# Some of my fancy rats :)



## Simple Man (Aug 17, 2011)

I breed rattery quality rats for pets and fancy snake food. I feed all my snakes top shelf rats just because I had access to some killer genetics. All my rats are dumbo, throw dwarfs, and every color and coat you can have. Enjoy 







Regards,

B


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## Simple Man (Aug 17, 2011)




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## Offkillter (Aug 17, 2011)

Very nice.I've been considering a small breeding project to feed my snakes and rapidly growing monitor.Honestly though how much of a pain in the neck will I be undertaking if I do? Frozen feeders are convenient but the cost I find will soon no longer be practical.Any input would be appreciated,thanks.


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## Simple Man (Aug 17, 2011)

How many animals are you feeding?

Regards,

B


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## Offkillter (Aug 17, 2011)

At the moment only three.But with the sheer volume a four foot monitor can burn through over time I'm a little worried.I've got a couple of large roach species frantically breeding to hopefully meet at least a portion of Shweetums demands.He's still small but growing everyday so laying down the crucial ground work now is absolutely necessary.I'm not really sure how you do it but I figured I could just breed and freeze as i go.If I'm over run with surplus just ease back on the breeding.Do you freeze your surplus and if so do you use co2 to dispatch them or just pop them in the freezer (wow that sounds callous).


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## thruthetrees (Aug 17, 2011)

Oh my gosh!!! They are SO CUTE!!!!!!!!


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## Simple Man (Aug 17, 2011)

Offkillter said:


> At the moment only three.But with the sheer volume a four foot monitor can burn through over time I'm a little worried.I've got a couple of large roach species frantically breeding to hopefully meet at least a portion of Shweetums demands.He's still small but growing everyday so laying down the crucial ground work now is absolutely necessary.I'm not really sure how you do it but I figured I could just breed and freeze as i go.If I'm over run with surplus just ease back on the breeding.Do you freeze your surplus and if so do you use co2 to dispatch them or just pop them in the freezer (wow that sounds callous).


Breeding your own for that much really might not pan out to be super cost effective. You don't want your monitors food supply to be mainly rodents from what my monitor pro friends tell me. They should only be given as supplemental. I use racks but I'm feeding a lot of snakes. I guess you could do a 6 tub rack and a 1.4 and seperate the mothers out into their own tubs for birthing. I prefer that over harem style. Healthier litters and moms are your result. I have really nice quality rats so I sell surplus. I feed live. I used to do F/T but takes a long time and not all my snakes eat F/T. A CO2 kill chamber is the way to go. I use one for retired breeders or rats that are too large for my collection. I would never just freeze a rat. They are smart awesome animals. I spent quite a bit of time with mine but I have a few local pet shops that love my rats and buy them.






Regards,

B

Reactions: Like 1


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## Shell (Aug 20, 2011)

Aww they are adorable  I miss my rats, my old girl passed away and the younger female was lonely, so I gave her to a friend that was looking for a companion for her female rat. From what I've heard she's doing well, but I miss having them. They make such great little pets.


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## JayMadison (Aug 20, 2011)

THey are pretty cute, but what makes a rat fancy vs normal?


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## Simple Man (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks for the kind words! I love rats. I would probably have a few even if I wasn't feeding a bunch of snakes.

Dumbo ears, eye color, coats, dwarfs... My colony has pretty much every gene you can imagine. These are not lab rats. They are linebred high quality healthy animals with all sorts of genes. These are rattery quality rats.

Regards,

B


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## Vespula (Aug 21, 2011)

They're so adorable!!!!


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## vvx (Aug 21, 2011)

JayMadison said:


> THey are pretty cute, but what makes a rat fancy vs normal?


Pretty much the difference is a "fancy rat" isn't PEW (pink eyed white). PEW are seem as common/plain/boring/etc...


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## TexasT (Aug 21, 2011)

vvx said:


> Pretty much the difference is a "fancy rat" isn't PEW (pink eyed white). PEW are seem as common/plain/boring/etc...


Even PEWs are technically "fancy" rats.  Any rat that is domesticated and has been bred for a pet or to be tame is fancy.  A lot of petstores mislabel only ones with "pretty" markings as fancy to attract people but they are incorrect.  PEWs are actually one of my favorites .  

I've owned pet rats for going on 10 years and am the co-director of the only official operating rat-specific rescue in Texas.  I have 15 ratties that are "mine" and numerous fosters.  Adoptions have been up lately, which is great, but every day we get at least 2-3 emails from people wanting to surrender their pets.  So sad.  I actually plan to start my own rattery within the year and breed quality rats, focusing on health, temperament, conformation, and markings and color.  I will be going several states away to get my breeding stock because I am picky lol.  

I am a sucker for all animals, but if I had to choose just one pet?  It would be my rats.

Reactions: Like 1


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## skar (Aug 21, 2011)

Cool . Rats are awesome.

Reactions: Like 1


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## xhexdx (Aug 22, 2011)

Simple Man said:


> Thanks for the kind words! I love rats. I would probably have a few even if I wasn't feeding a bunch of snakes.
> 
> Dumbo ears, eye color, coats, dwarfs... My colony has pretty much every gene you can imagine. These are not lab rats. They are linebred high quality healthy animals with all sorts of genes. These are rattery quality rats.
> 
> ...


Got any patchwork rats, or the patchwork gene?











































And a 3-week old dumbo:







Before anyone asks, these were all taken back in '08 so they're all long gone.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Simple Man (Aug 22, 2011)

Wow! Crazy cool  Thanks for sharing. I don't have anything like that. I have a friend that works some hairless stuff but never really got into them myself. I've never seen any patchwork stuff up here. Very cool.

Regards.

B


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## xhexdx (Aug 22, 2011)

You're welcome, I'm glad you liked the pictures.


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## rm90 (Aug 23, 2011)

Thats cool..! Do they have a longer lifespan since they are have "higher quality genetics"? hotogenic:


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## Simple Man (Aug 23, 2011)

Overall, I would say yes. The stock mine came from had 3 tumors in almost 4 years of linebreeding. The only other issue I've seen was breach birth when a Dwarf was bred. They usually have smaller litters and are more prone to breach. I recently lost one due to this. I hadn't recognized her early enough. The Dwarf rats are abou 2/3 the size of a normal rat so they can be hard to distinguish initially. I don't breed to Dwarfs on purpose. I usually just produce them for pets, sold in same sex pairs. Overall health issue are almost non-existent.

Regards,

B


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