 |
 |
| To
accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only
plan but also believe ~ Anatole |
|
The infamous
article written by Gabe Edson of Blue Velvet Rattery.
Retrieved from the farthest depths of the internet ;) Copyright (c) 2003 Gabriel Edson
I get this question quite a bit from people who believe that, for one reason or another, they should breed their rats. People are usually surprised when my answer is a resounding NO. There are many, many rats in the world, and 99% of them are suitable to be great, loving and wonderful pets. But very few of them are suitable for serious breeding, and very few people understand that.
Ask Yourself These Questions:
Though you may think a rattery is a simple affair, the truth is that a good rattery is outrageously expensive and you will never, ever recoup the costs of your rattery by selling babies. The only way to make money by breeding and selling animals is to provide them with substandard housing, bedding, food and veterinary care. As an example, let me explain how much my own rattery costs: Housing Food Bedding Veterinary
Care Advertising New
Outcross Sale of
Rats As you can see, it is both challenging and very expensive to maintain these animals to a high standard of care!! If you're not able or willing to shoulder this cost, you should not be breeding!
If the answer is because you want more rats of your own, because you have a friend who wants a rat, because you want to see the miracle of life, or for money, those aren't good enough reasons. There are many reputable breeders out there from whom you can obtain those animals. In addition, a reputable and ethical rattery will never make money, only lose it, because the cost of caring properly for your rats far outstrips what you can charge for your ratlings. If you are breeding an animal, it should be because you love the animal and want to improve the species. You should first study the animal, learn all you can about their special needs, their illnesses, genetic diseases, what is hereditary and what is not, and their special husbandry needs. Then you need to seriously sit down and decide if you can afford to run a rattery (a pet rat isn't cheap - a whole colony can get ridiculous!) and if you have the time and energy to spare to really dedicate your efforts.
If you don't know the background of your breeding stock, then don't breed them without a very strong knowledge of genetics, a lot of time and dedication! Period! Pet store rats can be wonderful pets, and many are even healthy animals who live long, full lives. However, most pet store animals come from wholesalers whose only purpose is to breed as many rats as possible in a short time - for reptile food, pets and research, all in the same building. These animals are usually not treated with a standard of care that will ensure long, healthy lives, and they are often carelessly bred. And since they are sold so young and with no regard to family, you will never know if a rat they are related to exhibits signs of a serious genetic problem that your rat is silently carrying... a disease that will exhibit in the kittens you breed. The only time it is acceptable to breed a petstore rat is if you have a good grasp of genetics, if the rat has exhibited some outstanding trait you can't find anywhere else, and you are planning on keeping most or all of its litter in order to study the line into adulthood and beyond, harshly evaluating temperament, health and behavior.
While color and marking usually come at a distant third in the goals of reputable hobby breeders (after health, temperament and longevity) they can make a huge difference in your breeding scheme. Some types of rats - such as pearl, pearl-merle, hairless, odd-eye, tailless and blazed - can carry serious deformations in their lineage. The only way to know whether or not your own rats carry those deformities is to obtain your rats from a trusted, quality breeder who knows what is in their own lines. Careless breeders beget careless breeders - if careful records are not kept, you end up with dead kittens, young rats dying of bloat, rats with no glands and rats with open spinal cords. In addition, while all rats are lovely animals, some are more popular than others. While a Pink-Eyed White rat is just as capable of being the perfect pet as the best show-quality Blue Husky Rex Dumbo, people are more willing to buy the latter than the former. If your local population thinks of white rats as "lab rats," blacks and agoutis as "sewer rats," and black hoods as "feeder rats," you aren't going to be able to place those rats in good homes. Without a good handle on the genetics of rats, you could breed a Russian Blue to an American Blue rat... and end up, to your dismay, with a litter of blacks and not a single Blue.
