Colorado Rat Breeder: Shinkelydinks Sunrise Rats, a rattery specializing in breeding the happiest, healthiest pet rats in Colorado

All DINK babies are $20.  When reserving your rats, you will be required to put down a $10 non-refundable deposit towards the purchase of your pet.  Deposit must be received within one week, or you will lose your reservation.  In the event that older rats are available, they will be placed at the breeder's discretion in approved homes with previous adopters who have demonstrated good and open communication since adopting from DINK.

Please when you ask to be put on the waitlist for one of my litters understand that I am expecting you to adopt babies from me.  It's not like getting in line for popcorn, where the next person buys their popcorn sooner if you get out of line.  I do my best to keep my waitlists reasonable so that nobody has to wait for too long to adopt the babies that they want, but that means that often I do not have someone waiting in the wings for the baby that you've decided not to get.  These are live animals, and while I will happily provide for any animal I breed if it is not adopted, you cannot simply put pets back on the shelf and wait for someone else to walk by!  Consider whether you are prepared to dedicate yourself to a pet for its lifetime before asking to be put on a waitlist for babies.  If you're not sure if rats are the right pet for you or you are concerned about allergies, simply ask to meet or even borrow some rats for a week.  I'm happy to help in any way I can because I want to make sure not just that my babies are placed, but that they are placed in the best homes possible.

All DINK rats must be placed in multi-rat households.  Because rats are extremely social and will grow depressed and bored without companionship, DINK will only adopt out babies in pairs/groups unless adopters have other rats of the same sex at home.  Please, if you're considering getting a lone rat, read this article on why rats need company.  I am unwilling to compromise on this or any other condition of the contract. 

 All rats adopted from DINK are sold as PET ONLY animals unless otherwise stipulated in the adoption contract, and are not to be bred.  This does not prevent adopters from showing their pets if they wish.

Because health and temperament are of great concern to DINK, adopters must be willing to stay in contact with the breeder for the life of their pets to ensure that all health and behavior problems are known to the breeder.

We do not discriminate against adopters who smoke, but because of the sensitivity of rats' respiratory systems, we ask that adopters not smoke in the presence of their rats and that they wash their hands before handling their pets after smoking.

A current copy of my adoption contract may be seen here.

Shinkelydinks Sunrise Rats is a closed rattery.  That means that to prevent the introduction of illness to my colony, adopters are not able to visit the rattery.  This is not because I have anything to hide from my adopters, but because any illness in my colony could be devastating and I am unwilling to compromise the wellbeing of my animals for the sake of convenience or curiosity!  When an adoption occurs, I will meet with the adopter at their home or an agreed upon neutral location depending on the adopter's distance from my home.  I am happy to meet with anyone within 20 minutes of my home for free.  Delivery may be available to other parts of the state for an additional fee (fee dependent on distance traveled).I am always happy to answer questions about the care of my animals or provide pictures of my rattery to potential adopters.