New Siamese rats, and some questions

I got these two Siamese rats today from the pet store. The female is the dumbo, the male is the normal eared.
I havnt ever bred this color so i have a couple questions.

Should two visual siamese be bred together?

Thing that also sucks is getting them from a pet store means they could be siblings, they are the same size and came from the same breeder. Their offspring would make feeders anyways but I dont want to create pups with problems. Any input would be great about breeding them.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...-23_190847.jpg

Breeding them together wont harm anything. Just Hold back Litters to start new groups.

But when you breed them every baby that female gives birth to will be siamese

And from the picture looks like your feeding Kaytee Lab blocks. If so ditch it as ive yet to hear of rats/mice breed well on that stuff.

Itso nly good for pets no breeders

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Breeding them together wont harm anything. Just Hold back Litters to start new groups.

But when you breed them every baby that female gives birth to will be siamese

And from the picture looks like your feeding Kaytee Lab blocks. If so ditch it as ive yet to hear of rats/mice breed well on that stuff.

Itso nly good for pets no breeders

---

Ok thats cool that all the offspring will be siamese.

I use kaytee lab blocks when im in between mazuri orders. I see no change in production when i used to use only kaytee. I give them enough fresh veggies, real grains and fruits that the lab block i use probably doesnt make a huge difference really.
Thanks for the info!

There is no issue with breeding a brother sister pair. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rhasputin

There is no issue with breeding a brother sister pair. ;)

---

Well that makes things easier :)
I always thought it was a bad idea. Must not be like that with all creatures huh.

It's not that way with breeding animals like this.

What happens is, if the pair is prone to something like cancer, and you inbreed, then you will know sooner that you need new stock, and can act more quickly to replace them, because the genes will be doubling up, and doubling up, and doubling up.
Once you have a clean line, you should have no health problems when you inbreed, because you are not introducing any new things that could cause problems. This is why some breeders have very coveted lines, is because of their genetic purity from disease and other health problems. :)


If you bring in new blood all the time, you may not know what you're introducing until it's too late, and all of a sudden you notice you're producing a lot of animals with issues. It just adds a lot of variables that are harder to control. :)


Hope this helps understand, even though it's very breif and maybe not a perfect explanation. :D

Well her first litter of pups are starting to get peach fuzz and im seeing some color.
It seems half are hooded and half are selfs.
All in a beige color.
Very interesting. Im not going to cull any of them so I can see what exactly they will turn out to be. They are very pudgey, thick looking pups, probably the best looking ive ever seen.
Ill post some pictures soon.

Every one of those babes can end up being Siamese. And considering both parents are, they probably will. You won't know for sure though till later on.

x2 to the above. siamese often don't color up until first molt

siamese x siamese = ALL siamese.