What most often happens, which is the main reason that breeders do not sell breeding animals to new breeders, is that somebody who decides they want to breed rats buys up a whole bunch of rats, wanting to breed a whole bunch of different kinds and colors, and then starts breeding them. Soon, they are overrun with rats, and are beginning to find out that since they are a new breeder, many people are wary of buying from them, and established breeders will not recommend them, and may even tell people to steer clear. This person then will be stuck with way too many rats, and turn to the community to help them find homes for them. Usually, through the hard work and dedication of rescue workers, homes can eventually be found, or foster homes set up. But this person still wants to breed, and often they start gathering up rats again, only to repeat the process.
Unfortunately, I have seen this happen a few times, and this is the reason I won't sell breeding animals to anyone but established breeders. Breeding rats can be rewarding and fun, but it is also a lot, a LOT of work, if you're going to do it right. Before you think you want to breed, read my reasons below why you shouldn't breed. This is the cold hard truth about the pitfalls of rat breeding, designed to show people what they are truly getting into....
Rats Are Expensive
Of course, I'm not just talking about the rat itself. Many pet stores sell rats for less than $5, and even most breeders charge less than $20 for a quality pet rat. It's the other things that you need to take into consideration. In an average year of rat breeding, I have probably spent over $200 on cages, $100 on bedding, $300 on food, and $500 on health care. Over a year, that may not seem like much, but it's usually more than the average new breeder is willing to spend on their new hobby. And that's just basic care.
Most breeders have 10 - 30 rats (sometimes more) to maintain their lines. At $15 average cost per breeding quality rat, that can be up to $450!
If you are planning on being a serious breeder, you will probably want to have a website. I pay $9 a month for my domain name, and that's not counting the many many hours I have spent on my computer editing and updating my website, talking with other breeders, and researching new rat information.
Also, if you truly do want to make this your hobby, you will probably want to attend some rat events in your area, if you are lucky enough to have them in your area. Most likely you will have to take a couple hour trip to get to one, maybe longer. With gas, hotel, admission, food, etc, that can really add up. And, depending on where you are located, you will probably attend several shows per year.
You will probably also want to join a rat club, or several, to have access to all the latest rat information. Membership is usually not expensive, but it's another cost to think about.
Of course, there are always places costs can be cut, but to be a responsible and serious breeder, and to have other people reflect positively on you, it can be quite expensive.
Rats Take Time
Between cleaning their cages, building or building them toys, refilling water bottles and food dishes, socializing with the adults and especially the new babies, rats take up a lot of your time. Spending time updating your website, making records of your rats, rat sales, contacts, pedigrees, health information, and genetics takes time. Talking to other breeders, researching rat information, and attending rat shows and events takes time. Many new breeders don't realize how much they need to put into this to be taken seriously. Of course, for most of us established breeders, it's all a labor of love. I could have fed my rats only lab blocks, but I chose to make them a grain-based diet by hand, and had "feeding time" every day so the rats could get socialization. I took the time to cut up vegetables for them, to take their cages outside and hose them down in the driveway, took them out in shifts for free play. There are many things you don't necessarily need to do, but everything you DO do helps your rats grow up healthy and long-lived, and that is what breeding rats is all about.
The Rat World is Not Kind to New Breeders
Most established breeders are very hard on new breeders. Like the situation I described above, us breeders have had to deal with the bad people, and tend to forget the good. It usually takes a lot to convince a breeder to sell you a breeding rat. It may involve a long questionnaire, or a visit to your proposed rattery. They may want accolades from others about you and your breeding policies. Most of all, they look at your words and your actions in deciding to sell a breeder to you. If they know you have emailed every breeder in your area looking for breeding rats, they might think you are trying to get lots of rats as fast as possible. Most people don't realize breeders talk to each other!
So what do you need to do to get people to believe you are serious? You have to prove to everyone that you know what you are doing, or are very willing to learn. Everybody has to start somewhere, and all of us breeders knew nothing about rats at some point in our lives. Some of us even disliked rats! But through research and a love of rats, we came to know the different breeds, and genetics, and decided to try our hand in it. If you can show people that you have done your research, or if you talk to breeders and ask lots of questions, they will see that you are not just starting to breed by putting two rats together that you got from a pet store. They will see that you want to learn everything that needs to be learned about rats before you start breeding.
There Can Be Vicious Competition
Just as in the dog show world and the cat show world, there are some really competitive people in the rat show and breeding world. If you do plan to show your rats, which is a good idea to get yourself known and your rats critiqued, you will probably run into a lot of people who, unfortunately, are not very nice. Some people will immediately look down on you because you are new, or because you bought rats from a certain person that they don't get along with. If your rat wins, they may get angry because they are an established breeder and their rats should be better.
Unforunately this kind of thing happens at almost every rat show.
And of course, there are the cliques. There's always certain breeders that are friends, and certain breeders that are enemies. People will tell you "don't buy rats from so-and-so", and that person will tell you the same. The only thing you can do is ignore criticism, and use your best judgement. If somebody tells you that so-and-so is a bad breeder, research it for yourself. If you become friends with somebody that everybody else hates, it will be tough to compete in any shows. It all sounds so "high-school", but it does happen.
There can also be non-vicious competition. If you are planning on starting to breed, check to see if there are any local ratteries in your area (www.ratster.com is a good source). If there are several (or sometimes even one, if it is a small city) ratteries close to you, chances are they won't appreciate a new breeder. Also, they will pretty much have a corner on the rat market, since they will be well known and respected, and you may have a hard time finding homes for your ratlets.
Rats Are Not As Well-Liked As We Would Hope
Though you love rats, and maybe you know a few other people who do, you also know that not everybody you know would appreciate the gift of a pet rat for Christmas. So as you can see, it can be very difficult to find homes for the babies you intend to breed for. If you end up getting rats from an established breeder, that breeder can be instrumental in referring other people to you. However, if you are planning to breed pet store rats, or rats with otherwise sketchy backgrounds, you'll find that many educated rat lovers will not buy from you, and your market will dwindle significantly. Your best bet is to advertise yourself as much as you can (without overdoing it, or you will look desperate) and get a network of other breeders who can recommend you. I was lucky enough to have some good breeders as friends back in BC, and if I didn't have what people wanted, I would refer them to my friend that did, and they would do the same.
Rats also have a lot of babies at a time, even up to 20, and that is a lot of rats to find homes for. Also, unless your rats are from well established lines, chances are you will end up with black, agouti, fawn, or beige rats, which are commonly found in pet stores, and many people don't come to breeders looking for something that is fairly plain when they could buy that fancy blue rat from the other breeder. Not to say the plain rat would be a worse pet, but people will be less likely to seek you out if your rats look like pet store rats.
If you can understand and accept all of these things, you may just be ready to become a breeder. Just please, do your research, ask lots of questions from lots of different people, and THEN start to breed. I highly recommend you study genetics (my page is only a basic overview), it's not as complicated as it may seem (I have a very keen interest in the subject and will always answer your questions via email) and it will help you gain a better understanding of color breeding and type breeding. If you have a blue rat and breed it to a Russian blue rat, hoping to get both kinds of blue, you may be sorry when you get an entire litter of black rats.
