I breed rats for the last 17 years. It’s always been a matter of breeding for pets and never for feeders. My rats are all pedigreed, I’ve been working with the same consistent bloodlines at this point since 2001. Previous bloodlines have needed to be ended for health issues (the rats’, not mine!), or because of a crazy ex-husband.
Since 2005, I’ve also been showing, and doing fairly well in the local show clubs. I write an informative blog and am active in the local club as secretary for the last 6 years, and write a lot of articles and whatnot. I’ve mentored 2 other breeders, and am currently mentoring a third.
I love these little animals. They’re just amazing, beautiful and intelligent, surprisingly clean, really social, and since temperament is very inheritable, the rats I produce now are worlds ahead of the ones I started out with back in the 90s. I’m always shocked when people would rather get a guinea pig, gerbil or hamster for their kids than a rat, but that’s what uninformed prejudice does I guess!
Oooh. I love rats and just decided to buy 2 or 3 (same sex of course). How serendipitous. I have a cage that could comfortably house 2-3 rabbits or ferrets.
Are females more tempered than males?
Even after they’ve overcome they’re initial apprehension, will they continue to pee on things if I let them out of the cage, or will they return to the cage for such activities?
Do those vitamin supplements work and are they necessary?
In previous experiences, I’d buy the expensive rat diet with many types of food and grain, but they only seemed to eat a few of the types, the ones they liked I’m sure. Should I not fill the bowl until they eat the other stuff, or just throw that stuff away because they never are going to eat it? I don’t want them starving because they don’t like their food, though I reckon they’ll eat anything if they’re very hungry. And I don’t want to just feed them those boring lab blocks.
I don’t really want to go to PetSmart, the only local pet store. Do you know where I could obtain rats from a professional breeder close to St. Louis, Southern Illinois? Is it OK to go to petsmart? How about an independent pet store? Is it OK to ship a rat? Doesn’t seem so, but I know even rat lovers do it.
Thanks for the thread!
It’s the lack of a furry tail and all the creepy movies that ruin it for the rats. If they’d just start turning down those Hollywood contracts…
What are the main medical issues you’ve faced with your rats?
I’m contemplating apartment friendly pets, and I love how personable rats are but the horror stories I’ve heard about health and longevity issues scare me a bit.
Do you have hundreds of adorable pictures of rats with their little ratty faces and little ratty paws? please say yes.
I love rats. They’re so ratty. If a person wanted to get a nice rat for a pet, what’s the best way to go about it? For dogs, I’d go to a breeder or the shelter; cats, a cat rescue or the shelter; rats…? I mean I see them at the Petsmart, but I assume that’s the most horrible way to buy a rat.
How do you deal with the fact that they almost never make it to three years and usually die rather awfully? This is why I don’t keep rats any more. They are lovely pets, by far the best rodent to keep and just as much personality and intelligence as my dogs and cats… but my dogs and cats will live at least 8x longer and with better health.
Yay!! What a wonderful idea for a thread! I will be reading this with great interest. I four little girls, and they really are a joy. No questions (yet!) but I can’t wait to read your answers.
Make sure your bar spacing is less than an inch! Otherwise they’ll get out until they’re grownups! And I always recommend a trio, that way when you lose one, the other won’t be totally alone grieving, and you can get another pair of youngsters to fold into the colony.
More tempered… females are certainly more active, a little more spazzy, more in the running-around-finding-everything mode than males. Most males hit about 6 months and they become couch potatoes, LOL. You can literally sit there with them on your lap and perfectly happy. Girls are better at riding your shoulder like a parrot, too.
It’s the goolies most people don’t like about the males
They will always let out little droplets as they run around - both sexes - but most of them will prefer to return to the cage to have a full pee.
No and no. If your rats are eating a balanced diet, they should be getting what they need from their food. And you should never ever add anything to their water, medicine or otherwise.
Feed the boring lab blocks Seriously, those seed mixes are terrible. They’re mostly filler of things rats won’t eat (millet and alfalfa pellets :mad:) and fatty things like sunflower seeds, not to mention being very prone to mold.
Harlan Teklad lab blocks retails under the name Native Earth. You can get it at Petfooddirect.com or sometimes you can get your local store to order you a bag. Their Sani-chips are also hands-down the best and cleanest bedding I’ve ever used. A bag of Harlan will last the average pet owner 6 months or so, especially if you freeze your excess. There’s no reason not to feed them the most balanced diet you can - but DON’T feed Kaytee or LM blocks, those are total shite. Oxbow and Mazuri blocks are also good.
Do not go to a pet store. Those rats are all mill-bred in terrible conditions, shipped out young, and no attention is paid to their environment or genetics. Independent pet stores can be just as bad, or worse - and no one who cares about the animals they’re producing would let them be sold at a pet store.
