Quote Originally Posted by pfan151 View Post
I have no doubt that rest probably does prolong their life, but I also don't think continuous breeding makes me selfish or unethical. For me, getting one or two more good litters out of a female before she is fed off is not worth the extra time, money, and space. If my rats were "pets" I would obviously think differently. My rats are kept clean and given the best food on the market. IMO if their bodies were not designed to be able to handle continuous breeding they would not have evolved the ability to do so. I get a normal average lifespan from my rats. If I did not I would not allow them to breed continuously.
Good points. They have been made to breed continuously, I just wonder where the line is between being healthy and raising pups, and running them through till they die from exhaustion or what not.

In the wild, they have a few more things to worry about then just breeding; predators, parasites, maintaining territory/nests... food supplies, and population. I think these things weigh in heavier than them dieing from continuous breeding.

I haven't read anything that says what they die from when the best conditions are met, but I guess it is safe to say it's from continuous breeding. Since in that same article, she states that wild rats get about 5 litters, which matches up with the average from continuous breeding.

So in that respect, they may not be able to handle continuous breeding in the wild all the time, but they have been given the ability to do that to keep their species alive in times of "feast".

Very interesting points pfan, I may have to do some of my own controlled experiments in the future to make a solid conclusion either way.