Honestly my answer is always going to be no. If you have to ask, then you are probably in no way ready or prepared to undertake it. Breeding is not something that should be done on a whim or because someone online told you it is a good idea. It requires more then just throwing two animals together. If you want to be a responsible pet owner and breeder you need to really think about it, consider every option, study and research until you are beyond qualified.
The difference between a responsible breeder vs a back yard breeder (BYB):
This subject is up for endless debates. What makes a responsible breeder? There are definitely things that I feel are important but IMO the most basic differences are:
1.) The reasoning behind breeding. There are tons of animals out there needing homes. There is no lack of rats. Choosing to bring more pets into this world deserves a very good reason beyond, I just wanted to.
IMO breeding should be at its core for the betterment of the animal/line. Because of mills, pet stores, accidental litters and BYBs rats have alot of health issues and some are just really badly bred in temperament and colors/variety. This can all be helped with good legit breeders. But doing so requires more then just throwing two rats together. if you are not doing things with care, knowledge and research you are part of the problem not the solution.
I am not saying fun colors, varieties and such are not part of it but bettering the rats should be the most important purpose.
Responsible Breeder: Breeds with knowledge to better the animal and its lines at the core.
BYB: Breeds for any other reason
2.) The animals care. Keeping a good amount of animals is not easy. It requires alot of time/effort in cleaning and handling. It costs alot of money in cages, supplies and food.
There is definitely a line drawn between people who give 100% and those who cut every corner they can.
Responsible Breeder: are going to put the animals health, well being- physically, mentally, emotionally ahead of all else. They give proper vet care, they feed food that they feel is truly good quality not just because of the price (this doesnt always mean they feed the best/most expensive, but that they believe that it is quality food that will benefit them), they give them proper space, they keep a clean rattery, they have healthy animals, their animals are of good temperament and well handled.
BYB: Puts money first, are often using very cheap food, cages, over crowding, no vet care, dirty, doesn't give their animals the proper time or care.
3.) Have a severe lack of knowledge of the animals they are dealing with. No one is perfect and knowing that you need to be continually learning and growing as a breeder. But one should have a grasp on basic genetics and understand the lines they are working with.
Red flags often include- not understanding how to sex rats, not understanding proper terms, not understanding the basics of mating, pregnancy, and labor. Not knowing recessive vs dominant genes- more so of what they are working with. Not knowing the colors they are working with.
Responsible Breeder: Learns the basics before they begin. Is patient. Has a good working knowledge of the lines and of the animal itself. This also includes things like breeding rats at the correct age/weight, retiring their rats at a good age, not over breeding.
BYB: Doesn't understand the basics. Gives sketchy info or refuses to give info. Is not open to learning. Doesn't know its own lines.
4.) Responsible placement. As said, when choosing to breed you are making the choice to bring these little lives into the world. What happens to them is on you.
Responsible Breeders: Choosy about the placement of their babies. Doesn't sell babies too young, doesn't sell sick animals. Takes effort to find them the best homes. Does not overbreed, Weans correctly, is prepared to keep any rats that do not sell.
BYB: Sells for profit above all else, sells to anyone willing to buy. Overbreeds- too many females than they can handle, back to back litters. Breeds rats too young or not healthy or too old. Weans too young, sells too young. Refuses to keep rats that do not sell- sells to pet shops, as feeders (this ofcourse is directed at those who are projecting themselves as pet breeders), or worse releases/kills leftover rats.
I often see three main reasons for wanting to breed:
1. OMG Babies! Babies are adorable. You have to be a heartless monster to not agree that babies are cute little angels. People want to play with babies, see babies, watch them grow and experience that.
2. "My rat has such an awesome temperament, great color, markings, or is just so amazing that it MUST be passed down" They enjoy their rat and think it is special and should continue on or just do not want to lose their rat and think having its child will keep a piece of it alive.
3. $$ Money! Ooo let me breed and have an easy get rich quick scheme that just allows me to play with pets all day, count me in!
Why these reasons do not work:
- Babies are cute, but they are also a ton of work. Raising a well adjusted amazing baby takes effort. They need to be handled often, exposed to different things. Sometimes litters can be huge on average 8-12 but upwards of 20 or more! Juggling so many curious wiggly babies is not an easy task! Babies begin to explore their cage fully after 2 weeks. They are all over the place from then on!
- Bringing any life into this world makes it your responsibility. It didn't ask to exist, you made that choice. So that life is on you! If you do not know basic genetics and the history of your rats you may be breeding fatal health issues. What happens if that baby is born with something like megacolon and then has to suffer in pain? What happens if the mother dies, can you feed 20 babies all day every day? What happens if injuries occur? What will happen to these babies when they grow up? Will they go to a loving, responsible forever home or will they end up with a flipper, abused, neglected or worse?
- Babies are cute but can you also handle the heartbreak? Alot of truly tragic events can occur. Nature can be a harsh bitch. Babies die. Mothers die. It is possible for moms to refuse to feed their young, kill their young, eat their young. I read a post once by a breeder who had just a mom with some issues & she not only killer her entire litter but the scene would be appropriate for the worst horror movies... Can you handle that? Could you walk in expecting cute babies and instead have to deal with cleaning a cage full of blood, guts, bones? Can you still handle the mom after that? If the answer is no... then perhaps breeding is not for you.
- Can you make tough decisions? If a baby is struggling and in pain could you kill it?
- It is an emotional rollercoaster. I dealt with having a runt, she was tiny & every day I expected her to not survive. Several others had litters at the same time as me with runts and all of their runts died. It is heartbreaking, you will fall in love with the sick/injured/hopeless ones the most.
