Should I leave well enough alone?

[marmie]

Our first attempt at starting a colony resulted in disaster because my husband put a rat pup purchased as a feeder that didn’t get eaten in with one of our breeder moms. Needless to say our entire colony died within a few days with the exception of the breeding male.

My current rat colony was started 3 years ago with 4 females and the one lone male survivor from the disaster mentioned above. None of my rats has ever had respiratory issues, mites or mega colon. The occasional casualty has been from old age or birthing complications and I did have to put one female down due to a mammary tumor.

My concern is inbreeding! Obviously after 3 years all my rats are related in one way or another. I have two big males and about 20 females that I rotate around.

Should I bring in new blood? And if so, how long do you quarantine them?

Currently they live in our greenhouse in our backyard. My husband says I should leave well enough alone.

[stangs13]

You can bring in a new male, or you can leave it the way it is! Some people don't want anything to do with other rats outside there colonies. Im not sure about the time to quarentine them for.

[littleindiangirl]

I would think about buying a new male. Avoid mom and pop stores, my luck with them has been bad. I would look for perhaps some local feeder breeders to buy a young male or two.

Quarantine as far as possible from your current colony. Don't even where the same clothes between the two. Treat the new males as a huge risk, cross contaminating nothing between the two. I would even go so far as to get a fecal done by a vet. Treat them for parasites, internal and external. Keep them in QT for a minimum of 3 months, I'd personally go longer.

I'm not 100% sure on the nature of most rat viruses, but I believe many are shed after a period of 3 months, and then are killed off by the immune system. Many other viruses are kept in a carrier status... so there is a risk to just throwing them in after a period of time.

When you feel like enough time has passed, introduce a few weaners from your present colony to the new male rats. Keep them away from your colony still. Watch for signs of illness, this may be a good way to test if they are sick at all.

Just a few ideas, I'm sure others will chime in too.

[SlitherinSisters]

If you get another male, I would get it from a good breeder. If your colony is doing so well and running great you don't want to bring in a male that has some sort of genetic problem.

[marmie]

Thanks Everyone!

I guess the inbreeding is my biggest concern and I don't want to start seeing rats with 3 eyes or something else funky.