Big Apple Rattery

I often hear that people want to breed their rats and although I hate to sound like your average nagging breeder (because im not) I must ask why theyd like to breed and briefly go over what it takes to run a successful breeding program. And so I decided to dedicate a page about this topic since it comes up fairly often.

As a breeder you are responsible for producing healthier, friendlier and longer lived rats than your previous generations. All breeders should be striving to improve our current lines as a lot of them are being tarnished by breeders who breed for other reasons. Below is a few things to think about before you decide to breed.

~ Rats arent like puppies which sell themselves. A breeder may have to wait some time before they have a decent sized waiting list so they can pair any rats up. Remember in less than a month you could have 17+ babies to find homes for!

~When there are a few breeders in one area it becomes too hard to find homes for everyone. There really isnt a need to have a dozen breeders in the same state.

~ If you do end up breeding please think about what varieties, colors and markings youd like to work with and stick to them. Choose one or two specialties and work on them before you start on others. Youll find that theres so much to improve in just one or two lines, let alone several.

~Try to keep things on a small scale (this is easier said than done) cause your going to want to keep every cutie out there. Of course with every litter there will be a goal or two and so youll want to hold on to one or two babies so you can keep improving your lines (it doesnt make sense just to breed for the hell of it).

~Youll have to get rid of at least some of your retired adults which is very hard when youve grown attached to them, but you know you need to rehome them because you wont have enough cage space for everyone, nor do you want to over crowd or neglect anyone.

~You have to have room for cages. At the bare minimum youll need a cage for adult females and one for adult males. Another cage for young males that cannot go in with the adults just yet but cant be with any females so to get anyone pregnant (young females can usually be placed with adults as females arent as territorial). Then youll need two smaller cages or tanks for litters. Lets not forget a Quarantine cage too!

~Theres a high food bill to look forward to. These little guys sure can eat! (and they usually eat better than us)

~Veterinary fees can be expensive since they are considered exotics and youll have to find a Vet that works with rats.

~Youll constantly be cleaning cages. (NOT FUN)

~Breeders do not make much if any profit after they calculate their expenses to care for their animals.

~You have to spend time on your website, taking pictures and uploading them. (I actually like this part but it does take time)

~Speaking to/screening potential adopters is something else youll have to do all the time, informing them and answering the same questions over and over :)

~All breeders have to know that there will very likely come a time that babies will have to be handfed, some babies may die on you and other may come out with diabilities, or you may lose a mother during the pregnancy or birth.

So there is truly a lot to be thought about. I dont mean to deter anyone, I just want everyone to be aware of the responsibilty, time, patience, work and heartache that breeding entails. Breeding is much more work than fun!