Update on my rat program! (with stinky pics)

[artgecko]

Today I took another look at the babies and removed 4 of them from the group... They didn't seem to be putting on as much weight and none had super full milk bands (some had none). The mother had removed one baby from the nest herself (a sign of potential illness that she can detect) and one baby was holding its front legs oddly (not moving them, just sticking out) so I think it has some sort of issue. The other two were the skinniest / smallest in the litter. Unfortunately, two of the ones I removed appear to have the most interesting pigment (obviously variegated or hooded).

It stressed the female quite a bit to be removed from the bin so that I could look at the pups, so no pic today. I will leave her be for the next day or so, then try for pics again. I bought her some soy milk and kale today at the store, so hopefully, along with adding boiled egg and sunflower seeds to her diet, she will be able to feed the rest of the litter and I won't have to remove any more pups.

Sometimes breeding isn't so fun... But hopefully we'll get some healthy rats pups once this is all over.

[hrl20100]

Awh such a shame
Hope everything goes well for the rest of the litter!

[Piebald]

Gosh it sounds like they're trying to breed rats that look more like hamsters. I couldn't cull personally. Good luck I hope they're all healthy.

[artgecko]

Yeah, it isn't pleasent, but when your options are to reduce litter size or watch all babies get thinner, mom more stressed (and possibly rejecting the whole litter)... You do what you gotta do. :/ Mom actually already seems less stressed out. I will check the pups later today and see how their milk bands are doing... I'm hoping to see fuller tummies.

They do start out looking like hamsters (hairless sausages lol). But you'll see the differences once the hair starts to come in and especieally when the ears start to show. All of these should be dumbo, with the ears on the sides of the head instead of normal placement.

[Piebald]

Oh I understand, I just could never be a breeder.
Dumbo ears sound cute lol.

[hrl20100]

Dumbos are cute!

[artgecko]

Had another "fun time" in breeder land today lol. Had my first instance of outright maternal aggression... and it resulted in a nasty bite to my hand. As I mentioned earlier, this female is not the friendliest... has never liked attention or wanted to be picked up, but she has been showing more and more nervousness since whelping.

Today I was cleaning her tub (end away from her and the pups) and she came towards me and bit my hand.. drew a lot of blood and hurt pretty darn bad.

I will now be removing her and placing her in another container whenever I do cleaning or handle the pups...and I will be wearing heavy gloves while doing so. I've treated the bite, but if it looks worse tomorrow, will be getting antibiotics as rite bite fever is no joke (I don't suspect that, but I'd rather be safe than sorry).

It is always a risk buying breeding stock (or any pet for that matter). Even though this female and my others come from "good lines" and from a breeder that said that she had bred out aggression from her lines; you can still get an individual that doesn't have ideal temperament. In this case, she was handled just like the others (who are very friendly) but has still retained a lot of nervousness.

I will still be keeping her pups, but I will be extremely selective now about temperament first and foremost... She was bred to my friendliest male, so I'm hoping that they will inherit more his temperament.

On a happier note, I've included a pic of my oldest and friendliest rat below... This female's name is buttercup and she is a Russian blue dumbo (although not a good quality one), this should give you an idea of what the dumbo ears look like. Buttercup is close to two years old.. All 3 of her siblings died between 1 and 1.5 years of age from various issues (respiratory issue, cancer (had to euthanize) and unknown wasting away). She was from a rescue litter and I wanted to breed her because of her excellent temperament but waited too long. She reminds me of why I'm doing this... Not to breed rats that look pretty, but ones with excellent temperaments that want to be around people and *hopefully* will be healthy and long-lived.


Sorry about the downer post guys.. I guess I should have titled this post "my rat breeding chronicle" or something dramatic like that. I hope to share more positive news and pics as these pups mature and as my second female delivers.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Has the other had her litter yet, or is the maternal aggressive one the second Mom?
When I was 16 years old I raised rats and know about The maternal aggression part of your breeding land adventures. I would take it this Mom will be removed from the breeding colony once pups are weaned.

Hope this is the only bad post for awhile for you.

[artgecko]

This is the mother with the litter now (beige self). The other mother looks huge but hasn't delivered yet... I'm expecting her to do so within the next couple days.

I would not have bred from this female if I had other options, but with only two available females, you do what you gotta do... She will be removed as soon as they are weaned and I'm considering culling her.. Her temperament was never great, but if she's this willing to draw blood, she won't make a good pet either.

The other female has always been much friendlier and can be readily handled, petted, picked up, etc. So I am hoping that she will not have this issue, but it can be hard to tell with something hormonal like this.

On the plus side, removing the 4 pups seems to be helping her cope with feeding the litter better. They seem to be growing much better than before. I have included an updated pic of the 10 below. Looks like all will be dark (I'm betting black, but RB and mink might also be possibilities) but many of the mostly solid pups (not quite selfs) appear to have no pigment on their legs / stomachs and there's one capped baby. I've never seen white-legged rats... This is a rarer color pattern here (we get mostly variegated, hooded, and self) so it will be interesting to see how they mature.



I will only be keeping the most friendly, least aggressive, and most submissive pups from this litter and if the other litter goes well, I may only keep 1f/1m from this set (if that) depending on how their temperaments go. I do not want aggression continuing in this line, so it will be a tough call. Also, because of the mother's temperament, I will not feel comfortable placing any as pets... so I will have to cull those that I don't keep for breeding. Not a pleasant thought, but I would hate myself if I sold some to a child and he/she got bitten as badly as I did. Although socialization might help, it's just too great of a risk to take.

[virtualkeith]

It sounds like a really interesting thought process behind breeding animals, especially where temperament is concerned.
I like your name by the way. Are you an artist, or a fan of the Deco era?