where do you get your breeders?

i am looking to get into breeding rats, and i have been looking for a pair of females and a male to start off. i searched craigslist, the one person i found gave me a email questionnaire, then wouldn't let me take them because i owned snakes. i told her they were not feeders, but for breeding, but this lady flipped out on me. next i try the local rat rescue which is right in my town. yea well they don't support herps, labs or pet stores, and need to do a home visit before adopting $20 a piece rats.

i really don't want to go to petco, but it's looking like i might have to. all i want i a male and a pair of females, they will never be eaten (just their babies) and when they are done breeding they will be nothing more then pets. why is this so difficult!!!!

any ideas?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kagez28

i am looking to get into breeding rats, and i have been looking for a pair of females and a male to start off. i searched craigslist, the one person i found gave me a email questionnaire, then wouldn't let me take them because i owned snakes. i told her they were not feeders, but for breeding, but this lady flipped out on me. next i try the local rat rescue which is right in my town. yea well they don't support herps, labs or pet stores, and need to do a home visit before adopting $20 a piece rats.

i really don't want to go to petco, but it's looking like i might have to. all i want i a male and a pair of females, they will never be eaten (just their babies) and when they are done breeding they will be nothing more then pets. why is this so difficult!!!!

any ideas?

---

It is a pain to find decent breeders from stores. I've gotten a couple from Petco that worked out fine but some didn't work out and were sick. It's hit or miss there.

A lot of stores in this area also only sell males, Petco is one of the only pet stores I could find that sells females, but they rarely have the large size. The medium ones are usually too small.

Do you have a local reptile shop or show? Those would be the first places I would check as well as local snake breeders. I happened to hear about a lady who breeds when I went to the local feed store to pick up rat food so I am about to pick up some new blood for my breeding colony. If you are ever in the Columbus area, I could spare a few to get you started.

i would love to be in columbus (go bucks!!!), but im up here in MI. i will check out the next expo up here i think it's aug 11th. thanks for the tips.

Yeah, expos and already established breeders for reptiles are pretty much the only ways to go. Pet store rats are VERY hit and miss health wise, and most are really too young for breeding. Rescues and pet rat breeders will not want to adopt to you because you have snakes, no matter that their rats won't be eaten.

Good luck at that expo!

My founding females came from Petsmart, and I checked for sneezes and overall health. My founding male came from a feeder bin at Petland. Again, checked the same thing again. I'm getting two females in Daytona from Emily and she's getting a berkie male from me.

Hey, why not talk to TekWarren. He's down there. He may be able to steer you in the right direction. As for my breeders, they're all lovely pets, but we're just starting breeding. I got them from a local pet store, Pet Paradise. They were all clean, and very well tempered. And two of my big girls, I got from petsmart. Great health, and very nice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Argentra

Yeah, expos and already established breeders for reptiles are pretty much the only ways to go.

---

eh... I wouldnt buy from anybody selling rats at the expos down in Taylor... Just didnt scream "HEALTHY" to me. But I didnt look at african soft furs.... I really wouldnt buy breeders from expos at all.... Just try to get in touch with some reputable breeders down there. That will be your best bet.

I kept out some of the live feeders to use as breeders. I got them from the local reptile store, and from a local rat supplier.
I wouldn't bother with the rat rescues, and the people adopting them out. Their aim is rats as pets, not producers. You wouldn't give someone a pair of puppy dogs to breed and sell the pups as food to the asian market. They feel the same about the rats.
Good luck, and make sure the rats looks healthy without sneezing, without runny eyes and not skinny.
Good luck!

well there is a pet store not to far from here that breeds their own rats and mice for live feeders, so i think i am going to stop on down there and see if they sell any that are of breeding age, and not to old.

so i am looking for well fed, no runny noses or red tears, and not sneezing. sounds good.

Kevin, you might also want to try a local herp society. Usually there are people attending the monthly meetings that are either breeding their own or know of someone who is. Just a thought.

Kevin I'd suggest you get hold of Amelia at ES Tropicals. She vends at the Taylor show (the next one is August 11th) and although she doesn't vend rats there she does have a nice breeding colony going with many colors and patterns and might be willing to sell you a nice trio to start you up. I've pmed you her email address. Also Ed Rodents vends there for live feeders. I've never purchased from him so I can't speak to the quality of his rats but it's an option.

We may be going to that show. If we had any to spare I'd happily bring you a trio however we're looking to expand ourselves....we're having troubles keeping up with the demand lately lol.

As far as sizes, you don't want to go for the large rats. They are older. You want a nice trio of young rats, not long weaned or not bigger than smalls basically. Set up the females seperate from the male and let them grow until they hit about 250 grams (about 4 or 5 months of age) then introduce the male. If all goes well you'll have lovely litters of rat pinks about a month later. :)

The founding group is composed of 2 young females from Petco that I raised up to proper weight and a young male from Petsmart. Also added 2 young albino females from a local store (from feeders to breeders ;) ).