Update on my rat program! (with stinky pics)

[artgecko]

Thanks! I'll take any information you can give me.. I know of maybe 3-4 people in my state that breed, but I'm not sure if any actively show.. There are basically zero shows in this area. For whatever reason, the south east US is a black hole for rodent breeding. All the people I know DO breed to the AFRMA standards. I'm actually not sure if I want to show at this point (again, it would mean trips, probably overnight long distance driving). But I do plan on joing a rat club (probably AFRMA) and registering with the NARR so that my future pups can have a pedigree.. I just have to settle on a rattery name first lol, which is proving harder than expected.

I just bought a second Double Critter Nation... They are on sale on Amazon btw for under $200 including shipping This means that I'll have a DCN for my males and females.. Meaning that I can house a total of 12 adults of either gender. If I keep the pups I'm planning from Stella's litter, and the male from Nova's that will put me at 5.6 (m/f). I could actually keep a couple more male pups from this litter with that much space but that will probably end up depending on how easily I find homes for the males I do not want to keep as breeders from Stella's litter (2 hairless a velveteen blue-beige and a standard coat berk Russian blue). That said, I need to keep as much room available as possible in both DCN's for my next generation breedings.

Here are some pics of the females from Stella's litter at 4 weeks old.
Blue-beige standard coat


Russian blue variegated blazed female standard coat


Russian dove (?) headspot mismarked berkshire velveteen female 1


Russian dove (?) headspot mismarked berk velveteen female 2


Sorry about the fuzziness.. They wouldn't hold still, especially the last velveteen female I had to hold lol

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Awww My favorite from the start of pigment is and still is your Russian Blue Variegated. She just always caught my eye in group photos. So with the mismarked Berks you will need to improve on the mismarked or will they produce more mismarks even with a correct Berkshire? The last girl seems so so fuzzy as in coat not focus LOL. Very sweet litter

[Piebald]

What a lovely litter.
l'm with Nancy tho on my fave. Gorgeous.

[artgecko]

Thanks! She is my favorite too.. and very mellow. Doesn't even squirm when picked up. The last two are velveteens, and are in fact "fluffy" lol.

I'm honestly not worried about markings at this point. I want to really concentrate on temperament first, then conformation. If I get those set, then I"ll worry about the markings. It seems like only one berkshire pup out of the lot has close to perfect markings... The brother of these guys.. He's got the white front feet, and back feet and a white stomach without the "rough edges" where the white goes up the sides.

I do really love the facial markings, so would love to breed more pups with blazes. This is a hard marking to get without Sox10/ megacolon. I also love variegated as well... The more spotting the better, so I may work towards that as well. One male from this litter is variegated with a blaze (blue-beige) as well.