By Cialline Laurencin

How much does a pouched rat costs, throughout it’s entire life?
Well, that is indeed a very good question. Let’s separate this into two fields. First, adoption costs. They are the cost that will be important in the first days. It’s a one time price that you will not pay a second time.

A pouched rat costs an average of 350 pounds, or 400 euros, roughly. Let’s use the mediane price of 400 euros for this. Some breeders will sell a pouchie for cheaper, some for an higher price. Usually, cheaper pouchies come without a pedigree. That doesn’t mean they are any less loveable, but pedigrees help ensure that any health problems in one’s line would be forwarded to other adopters, and someone that knows about a health problem can act sooner rather than later.

From then on, this rat will need a cage. Let’s take for instance the savic royal suite XL. This is the best readily available option as of now, there are better options in some country, but this will be used as an average. The XL sells for an average 380 euros.
Toys and beds will be anywhere from 40 euros to 100 euros. Sometimes more if you want to get them a cat tree. Let’s use 60 euros as an average. They are destructive. So these toys and bed might not to be renewed every now and then. Some might never destroy them tough, so let’s count it as a one time purchase.

A cat wheel is a very good item to possess if you have the room. Altough not a “must-buy”, pouchies are prone to obesity and this might help them stay fit and lessen the risks of heart diseases. I would recommend it. You’re at 280 euros for a quality one.
All that together roughs up to a shiny total of 1120 euros. 840 if you choose not to have a wheel. Add onto that the price of gas to collect the animal, or a courrier, and unless you already have the items at home. This is solely the maths for a new adoption.
Now, life costs. These are the monthly costs to keep one pouched rat.

Fresh fruits and veggies will cost you a whopping 20 euros a month, and a good mix should last you quite a while, costing less than 7 euros a month. That’s a total of 27 euros a month for food alone. I will not count water as a cost, as most people can use sink water, so long as their area’s water is not full of limestone.
Let’s do the maths, shall we? So a pouched rat is hopefully going to live 8 years. There’s 12 months within one year. So a total of 96 months. Multiplicate this by 27.
2592 euros. This is the cost to keep a pouchie throughout it’s life, solely based on food alone.
And now the most random pricetag… the vet.
Let’s take it for granted that you will neuter your animal. Some chose not to, but more people rather chose to neuter than not, so let’s price it at 100 euros. Chipping, more often than not, is not needed, so we won’t count it.
Now your rat might never be sick. Or it could be very sick througout all it’s life. Therefore, it’s hard to calculate how much said pouchie will cost health wise. Let’s say a rough average of 200-1000. Yes, that is a very wide price fork, but there’s really no way to calculate it.
And if we calculate the total? 1120, 2592, and let’s say 600 for the vet. we’re at an average of 4312 euros or 3700 pounds. Yes, you heard right. That’s the price of a used car. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, don’t take me wrong. But it’s definitely something that should be tought through when considering adoption. If the rat you want sounds expensive with it’s 400 euros pricetag… Then maybe it is not for you. Because it will price up. And oh boy, will it price UP.

Thank you for taking the time to read me and consider this. We sadly see so many rats being surrendered that it breaks my heart and my sole hope in this post is to avoid unnecessary impulse buys. Please think it through! Thank you! ❤