- No matter how lovely, cute, sweet your rat is that doesn't mean it's babies will be anything like that. That is not how breeding works. It isn't cloning lol. It depends on their line- their parents, grandparents just as much. When you breed you are not just mixing what you see the parents have but also what they carry in their lines. Which could be fatal or things that are not good at all. Perhaps their entire line all die young, are prone to tumors, etc... You basically fated that onto the babies. Colors are also not so simple. It is very possible to breed two blues and get blacks!
- If you do not know their history, then you have no idea what you will get!
- What if your sweet, loving heart rat dies from complications during pregnancy or labor? Even humans with all of our wonderful expensive doctors can still have issues, complications and death. Are you willing to lose her?
- The babies may be nothing like the rat you own in temperament or personality. We all may understand wanting a piece of your rat to stay alive but that is not a good enough reason.
- Money? Hahahahahaha...nope. While some may think of rats as inexpensive pets that is very much not true and breeding is going to raise that expensive by alot. But even the very best bred rats are probably going to be sold for less than $35, most by far are going to go for around $10-$15. And you will have people complain that it is still too high.
- Cages are very expensive. You need a cage(s) for all your pet rats to live. A cage for the male and female to breed. A cage for the mother to give birth and raise her babies. A cage for the young boys to be separated into before they are old enough to be sold. A cage for any rats you keep. A cage for any rats that you can not find homes for, travel cages, etc... And space for all of those cages.
- High quality food is expensive. Even cheap food adds up when you are feeding alot of rats. Once babies hit 3 weeks old they are eating food. They are growing babies and by the time they are just 4,5,6 weeks old they are eating alot, multiply that by how large a litter you have! You will be shocked at how much food you go through with babies.
- You will not make money breeding rats responsibly. You may not even make anything breeding irresponsible either.
- Vet care is expensive for rats. Just getting in the door you are looking at a fairly high fee in most cases. Many times when treating rats you may need to treat the entire colony. Medicine is not cheap and if you have alot of rats it is going to add up.
1.) Quarantine. This is a very important step in rat care. You will need to bring in new rats and even getting them from responsible sources you should still quarantine them. Do you have a place to do a proper (different air space) quarantine? If not you could put your entire colony at risk and lose all of your lines, risk their health- perhaps making them unsafe to breed.
2.) Space. Rats take up alot of space lol
3.) Time/Energy. I think this is what hits many people. It is hard to really guess how much is really required. And if you have family/work/fun it can be hard to juggle it all. Cleaning takes time, feeding and caring for a large amount of rats takes time, handling babies takes time. It can be alot to deal with. And you really have to be careful to pace yourself. Don't start off with a million different varieties. Start small. It is easy to become overwhelmed.
4.) Money is a huge factor. Food is expensive, cages are expensive. Vets are super expensive.
5.) You have to deal with people. People will need to talk to you in order to sell them rats. You should practice some good business & social practices, replying to people in a quick and polite way for example. You will get alot of people asking you absurd questions, people who are not good homes and you will have to tell them no and perhaps deal with them being upset, people who show 110% interest and then change their mind or disappear at the last minute. Some breeders get known for being not very people friendly lol but it is just because of dealing with some nut jobs out there. Also sometimes there are people who are crazy against breeding and will attack you. There is also some drama in the rat breeder community that you may end up dealing with.
Most breeders at some point will get someone telling them that they shouldn't breed and also someone telling them that they charge too much- even at $10... Be prepared.
6.) Your location vs demand. If you live in a large city it is going to be much easier to find homes but you may have to deal with other breeders as well. But as a breeder you really should be able and willing to travel quite a distance to find homes. Not everyone is going to be able to come to you. And there may be little prospects within your own town. This is something I think alot of people do not consider. But most breeders have to travel some distance to meet buyers. You can charge a gas/travel fee but you also have to realize some people think of rats as cheap pets and don't expect to spend alot.
If you have read through all of this and still want to breed...
1. Step one. Stop and truly think about your reasons why and define your ethics.
IMO this is the most important first step. Is this a whim or is it something true? What is your purpose?
What ethics will you have? This may change overtime as you learn but it is an important thing to consider. Alot will come up and it is better to be prepared.Write it all down as if you were explaining it to someone. It will truly help. I found it helpful to just google rat breeders and read over all of their ethics and policies. What did I agree with? What did I disagree with? And why?
If you can not do this then you are surely not ready to begin.
2. Step two. Start studying genetics. It may seem scary or overwhelming at first but the basics are not that difficult. Start small, learn the very basics- recessive/dominant. Start with your own lines you are interested in.
You should have the very basics understood before you begin.
3. Step Three. Figure out what lines you are interested in, start small. Yes a million different varieties look awesome and you will want them all. But start with like one or two and leave room to grow!
4. Step Four. Join the community and make friends with local breeders. If you can find a mentor that is great though I dont think it is as important these days when you have access to so many people online. But join all the rat breeder groups you can. You will learn a ton just from reading posts but do not be afraid to ask questions.
Also yes find other breeders who live near you and make friends. You will need rats from a breeder to start off with and you will want access to different lines in the future, and in order to get them you will need to be friendly with these people. Many breeders will not just give up rats to just anyone.
5. Step Five. Learn all you can about the actual acts of mating, breeding, all the maternity stuff and sexing.
6. Step Six. Set yourself up as a professional business. Get a website or at the least a facebook page. Business cards are nice. An email address that people can reach you at. Make yourself as professional as possible IMO.
IMO 1-2 years of studying and preparing is a good time frame. Again don't rush.
if you have any questions or where to find good websites or facebook breeder groups feel free to ask!!
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