Since this is my web page I've decided to write some articles on rats and rat behavior based on my own rat experieces. I have links on the main page that also have some great information, but I felt I need to put my own spin on some common rat issues.
How to find a Quality Breeder.
I have run into problems lately when trying to find quality rats to breed. There are so many points to rat keeping when it concerns breeding issues that just making more rats is not a good plan. I am compiling a list of questions every potential rat owner needs to ask thier breeder before purchasing.
1) What is the goal of the litter you are looking at adopting from? What is the overall goal for the breeder?
2) How many generations have you been working with the line? The pedigree should contain mostly the rattery initials you are adopting from in atleast the first 2 columns. (grandparents and parents) Otherwise they should tell you they are working on a new line and not take credit for the work of other breeders.
3) What has the health been for the past couple generations? This should be an easy question if the breeder owns parents and most, if not all, of the grandparents.
4) How many in the first 4 generations are still alive or how old when they died? I've been finding these number to be depressingly low from many of the highly bred and prized lines in the Pacific Northwest region and would urge anyone looking at new rats to consider how long they are prepared to keep rats vs. how long the ancestors typically live.
5) May I meet the parents? You can get a lot of information about what to expect from your new baby rat by meeting the parents. Plus the breeder should be able to show you how they keep the rats and offer future housing suggestions to new ratkeepers. I do not trust a rattery that doesn't allow visitors. I do, however, strongly urge you to follow any health precautions the breeders asks you to do or you may not be able to adopt from them again. They ask for those things to keep thier rats safe and not to be mean.
6) How many of your rats are from rescue? A breeder should not only take in thier own returned rats, but should work with rescue rats as well. There are so many rats in need that everyone should have a rescue rat or 2 in thier colony.
7) If you have no babies available, who do you recommend? This is always a difficult question for any breeder to answer. However, one of those answers should be a rescue that currently has young rats available. They also should recommend rats from ratteries they've used in their lines and trust based on the above questions.
A few notes on the things that make alarm bells go off in my head when I am looking at adopting a rat from a breeder.
1) Rat names. The rattery initals are the first part of the name usually 4 ltters long in all caps. You should find that a rattery has many rats with thier initials in thier care. If you don't keep your own babies how can you work to develope a healthy line?
2) I see a number of ratteries bragging about only breeding fully pedigreed rats. However, beware that fully pedigreed is NOT an excuse to be lazy and not keep track if issues in the offspring and littermates of your breeding rats. I would rather see a short pedigree and talk to the breeder about the health of the rats on it than a long on with more than 1 rat that died less than 20 months of age (except in extreme circumstances, like viruses). Just because they know names of rats being pretty doesn't make them healthy.
3) An 18 month old rat with chronic resperatory issues is NOT something you want to breed. Myco is a common bacteria and breeders should be working to breed more of the rats who show resistance to it.
4) Counter to that point, a 2.5+ year old rat that has had chronic myco issues for less than 3 months IS a good breeding candidate. Even in elderly humans the immune system wears down, and showing resistance for over 2 years is something I would like to see in all rats.
5) Many breeders have an adoption form they use to screen homes. I feel that it is just as important for the adoptor to screen breeders. This is going to be thier new friend for the next 2+ years as well as the breeder's baby.
Breeding is all about Breeder and Adoptor cooperation. Without the adoptors the breeders can't work on thier lines. At 10 pups a litter and 2 litters a year that is a lot of rats adding up. We all CAN keep them, but we like to share the joy of keeping rats and allow our rats the ability to have unrelated friends join them.