My Rattery

A look inside my Rattery....


My Breeding Goals:
More info can be seen under my policies and ethics page
My biggest goal in breeding is to create as close to possible the perfect healthy, long living, sweet, loving all around great pet. I want the whole package and nothing less. 

My health goals are to create a strong illness free rat. 
Genetics do play a heavy role in overall health. Many health issues are genetic. I only breed healthy rats from healthy lines.
Alot of prevention of health issues can begin with the mom- breeding her at the right age/weight/health so that she is able to properly raise and feed her babies is important. A strong mom = strong babies.
I want all of my babies to have the best start at life and to become strong & hearty! Being able to get good nutrition from mom and stay with mom for as long as possible.
If a rat is born healthy, has a good start, is given the right nutrition to grow properly, etc... the baby will be healthier and stronger overall. So even if they end up exposed to illness or environment, they will be better suited to fight it off.

All environmental factors that could cause potential harm are carefully controlled- rats are kept indoors in well controlled temperatures, kept in clean well maintained cages, fed a proper nutritious diet and kept at healthy weights. None of my rats have had parasite issues, no URIs, and no tumors in any of my breeding rats. I keep perfect records of all my rats and do my best to keep track of rats sold so I can maintain well bred healthy lines.

My temperament goals are to have well rounded lovely sweet rats. I strongly believe that genetics as well as environment play a role in the temperament of our rats. I never breed rats who have shown any aggression. I handle babies from the day they are born and expose them to different people, environments, objects, sounds, etc... I want a bomb proof rat temperament wise. None of my bred rats have ever bitten. I don't think they would even consider it!

My goals for varieties- colors, markings, type.... cute rats are always fun but looks always come after health and temperament. I do not show but I still want to breed to show standards. 

I currently have a focus on:
I have both dumbo & standard ears.
Siamese are my main focus
I also have Blues, Silvermane, Dwarfs, Harley, Minks, Blacks
.

My Rattery: How my rats are kept and cared for.

It is important to note that all of my rats both breeding and not are my beloved pets and all cared for in the same manner. I love my pets. Their care and well being is the most important thing in the world to me.

Closed Rattery:
YES I have a closed rattery, meaning I do not allow strangers to enter, check it out, meet my rats, etc...
NO- it does not mean I am "hiding" anything. I totally understand that to nonbreeders, hearing "closed rattery" sounds suspicious. But it is really for the health and safety of the animals.

I am very upfront and open about my rattery and my rats. I post tons of photos and videos showing my rattery, my rats and everything having to do with them. My rats are kept indoors (within my home), they have their own room even! If anyone has questions or concerns about their space/care I will be happy to answer questions or show photos/videos.

This is my home though and I do not wish people coming and going. I also have alot of other pets including dogs, cats and a cranky husband lol! There is also a very real safety concern, with letting stranger's into your home. It is much safer for both of us to meet in an open area, in this case outside my home.

The most important reason though is that there is a real concern of the spread of illness. Many people have lost entire colonies of rats and litters from outside people visiting. Outside illnesses are easily spread and even carried on people and clothing. If my rats got sick it would not only be tragic & heartbreaking to deal with, it would also mean expensive vet bills, shutting down all adoptions and possibly even ending lines. I'm not risking my rattery. There is a reason we quarantine our animals. It is just not worth the risk.


♥ My rat's diet:
I feed Oxbow Regal Rat. I have done alot of research on rat's diet and talked to many rat owner's and even those who make their own diet mixtures, I feel confident that oxbow is the best choice.
I have found that the cheapest price available is the 20lb bag from Drfostersmith.com it is $39.99, cheap shipping & free shipping if you throw in some addons and get it over $49. I usually get hay for my guinea pigs thrown in.

My mom's get fed very healthy fresh food daily to keep them well fed, strong and let them pass on lots of good stuff to their babies.
My babies all get extra protein, I prefer to keep my adults between 14-16% & my babies at around 18-20%.
All of my babies get exposed to lots of different types of foods.

All of my rats get fresh food, usually every other day to daily. I like to give fresh veggies and some fruit. I make a large yummy veggie/fruit/other healthy stuff mush weekly.
For treats I give cheerios and Gerber baby puffs. On occasion they may get a snack of what I am eating. Keeping my rats at healthy weights is very important to me, so I keep snacks as treats!

♥ My Rats cages:
*pics coming soon!
Currently I have a martins cage & a  converted bird cage for my boys and a Super Pet My First Home Deluxe 2x2 Multi-Level for the girls. Soon I will be upgrading my girls into a double critter nation.

Bedding:
I have tried many different types of beddings. I really like fleece, I think it is easy to just clean and reuse and is comfy and cute.
But currently I am using aspen for all of my rats. You can read my post on why I switched here.

Toys & Beds:
I love hammocks. Every rat needs a hammock! For hiding spots I recycle cardboard boxes and toss them as I clean the cage. I also use plastic igloos.
For toys I use toilet paper/paper towel rolls, knot chewers, cat balls, hanging chews. Their favorite toy has been a fleece/felt(?) cat toy ball, which could easily be made by tying strips of fleece together. They toss the thing all around and love to put it in their food dish for some reason... My girls also get a large safe wheel in their cages, some of the boys get wheels, though they do not seem to use them as much.

♥ Playtime:
My rats get free time out of their cage every single day. I am blessed with a whole room just for my rats. They get to split free range time, so that the boys get half the time out of the cage, girls get the other half. So they each spend half the day out of their cage. I highly suggest a very packed play area with lots of things to climb in, climb over, climb on. The more packed it is, the more they seem to enjoy it.

Breeding Practices:

• I breed rats over 5/6 months of age (it also depends on their weight and personality) and retire my females at around 10 months to a year. 
• When my rats are not mating or about to give birth they are kept with the other rats of the same gender.
• My females are put in their own cage a week-ish before they are due. 
• My moms get play time outside of the cage & away from their babies at appropriate times/ages, every day often with their old cagemates. It keeps the momma's sane!
• My moms give birth/raise their babies in a large single bin cage. This is for the safety of the babies and ease of use.
• Babies are handled daily from the day they are born.
• I expose the babies to different environments, different noises, they (safely & securely) are exposed to other animals and children. 
• The babies are given different types of treats and lots of veggies.
• They are given rat proofed/playpen free range time, wheel, and climbing experience.
• After 3 weeks of age the babies are introduced to other rats in a safe monitored environment. I feel it helps them get used to meeting other rats and give them a raised by a village attitude. I think it also helps them learn social behaviors from their elders and helps momma get some babysitters. Babies are often caged only with mom at this age still unless there is a nanny rat that has shown care and can be trusted with the babies.
• I separate my boys from mom and sisters at 5 weeks of age.
• Girls stay with mom until they are adopted.

My rats are my pets first. Once they retire from breeding I still keep them as beloved companions. I do not breed all of my rats. I never sell my adult pet or retired rats. I may sell older babies that didn't find homes right away.