Why are most feeders Albino?

As the title states im curious why most feeders I receive are always albinos? I did multiple searches and couldnt find a reason. I have not noticed my snakes care about the color of the rodent.. Is it more about well the all the look the same? Thanks in advance

Joe

I have noticed this too. I think maybe this is what is just more available to feed stores and people who sell them.

I would imagine it's because it makes them look like lab rats. Cute brown/black mice/rats would probably have more people up in arms than creepy looking albino lab rats/mice.

^I don't know if it's JUST that they look like lab rats. It's very possible that's where a lot of the original stock came from. Labs still sell animals for lab use, but over bred animals will need to be used for something. Very easily could have been rodents sold to zoos and private collector herpetologists who basically set these lab rats as the standard for what rodents we use as feeders. We think of them as sterile and used for lab purposes, probably cause most are. Not to mention--where else in the early days would you find clean, captive bred rodents that people would NOT be mad that you fed to a snake. I think a lot of the rats used in feeding and pets have their origins partially thanks to these people...Heck, that's how we got axolotls. A lot of people bought excess from laboratories. Decided they were cool pets!

So is it wrong to breed colored rats for feeders? I feel it would allow for better genetics and healthier stock? But If im going to have a harder time selling off my extra feeders due to their colors Ill start working with more white rats. Was just curious since I am starting my own breeding colony for myself. For my snakes I dont mind what they look like. However I would like to be able to sell off extras if need be haha

From Wikipedia:

Laboratory rats share origins with their cousins in domestication, the fancy rats. In 18th century Europe, wild Brown rats ran rampant and this infestation fueled the industry of rat-catching. Rat-catchers would not only make money by trapping the rodents, but also by turning around and selling them for food, or more importantly, for rat-baiting.

Rat-baiting was a popular sport which involved filling a pit with rats and timing how long it took for a terrier to kill them all. Over time, breeding the rats for these contests produced variations in color, notably the albino and hooded varieties. The first time one of these albino mutants was brought into a laboratory for a study was in 1828, in an experiment on fasting. Over the next 30 years rats were used for several more experiments and eventually the laboratory rat became the first animal domesticated for purely scientific reasons.[1]

The reason alot of feeders are white with red eyes, is because MOST lab animals are just that....white with red eyes.......from all of my groups, I have noticed that the white with red eyed rats put off bigger litters for a longer amount of time....instead of replacing females in 6-8 months, they continue to put off big litters for sometimes UP TO a year. I am sure that I am not the only person that has noticed this. I am sure that rat breeders do as well, and if you can keep from "retiring" a female longer, and continue to get good solid litters from her, then you are not missing any time producing. When you replace a female, she is generally already pregnant, whether you know it or not, so you freeze her, or feed her off, and replace her with a smaller female, who will have her first litter for AT LEAST 3-4 weeks....lots of downtime for that tub.

Rat breeders look for the biggest litters, with out any interuptions, and in most cases, white rats do that. They will also keep rats from a litter where there was a high baby count also. If that litter count was high, then their litter count is generally high. A mom that has 14-18 babies at a time, generally have daughter that will have 14-18 babies at a time. I have a few females that I have kept from females that have 14-18 babies, and their first few litters were over 20. When females have that many babies, you always wanna make sureyou have multiple lactating females in a tub, as rats only have 8, or maybe 10, never really looked, nipples. Therefore some babies eat really good, adn some don't. If you notice smaller babies in a litter, move'em. Another female with babies will take care of them, and minimize your loss due to 'bullying' by siblings.

Anyways, back on topic.....white rats GENERALLY have ALOT of babies....that is why breeders use'em........

Jason

Jason

Dont know about your but ouer albino rats in Serbia are more bigger then black, black-white...

My male breeders albino are about 800g and females are 500-600g, but black and blac-white males are 400-450g and females are about 300g.

Other thing that i notice is that the weanlings are much havyer then others. Two days ago i gave to my BPs white one that is about 13-15days/33g and to other black-white 21-25days/27g.

Thanks for the info! I have no clue where im going to find white rats though that arnt an arm and leg and uncared for. Most places near me wont sell live rats. And if they do they do they are either crazy expensive and uncared for or crazy expensive and not white =/

Here's my thought.

Feeders rodents have been bred for a long time, and originally not many colours were available. Black, agouti, and albino are the most common feeder colours, not in that order.
So why all the albinos?
Well, if you breed albinos to albinos, you will get nothing but more albinos. So if one feeder place started with albinos, and bred them, they'd only have albinos. If they sold to another place that started up a feeder business, then they'd also -only- have albinos.
Even if you had a few agouti or black mice, the albino seems to always prevail, because it cancels out every other colour.

The 'cute' factor probably also has something to do with this.


