Rat sizes

Thanks for the info on their colors. I was kinda wondering. I'll keep an eye on the males and hopefully they'll stay healthy and happy. Would you guys recommend using them as breeders or just keep them as pets? And if I do use them to breed with the girls should I just use the one or both? I mean would one be less likely to cause genetic problems than the other?

By the way, looked at the solid male rat and he has no white on him, so I guess he would be a self.

Not sure on the mismarked female, I'll try and get better pictures of her. Any ideas on getting decent pictures of fast moving rats? lol

Also, I have them in tubs one on top of the other. Should I keep them in separate rooms? Either for QT or so the males don't go nuts smelling females?

Thanks!

I've always had my males in the bachelor tub right next to all of the girls. I've also never had any males really fight. The most quarrels come from the females playing hard to get.

But yes! Quarantine is essential for rats just as much as snakes. Any little creepy crawlies, germs and viruses are easy to transmit just from short distances, and some germs can even take a short journey in our sinuses to find their way to other rats in different rooms.

I would wait till the males are bigger to think about breeding. English blue rats from pet stores are notorious for being sickly, and having low immune systems from poor breeding ethics. I would keep them separate until you know how they deal with the sniffles, any allergies and general over all health. Young rats do not show illness very well, so best to wait. Not only for quarantine but to see how robust they are and if it's what you want to base your future stock on. :gj:

Connie pretty much covered it all (good post Connie!). I also keep my adult males housed near to the females and haven't had any problems. Sexually mature male rats are ALWAYS in breed mode anyways so I doubt it makes a bit of difference to them if they can smell females close by or not. :rofl: