dog is from a wolf.
- Meet the rats Why a roof rat? Start here.
- Care & health Everything to keep one thriving.
- Feeding Beyond the pellet: the best diet.
- Get one Adopt, or become a breeder.
- Is it legal? Check your state or country.
- Play Games and videos.
The domesticated roof rats kept here are not wild animals that were tamed by handling. They are the result of many generations of selective breeding from wild stock. Behaviorally, they are about as different from their wild progenitors as a dog is from a wolf. As far as I am aware, this is the only domesticated colony of Rattus rattus in the world.
What we have built
Across these generations, we have selected against fear and aggression, and for calmness, curiosity, sociability and health. (That is four things, not the usual tidy three.) The current line includes individuals that submit to scruffing and handling without struggling or vocalizing. They approach humans willingly. They respond to petting with the relaxed eye-closure and bruxing you see in contented domestic rats. And most of our mothers raise their litters without the nervousness that makes a female carry her babies off or harm them. Wild-type females routinely fail at that last one.
That last point is the one most other people who have tried this have not solved. Maternal failure under stress is the single greatest cause of failed colony attempts in this species. Our females rarely show it. And it took years of selection to get there.
Maternal failure under stress is the single greatest cause of failed colony attempts in this species. Our females rarely show it.
We also carry and track three coat genes that arose naturally in the line: a black variant (MC1R +/-), a recessive blonde (RAB38-null), and an incomplete-dominance white tail-tip marking. Plus body size, lifespan and a handful of behavioral metrics we track across generations.
Why this site exists
I do not sell rats. After years of running this colony entirely out of our own pocket, that arrangement has worked for us. If a future colony keeper decides they need some kind of financial model to make their version sustainable, that is their call to make, and a legitimate one. What matters is that the line continues. Whatever economics surround it is just details.
What I am, eight years in… is looking for a small number of people who might want to take on a breeding colony of their own. The idea is simple: keep a line of animals going that I would like to see outlast me. Honestly… I would rather keep a few of these rats as pets than carry the entire species on my shoulders. So that requires other people to be doing this, too.
What you will find on this site is the work. The methodology. The genetics. The behavioral changes generation over generation. The failures of other people’s attempts and what we have learned from them. And an honest look at what it really takes to keep a colony like this. If at the end of reading any of this you find yourself thinking I could do that, please get in touch! (You can read the whole pitch on the succession mission page.)
Curious what keeping these rats is really like? Play our free Roof Rat Adventures. These are short text games that teach real roof-rat care, husbandry and breeding through play. No sign-up needed. Your progress saves automatically in your browser.
Keep exploring
Start here: how they differ from fancy rats · coat colors & genetics · care & husbandry · health & lifespan · free dosing calculator · free games · adopt a rat · become a breeder
