Organic free range rats

I'd like to announce the start of my new venture today, I'm selling organic free range feeder rats.
They are kept to the highest welfare standards with daily access to grass and sunlight and fed on organic grain and vegetables and bedded on organically grown straw and recycled shredded newspaper. Each cage is individually climatically controlled.
Stocking densities are kept very low, no more than 5 adults to a 5mx5m cage and their environment is enriched with a variety of toys and audiovisual aids.
They are humanely dispatched before shipping to minimise stress levels light classical music is played at all times.
A premium product comes at a premium price but I don't believe there is a better more ethical product on the market.
My aim is to also supply mice, quail and hamsters by early April 2009
Supplied in bags of 25. International shipping available

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Originally Posted by kurgan

I'd like to announce the start of my new venture today, I'm selling organic free range feeder rats.
They are kept to the highest welfare standards with daily access to grass and sunlight and fed on organic grain and vegetables and bedded on organically grown straw and recycled shredded newspaper. Each cage is individually climatically controlled.
Stocking densities are kept very low, no more than 5 adults to a 5mx5m cage and their environment is enriched with a variety of toys and audiovisual aids.
They are humanely dispatched before shipping to minimise stress levels light classical music is played at all times.
A premium product comes at a premium price but I don't believe there is a better more ethical product on the market.
My aim is to also supply mice, quail and hamsters by early April 2009
Supplied in bags of 25. International shipping available

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The only questions are,

What steps are you taking to ensure that these rats are eating a complete nutritional diet provided by certain lab blocks, and what sources or data are you using to confirm that what you are feeding is nutritionally complete?

Also, straw is known to be extremely dusty and almost promotes the growth of mold and fungi. Rat's lungs are extremely delicate and can't handle the dust or proximity to mold. How would you maintain the dust and mold free environment? Shredded newspaper is not very absorbent and does not control smell well. How are you ensuring the build up of liquid urine and ammonia fumes are under control?

Not badgering you, just curious! :)

With the conditions that you state, I doubt your business venture will be profitable. You would probably be better off selling these 'organic' rats as pets instead of feeders.

But hey, what do I know.

If I were in your shoes and had a new idea to get a business going, I would do a quick little business plan and an financial breakdown of the space, time and resources that will need to be put into the business. Then make a decision.

Just wondering.....What are you expecting to sell 25 'organic' rats for?

Sounds like a wonderful plan. I would also like to know how the diet would be figured out and how much you would be charging. I was wanting to switch the majority if not all of my animals to organic diets.

hmm..

:evileye:

:no:

couldn't help but notice this was posted on Apr. 1

:gj::D:rofl::banana::8:

aww.. the banana is stuck

So is it not real? If not then I'm going for it with my own rats. I like the idea of "free range" (in terms of allowing them enough space to roam around for a bit during the day instead of being couped up in a cage or tub all day.)

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They are kept to the highest welfare standards with daily access to grass and sunlight

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By that you mean that they can go outside?

Which mean potentially be exposed to parasites and more :confused:

Free Range Rats???
Wouldn't that be just captured wild rats?
The organically fed part sounds like a good idea

Now it's not April 1st any more (in my neck of the woods), I'll own up to my joke but there was a serious point underneath it. My initial post even included some ridiculous prices and fake ordering information and so fell foul of the TOS and got dumped in the classified section :)

As many people have pointed out I know next to nothing about rat husbandry (most of which was meant to be tongue in cheek although not all!). I also have a full time job and no inclination to go into the rodent trade.

I do care passionately about the welfare of the animals that I keep. I'm not a vegetarian but I am also committed to only eating ethically sourced meat (Not necessarily organic - as a label I think it covers a lot of good stuff but also a fair amount of hocus pocus).

Trying not to sound unbelievably wet I think that by extension I should be concerned with the welfare of the animals that I feed to my animals. I'm sure there are great rat breeders out there but I suspect they are far from the norm amongst wholesalers - inquiries at pet shops and online suppliers meet either 'no idea' or get rather evasive replies.

Anyway this is rather a long winded way of saying I hoped to stir up some discussion on this topic - we all clearly care for the well-being of our snakes, but what about their lunch?
Ed