i'm starting my colony (pics:))

Well I am at 3 BP's now and 2 MORE on the way, so my hubby said enough of this $20 a feeding day, figure it out:) So I did and here is what I have come up with:)

I went to go get 1 Male and 2 Females, but there were 2 Males that were a rescue and had to go together - they are attached:)

I think they are what is called a "blue"? (Frank and George)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...d/ec11219d.jpg

and here are the girls:) Anyone know what you call them? There names are Mocha and Latte (she is a black eyed Ruby (?)) one black eye and one red eye.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...d/ec112144.jpg

And here is their temporary housing, I am picking up a larger cage off of Craigs list on Thursday and then I am setting up a tub for the babies as seen on the sticky here:) But they all seem happy in this cage:) so far:)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...7/ec1121a3.jpg

Now its time to wait for them to make some babies:) In the meantime my boys (5 and 8) are loving hanging out with their ratties:)

Careful, rats are addictive! I started out with a male and a couple females and now I have around 50 and 3 more litters on the way this month (hopefully!). They breed like crazy and are just fun to have around.

Well so far the only one that loves people and has a great personality is Latte - the black eyed ruby:) The two brothers are completely attached to eachother - hate to be apart! And then Mocha - she's kind of a scaredy cat so far:)

But Latte definately has my heart:)

cage seems kind of small. don't expect to have a litter in there

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

cage seems kind of small. don't expect to have a litter in there

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Yes I know thats why in my post it says temporary cage and I am picking up a LARGER one on Thursday......

Thanks for the kind advice:)

Very adorable, and the boys are handsome! The only concern I would have - do you know much the girls weigh? I raised my girls up to 250 grams before introducing a male to them.

good luck with the colony

i've never seen a rat with two different colors before

Please don't breed those girls... They are much too small and couldn't possibly produce a healthy litter yet. Like a 12 year old getting pregnant... She CAN, but is it a good thing?

Separate them before they get pregnant. They only look to be around 2-3 months old, maybe.

You also really shouldn't breed the fawn colored girl. She is an odd-eye, she has a wedge-blaze, and she's also a husky. She's a high-white marked rat that could possibly be carrying megacolon. All of those color patterns/markings are a very high risk.

The hooded is fine, but too young. Stick with self(one solid color), berkshires(white feet and white tummy), irish(white marking on chest), or hooded. You won't have problems when breeding those. Megacolon babies rarely pop up in litters from rats with those markings, unless the line carries it anyway.

So please, separate them immediately, and don't let that fawn girl get pregnant.

Hi Becky - Thanks for the info. I thought I had read everything and had it all covered:(

So I separated them first thing this morning. Good thing is I dont think the boys had anything to do with the girls anyways. The boys dont leave eachothers side and want not much to do with the girls.

I don't know how old they are, this is my first time with rats and when I was at the petstore talking to them about what I was going to do they said they were fine to breed:(

How do I know if she is carrying megacolon? Can I have her tested? She is my favorite out of all of them:(

I weighed them both this morning and they were around 165 - 175G, so I will wait for them to grow.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Please don't breed those girls... They are much too small and couldn't possibly produce a healthy litter yet. Like a 12 year old getting pregnant... She CAN, but is it a good thing?

Separate them before they get pregnant. They only look to be around 2-3 months old, maybe.

You also really shouldn't breed the fawn colored girl. She is an odd-eye, she has a wedge-blaze, and she's also a husky. She's a high-white marked rat that could possibly be carrying megacolon. All of those color patterns/markings are a very high risk.

The hooded is fine, but too young. Stick with self(one solid color), berkshires(white feet and white tummy), irish(white marking on chest), or hooded. You won't have problems when breeding those. Megacolon babies rarely pop up in litters from rats with those markings, unless the line carries it anyway.

So please, separate them immediately, and don't let that fawn girl get pregnant.

