What Do I Breed and Why These Varieties?
I am breeding Red Eye Siamese, Black and Mink in both top ear and dumbo.
It is also likely I may get Blue Point Siamese, Russian Blue, Chocolate and Roan. There is potential for Coffee and Russian Dove, though highly unlikely and not to standard.
I was offered my foundation rats from an NFRS registered breeder who lives local to me. While anyone who knows me knows my dream varieties are Badger (Black) and Red Eye Marten, there are few breeders of them and none all that close to me. I decided to take the opportunity as it felt right. I have a good relationship with the breeder and love their rats. If for some reason I can't use one of my rats, or I don't get any useable kittens, there are related rats I can use rather than having to outcross. They also know their rats/lines well so can advise on my kittens better than if it was someone else's rats. Having someone close by who I can time my pairings with should anything go wrong is incredibly valuable.
I hope to be able continue these two lines when the opportunity for my dream varieties comes up!
Breeding Goals
My primary focus will be on well built rats that are healthy and have good temperaments. I am confident I can achieve this with my foundation rats as they have all been receiving great feedback at shows, with everyone being noted as having good type and condition, and one also winning 4th Best Pet and "Most Confident" at her first show!
What's the Difference Between an Ethical Breeder and a Backyard Breeder?
Put simply, and ethical breeder is someone who is breeding for the betterment of the species and not to fulfil demand of pet homes. A backyard breeder is someone who breeds to supply pets and typically does it as cheaply as possible in order to make money.
An ethical breeder will utilise resources such as the NFRS and/or other societies, they will engage with other breeders and the wider rat fancy and will usually show their rats in order to get feedback on their health and temperament. They will know as much of the genetics of their rats as possible and will know what possible outcomes to expect from their pairings. An ethical breeder may have multiple varieties, they will usually be from different lines, or if one line carries a lot of colours, they will be working towards a certain goal, not just continually breeding rats at random.
Most ethical breeders will pair rats about twice a year, give or take, and depending on how many lines they have. Numbers in litters can vary but it can often be a 6-12 month wait for any to be available. They will have conversations with you and discuss your care, set up and other things such as how you plan to pay for vet bills. They will be open about any known health issues in their lines and health issues you can expect from rats generally. They will be willing to advise and will ask to be updated on any health or behavioural issues and when the rats die.
A backyard breeder will not do this. They don't engage in the fancy or seek advice. They will often have a rainbow of rats, may not know which rat gave birth to which babies and couldn't tell you what colours or markings they expect. They home their rats out young - sometimes just after weaning - and may be hesitant to provide a birthday/age. They will have rats ready immediately or imminently when you message to ask about them and will ask little to no questions or be informed about appropriate care. Their rats will likely be scared, unsocialised and prone to illness despite them being adamant their rats have no health problems ever. Some unethical breeders will run facebook groups and at first glance appear to be a good rattery- they may well take updates from homes and have application forms/wait lists/questions about care, but they will be lower standard than ethical breeders. These breeders usually breed unethical varieties such as harley or hairless.
What About "Adopt Don't Shop?
Many people believe in the ethos "Adopt Don't Shop". Adopting/Rescuing is a great thing to do, but it isn't possible for everyone and it doesn't solve the problem of animals being in rescue in the first place.
The overwhelming majority of rats in rescue are from pet shops or backyard breeders (see above). Ethical breeders will always take their rats back or help you find a new home, thus it is incredibly unlikely that an ethically bred rat will end up in a rescue, therefore, ethical breeders are not adding to the problem of rats in rescue. Many ethical breeders also take in rats from rescues as do many of their pet homes.
If ethically bred rats aren't going into rescues, and the breeders themselves and those who home from them are also sourcing from rescues, then clearly they aren't the problem, the pet shops and backyard breeders are. The surest way to cease the sale of animals in pet shops and backyard breeders is to cease purchase of them. Supply and demand. If there's no demand, they won't supply. But the people who are buying from them are doing so either out of ignorance or out of impatience for the long wait lists and unwillingness to travel to the nearest breeder who could be hours away. We can do our best to educate people on how bad rodent mills are and how much better ethically bred rats are to keep, but ultimately even educated people don't want to wait. The best we can do is have more ethical breeders around to hopefully cover more areas and cut wait times so people will source through us instead.
