I would say I used to name and play with the breeder rats far more than I'm able to these days. The numbers are simply too large now to make special "pets" of any of them really. I do still keep back certain nice tempered adult females, once they finish their breeding lives, to help socialize my upcoming female breeders. I've always found that I prefer dealing with big female rats on their litters if the females at least have a basic and good association with me and my hands in their space.

Whether they have names or not though, my respect for these creatures and my committment to their proper care hasn't changed. Without their contribution my family would never be able to maintain the size of the collection we currently own.