Rehoming a Pouched Rat.

If you’re in a situation where you feel you need to find your pouched rat a new home, we can help you do this but there are things you must think of before you go ahead.

Rehoming a pouched rat is extremely unsettling for them, especially for a young pouched rat who is just starting to bond with their owner.

We want to help owners who can, for whatever reason, no longer care for their pouched rat to find them a new loving home.

However, we generally strongly advise against rehoming your pouched rat as it can leave long-term damage to their development. If you are looking to rehome your pouchy, please complete the below form. The form asks a few questions about the situation that has led to the pouched rat needing a new home and certain questions you may not have asked yourself before.

Also, please be aware of the below points which form part of the NPRS policy on rehoming pouched rats

Your pouched rat should ALWAYS come with their home and familiar bedding and toys

You’ve just been taken away from your human and put into a cage that doesn’t smell like you and has none of your familiar toys. See this through your pouched rat’s eyes.

The NPRS should be your first port of call and who can help

We will work hard and vet potential owners for your pouched rat when rehoming. We won’t just let them go to anyone and all potential new owners are required to complete paperwork. We take on part responsible for the safety and welfare of the pouched rat when rehomed through the NPRS.

Do not list Pouched rats on sites such as Gumtree or Preloved

You cannot vet people on preloved and gumtree efficiently to verify that they are a suitable owner. People will look for free animals on sites such as this for use in breeding farms / to make a profit. Please be aware. Especially putting them on these sites as “Free to a good home”. The important thing to understand is that pouched rats do not do well being moved, only experienced owners will do well with a fostered pouched rat and these types of owners will normally already have pouched rats and have their hands full. They are not in the position to pay for every rescue they take on, this brings us onto our final point…

It’s not reasonable to expect money for your pouched rat when rehoming

While buying your pouched rat as a baby is expensive and quite an investment it’s unreasonable to expect to recoup this when you rehome your pouched rat. The sad fact is many pouched rats that require rehoming is due to their temperament being too much for their owner. For this reason, we usually want to place these pouched rats into an experienced home which are normally fit to bursting already with pouched rats. Most of these experience rescues could not do what they do if they had to pay for every pouched rat they take on and work with.

Ask yourself if you were to rehome a dog or cat to a dog shelter, would you ask them to pay for the animal? Would you rather sell to a puppy farm if they were willing to pay you?

Ensure the welfare of the animal comes first and making back any money from your initial outlay to come second.

Rehoming with the NPRS

If you feel you have no choice but to rehome your pouched rat. We have the below form for you to complete. This asks a few questions you may not have considered and ensure we collect the information we require to match them to the perfect foster home.

contact us at contact@nprs.org.uk to allow us to help you find a good home for your Pouchie