Hello and a couple questions ^_^

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K

Kate_44

Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2013
Messages
10
Location
Canada
Hi,
I'm new to the site and saying hello! ^_^
My questions are:
I'm about to get my first rat in many years. The previous ones I had were males, this time I would like a female. I would like to breed her once, as I can not afford to have her spayed, and I'm hoping that may lessen her chances of mammary tumors. Here is the first question; Will she be ok living on her own until she is old enough to breed? I know they like to be in pairs but I didn't want her having babies at to young of an age.
Question 2:
I live in Sudbury ONT, I know supporting pet stores is not the preferred method. I would like a very young female and am trying to figure out where to get her? I am uneasy using kijiji as well as just like in a pet store I don't know the rats history.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kat
 
Welcome to the forums.

There is no need to breed her... They can have huge litters of babies, will you be able to find good home for all of them? It's irresponsible to breed any animal that you know nothing about. No one should breed unless they know all the background, lineage and genetic information. None of which you would have. If you don't have the funds to spay her, you don't have the funds to pay for an c-section if she needs it.

She NEEDS to have a friend. You need to wait to breed her until she is about a year old, to make sure she is ready and to determine her personality and any health problems. She cannot be alone for 10 months. She would become depressed and could become aggressive. Why does she have to be alone? Just get another female friend for her. It's very simple.

I have rats from pet stores and while people don't like to support pet stores, those rats need homes to. I personally see nothing wrong with it. I also have rescues. I'm sure someone else will post if there is a rat rescue in the area. There are 4 options: Pet Store, Breeder, Rescue, Rehome (Kijiji).

I have 19 females, none of them are spayed.
 
Thanks for the reply!
Yes I know they can have huge litters, I have worked with lab rats, I think our record litter was 28 pups. I do know about rats, but I can always learn more ^_^. I had not thought of the C-section tho, thanks for that warning. We had never run into a c-section at work. That's why i was asking if there are any known good lineages in my area, to get background and genetic info ^_~.

Ah k, that's what I was worried about if I wanted to pair her with a male, it would be to long of a wait. I had not wanted a second female only if I was going to breed her as I didn't want to accidentally end up with two pregnant females ^^.

Humm, k, I will continue to look into the options in the area.

Do you find your unspayed females get mammary tumors often? I read that everywhere, so its a little unnerving.

Thanks again for all the info! ^_^
 
I can give you 16 faces why you shouldnt breed them and that is just the current litter that I took in. I could give you a ton more that were displaced to my home when their owners couldnt care or didnt care about them anymore.
There are tons of rescues that would adopt and could use the help more than bringing more babies into the world.

Spaying a girl greatly reduces her risk of tumors I believe by like 85 or 95% it is a huge drop in the chance of her getting them. Babies are great but there are far to many that need homes.

Welcome to the forum....
 
Welcome to the shack. The SPCA has two little girl rats available. They're 2 months old. I hope you change your mind about breeding. There are always too many rats needing rescue in the Sudbury area.
 
Thank you all for the responses.

Is it just as expensive to neuter a male rat? I have not looked into this yet as I was looking at females.

Please do not think badly of me. I posted here before getting a rat/rats and asked these questions so I would have all the info. I work with animals, I know all to well that there are far to many animals out there that are in need of homes, hence why I asked before doing so.

Mamarat- I have added you to friends, is this ok? You are in my area so I was hoping to have you as a contact ^_^. Edit: The spca, do you off hand know how much it costs to adopt rats from them? Edit 2: Thought of something else lol. Do you know if any of the pet stores in Sudbury are trustworthy to buy rats from?

Should I just not get a rat/rats if I cant spay her?
 
It's 10 dollars a rat there. Neutering is cheaper but still about 200 dollars a rat. You don't have to spay but in the long run it is beneficial to your girl. Only a few of mine got tumours. Yes I'm happy to be a friend.
 
Hi! I'm from your area as well. I've adopted from the SPCA several times, they used to be $10 each.

A little bit about Sudbury rats, the genetics here are not good. The males all seem to end up needing neuters because they tend to be aggressive. I really don't recommend breeding Sudbury rats. Even the males from Science North ended up needing neuters and were very sickly. :(
Also, a rat having a litter does not at all reduce her risk of mammary tumours.
You have some time to save up for a spay, anytime is beneficial, the younger the better of course but even if you wait a few months, it's still quite good for them. The best vet in our city is at the Lasalle Animal Clinic, but it is expensive so saving for a vet fund would be a good idea.
 
Should you not get a rat... no many people can't afford to spay their girls. They hope for the best and sometimes by the time they get a tumour if they do could be a year down the road at which time you might have the money then for a tumour removal and spay.
For unspayed females, I recommend a rat block containing soy. Also no sugar and low fat. :thumbup:
 
Its only $10?! Really? Last time I was there the rat they had was $120. Im going to have go check them out ^_^. If they are gone should I trust the pet stores here?
 
Thank you jorats ^_^ Can I add you to friend as well?
Yes I have heard that the genetics are not good. I actually work at Science North and may have worked with those boys, I'm sorry they ended up sickly. And Lasalle is the clinic I take my pets to ^_^. Is soy really ok? I thought it had estrogen in it and could lead to tumors @_@ gah my info is off.

Edit: Sorry another question lol. Do dumbo rats have anything I should worry about? Or the same basic things as a hooded rat. Should I risk getting a dumbo in sudbury?
 
You can certainly add me as a friend. :)

Soy has phytoestrogen which will jump in the place of estrogen to their binders. The phytoestrogens don't promote tumours as much as estrogen would. For spayed females, you remove the estrogen, so you don't want to add anymore but with unspayed females, you want the phytoestrogen taking the place of the true estrogen. It's a small wee benefit.
Dumbo rats are the same as any rat, except maybe for that cute factor. lol

Pet store rats are not ideal because most come form a central rat mill... the conditions are horrid. Oh and the worst place in town is PJ's reptile place. I've heard of several people having very sick rats from there.
There seems to always be a few on Kijiji. Have you checked there?
 
Welcome to the Rat Shack!

You'll want to avoid pet stores, because they often sell females who are pregnant. I knew at least two people who bought two girls and ended up with 30 rats when the girls gave birth a week or so later.

The SPCA rats will have been checked over. Good luck. You were smart to do some research before getting rats -- such a steep learning curve, I found.
 
Ah! Cool! ^_^ I will be sure to get a rat block with soy then.
Oh I know all to well about BJ's. I went in there when it was in Chemy, and the first animal i saw was dead in its cage. I never went back and warn people off when ever I can.
I will keep checking Kijiji, there were none last time I looked but that changes fast. ^_^
Thanks!
And thanks Godmother as well ^_^.

Edit: If I adopted a rat and changed its name, would the rat notice? Do they respond to their names?
 
I doubt they would notice. Out of all of mine rats only two respond to their names. The rest, including the boys, respond to "hey girllies" that I saw in a high pitched voice. My girls Ainslie and Amelia (aka Mealie) respond to their names but that's it. I don't think it'd be an issue. They don't know it's their name, just a sound that leads to attention or treat :)
 
I've changed their names many times and they do end up learning to come to their new names. For all pets, names are just sounds, they learn by repetition and reinforcement. Give them a new name and treat them when you do, they will learn the new name super fast.
 
Awesome ^_^ Thanks, good to know. I'm going to go try to meet the rats at the spca (if they are still there) tonight.
 

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