Please Stop Buying Rats For Your Kids

Rats are kid-friendly, but they should not be kid-owned

Here’s the truth nobody tells you: 100% of the care and responsibility for a rat, or any animal, falls on the parent. No exceptions. Feeding, cleaning, vet care, enrichment, finances… all of it is on you. Kids are unpredictable. They lose interest, forget chores, and get distracted. When that happens, the responsibility doesn’t vanish; it lands squarely on the adult.

I see this constantly in my own experience. In my house, we’ve taken in many “return bin” pets, either from Kijiji or PetSmart returns (back when Brian worked there). These weren’t sick or untrainable pets; they were perfectly healthy animals whose owners weren’t prepared to care for them. We’ve also recently taken in two guinea pigs because the kids who "owned" them lost interest. And very soon, two young rabbits will be joining our rattery after being surrendered for the same reason. All of these animals had one thing in common: adults underestimated the work or financial commitment required, and the kids weren’t up to the task. The good-ish news? Brian & I are kind of (or totally, depending on how you look at it) insane, and have a hard time closing our door to pets in need.

Sometimes it gets even stranger. I had a buyer once ask me to “foster” their rats for an extended period because they needed to move. I get it, life happens. But here’s the thing: they bought the rats knowing their situation, then put the emotional weight back on me to keep their rats for them until they could reclaim them. Come on. That’s not fostering. That’s passing off responsibility.

I even emailed someone I sold rats to recently for an update. I was anticipating a response about their health or temperament. Their reply? “They’re great, but we wish we could give them back. They’re so much work, and the kids don’t help.” That is exactly what I’m talking about. Pets are not toys. They are living creatures with needs, personalities, and a right to consistent care.

Now, to be clear: sometimes people genuinely can’t keep their rats (or other pets) because of life changes... moving, finances, health, household changes. That is a valid reason to rehome a pet. But being overwhelmed because your kid won’t do the work? That is preventable. That is on you.

So here’s the takeaway: rats are amazing, kid-friendly companions, but they are not kid-owned pets. Buy them for yourself. Let your child help if they want to, but don’t fool yourself into thinking your small human can handle the responsibility of another life. Every small animal deserves better than that.