Traveling with pet rat to France

[elsie]

My husband and I are moving to France in a few months, and I would like to take my pet rat with me. I have mostly figured out what I need to get him into France, but I'm still confused about how to get him there via the airlines!

Of course I will eventually call all the airlines that have direct flights from my city to Paris, but so far the information has been confusing. So, I was wondering if anyone out there has had experience bringing a small pet like a rat, mouse, hamster, rabbit, etc, to Europe.

From what I can tell, it won't be possible to bring him in the cabin, simply because he is a rat. However, I'm worried about sending him in cargo, as I've heard it can get very cold down there (despite being "temperature regulated") and I think he'd be very scared.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!!

[Jerry]

Re: Traveling with pet rat to France

The challange is to find an airline that will transport them. Airlines do not allow pet rats in the cabin of the aircraft and most will not accept them as checked baggage due to concerns over the safety of the rat. You will have better luck speaking with the air cargo department of the same airline you are flying. they are most accustomed to dealing with exotic animals. The pet would travel on the same flight as you do and in a special section of the cargo hold where the temperature and pressure are the same as in the cabin. The original writer of this blog found the following information on France's regulations which may be of value to others. The information for France I found here:
[url]http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article783[/url]. Second 2 covers domestic
pet rodents, and includes a link to a PDF with the required health
certificate.

Jerry