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As far as I know you can't test for megacolon. If you want to breed her just make sure she breeds to a self (all one color) dark rat (not any white on it). That would lessen your chances for megacolon I would assume...not being a rat genetics expert. I've bred my husky female and I've bred blazed females with no incidents of megacolon in my colony but had I seen even one indication of it I'd have just retired those breeders from the colony. If you are concerned about using her you could just keep her as a pet basically, replace her with another female and she can just keep female feeders company or your other breeder females when they are between litters (that's what I do with my older retired female breeders).

You might want to be very careful about introducing a female in with two mature males even though they are bonded (likely brothers by their looks). I recently had a male rat turn on another when I stupidly and temporarily let both adult males in the very large breeder tank with some females (I was reorganizing the colony and just popped one in for a few minutes with the other and the females). In a flash one male nearly killed the other and these were males that knew each other and normally are fine together. The males may fight each other, or may bite the female arguing over who gets to breed her. Just a thought and something to watch out for with two males in with some females.

Thanks Joanna - I will defiantely keep an eye on that - I really did not want two males, but these two were a rescue and had to go togehter, so I took them, I will just put one in at a time when breeding. I will have 4 tanks set up when I start going. I have the two girls in a 20 Gallon aquarium today until the new cage comes tomorrow, then I am setting up a Rubbermaid bin and my friend is giving me a 40G aquarium tank with a lid, so I will have enough cages to keep everyone separate when needed. So far if I take one boy out of the cage the other sits at the door waiting for him to RETURN:) Kinda pathetic:)


Well I guess now I need to find a new female - larger this time!

Do you also have a good lab block source? If not, try looking for a Purina feed mill and they will be able to order some Mazuri Rodent blocks for you. You need a good, high quality lab block so the adults can maintain their weight while pregnant, nursing, etc.

Also, I see a bag of that pet store food mix junk. I would replace it with either my mix plus lab blocks or just lab blocks. Those mixes from the pet store(nutriphase, etc), just contain alfalfa, dried corn, and other tiny seeds that rats really don't get anythign out of. They can't digest it and the nutritional value is just zilch. My mix is very cheap to make, but is a nice complete, well-rounded diet when used in addition to the lab blocks(which have everything a rat/mouse/other rodent needs).

Glad you separated them. And no, unfortunately there isn't a test to confirm that she carries megacolon. I prefer to leave the breeding of high-white rats to the professional breeders in the rat fancy as they know what to look for and can get that out of the lines so it won't be bred any further. If you REALLY have to breed her, find a self male such as an agouti self or agouti hooded, or black self or black hooded, berkshire/irish, etc, and breed her to him. I don't know if I would even trust those Blues Brothers.

IMHO, I would just keep your fawn girl as a buddy, and get another female(so you'd have 3 females). She's be good company for those 2 as they will need it while recovering for 2 weeks or so after they wean their litters.

Oh what perfect names for them...Jake and Elwood! Perfect for the Blue Brothers LOL.

Just thought I'd mention, in case you didnt know, Becky's mix is described in a sticky thread in the top part of this section of the forum. Also, like Jo said, males attitude towards each other change completely when there are females around usually. I also have a question for you Becky. You say not to breed the girl to a high white, but then mention using hooded instead. What defines a rat as "high white" i thought it was simply just having a lot of white, but hooded's have alot of white and you list them as an option. I have searched for a list or detailed explanation of "high white" but cant find anything. Thanks.

Hi Becky - Yes I did get the lab blocks. Yes the pet food I bought from the store was a staple, I read your recipe before I even bought them and have it printed:) I have been adding a few of the ingredients mixed in and this weekend I will be making a BIG batch of your recipe:)


Is there a place online that I can purchase rats (that are breedable), I went to three pet stores today and they were either out or did not meet the requirements. Is it ok to buy them from the reptile store that I buy my feeders from?