I am breeding Red Eye Siamese, Black and Mink in both top ear and dumbo.
It is also likely I may get Blue Point Siamese, Russian Blue, Chocolate and Roan. There is potential for Coffee and Russian Dove, though highly unlikely and not to standard.
I was offered my foundation rats from an NFRS registered breeder who lives local to me. While anyone who knows me knows my dream varieties are Badger (Black) and Red Eye Marten, there are few breeders of them and none all that close to me. I decided to take the opportunity as it felt right. I have a good relationship with the breeder and love their rats. If for some reason I can't use one of my rats, or I don't get any useable kittens, there are related rats I can use rather than having to outcross. They also know their rats/lines well so can advise on my kittens better than if it was someone else's rats. Having someone close by who I can time my pairings with should anything go wrong is incredibly valuable.
I hope to be able continue these two lines when the opportunity for my dream varieties comes up!
Breeding Goals
My primary focus will be on well built rats that are healthy and have good temperaments. I am confident I can achieve this with my foundation rats as they have all been receiving great feedback at shows, with everyone being noted as having good type and condition, and one also winning 4th Best Pet and "Most Confident" at her first show!
What's the Difference Between an Ethical Breeder and a Backyard Breeder?
Put simply, and ethical breeder is someone who is breeding for the betterment of the species and not to fulfil demand of pet homes. A backyard breeder is someone who breeds to supply pets and typically does it as cheaply as possible in order to make money.
An ethical breeder will utilise resources such as the NFRS and/or other societies, they will engage with other breeders and the wider rat fancy and will usually show their rats in order to get feedback on their health and temperament. They will know as much of the genetics of their rats as possible and will know what possible outcomes to expect from their pairings. An ethical breeder may have multiple varieties, they will usually be from different lines, or if one line carries a lot of colours, they will be working towards a certain goal, not just continually breeding rats at random.
Most ethical breeders will pair rats about twice a year, give or take, and depending on how many lines they have. Numbers in litters can vary but it can often be a 6-12 month wait for any to be available. They will have conversations with you and discuss your care, set up and other things such as how you plan to pay for vet bills. They will be open about any known health issues in their lines and health issues you can expect from rats generally. They will be willing to advise and will ask to be updated on any health or behavioural issues and when the rats die.
A backyard breeder will not do this. They don't engage in the fancy or seek advice. They will often have a rainbow of rats, may not know which rat gave birth to which babies and couldn't tell you what colours or markings they expect. They home their rats out young - sometimes just after weaning - and may be hesitant to provide a birthday/age. They will have rats ready immediately or imminently when you message to ask about them and will ask little to no questions or be informed about appropriate care. Their rats will likely be scared, unsocialised and prone to illness despite them being adamant their rats have no health problems ever. Some unethical breeders will run facebook groups and at first glance appear to be a good rattery- they may well take updates from homes and have application forms/wait lists/questions about care, but they will be lower standard than ethical breeders. These breeders usually breed unethical varieties such as harley or hairless.
What About "Adopt Don't Shop?
Many people believe in the ethos "Adopt Don't Shop". Adopting/Rescuing is a great thing to do, but it isn't possible for everyone and it doesn't solve the problem of animals being in rescue in the first place.
The overwhelming majority of rats in rescue are from pet shops or backyard breeders (see above). Ethical breeders will always take their rats back or help you find a new home, thus it is incredibly unlikely that an ethically bred rat will end up in a rescue, therefore, ethical breeders are not adding to the problem of rats in rescue. Many ethical breeders also take in rats from rescues as do many of their pet homes.
If ethically bred rats aren't going into rescues, and the breeders themselves and those who home from them are also sourcing from rescues, then clearly they aren't the problem, the pet shops and backyard breeders are. The surest way to cease the sale of animals in pet shops and backyard breeders is to cease purchase of them. Supply and demand. If there's no demand, they won't supply. But the people who are buying from them are doing so either out of ignorance or out of impatience for the long wait lists and unwillingness to travel to the nearest breeder who could be hours away. We can do our best to educate people on how bad rodent mills are and how much better ethically bred rats are to keep, but ultimately even educated people don't want to wait. The best we can do is have more ethical breeders around to hopefully cover more areas and cut wait times so people will source through us instead.
