My new ratties.

Got to love them rats...I picked up two select rats from work tonight. More than $25 a week on rats to feed my snakes is getting quite straining on the pocketbook, so I figured I can easily lessen the strain by breeding a few of my own.

The pair's cage is a roomy 40 breeder for the time being, because it wasn't used for anything else. Eventually I will move them all over to the lab style caging. But these two will remain in a tank to be pets first and foremost.

Names for these two came quite easily. Since I'm intrigued by Japanese history and culture I named the female Inari, which means Goddess of food (provider of feeder ratties :))...and the male is of course named Splinter because I'm quite obsessed with TMNT (Raphael *the redfoot* has his master!), another reason for his name is for the splinter shaped marking on his head...plus he just looks so wise. :P

Pictures...
Splinter:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...Splinter01.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...Splinter02.jpg

and Inari: (Hooded Markings)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...on/Inari02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...on/Inari01.jpg


These two should make for some interesting looking babies eventually.

-Jason

Oh he's a nice Husky with that blaze face on him and she's a lovely little Beige Hooded though with those dots of color rather than a stripe I don't know what the rat experts would call that exactly LOL. We have a couple of female Husky's and I do really like those markings. Just make sure your female gets some size on her before you let her have her first litter....big momma's make big babies LOL.

Husky markings are soooo cute. I've got a lot of them..

That hooded just has a broken stripe.. still a hooded!

WoW, I've never seen a pattern like that before! That is so neat how his back is all black and then his sides are white. Love it!

That pattern is called berkshire.. Splinter has high white sides. Berkies are one of the most common rat patterns.

I was pretty sure Splinter was a berkshire, but I had never seen a berkshire with the facial markings he has.

And I knew Inari was hooded, she came from our hooded breeders at the store, I just hope the pattern is the only thing she gets from her parents :) (they're nasty buggers). She's still got some size to put on, but she'll build quick I'm sure.

Right now I have them both on Critter Cubes mixed with some dry pasta. I'll be mixing together Satanic's rat food sometime this week.

Yeah I use a mix similar to Becky's for food. Works great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Berkies are one of the most common rat patterns.

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interesting that ive never seen one before! very cute

Very nice lookin rats!

She does look tiny compared to him, I would separate them until you intend on breeding them. She should really have some more weight and size to her before she is bred.

Also, rats who have the blaze, usually carry a gene for megacolon. I would refrain from breeding that male with any other female that looks like him. However, this may not keep you from producing babies that have it.

The male rat is a husky and not a berkshire. Husky breedings routinely produce babies with megacolon issues, and being a blazed husky just adds to the risk. It will just give you carriers or very unhealthy babies that fail to thrive and either die a week or two after birth, or wait until they are weaned and then die.

Get some nice black or beige hoodeds and you won't have any problems. Or get a pair of pink-eyed whites(PEW) and you will have nice big litters of healthy babies.

That female looks to be about 5-6 weeks old. I hope you don't plan on breeding her until she is AT LEAST 4 months old, preferably 5 or 6 months. It would be like a 12 year old girl getting pregnant, it can be done, but is it the healthiest situation? No...

While they are growing up, it would be wise to get another pair and house them in same-sex groups. Having a buddy helps immensely and they will be much less likely to get sick and be stressed. They will grow faster and eat more if they have a friend to play with.

Plus, getting a normal looking male rat will significantly reduce your chances of megacolon. We already have enough of that in the good breeders' lines, why make more rats that carry the gene...