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Do you also have a good lab block source? If not, try looking for a Purina feed mill and they will be able to order some Mazuri Rodent blocks for you. You need a good, high quality lab block so the adults can maintain their weight while pregnant, nursing, etc.

Also, I see a bag of that pet store food mix junk. I would replace it with either my mix plus lab blocks or just lab blocks. Those mixes from the pet store(nutriphase, etc), just contain alfalfa, dried corn, and other tiny seeds that rats really don't get anythign out of. They can't digest it and the nutritional value is just zilch. My mix is very cheap to make, but is a nice complete, well-rounded diet when used in addition to the lab blocks(which have everything a rat/mouse/other rodent needs).

Glad you separated them. And no, unfortunately there isn't a test to confirm that she carries megacolon. I prefer to leave the breeding of high-white rats to the professional breeders in the rat fancy as they know what to look for and can get that out of the lines so it won't be bred any further. If you REALLY have to breed her, find a self male such as an agouti self or agouti hooded, or black self or black hooded, berkshire/irish, etc, and breed her to him. I don't know if I would even trust those Blues Brothers.

IMHO, I would just keep your fawn girl as a buddy, and get another female(so you'd have 3 females). She's be good company for those 2 as they will need it while recovering for 2 weeks or so after they wean their litters.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Oh what perfect names for them...Jake and Elwood! Perfect for the Blue Brothers LOL.

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Yea that would be cute, but my oldest sons name is Jake:) He named his George and my youngest son named the other Frank:)

Personally, I would just get another female the same size as your current two girls, wait 2-3 months until they are 4-6 months old, and then breed. They would be healthier since you raised them yourself and they would be more socialized and easier to care for than if you got them as adults in a pet store/feeder bin.

Buying younger females also ensures that they weren't previously a worn-out breeder, that you are now buying, and now the rat is too old to be safely bred. Know what I mean, Vern? What's 2-3 more months for the health of the rats.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Personally, I would just get another female the same size as your current two girls, wait 2-3 months until they are 4-6 months old, and then breed. They would be healthier since you raised them yourself and they would be more socialized and easier to care for than if you got them as adults in a pet store/feeder bin.

Buying younger females also ensures that they weren't previously a worn-out breeder, that you are now buying, and now the rat is too old to be safely bred. Know what I mean, Vern? What's 2-3 more months for the health of the rats.

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Yes I know what you mean:) I guess I should have been more clear - there were no FEMALES at the stores here that met the criteria for FUTURE breeding - I guess I will just wait and watch and hope they get some in. I did find out what day they all receive shipments:)

Ah! Ok, I gotcha. :) I have much better conversations in person, I promise... *giggle*

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Ah! Ok, I gotcha. :) I have much better conversations in person, I promise... *giggle*

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No worries:) The last few hours I have been doing MORE research:) I think I am going to hold out and look for a Russian Blue, I started looking for Breeders here in Colorado - not many. And ofcourse I know not to say they are breeder feeders:) I will just keep checking the pet stores on their delivery days:)

Thanks for all your help. When it comes to taking care of my animals I want to do what is best for them and I am new to rats, so thank you for all your help.

It's too bad that my little odd-eyed fawn can't be breed, she is the absolute sweetest and smartest one of them ALL!:)

You may not find rat breeders that breed for pet/show very receptive to selling to you if you intend to breed for feeders. Just a heads up on that. As far as where to find decent rats, really any good pet store will do. Pet tanks or feeder bins just have a good look through and pick out rats like you would a puppy or a kitten. Clean butts, clean ears, clear eyes, nice fur, decent temperment (they'll be skittish of course but avoid biters), not covered in lice/fleas, no wet poop stuck under the tail...that sorta thing (for the males...good errrr equipment back there). I've got some of my best breeders out of store feeder tanks or from picking through my own grow out tubs of feeders. :) Personally I give any pet store purchase a good dunking to make sure they aren't bringing any little bug friends home with them (nothing is uglier than a wet rat, well other than a wet cat!)