In addition, it is not cheap to care for a sick rat. I had a single rat who, in the two and a half years she was with me, needed treatment for nine mammary tumors, and two mycoplasma infections - which cost me $300 over the course of her life. Treating my rattery for the recent outbreak of SDA cost me over $200. Every time a rat gets sick, it's my obligation to care for them... even if the care is to have them humanely euthanized (which is also not a cheap procedure.) If one of your breeding stock dies young, you are obliged to get a necropsy to determine if they died from an inheritable defect. Many vets don't know much about rats, surprisingly. It will be YOUR job to learn as much as you can about rats, then find a vet willing to learn and treat your animals with respect and skill.
If you cannot place your rats in good homes, it is your moral obligation to care for those rats until the end of their lives. Those rats were only born because of you, so you are responsible for their lives. It is not considered ethical by most rat clubs, organizations and individual breeders to sell your "culls" (imperfect rats you do not want to keep and rats you didn't manage to sell) to pet stores, wildlife sanctuaries, or for feeders. If you are caught doing it, it is likely that many breeders will stop dealing with you altogether and you will get a bad name. Usually, mother will have no problem with her babies... but if she does, your ignorance could cost her and her babies their lives. Again, since the breeding was done by you, you are responsible for the results.
Female rats should ideally be bred for the first time between 6 and 9 months of age; after one year, risks of complications rise. Many breeders to not breed females over one year old, and most will never force a female to bear more than three litters in her lifetime, with a couple of months to recuperate in between. Females should only be bred if they are in top condition, and then to older, top-conditioned male rats. Only rats who are friendly, robust, gentle and sweet (to other rats and to people) should be bred from. Rats who have had health difficulties with mycoplasma, asthma, or cancer; who are closely related to rat who have had health difficulties or genetic defects; or who have exhibited signs of extreme fear, nervousness, dislike of being handled or aggression, should never be bred from. If any of those questions stumped you or forced you to come up with an unsatisfactory answer, I beg you to reconsider breeding your rats. Rat breeding is a "holistic" venture, combining animal husbandry, artistry, a love of the species and a whole lot of work. In addition, it requires you to spend a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money. It costs your wallet, it costs your heart, and the only return that you will receive is if you have helped to improve the species for future pet-owners. No one should ever breed except for the purposes of improving the species:making their lifespans longer, their lives healthier, their temperaments better and maybe even improving their looks a little. The rat breeder must also be very committed, and willing to keep careful track of all of their animals in terms of genetics, health, longevity, and where the animals go. They must be committed to the health and well-being of their animals - no matter what the cost. They must also be committed to honesty, no matter what the opposition. There can sometimes be a conspiracy of silence around certain health defects, certain illnesses, and temperaments. If you breed a line that turns out to have a defect, you must let those buyers who obtained that line know! If you failed to quarantine and ended up with SDA or Sendai, you must let any rat people who have had contact with you know, and properly quarantine! A reputation for brutal honesty will get you further, in the long run, than a hidden agenda of lies.
If none of the above questions has dissuaded you, and you are convinced that you can be that kind of committed, knowledgeable breeder - fantastic! I have two recommendations for you: 1. Make sure that you buy your stock "Foundation" animals from at least two different, reputable breeders so that you have a nice, healthy outcross to start with. Make sure you get the pedigrees in hand the same day you buy the rat (I'm sorry to say it, but never trust someone to mail it to you - they usually don't) and try to get pedigrees that go back three-four generations. Question the breeders about the health of the line, ask to see parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces & nephews - whatever you can. Take a good look at the living conditions in the rattery - you are inheriting any problems that rattery currently has! 2. If you are impressed with the breeder you buy your stock from, ask them if they would mind mentoring you. If you can't find a local breeder willing to mentor you, ask on the internet. It can save you a TON of mistakes to be able to ask an experienced breeder for advice BEFORE you make that ill-advised breeding!
|
| © Copyright 2006 Dazzle Me Rattery.
All rights reserved. -- Designed By: FF Warpzone |