Well, since everyone wants to turn the other thread into something that it's not, they can do it here...


It seems to me that if your breeding for the Fancy, then wouldnt you want to start out with lines that are already far beyond the mixed bag pet store rats?
Actually, yes, you would. Some breeders bring in petstore rats if there's something really special, but always breed them to pedigreed rats with well known health history, so that they can weed out the bad genes. In fact, rats are lucky enough to have a whole fancy registry all for them, called the NARR (North American Rat Registry). I don't currently have a membership, but will be getting one soon so that I can check out specific rats/lines. Unfortunately, in order to get a membership, you must already have a rattery name, and I haven't come to that yet. There are numerous breeders in PA who are registered with NARR, as well as breeders in surrounding states AND you can have rats flown in from states that are much further away. As I'm sure you can imagine, there are plenty of rat lines to choose from, all being registered with the NARR, and all having the health of the line documented.


And I simply cannot understand your refusal to use newspaper bedding for the health of your animals. If you can't keep them off of urine and fecal matter (that is there, whether you see it with a naked eye or not), then why keep them at all?
I'm not sure I understand why you are so adamant about newspaper bedding. Believe it or not, but, there are other options out there. The rats that I currently have are being litter trained (as well as other rats that I adopt later) and have fleece "bedding". If you don't like the idea, well, that's fine, that's your opinion, but a lot of people choose this route, and thankfully for us, your opinion isn't the only way.


What do others in the rat fancy think of your housing and breeding efforts?
Housing and breeding efforts? Until this post, do you know ANYTHING about my breeding efforts, besides the colors, varieties that I am interested in? Housing? Umm, do you mean that I don't use dusty aspen bedding (which, ironically enough, a lot of rats are allergic to as well), and I don't use newspaper bedding like you THINK I should? Sorry, again, the world doesn't revolve around your opinion, there are other options.

Anything else? Now can we PLEASE leave the other thread the hell alone so that people can actually have fun and tell others what varieties they have in their colonies, instead of having people attack me for my "breeding efforts" and "housing" that you know absolutely nothing about? Thanks.