for all of those panicking, rat breeding is not at all like dog breeding - in order to keep a line going we have to have a litter at least every six months. Responsible breeders feeel rats reach sexual maturity at about 4 to 6 months of age. In actual fact they can start having babies at 5-6 weeks however, no good breeder would breed from them at that age.

At about 4-6 months, if the rat in question is in excellent health, has a shining temperament and is to standard at least to a decent degree (or if not to standard, can be used to make babies that *are* to standard to some extent) then they may be bred from. They are only bred from once, a maximum of twice - if they are really happy with having al itter, and make fab mums - it's very rare that we choose to put a rat through two litters - unless they really seemed to enjoy it

When you think of the longevity of rats, having this many litters really isn't many There are the odd few breeders who have less - and many who have many many more. Sadly there are also the back yard type breeders who have many many many many more than any of us would ever agree with - as in constant back to back litters etc

My first litter was in October 2006 In that time all of my rats have only had one litter - however, Venus (last litter) was so excellent as a mum, and loved every minute of it, and is also such a fabulous addition to our lines, so we will be hopefully breeding her again in a month or so.

Also, each line of rats is like breeding a different breed of dog, you do rather need to keep them separate. You can mix them about a little, but it's not wise to do it too much. We have two lines of silvers going at the moment really (though made up of other lines... so it's more complex than that), we have our silver agoutis descended from Rivendell and Epiphany lines and our straight Russian Silvers descended from Alpha Centauri and Tenaran lines.

As for special requirements, yes, i certainly feel they do have special requirements. They eat like you would not believe! and it has to be so accurately measured as to what is good for them and bad for them, and at what times certain food is better than others - they are fed mainly on their dry mix but with everpresent high protein food. Chicken, fish, eggs, lactol and emp, porridge, kitten food, puppy food... the list is endless really! One of the nicest things about owning rats is feeding them! I can spend hours experimenting with dinners for them!

I do understand people's misgivings, so am more than happy to answer any questions - in fact, actively enjoy them! It must look terribly unethical to anyone who's not used to ethical breeding of small rodents - because if they were dogs, it would be awful the amount of litters we're having however, this is like dogs but 10x faster. In order to keep a line going at all, we need to be having a litter every 4-6 months minimum. In reality, we have a litter every 2-4 months roughly, as we have more than one line going

I also really strongly disagree with just having one litter - to make cute babies - if soemone isn't dedicated to improving a line in every aspect, they should not be breeding at all.

Hope that's answered a few questions?

xx

for all of those panicking, rat breeding is not at all like dog breeding - in order to keep a line going we have to have a litter at least every six months. Responsible breeders feeel rats reach sexual maturity at about 4 to 6 months of age. In actual fact they can start having babies at 5-6 weeks however, no good breeder would breed from them at that age.

At about 4-6 months, if the rat in question is in excellent health, has a shining temperament and is to standard at least to a decent degree (or if not to standard, can be used to make babies that *are* to standard to some extent) then they may be bred from. They are only bred from once, a maximum of twice - if they are really happy with having al itter, and make fab mums - it's very rare that we choose to put a rat through two litters - unless they really seemed to enjoy it

When you think of the longevity of rats, having this many litters really isn't many There are the odd few breeders who have less - and many who have many many more. Sadly there are also the back yard type breeders who have many many many many more than any of us would ever agree with - as in constant back to back litters etc

My first litter was in October 2006 In that time all of my rats have only had one litter - however, Venus (last litter) was so excellent as a mum, and loved every minute of it, and is also such a fabulous addition to our lines, so we will be hopefully breeding her again in a month or so.

Also, each line of rats is like breeding a different breed of dog, you do rather need to keep them separate. You can mix them about a little, but it's not wise to do it too much. We have two lines of silvers going at the moment really (though made up of other lines... so it's more complex than that), we have our silver agoutis descended from Rivendell and Epiphany lines and our straight Russian Silvers descended from Alpha Centauri and Tenaran lines.

As for special requirements, yes, i certainly feel they do have special requirements. They eat like you would not believe! and it has to be so accurately measured as to what is good for them and bad for them, and at what times certain food is better than others - they are fed mainly on their dry mix but with everpresent high protein food. Chicken, fish, eggs, lactol and emp, porridge, kitten food, puppy food... the list is endless really! (eta - forgot to add - LOADS of fresh veg - mainly kurly kale!) One of the nicest things about owning rats is feeding them! I can spend hours experimenting with dinners for them!

I do understand people's misgivings, so am more than happy to answer any questions - in fact, actively enjoy them! It must look terribly unethical to anyone who's not used to ethical breeding of small rodents - because if they were dogs, it would be awful the amount of litters we're having however, this is like dogs but 10x faster. In order to keep a line going at all, we need to be having a litter every 4-6 months minimum. In reality, we have a litter every 2-4 months roughly, as we have more than one line going

I also really strongly disagree with just having one litter - to make cute babies - if soemone isn't dedicated to improving a line in every aspect, they should not be breeding at all.

Hope that's answered a few questions?

xx