Many breeders do say they breed for health and temperament, but you have to ask, how many of them actually do this? It is most certainly POSSIBLE to breed for better health in rats, but it takes a LOT of work. Most breeders do not invest this kind of effort.
Remember: Anyone who puts two animals together can call themselves a breeder. This does NOT make them a good, responsible, reputable, ethical breeder. There is a HUGE difference between someone throwing two animals together to get cute babies and someone who works hard and invests a lot of time, money, and effort into their animals to ensure the best quality of care.
In my own personal experiences, pet store rats are not any healthier than rats from your average breeder. In fact, there are many breeders, as has already been stated, who use pet store rats. If that's the case, then there really isn't any difference except maybe the level of care the breeder is giving their rats versus what they receive at the pet store. In my experience, rats from breeders might be healthy, or they might not be, it depends on the breeder. I have had rats from a very well known (at least in my area) and well-reputed breeder that did not even make it to two years of age. One died from respiratory disease, one died mysteriously for no apparent reason, and the third died for no apparent reason after developing serious temperament issues. I have had rats from a less known breeder that lived to almost three years of age with NO health issues what-so-ever. I recently lost a descendant from those rats at 2.5 years of age. One sister of that rat still remains with me.
I personally, as a breeder, most certainly AM working hard to breed better rats. I keep track of ALL my rats. I email adopters periodically to find out how my rats are doing. I keep track of every baby I produce, when it dies, and any health or temperament complications that occur during life. There are certain colors I breed, but color is not the only thing, nor even the first thing I breed for. I work to breed healthy rats first of all. Any rat that develops health issues before its first breeding is NOT bred. Any rat that comes from parents that later develop health issues is bred with great caution, if at all (depending on what the health issues are and their liklihood of being inherited, as well as the health of other relatives). Any rats that come from a line that is known for health problems is NOT bred (in other words, that line is ended, right then and there, I don't care what color the rats are). I apply the same standards to temperament. I expect my males to be friendly and affectionate throughout their life, and to live peacefully in a community setting. I expect my females to be friendly and affectionate throughout their life, and to live peacefully in a community setting. What's more, I expect my females to allow me to handle their babies without any conditions. I do NOT want females that will bite while pregnant and nursing, in my opinion this is absolutely unacceptable. I also do not believe in the stereotypes that females are hyper and not affectionate. My females ARE affectionate, they love being handled, they love attention, and this is what I strive for. I expect the same of my males. To achieve these goals, I wait as long as I possibly can before breeding males. I wait until my females are at least six months of age (but not over eight months) before breeding them. My females are usually bred for one litter in their entire life, two if they are exceptional in one way or another. I rarely (if ever) have more than one litter at a time to ensure I am able to socialize all babies properly, and monitor their health from birth until placement (as well as monitor my other resident rats and take care of them). If I am unable to keep a litter, I do not breed another litter (I have never had to keep an entire litter, but I believe if I am going to produce a litter, I had better e able to guarantee each and every single one of those babies a home, even if it means it is staying with me). All of my rats are registered and kept updated with the NARR. After my babies are placed, I expect adopters to keep me updated, and if they do not keep me updated, I am not afraid to contact them. Very often I receive pictures of my grown-up babies to oggle over. Sometimes I see my grown-up babies at shows. (Speaking of shows, I also have a very strict quarantine set up. Any new rats are quarantined for a minimum of three weeks before introduction to my residents. Any rats that leave my rattery are quarantined a minimum of three weeks prior to return. Any rats out of my rattery that are to be shown are quarantined a minimum of three weeks prior to the show. Any adopter that does not have quarantine set up has the option of allowing me to quarantine for them at my quarantine home. Any rats sent to me by another breeder for breeding are NOT allowed to enter my rattery, instead they are sent to my quarantine where they will meet the stud, who is then left in quarantine for a minimum of three weeks prior to return to my rattery.)
One thing to keep in mind is that health CAN be connected to conformation as well. This is by no means "proven" without a doubt, but there is evidence for it. I have seen reports that rats with longer and skinnier heads tend to be more prone to sinus infections and allergies (thus show standards call for a shorter, broader head which appears to be less prone to such issues). Rats with a smooth, racy appearance through the back and hip seem to be less prone to hind-end degeneration (thus that is the appearance show standards call for). A rat with bigger bone just generally looks healthier than a rat that's skinny, and light-built. I breed for conformation as a close second to general health and temperament. When choosing a pair, I look for animals that are well built and complement each other. When picking the keepers out of my litter, I look for those rats that are best built (not necessarily those with the prettiest, most popular color). I start planning pairs when the babies are born. I modify those plans as necessary until the rats are mature and ready for breeding.
Color is the LAST thing I breed for. I have produced litters of almost entirely black rats because that would otherwise improve and accomplish my goals. Sometimes I get surprises (such as my first litter this year when almost every color EXCEPT black was produced). However because I am not breeding specifically for color, those colors I do have are awful, according to show standards. My blacks are too brown and too light. My Burmese are too dark. My Russian blue are too brown. All of my rats are too silvered, some are rusting. I certainly do want to improve on my colors, but that is not the only thing I am breeding for. Other traits take precedence.
If I sound bitter, I am. It is very frustrating for me to put so much time, effort, and money into producing good rats, just to have my work bashed down. Unfortunately many people DO have bad experience with breeders. However, those breeders are not the best breeders sometimes. There are many different levels of breeders, from very bad to very good. I strive to achieve the ranking of "very good", but it gets very frustrating to see so many negative comments directed at breeders in general, without any specification to the quality of the breeder being discussed.
