Hello. It’s been bought to my attention that as of lately, there has been an overwhelming surge in new owners mistakingly getting female rats when they planned to get males. Due to this, there has been a significant increase in pregnancy and accidental litters.

As a moderator, who cares deeply about animal welfare, I am asking that before you bring rats home, you double check, even triple check to ensure all your rats are the same sex. This is to prevent future pregnancies and accidental litters as we already have so many rats in need of homes and it’s becoming increasingly problematic, especially for shelters and rescues who are being over-flooded with intakes and are struggling to find good homes.

If you have recently been put in a situation where you have found out that your male rat is actually a female rat and has had contact with other males, more likely than not, your rat will be pregnant if she is over the age of 6 weeks. In this case, the best option is to spay-abort so she doesn’t have to go through the exhausting toll of pregnancy, which will also prevent the issue of you having to find homes for the babies once they have matured.

If you are a new owner and are unsure how to sex rats, the images listed above shows the difference between female and male genitalia. Use these images as your reference guides to sex your rats.

The differences between male and female rats:

Male rats do not have nipples and have a large distance between the penis and anus. If your rat is younger than 5 weeks old, the testicles may have not yet descended which might make the male look female.

Females rats have nipples, a small distance between the vagina and anus and an anogenital line.

*This post has been approved by admins for donation fundraising*

A Pint-Sized Rescue is a small exotic animal rescue based out of Portland, Oregon. The rescue has been serving the Pacific Northwest of the United States since April 2024. They have rescued nearly 150 animals and successfully placed into adoption 87 of those.

"Many of the animals that come through the rescue are in rough shape when they arrive, and they are often battling chronic illnesses due to extended neglect or lack of resources/knowledge from the previous owner(s). In June 2026, APSR, along with Little Critter Crew, stepped up to help Rat Way Sanctuary with a massive hoarding/neglect case. We ended up taking on 23 rats from that situation alone. This was in addition to animals already in our care.

Unfortunately, these precious little ones brought a very stubborn virus along with them – sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV). We have been working tirelessly to eradicate this virus, but it's been quite the process. This has included closing down all intakes and outgoing of any animals in our care, monitoring every individual closely (which we already do), working very closely with our veterinarian (who is one of the best in her their field), and sending samples off for real-time PCR testing in order to monitor the spread.

We are finally beginning to see infected numbers waining and believe we are close to being virus free (about darn tootin' time *insert exhausted face*). We are eager to see babies finally get the chance to be placed into forever homes where they can be spoiled just as they have always deserved.

Throughout this time, we have been battling some not-so-fun symptoms as the virus moved through all the rats in our care. One area that the SDA virus attacks, that is a bit different than other viruses, is the eyes. We currently have two little ones who were seen by our vet last week for abnormalities to their eyes. They were both confirmed to have eye lesions and have both been started on two different eye medications twice daily. The health, safety, and overall wellbeing of every animal in our care is our top priority, but this care does not come cheap.

For the first time in a long time, we have found our medical savings in the negatives. We are currently in the red by $625 (last updated September 14, 2026). One of the challenges of being a rescue is expressing the constant need for donations, because we know the economy isn't friendly for anyone right now. But as a rescue, community support is what makes everything we do for them possible. Without support from people like you, we wouldn't be able to do what we do for all the little ones." – APSR Director Katherine

If you would like to support the animals at A Pint-Sized Rescue and the work that they do, there are several different ways that you can help make a real difference:

• You can donate directly to the veterinary funds via Venmo/PayPal at apintsizedrescue.

• You can purchase APSR merchandise from the Bonfire account under A Pint-Sized Rescue, where every sale directly benefits the wellbeing of animals in the rescue.

• You can find the Amazon wishlists under the LinkTree link in the rescue's Facebook and Instagram bios where you can send needed and/or enrichment items to the animals in the rescue.

• You can follow A Pint-Sized Rescue on Instagram and Facebook, like, share/reshare, and comment on posts to help bring awareness to the rescue.

• And lastly, you can apply to foster or adopt from the rescue through the website at www.apintsizedrescue.org