Pet rat welfare in the United Kingdom: The good, the bad and the ugly.

Background: To date, despite the substantial literature investigating how rats prefer to be kept in captivity, no research has been conducted to assess the housing, husbandry and health of pet rats.

Methods: To better understand the United Kingdom's pet rat population and the welfare issues they face, we conducted an online survey of pet rat owners. The survey included questions about the owner and their opinions about pet rats, and about their rats' health, husbandry and housing.

Results: The results, from 677 complete responses, highlighted areas of rat care that were "good", "bad" and "ugly" (i.e. likely to be highly detrimental to welfare). The good was that many rats were provided with a social companion and enrichment; the bad was that we could not be certain whether rats had a sufficiently nutritious diet or sufficient opportunities to explore or adequate nesting substrate; and the ugly included cases of exposure of rats to predator species within the home and a generally high prevalence of disease.

Conclusions: We conclude that there is much cause for concern about the welfare of pet rats in the United Kingdom.