Shipping a rat by post is illegal. The only way to ship them is if you are ordering lab rats from a source, or flying them like you might get a show puppy from across the country, and it is PHENOMENALLY expensive.
Luckily, I know several really good folks in the area. You may have to wait a bit for babies - good breeders generally only produce a 8 or so litters a year, so there’s a wait - but it will be worth it! I’ll PM you
But, but… Ratatouille!
I specialize in Russian Cinnamon, Dove and Black Satin. I don’t like Dumbos aesthetically, and it’s VERY hard to get a good Dumbo ear, but I do have Dumbo in my bloodlines, so it pops up. I get a lot of Russian Blue in the rattery because it’s the basis of Russian Cinnamon and Dove.
Manx, dwarf and hairless are bad mutations, not beneficial, and so I would never breed them. Dumbo, rex, colors, those are all harmless, but those three cause actual physical harm to the animal in the name of being “cute.” Manx is a form of spina bifida, and often leads to at least some babies in the litter being born with deformed pelvises or open spines. Rats also need their tails for balance and heat regulation.
I’ve actually got 6 cats now Cats learn in pretty short order to leave domestic rats alone, because they’re generally not afraid of them. Rats will bite feet and noses poked through their bars where the cats can’t reach them, and when let loose (and closely supervised!!) together, my rats usually chase the cats around biting their feet, so the cats generally avoid my rats.
Yeah, the longevity thing is hard. 2 years is the average lifespan of a breeder rat. Most of mine have been making it up to 32 months. Petstore rats average 15-18 months. I do necropsies on all my dead rats (in tandem with my vet and several vet techs) in an effort to really get a handle on their health issues and whether or not it’s likely to pass on.
Really though, the truth is, rats die at 2 years, and they either suffocate from respiratory disease or they die of cancer. That’s really the bottom line, and there’s no way around it. Domestic rats have an endemic pneumonia virus (mycoplasma pulmosis) and when their little systems get stressed, it eats up more and more of their lung capacity.
Their little lives are so bright and so wonderful though, they make the most of the time they have, and I try to do the same and just appreciate how great they are right now, rather than think about how soon they’ll be leaving me.
You can get them at animal shelters sometimes, and there are a few good rescues out there that take in abandoned rats (Mainley Rat Rescue will put together a “train” to move rats to other states to get them to new homes.) You might be able to find a rescue in your area, or call your local shelter and tell them you’re interested if they get any ratrs in.
It’s hard. I won’t lie, there’s been lots of times when one of my favorites passes on, or a young rat goes unexpectedly, and it just breaks my heart. But they’re too wonderful to pass up, for me at least. They make it worthwhile.
And to be honest, it’s easier as a breeder, because you have a bit of a mentality after 17 years. You know what their life cycle is, you accept it as part of the same circle that brings new babies, and you build up little callouses to deal with it. I’ve had some folks who’ve been adopting from me every 2 years since I started, and a few who’ve dropped out because they can’t handle the lifespan.
Harlan Teklad lab blocks, plus an assortment of fresh food like brown rice, green leafy veg, oysters, carrots, hard boiled eggs, fruit slices, and whatever else I decide to throw in there
How housebroken are most rats?
Our ratties, unlike the mice, have very clear and definite ideas about where to poo (inside the cage) and where not to poo (everywhere else). We didn’t train them or anything- they just did it on their own. I was wondering if this is a general rat thing, or if we just have neat freaks.
Also, they haven’t done the pee droplet thing since the first few days we got them. Totally housebroken.
Are non-breeding stock male rats neutered? I mean, I’m sure they can be, and it’s sort of industry standard for most other common mammalian pets (in the US at least), but is there any reason to do it, or not do it, with rats?
This may sound tangential, but for the past decade I’ve had an enormous phobia of rodents. I’m wondering if you’ve ever had to deal with folks in the same boat, and if there’s some sort-of advice or desensitization you can recommend?
Are there some kinds of people food that rats shouldn’t eat, like chocolate for dogs or onions for cats?
Is spaying and neutering common for rats, like it is for dogs and cats?
Do you recommend pet rats for homes with small children? If not, what ages of children do you think don’t mix well with rats? Or is it that baby rats don’t always do well with small children, but adult rats can defend themselves? (I have heard people say things like this about kittens and puppies)
Are there some dog breeds that you don’t recommend pet rats in the same home with? I have heard that some breeds of dogs are ratters.
Seriously, those seed mixes are terrible. They’re mostly filler of things rats won’t eat (millet and alfalfa pellets :mad:) and fatty things like sunflower seeds, not to mention being very prone to mold.
