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Breeding rats?

21 17:59:49

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I want to keep them for pet's and yes i can afford food,several cage's,money for vet's, and LOTS of time to socialize them i have a large house well its my dads but there is room for 10-20 rats plus the moms and dads! I have extra cages home right know let alone the 5-10 other ones i will buy if i breed them what do you think? Oh and i will be posting ad's and sending them to good home's i mean home's that are fit for rat's i will only be giving them to trusted people also! As far as i'm concerned i have no plan or use for feeding them to my reptile's or to sell them are feeder's what do you think know?
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Ok um but i need rat's and i can't buy 10-20 at a time from a pet store plus this pet store is healthy i'e been going there since 2002 and been buying exotic reptile's!
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I want to breed rat's i got my 2 female rat's today there not baby's if a 3-4 month old is considered a adult then there both adult's i just need to go out and find a few good male's to mate with my female's. I just have some question's! I don't really know how old my female's are because i got them from a pet store but can i tell you how long they are from head to tail so you can possibly tell me how old they are? How many rat's come in a litter? Can i keep the "dad" in the tank right up until a day or 2 before the babies are born? What is i have 2 pregnet female's can i house them in a large cage toegther? I will be getting 10 galleon tank's for the babies(babies to me are 0 day's old- 7-9 week's old). How many babies can i fit in a 10 galleon? And i want them to be comfortable? Since they would only be 3-5 week's old should i have any toy's in there for them? Can i keep male rat's housed together as babies or will i just need a bigger tank to give them more space? How long after the female has given birth should i wait to breed her again? Should i breed her with the same male everytime? What should i feed the babies as soon as there weaned off of the mom's milk? Just plain rat food? When the rat is pregnet is there any "special care" she should have? Can i handle her when she is pregnet or is that just asking for the babies to die? I'm trying to socilize the female rat's right know they don't like being handled they like well hiding what can i do to help them get used to me more or to have fun? They dont like bathes i had to give them one for health reasons- health reason is being cured! Spring is just around the corner i feel before she has her babies she need's to be outside weather she is pregnet or not how can i make a leash i don't understand thing's well so if you have instruction's please be specifac! Would a guinea pig leash or a kitten leash work? HELP ME OUT! Thanks! Try and anwser everything you can the question about how old the female's are and the leash question is REALLY important!
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No! No no no no! PLEASE do NOT breed your rats. Not only because they are from a pet store, but because you obviously do not know enough about rats to even begin to think about breeding. I know this sounds harsh, but I promise this is not a good idea. Please just take some time to first learn basic rat care: http://www.ratpalace.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=listarticles&secid=13

Here's some good breeding information. I know from experience that this isn't what you want to hear, but its very important: http://www.ratpalace.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=17123
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Oh, so you want them for feeders. Then I can't help you.

As to the pet store being "healthy", you never know. You can't see what goes on in their back rooms. The reason you wouldn't breed from a pet store line is because they're not pedigreed and you don't know what kind of illnesses or defects the animals might carry in their history.


Ok um but i need rat's and i can't buy 10-20 at a time from a pet store plus this pet store is healthy i'e been going there since 2002 and been buying exotic reptile's!

Pardon me these will not be feeder rat's as far as i know i said i have been buying exotic reptile's there and the exotic reptile's have been healtier then a bug i didnt intend to say i will be feeding them to my exotic reptiles in the near future!

I do see what's going on in the backroom's there is nothing private in that pet store that's hidden there are no private emplyee room's nothing it alway's stay's open and all the rat's and bird's and other rodent's are in the back room so you can go right up an dbe 2 inches away from them so dont tell me i dont know what is going on and if i have been going there for 5-7 years i will trust that pet store because 5-7 is atleast half of my life thanks!
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I'm glad that your pet store doesn't hide anything from you, but may I ask why you would want 10-20 rats if they're not going to be feeders?
And there's no need to be so defensive when 5-7 years is at least half of your life and you're asking for help from someone who knows enough to be titled an "Expert".
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Thats great if you want to keep them as pets and research general care, but I'd still definitely say don't breed.

Ok and may i ask why you don't want me to breed seeing as how there is no good point not to? And how can i tell how old my rat is i'm sure there is someway without knowing the D.O.B isn't there?
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Apparently you did not read this link: http://www.ratpalace.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=17123

Without seeing your rats or knowing the DOB, I can't accurately tell you their age. You said they are around 3-4 months?

I infact did read that link and i have read it before you ever gave it to me this is my 3rd time reading it! Forget it you were no help im just going to find a male rat bye!
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Well then I obviously can't stop you but I'm sorry that you feel the need to be so ignorant and put your animals at risk. I hope you don't get reported to a the humane society.

I'm not ignorent but why not do it its ok to breed healthy animals! And listen here its not ilelgal to breed pet store rats so i cant get reported to the humane society unless i imporperly care for the rats and breeding 3-5 month old does are just fine! And housing the babies and giving moms special care whie pregnet is good to! But if there's no reason to report me to the humane society then how can you say you hope i dont get reported? Cause im doing nothing wrong so the humane society would actully encourage this as long as i know what im doing and i care properly for the rats and there babies goodday!

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On the contrary, breeding 3-5 month old females is not fine. I also never said it was illegal to breed pet store rats, I said that its not safe for the animals, you could end up with a giant case of megacolon or something else nasty on your hands and have them all die. In any case, I highly doubt the humane society would encourage you to play God with innocent animals when you obviously don't know what you're doing. Goodday indeed.