Hello all!
It's been months since I last posted. My hammie situation is the same, but I wanted to update everyone on my rats. When I last posted, I had just acquired my future breeders t6 o start my rat lines. Out of the 6 pups I purchased (4f/2m) one female had to be euthanized for MC (that litter was an outcross for the breeder and she didn't know they would carry MC), I had to treat all 6 for possible lice / mites (although I think the wounds / bare areas were really due to scuffling not pests), and i had to eliminate one female as a potential breeder due to temperament (she is extremely shy and not even social with other rats).
All of that left me with 2 males (Russian cinnamon velveteen dumbo and Rusian dove vaereagated headspot dumbo) and 2 females (Russian blue dumbo berk and beige dumbo velveteen self).
I paired up the two females with the RB male (he has the better temperament) and have just had my first litter, with the second on the way, probably within the week.
So far the beige female has 14 pups and seems to be nursing them. I will be examining for milk bands, deformities, and runts tomorrow when I move them to a better maternity bin. The RB female is already in a maternity bin waiting her litter's arrival.
My plans for now are to cull the litter down to 10, which is more manageable for mum. At that point, I will be choosing potential keepers from the litter based first on temperament, then on head conformation / overall size and ear placement... Beige mum has pretty bad dumbo ears (almost standard). The beige female may be carrying mink and RB, so the litter could contain multiple colors.
My goal is to keep back 2-4 females and 1-2 males from both litters together and use these to establish my breeding lines. If I am lucky enough to get a mink female keeper, she can be bred to the cinnamon male to produce more cinnamons and minks.
I will attach pics below... very bad ones. These were taken with my phone in bad light and mum wouldn't get out of the way or hold still.
The RB female and RD male
The beig female... pic shows her head, but is blurry
Beige female with pups.. again, wouldn't hold still for me.
Mum's getting fresh veggies (kale, collards, and carrots), extra sunflower seeds, and boiled egg in addition to her lab blocks. And by this time tomorrow, she'll be in a smaller, safer maternity bin cage (I was going to move her when I got home, but she had the pups early).
Hope you guys enjoy the bad pics and I'll try to update frequently as they develop.