Where do you find...?

After seeing Jerry's thread the other day of pics of his rats, I've decided I need to add some genetic variety into my breeding groups but I don't know where to start.

I love those possum faces, the dumbo ears and the rex coats, but have NO idea where to find anything like that locally. Where can you buy those kinds of fancy rats to even start a new breeding group? Are these just rats that you've happened to find in your local pet shops that just looked a little different that have been bred for the characteristics?

Thanks!

I would put an ad on craigslist "looking for fancy rats".
Sometimes you can get lucky at a pet store, sometimes craigslist, sometimes other feeder breeders keep quality genetics and would release some.

Most rat genetics are recessive so if you get rats from people who don't know the genetics you will have to breed them to figure them out.

If you want to produce fancy rats then do some research on genetics, there's a ton of good sites dedicated to fancy rats, and figure out what colors or traits you want to make and then put out some ads requesting such.

Hoobly.com is another good web-site that's similar to Craigslist only it has areas specifically for pets/animals to be listed to be sold without having to "rehome" them and all that crap like Craigslist. It's not quite as active as Craigslist in terms of volume of traffic but I've had luck finding "fancy" rats using it. It also lets you search by geographic area/state and while it's a little different in how it's set up in terms of navigating the site, it works pretty much the same once you get it figured out. Good luck!

At my local reptile store, the owner has his own rat barn and provides the rats. I have found Siamese, Blue, Dumbo and Rex in their feeder rat holding bins. The owner cant tell one rat from another, so they usually don't know what they have. Try your local reptile store.

Now, I am breeding for better personality, certain color patterns, and hopefully in the future, show standard conformation.

Rodent Fest is coming up in Leesport PA on April 28th. There will be lots of available rats there. :)

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

Rodent Fest is coming up in Leesport PA on April 28th. There will be lots of available rats there. :)

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I had no idea there was such a thing.^ I'd go but with the money I've spent on snakes after the first two were supposed to be the "only" ones...hahahahahaha! Thanks for the info, I'll keep that in mind if I ever get serious about breeding rats for more than just fun and food.