Starting to breed rats!

[artgecko]

Hi guys! I'm new to hamsters, but have been keeping rats for roughly 1.5 years now. I currently have 2:3 (2m/3f) and am picking up some new ones this weekend from a breeder. My current ones consist of a group of 1:3 Russian blue dumbos (mostly broken variegated) and then one lone petstore male agouti. I waited until my Russian blue dumbos were over a year old to attempt breeding, but alas, the females' fertility had already decreased and they could not reproduce. Because of how much I love working with them and how hard it is to get good socialized rats in my area, I decided to contact a breeder and try again.

I am starting with pet-quality adults because there are no show breeders here. But the breeder I am working with keeps track of health and only breeds animals with excellent temperaments. She handles all the pups as well, so I'm hoping these guys will be just as friendly as my current groups. I was quite lucky to find her... She lives 2 states away from me (about 6-7 hours drive) but is coming to a reptile show I am going to (2 hours away) so could meet me there.

My new groups will include the following (note, these are US color names):
Male- Russian cinnamon velveteen dumbo
Male- Russian dove variegated dumbo
Female- Russian dove Irish velveteen dumbo
Female- Russian silver variegated head spot dumbo
Female- Beige velveteen dumbo
Female- Fawn broken hooded standard ear

I'm excited to continue working with the Russian dilutes. I'm hoping to work with two groupings, with the beige, fawn, and cinnamon in one and the doves / silver in another. Color is not that important to me at this point, as I will be selecting for good conformation and temperament first. The velveteen gene should be interesting to work with too... Although I'm not sure how much I will enjoy the double velveteen babies that loose their coat. :P

I plan on taking things slowly and doing a litter from the best female of each group when the females are 6 months and we will see how it goes from there. Ideally, I would like to hold back 1 female from each group per year to continue the lines. I do not plan on holding back any males yet, unless an exceptional one pops up.

After I pick the new babies up and have them settled, I will post pics here for you guys.

If anyone else on these forums works with rats, I'd love to hear about your breeding program.
If you know of any resources online that have been helpful to you, that would be awesome too. I have found a lot of links to genetics sites, so have been reading those, but have only found two sites about conformation so far.

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

Yay! Oh I can't wait to see pictures. I want rats so badly; I love them. Although
I've only ever seen wild ones up close. Anyways I'm not much help but good luck! .

[artgecko]

Thanks! Rats are great.. More like small dogs that can climb in personality than other rodents. The only issues with them are that they can suffer from many illnesses (one of mine just had a stroke and had to be euthanized at 1.5 years old) and that maintenance is a real chore... They urinate much more than hamster or even the guinea pigs I once had so they smell quite a lot... If it wasn't for the smell, they would be the perfect pet.

I will post pics of the new pups when they settle in, but here are some pics of my current group to tide you over.
Buttercup, my favorite (she knows her name and clings to the bars for attention when I'm around

Bubbles her sister

Mojo (quite the lazy fat little man.. he is in a hammock tube in this pic)

My two petstore rats, Leonard (the agouti) and Howard (the black). Howard is the one that had a stroke a couple weeks back.

[Thin Lizzy]

They're so adorable! Gorgeous pics!

[artgecko]

I have gotten my new little ones, but can't get them to hold still for pics to save my life lol. I think I need a high speed camera. I will get pics as soon as I can and post for you guys.

[becky1412]

Oh Good luck! Can't wait to hear how this goes for you. I love rats but the only one I've had is a wild one I rescued as a baby from a cat playing with it. Reginald had to stay at my OH's house because my mum will tolerate many rodents in the house but none with big long tails! You're lot are absolutely beautiful

[Thin Lizzy]

Congrats on your little rats. How many did you get?

[artgecko]

Thanks guys!
Still no pics... I tried to put them all in a tub and take a quick pic while they were confined... I underestimated how easily they can climb / jump out.. Let's just say I was chasing escapees lol.

I got 4 females and 2 males. Their colors are listed in my first post, but they are US colors, so if you are in the UK, they will go by different names.

So far they are settling in well. I can already tell which are the bravest and most outgoing. My favorites are the Russian Dove male and female and the Russian silver female. These 3 are the most friendly. The other 3 are just shyer and may take some time to come around.

I've noticed some scratching and some scabbed placed on two of the girls, which could be from fighting, but I will be treating them for ringworm just in case. There's also been some sniffling, so I will be doing around of water-soluble antibiotics just in case as well... Let's just say I'm a little paranoid lol. I'm going to be bathing them tonight with a disinfectant / anti fungal solution (again, mainly just a precaution as only two show odd scabbing) so your kind thoughts are appreciated.. I've never bathed rats before so this should be an interesting experience. The breeder recommended which solution to use and has advised me that scruffing works on rats just as well as it does on cats... We'll see about that.

I'll try again to get some pics for you... This time without escapees :P If you want to see the page of the woman I get them from, she is known as "twisted whiskers" rattery on FB and is based in North Carolina. She has been a pleasure to deal with so far and her animals are friendly and seem to be in good condition. If you find her latest set of photos (posted on her timeline), my babies came from that set.

[Thin Lizzy]

6 little baby rats! You've certainly got your hands full lol!

[kittokitty]

Oooh, I love rats

Good luck with the breeding!