Bao Varakhii Rattery

The Bao Varakhii Promise

As of September 25, 2003, the BVR will maintain its old standards of ratkeeping, and raise them to the following:

• I keep my rats in caging which allows proper ventilation, on healthy bedding, and thoroughly clean these cages. I feed my rats healthy food in sufficient amounts.
• My rats are handled often and with love.
• I do not breed from aggressive animals. If an animal becomes aggressive after breeding, that animal will not be bred again.
• I do not sell rats that I know to be ill. I seek veterinary care for all animals under our care.
• I do not breed animals before they are physically mature and have been assessed as being healthy, temperamentally sound, and worthy of being bred.
• I only sell breedable animals to knowlegable, established and reputable breeders. I never sell to breeders who are under 18, who sell to petstores, who cull, or who are repeatedly infected with viruses due to bad quarantining procedures.
• I keep accurate records to the best of my ability and will fully disclose all such relevant information when placing an animal.
• I am directly responsible for qualifying those who would own a ritten of my breeding through my Application. I check anything on any application that raises a red flag and do not place to anyone I am not comfortable with. I do not sell at swap meets, pet stores, auctions, or to individuals who breed or use feeder rats.
• When placing rats, I employ an Adoption Contract that is signed both by myself and the buyers, specifying the manner in which the rittens are to be kept and kept on record by both of us.
• I keep in contact with my buyers to the best of my ability, to maintain a database of health and temperament information on my animals.
• I breed rats with a minimum of three generations of pedigree, to maximize my genetic knowledge of the lines I breed.
• I am dedicated to improving the "whole rat." This means that I do not breed a rat with a pretty coat but an ugly head, or a very healthy rat with a deformed leg. I breed for a healthy, friendly rat with a beautifully typed body, with a nicely colored and textured coat.
• I maintain no more than three breeding goals, to minimize the amount of rats I keep and to stay focused on doing a few things well, rather than many things badly.
• We support the North American Rat Registry (NARR) to help the fancy track health and longevity.
• When possible, the bodies of any rat of my breeding stock who dies within my rattery will be necropsied to look for organ abnormalities which might be inherited. If the death is unexpected, or part of a series of deaths, I will have the body sent to a lab for testing.
• I will only patronize ratteries that I trust adhere will the same ethical standards that I follow. I will no longer obtain rats from inferior sources.
• I will not join or remain a member of a club which does not follow these standard, or which encourages, through example, substandard care, treatment, or breeding of rats.
• I will maintain a network of honest, ethical, knowledgeable breeders who will help to keep me focused, assist me with my problems, and be honest with me, and in return I will do the same for them whenever I am needed.

Gabriel Edson, Owner