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Things to Think About Before Breeding Rats - Page 2

© Karen Yang

If you're breeding your rats to pass on good, healthy genes to make good, healthy baby rats, then you're probably doing it for the right reasons. But again, please be careful in selecting the parents and make sure you do the genetic research. Breeding rats is a major commitment in time and energy and shouldn't be entered into lightly!

Where will the babies go?

This is the next most important consideration. If the female is especially fertile, you could end up with anywhere from 12 to 24 new rats. What will you do with them all? Will you be able to house and care for all of them or will you be able to find good homes for them? It's best to be prepared to keep them all in case there are any problems placing them or in case the people who agreed to take them back out at the last minute. Pet stores should only be a last-resort option, since you really can't guarantee that the people buying them won't want them for snake fodder.

There are a lot of good networks on the internet to help you place babies, but sometimes there are just too few possible adopters available in your area or too many rats who need homes. If you're really serious about breeding, it's a good idea to announce your planned litter a few months in advance and take reservations for babies. If you have too many people who want babies, it's a very good thing! Remember, a lot of times people will back down, so it's a good idea to keep track of anyone and everyone who's interested so you have a backup plan. I have two litters planned for this fall, and I'm going to make sure that we have room to keep every single one of the babies if we have to. Ideally I'd like to find homes for about half of them, but it can be hard to do.

Tips for placing babies:

• Before you breed or as soon as possible afterwards, start looking for homes for them. Take reservations from prospective adopters - the more the merrier.

• Ask if you can post notices at your local vet's office and in your local pet stores. Depending on your local schools, you might want to try asking there as well. Make sure you state the rats are pet quality and charge enough (or require a donation) so that you discourage snake owners.

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