Fancy Rat Breeder looking for "Feedback"

[Ryan23]

After a few years of buying feeders I become more and more unsatified with both the quality and the price so I now breed my own feeders, both Rats and Mice and I treat them just as good as all of my other pets. I don't have a huge collection of reptiles so I don't need massive numbers of feeders which allows me to do something a little different when breeding my rats. What I do is keep a much larger number of females than what I really need, this allows me to use a few males to move around from group to group so each group of females gets bred and then gets a break. Each break for a group can be as much as 3-4 months so I never have females that are worn out and develop health problems, by doing it this way I get huge litters and the babies start big and grow fast. All of my rats are kept in groups of 2-3 in bins that give them more than enough space, they are fed with Mazuri blocks along with nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and vegies and a constant supply of fresh water. I also have kept a few of my breeders as pets and all are killed using CO2.

I have no problems keeping more breeders than what I need and in above average conditions for feeder breeders if it means I continue to get the big healthy rats for my reptiles.

[boidboi]

Originally Posted by Topaz

I am sorry to say that snake owners don't have a good reputation for humane treatment of prey items when so many horror stories fly around about kids throwing live rats in a tank just to watch the snake kill it.

first just because a few stupid kids think its cool and like to show off to there friends what there snakes can do doesnt mean every one does this and there are thousands of snakes out in the world in captivity that eat live prey just for the fact that they will not accept F/T mice/rats/rabbits and it doesnt matter how much some people might object it , it is still going to happen


4 example : the last ball python i had would only eat live but i didnt sit there and watch him eat personally i did feel bad about it but it had to be done it's life things live and die and if it wasn't the rat that died in time it would have been my snake .and yes while the rats where alive in my care they had just as much care given to them as all my animals

it's not that snake owners are cold heartless people because thats the total oppisite of the truth we're just hobbists like your selfs but rather then rat or dogs we keep snakes and just like you we want the best for are pets and if that means feeding live mice or rats then it must be done

and for any body that has problem with what say im sorry its just what i think

[Ryan23]

first just because a few stupid kids think its cool and like to show off to there friends what there snakes can do doesnt mean every one does this and there are thousands of snakes out in the world in captivity that eat live prey just for the fact that they will not accept F/T mice/rats/rabbits and it doesnt matter how much some people might object it , it is still going to happen

I don't believe that is what Topaz meant, like it or not there are those people out there that get a snake just for the cool factor and do think it's cool to watch their snake kill a rodent and once again like it or not these are usually the people that film it and put it on the internet and give the hobbie a bad name. There is no implication that everyone is like this but it doesn't take much for every snake owner to be grouped together when people see and hear things like this, call it being narrow minded but that is the world we live in. I myself have had to feed live to stubborn snakes which of course I dislike doing but it is nature and as long as I'm not out there making videos to post on the internet and always trying to keep my snakes eating F/T then I'm not contributing to the bad image of snake keepers.

[Lisa]

The only difference that should be seen between fancy rats and feeders should be that fancy rats should be handled and feeders should be frozen before being sold.

[-okapi-]

I saw your post in another feeder forum (the reptile rooms), and Im just kinda curious, what did you mean by rat breeders culling their rat's offspring to get good breeders? If it means what I think it means, why do rat breeders hate herp keepers for keeping snakes when they thenselves "get rid of" their own rats?

[TessMillerDT]

Culling: That's a good question, but honestly it was just an comment. It's very VERY uncommon for breeders to cull litters, and it's extremely frowned upon. In fact code of ethics for most clubs prohibits this practice, and normally when a breeder IS found to cull, they are pretty much shunned and avoided.

There used to be some opinions on culling that people followed. Such as the idea that ridding the mother of "undesirables" (in a breeders eye) would lighten the load on a lactating mother, and allow the other babies a great change at optimum growth. Or that it would immediatly rid your breeding lines of unwanted genetic issues. But these things are generally considered false, and I myself have never met a breeder that still encourages culling. Though it's not a GENERAL practice, there are still accounts of babies that happen to be born with a genetic problem being removed immediatly from the litter. Though this normally doesn't need to be done, as they either die on their own, or the mother will ingest it before the first feeding.

[-okapi-]

That kind of misunderstanding is why most rat breeders hate us lol.

You could put some stuff in your paper about the breeding of human food animals, such as pigs, cattle, etc, to show that the fact that "feeder breeders" overcrowding their animals and not provinging the proper care isnt just limited to "us evil herp keepers."

Good luck and I hope they dont frown upon you over this.

[Jayson]

I only keep and breed the best possible stock, All rats or mice that are born less then perfect by my standard are used as feeders and have no chance of being breeders.
The culling of imperfect animals is also natures way.

TessMillerDT you have a very open mind compared to most fancy rat breeders and i have alot of respect for you for that, but you have come here and labeled feeder breeders based on a few bad apples. For each of the bad breeders there are probably about 100 good ones. You will find that most of the people here are passionate about all animals and not just reptiles.

[TessMillerDT]

Jayson,

I'm not talking about those who breed their own feeder stock, not at all. My remarks about feeding conditions and the like are only based on specific information and aimed at Rodent Mill breeding. I'm really not talking about owners who breed their own stock, so it's really not anyone here in particular who should feel offended by any of my opinions. I myself love ALL animals, not just my rodents, and I would expect herpe owners and breeders to be good people, and have found (for the most part) that this is true, just like with any animal community.

and thank you for the compliments

[-okapi-]

Hows the paper coming? I would love to read it.

I like reading those kinda papers:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showt...645#post524645
See why?