Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
im confused... i thought you didnt want to breed anymore??

also, isnt the mother a petstore rat??? or is the father??? .... I thought that you were against petstore rat breeding???
I've changed my mind. I wrote a few months ago that I will begin breeding again. I already have rats on hold from various breeders around the NW. This time though I will be keeping almost every baby I produce, instead of selling to the general public. Yes Roxy is a petstore rat, however she comes from a local breeder I know very well who takes excellent care of her stock, and is also related to my first odd eyed rat named Roxy who was pet of the day. You can see her page here:

http://petoftheday.com/archive/2003/February/28.html

Because Roxy the first lived such a long healthy life and produced beautiful healthy, typey litters and had such a wonderful personality I decided to breed from a descendent of hers. This Roxy has the same promising personality traits that run in the line. It is by far the best line that came out of my Rattery. The line never produced any megacolon either. As far as petstore breeding I am against it for the most part. As long as the person has experience with breeding and is familiar with genetic diseases, certain illnesses and has at least knowledge of some of the background of the rat then it's not so bad. The only rats available at this petshop are rats from breeders I know. All of them are very well cared for, and I can get any history I want on them. I know all I need to know already for Roxy. Now I don't agree with just anyone getting two feeder rats, plopping them in a tank and making babies. Plus here in the NW, some of the only ways to strengthen the lines we have has been to introduce pet store stock. Granted, not ALL petstore stock is great, but when working with local honest breeders who supply petstores your chances of success are far greater. The breeder just needs to be aware that they are taking a chance, and must be prepared to keep 100% records of all babies, every detail of the litter etc, which is what I'll be doing.

As far as the father, it isn't Nemesis. I don't breed from rats such as him, meaning I have no way of knowing his history at all. He's just a feeder rat. A very cute feeder rat. Plus he's extremely young. Way too young for a male to breed. There would be no way right now to tell if he had agression issues, as he is only 6 months old. I used a buck from a past breeding a did, who went to live with a friend. Hence the reason I may be expecting blues.