jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
capslock said:
When you first joined under the first name? or second or third?
Starting a Rattery - to do or not to do.
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When you first joined under the first name? or second or third?
SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Please spend the next few years learning how to provide good care to your rats.
It is obvious from your posts (under the various names you have used,) that you need to learn a great deal.
Then, if you have a great deal of extra time and money, you might consider rat rescue.
In answer to your question - please do not breed rats.
As lilspaz68 said, you will need to study for many years, be mentored, and have a great deal of extra money if this is something you want to do.
It is obvious from your posts (under the various names you have used,) that you need to learn a great deal.
Then, if you have a great deal of extra time and money, you might consider rat rescue.
In answer to your question - please do not breed rats.
As lilspaz68 said, you will need to study for many years, be mentored, and have a great deal of extra money if this is something you want to do.
anita1216
Well-Known Member
I can assure you that showing rats is absolutely no big deal. You will find that within the clubs there is far to much butt kissing of one anothers ratteries. It's really a giant waste of time. What do a few ribbons prove? NOTHING.
sausage4ever
Well-Known Member
xxchelle said:
Actually Chelle's right in this case, if you want to show so bad you could always purchase a pedigreed rat and show it, it's like show dogs or cats. Now I'm not to sure about unpedigreed animals cuz in dogs they cant be shown but in cats they can.
Check out rmca.org and amfra.org for more info.
sausage4ever said:
That made me giggle, "Actually, for once Chelle is right in this case!" I know you didn't mean it that way, but I giggled at it.
So, capslock, if you're thinking of breeding to show, you don't have to. You can simply purchase pedigreed rats, rather than create more rats.
Cait
Well-Known Member
Mm, I have a pedigreed rat and was actually asked to show him (no intention of doing so) so you don't have to be the breeder of the animal to show it. It just has to be registered with the organization doing the show.
And actually, depending on which organization, you can actually register rescue/unknown history rats, and show them. I think they are different categories, but. Still showing.
And actually, depending on which organization, you can actually register rescue/unknown history rats, and show them. I think they are different categories, but. Still showing.
littledevils
Well-Known Member
Cait is right.. it depends which organization does the shows.... RatsPacNW which is a club that is very active around BC/WA/ID/OR lets you show any rat, even non pedigreed rat. However they are totally against breeding them since you don't know anything about their genetic background/potential health concerns etc.
RatsPacNW also has a lot of "pet" categories which are pretty fun such as kissiest rat, rat with the longest tail, oldest rat etc.
RatsPacNW also has a lot of "pet" categories which are pretty fun such as kissiest rat, rat with the longest tail, oldest rat etc.
lilratsy43
Well-Known Member
Cait said:
I was going to say this. I went to a rat show in PA and anyone could show their rats. No predigrees needed. And actually some of the breeders there took it very seriously, like if their rat won they would "have" to breed it. I have to say that the breeders at that show were pretty much disgussing...most of them did take good care of their rats but they had like 20-30 babies each that they were selling.
One of which made me want to puke, he came in with bins of rats (like 3 giant ones) they were all mixed sexes, some were male some were female, some were hairless and manx. All the rats were jumping back and forth between the cages, he didn't care who mated with who. His manx rats were over $100 and the hairless manx were much more than that. On top of all that, these hairless manx babies looked emaciated they were barely 4 weeks and they had to fend for themselves in cages with large rats...
This experience alone proved to me that rat shows really don't mean very much. And with SDA it is actually kind of dangerous to bring your rats to them..
SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Rat shows were stopedf or a long time because of the spread of terminal diseases.
People would come home from a show and their rats would start dying ...
The only safe rat shows are the ones done over the internet.
People would come home from a show and their rats would start dying ...
The only safe rat shows are the ones done over the internet.
anita1216
Well-Known Member
Rat shows prove very little. If you look at who is judging, its usually all the "buddy" breeders. Whats the point? It really just does not mean a whole lot in my opinion.
Bamboo
Well-Known Member
There's something I don't understand. There have been lots of times on here where I've heard people say that there are too many bad breeders and not enough good ones. If capslock is willing to put time, effort and money into creating a rattery (not to mention after taking a year or two to learn about genetics) shouldn't that be encouraged? Wouldn't it ultimately be better to have one more good breeder who could potentially better the species by reducing gentic defects, lengthening lifespan etc? Why is everybody coming down so hard?
People seem to be focusing on the minor details like "showing isn't important" (which is really just an opinion, I don't care about showing and pedigrees either, but I realize that some people do care, and that's their right), "rescuing is better" and "you don't know enough about rats" (which really isn't fair because S/he has said that they wouldn't be starting for a year or two after they've learned more. Besides, every rat expert has to start somewhere...), rather then the actual pros and cons of owning a rattery.
People seem to be focusing on the minor details like "showing isn't important" (which is really just an opinion, I don't care about showing and pedigrees either, but I realize that some people do care, and that's their right), "rescuing is better" and "you don't know enough about rats" (which really isn't fair because S/he has said that they wouldn't be starting for a year or two after they've learned more. Besides, every rat expert has to start somewhere...), rather then the actual pros and cons of owning a rattery.
sausage4ever
Well-Known Member
That's cause most people on this forum do not believe in breeding of any animal, period. And that where some of these judgements are coming from.
I only stated one fact, and even listed two websites that have lots of information on making the choice to breed rats.
I only stated one fact, and even listed two websites that have lots of information on making the choice to breed rats.
sausage4ever , You have been helpful! And thanks - even though I have been to those sites. 
And, thanks, Bamboo.
People don't realise that I want to put alot of time and effort into this.
They also don't seem to realise that I do - and will continue to do - rescues.
And, thanks, Bamboo.
People don't realise that I want to put alot of time and effort into this.
They also don't seem to realise that I do - and will continue to do - rescues.
smilez_n_hugs
Senior Member
As I'm sure it has been previously mentioned this is a RESCUE forum so until there are no more rats in need of rescue there is no need for breeders (good or bad) IMO. And I highly doubt that in 2 years the issue of having so many rats without forever homes will diminish so why bother bringing more rats (good genetics or not) into a world where so many rats are unwanted? To me that just seems unfair to the poor ratties (who are possibly sick or living in bad conditions) that would get passed over because someone wants a young rat with a specific colour marking.
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