"Anyways, back on topic.....white rats GENERALLY have ALOT of babies....that is why breeders use'em........"
That is completely not true. Any rat can have any sized litter. The amount of babies in a litter has to do with health, feed, and the line that the rat comes from. Colour has almost nothing to do with it, with the exception of lethal homozygous mutations.

Depends on the company and their stock. I order from Rodent Pro and always get a mix of colors from pups to adults.

I just bought a woman's babies from an albinoXalbino litter and there were 17!

I just had an albinoXcolored litter of 14!

My colored rats (eating the same food, on the same bedding) are having 6-8 babies at a time.

ONE colored group gives me consistently 10-12 at a time.

I definitely think it has most to do with the lines. If you breed from lines that consistently have larger litters, you will probably continue to have larger litters. And since feeder breeders, pet shop breeders, etc want MORE MORE MORE babies, they will be doing just that, breeding for LARGER litters. They probably just started with albinos and kept going.

Plus, maybe labs like the "clean look" of the white rats because they can see any imperfections on them easier. And labs also like large litters I'm assuming

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Originally Posted by yeti2k3

Thanks for the info! I have no clue where im going to find white rats though that arnt an arm and leg and uncared for. Most places near me wont sell live rats. And if they do they do they are either crazy expensive and uncared for or crazy expensive and not white =/

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I think it's okay if you breed or feed those. Some adult ball pythons will become particular about color if they've only ever seen prey items of a particular color. But assuming that's not the case, there's no reason why you can't use brown rats.

If you want to breed them, though, you should expect smaller, more irregular litters. As stated above.

I don't breed rats, but I usually get a mix of colors from the sources I use and have used. My snakes don't have a preference either (yet, knock on wood?) so I haven't really taken more note of the colors of my feeders

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

Here's my thought.

"Anyways, back on topic.....white rats GENERALLY have ALOT of babies....that is why breeders use'em........"
That is completely not true. Any rat can have any sized litter. The amount of babies in a litter has to do with health, feed, and the line that the rat comes from. Colour has almost nothing to do with it, with the exception of lethal homozygous mutations.

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Well, that is the beauty of forums.....we all have our own opinions....I have been doing this a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, and I would be willing to put a litter of mine, YOUR choice, against a litter of yours, your choice........mine WILL be bigger.......just saying......

Oh well......carry on.......

Jason

Jason

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rhasputin

Here's my thought.

Feeders rodents have been bred for a long time, and originally not many colours were available. Black, agouti, and albino are the most common feeder colours, not in that order.
So why all the albinos?
Well, if you breed albinos to albinos, you will get nothing but more albinos. So if one feeder place started with albinos, and bred them, they'd only have albinos. If they sold to another place that started up a feeder business, then they'd also -only- have albinos.
Even if you had a few agouti or black mice, the albino seems to always prevail, because it cancels out every other colour.

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I agree everything said here. If you start with albinos, all you're going to get is albinos.

The feeders I buy are rarely albinos because the reptile store I purchase them from started their colony with colored rats.

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Originally Posted by reptilegirl07

Plus, maybe labs like the "clean look" of the white rats because they can see any imperfections on them easier. And labs also like large litters I'm assuming

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I work in a medical research laboratory. Not all lab animals are albino. There are many strains of colored mice and rats. Color usually depicts a certain strain. Every rat or mouse in research is genetically designed for lab work. For example, certain lines of albinos and black mice(C57) are immune deficient. Perfect for disease or stem cell research. NOD strains of animals are diabetic. Lethal Yellow mice are used for obesity projects. etc. etc. The majority, but not all, are inbred strains.

However, the original reason to use albinos in research is due to their lack of pigment. It's easier to find blood veins compared to colored animals with colored skin.

And most people are correct. Lab rats tend to be larger and throw larger litters. It's part of their design.

:)

Great info everyone :) I hope to find some good breeders here in the near future to really get my colony going...Im unsure how the lines will be in my area. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good producers and healthy animals to start. Everything I got from rodent pro has been albino which is what made me start wondering if there was some secret code against using colored rats is all. I originally figured it had to do with colored rats were easily associated with pets and white with lab rats and there for easier to feed off to some people.
Already have a 3 tub rack ready to go. Just need stock :D

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Originally Posted by JTrott

Well, that is the beauty of forums.....we all have our own opinions....I have been doing this a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, and I would be willing to put a litter of mine, YOUR choice, against a litter of yours, your choice........mine WILL be bigger.......just saying......

Oh well......carry on.......

Jason

Jason

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Yes. Your LINES have larger litters. It has nothing to do with their colour. If you popped out a black rat, it would still have a similar size litter to the rest of your rats. :P

You're agreeing with me, and not even realizing it. :rofl: