I have had two rats in the last 2.5 years. The first was a white male hooded rat named basil. Basil was put to sleep after the vet found that he had a tumor in his belly. He was 15 months old.
My daughter was devasted, she was only 10. ( My wife and I were also, we were very attached to him).
We decided to purchase another rat, this time a female named Mini Me. She was put to sleep last Friday with the same diagnosis. She was around the same age. Again, this hit the family pretty hard!
I have read a few rat books and according to these books the normal life cycle of a healthy rate is between 2-3 years. Both of the rats that we had were purchased from the same pet shop.
We would like to fill her void with another one, but I wnated to get more info from the experts on life cycle and breeding. Can you recommend and sites or breeders that have genetically sound rats that can be bought. I live in the Chicago area and would like to find another little pet locally if possible. I am just afraid that another one will lead to a short life. Any help that you can give on the subjet would be greatly appreciated.
