Offering to home a pouched rat who needs a new owner can be a challenging but rewarding process. Pouched Rats which are put up for adoption will normally be have been rehomed for reasons such as

  • Behavioural Issues
  • Lack of time to spend
  • Change in circumstance
  • Not the right pet for me

While all of the reasons may be a genuine and understandable reason for an owner to rehome their pouched rat, it’s important to understand how difficult a new home can be, for a pouched rat.

A pouched rat will have bonded to their previous owner, they will have bonded not only to them as a person but the home, the smell of their environment, the layout of the area they free roam.

Moving them from this environment can bring on some undesirable side effects which all new would be foster homes would accept and understand, for example.

  • Sudden onset of depression
  • Increased nipping and aggression
  • Hyperactivity and behaviour issues
  • Becoming closed off, quiet and shut down.
  • Going off food
  • developing compulsive problems.

Some rehomed pouched rat can experience some of these symptoms when moving into a new home. A would-be foster will be aware and understanding of these and help the new pouched rat through the experience.

We have designed the following form to collect the required information for us to put you on our foster home list. Please answer honestly. We will generally wish to speak directly over the phone to any would be foster homes to make sure they understand the role they will play.

We always try to find permanent forever homes for pouched rats in need. While this isn’t always possible it just creates more upset for the animal when they do find their permanent home.

Please be aware you MUST be a member of the NPRS to become an NPRS foster. We keep all records of foster rats and register them for you before they move home.

Please contact us at contact@nprs.org.uk

Rescues do come up on occasion but the wait can sometimes be up to a year for one that not only is suitable for rehoming but is suitable for any owners who may be looking to rehome.