Sorraia
Well-Known Member
I've been out of the loop for so long now, I could not make any recommendations. Saying that, I do believe there ARE ethical, responsible breeders out there who ARE breeding for the betterment of our rats. The thing is, they are probably very few and very far between, and very possibly may be like I, and largely pulled out of the active rat scene due to politics and drama.
I bred rats for 10 years, and in that time I saw a lot of changes, not only in the rats I bred, but in the hobby itself. Over that time I DID see improvement. I stopped breeding over a year ago when I became pregnant. It was a hard decision, and it really hurt to give up all that progress I had made, but I felt, and still believe, it was the best decision for that time. I kept the rats I had, allowing them to live out their life. I just lost one of my last few girls a couple weeks ago. She was 29 months old, and the only health issue in her entire life was a slow-growing benign tumor she developed in the last month of her life. I have 2 girls left now. They are 27 months old and have had NO health problems of any kind. No respiratory problems, no sign of HED, no tumors, no uterine infections, no sign of CHF or anything else. Some will say I'm lying about that, and that's ok with me. I know the truth, I know what I see, and I have no reason to hide anything about my rats. I started working with the bloodlines these two girls came from in 2007. Those rats did have health problems. I did see respiratory infections, especially during times of stress. I did see tumors, at a rate of around 30-40%. I did see HED, a few rats even developed CHF. And during those 4 years from when I started working with those lines until these last girls were born, I saw a decrease in all of those issues. Complete elimination? No, but a great decrease. By the time I stopped breeding, respiratory infections and HED were rare, CHF was pretty much eliminated, and tumors had decreased to a rate of 10-20% and didn't even develop until 24 months or later. During that time I produced between 4 and 6 litters a year. I kept several babies from every litter, I started spaying and neutering pet-placed babies, and in the last year or so I was breeding I started keeping more and more of the babies. If I continued breeding, it is possible I could have seen even more improvement. I doubt I would have ever eliminated every issue, because that's simply not possible for a biological being, especially because many health issues are not simply genetic, but also strongly tied to the environment. But I could have seen greater improvement.
I only say this because I know there are people out there who believe breeders never do any good. The majority of breeders out there may simply be producing more of the same rats, I merely want to show there are breeders, however rare, who are working to improve rats and who have been successful.
I bred rats for 10 years, and in that time I saw a lot of changes, not only in the rats I bred, but in the hobby itself. Over that time I DID see improvement. I stopped breeding over a year ago when I became pregnant. It was a hard decision, and it really hurt to give up all that progress I had made, but I felt, and still believe, it was the best decision for that time. I kept the rats I had, allowing them to live out their life. I just lost one of my last few girls a couple weeks ago. She was 29 months old, and the only health issue in her entire life was a slow-growing benign tumor she developed in the last month of her life. I have 2 girls left now. They are 27 months old and have had NO health problems of any kind. No respiratory problems, no sign of HED, no tumors, no uterine infections, no sign of CHF or anything else. Some will say I'm lying about that, and that's ok with me. I know the truth, I know what I see, and I have no reason to hide anything about my rats. I started working with the bloodlines these two girls came from in 2007. Those rats did have health problems. I did see respiratory infections, especially during times of stress. I did see tumors, at a rate of around 30-40%. I did see HED, a few rats even developed CHF. And during those 4 years from when I started working with those lines until these last girls were born, I saw a decrease in all of those issues. Complete elimination? No, but a great decrease. By the time I stopped breeding, respiratory infections and HED were rare, CHF was pretty much eliminated, and tumors had decreased to a rate of 10-20% and didn't even develop until 24 months or later. During that time I produced between 4 and 6 litters a year. I kept several babies from every litter, I started spaying and neutering pet-placed babies, and in the last year or so I was breeding I started keeping more and more of the babies. If I continued breeding, it is possible I could have seen even more improvement. I doubt I would have ever eliminated every issue, because that's simply not possible for a biological being, especially because many health issues are not simply genetic, but also strongly tied to the environment. But I could have seen greater improvement.
I only say this because I know there are people out there who believe breeders never do any good. The majority of breeders out there may simply be producing more of the same rats, I merely want to show there are breeders, however rare, who are working to improve rats and who have been successful.
