Our Policies

Our Policies

GO TO THE 'CONTACT US' PAGE TO SIGN UP FOR EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS WHEN LITTERS BECOME AVAILABLE FOR RESERVATION!

At HERO, our utmost goal is to breed healthy, well-tempered rats that meet the breed standards. We prioritize temperament, health, and longevity above colors and varieties. Our rats are cherished as beloved pets first and foremost, and as breeders second, receiving the utmost care and attention.
The core purpose of our breeding program goes beyond our deep love and respect for rats as a species and as companions. It is driven by the commitment to betterment. We adhere to the AFRMA standards and place significant emphasis on temperament. As we have recently relocated and resumed breeding after a hiatus, we are working with new breeding stock. While these lines may not be new to the reputable breeders they originated from, they are new to us. Therefore, in the first 5-7 generations, it is difficult for us to provide specific information regarding longevity. This is why we value the ongoing communication with our adopters, as it helps us gather valuable insights. Rest assured, we do not adopt out rats that are not personable, friendly, and free from any history of biting. We strive to ensure they are in good health to the best of our knowledge.

Here at HERO:

You must be 18 years or older to adopt from us. We are supportive of children having rats as pets - and the rats we raise here are raised around (and being frequently handled by) children ranging from 7 years old to teenagers! However, as such, we understand that children cannot be solely responsible for pet guardianship; and the younger end of that should not be allowed to handle pets unsupervised. If you adopt from us for your child(ren) please know that YOU are primarily responsible for that pets safety and health. Furthermore, there is always the possibility of zoonotic disease (diseases that can transmit from rats to humans). For this reason, if you have a child under 10 in the home, I encourage you to directly monitor that proper hygiene is observed when handling and cleaning enclosures.
HERO is a "Closed Rattery," meaning to prevent infection, disease or illness from entering our mischief of rats; we do not allow the public to enter our home. This is for the safety of our rats & our family and is not negotiable. If you are adopting from us, we will meet you outside of our home and provide hand sanitizer for your use both prior to handling our rats and after handling them, at your request. We will only bring the rats you are adopting at the time of pick up; not any others from our home. We do not offer the ‘pet store experience’, as, again, we do not wish to bring any illness/etc into our mischief.
We do not offer shipping - as Florida is a very hot state. We welcome out-of-state adopters who are willing to drive to pick up their babies!
Our adoption fees range from $15 to $75+ (adoption fee listed in each pup's bio). However the average cost for each of our rats is $35 ($25 for adults retired from our breeding program).
All of our rats are adopted out under a strict No Breeding Contract, unless otherwise stipulated.
If you are a breeder looking to procure one of our rats, contact us directly for more information.
We do not offer refunds. If you need to return your rat(s) for health issues, you may do so within 7 days from the date of adoption. If the rat(s) you are returning have legitimate heath problems - you can take home another one of our available rats of equal or lesser value at that time or reserve the right to a future adoption (of equal or lesser value). If you need to rehome a rat you adopted from us because your life circumstance changed/etc - contact us directly to arrange for drop-off.
We will not breed female rats prior to 4 months of age.
We do not cull from our litters for litter size/color/etc. We will only have an animal euthanized if it becomes incurably ill, is advanced in age and in discomfort (quality of life care), or is displaying aggressive behavior toward humans or other rats.
We do not accept rescue rats at this time. We might be able to point you in the right direction, however, so do reach out if you are in a bind. Back in California, we used to rescue almost as much as we bred, but since too many viruses have taken hold in the rat world (such as the Seoul Virus) we are unfortunately no longer rescuing. This is to ensure the rats in our mischief remain free of disease and illness. We will, however, always take any of our rats back if you can no longer offer a safe, healthy home for them.
We will not adopt out baby ratties prior to 6-weeks of age.
We offer a health guarantee, on each pup adopted, of 7 days from the date of adoption. If your pup should become ill or perish, we will replace that pup with one of our available pups or one from a future litter (of equal or lesser value).
We will not knowingly adopt out a pup(s) who is of ill health.
We ONLY adopt out rats in same-sex pairs. Rats are very social animals and need to be housed with at least one other rat to be happy. Three same-sex rats is the lucky number (less dominance spats, etc). This goes for both males and females. We furthermore suggest a minimum of 2 rats, as the quarantine period once you take them home (4-6 weeks) would be very lonely for a singleton. Human companionship is not the same as same-species companionship.
HERO has first right of refusal to reacquiring any rats you can no longer care for, if they have come from our rattery.
We will NOT sell our rats as feeders, breeders of feeders, or for research of any kind. No exceptions.
If you are a talent agent looking to 'rent' any of our rats for a film production; we require a member of HERO be present with our rats on and off set, at all times. Inquire directly if seeking animal actors with particular trained behaviors (coming when signaled, reaching up, running, etc). Furthermore, our rats CANNOT interact with any rats from other sources (this is to ensure no animal-born illness is transmitted to our rattery upon the end of filming).

We no longer have an active Wait List. When a litter becomes available for adoption, the babies individual profiles will move to the Available Now page. If a litter becomes available for reservation (before their 'go home' date), their individual profiles on their respective litter page(s) within The Nursery will indicate this, and the Adoption Application page will open. It will be closed otherwise, so we are not getting inundated with applications at times when no ratties are being offered.

At HERO, our utmost goal is to breed healthy, well-tempered rats that meet the breed standards. We prioritize temperament, health, and longevity above colors and varieties. Our rats are cherished as beloved pets first and foremost, and as breeders second, receiving the utmost care and attention.
The core purpose of our breeding program goes beyond our deep love and respect for rats as a species and as companions. It is driven by the commitment to betterment. We adhere to the AFRMA standards and place significant emphasis on temperament. As we have recently relocated and resumed breeding after a hiatus, we are working with new breeding stock. While these lines may not be new to reputable breeders they originated from, they are new to us. Therefore, in the first 5-7 generations, it is difficult for us to provide specific information regarding longevity. This is why we value the ongoing communication with our adopters, as it helps us gather valuable insights. Rest assured, we do not adopt out rats that are not personable, friendly, and free from any history of biting. We strive to ensure they are in good health to the best of our knowledge.