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angelratdesigns In reply to backwardsman [2007-02-08 13:29:23 +0000 UTC]

while two rats are much better than one, for you and for them, you should not do so so you can have babies in the house. when you don't know their genetic background, so much can go wrong, and i have witnessed some of what can go wrong.

outside of that, aren't babies just the cutest.

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backwardsman In reply to angelratdesigns [2007-02-09 02:23:15 +0000 UTC]

What can go wrong? I dont really know all that much about rats, When I bought Rupert I was only going to play with him for the day and let him go. He was being sold as snake food. But he was too cute I had to keep him.

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angelratdesigns In reply to backwardsman [2007-02-09 04:02:14 +0000 UTC]

i honestly don't want to lecture you, it truely is not my intention if it comes out that way.

first off, rats sold as snake food are not wild rats, they have been domesticated and as such depend on humans to care for them. if you had released that rat, you would have sentenced him to a terrible death worse than being strangled. he might have gotten toyed with by a cat, mangled and left to die somewhere, he might have wandered into traffic and gotten hit and possibly dragged himself off to the side to starve to death. and there are any number of predators who would have not cared that he was alive or dead, while snakes will at least kill thier food first.

as for breeding, there are any number of genetic traits that get passed down from the parents, as well as genetic defects. rats that seem nice at the petstore can become quite territorial once they feel safe enough to assert themselves, which is why slow introductions are important whenever you get a new rat.

there are a number of things that a new rat can be a carrier of (which only affect other rats) such as a horrible virus called SDA which is so easily transmitted and can wipe out a whole colony of rats in a matter of one or two weeks if not recognized and treated agressively once the signs start to show. i had SDA hit my little colony last summer after i visited the wrong petstore while on vacation, and brought it back to my girls on my clothing and hands. i lost two of my four rats to it despite my swift treatment. this is why the mainstream rat community stesses the importance of quarentining every new rat you adopt in a separate house for three weeks. if no illnesses develop in that time, the rat or rats will be safe to intro to your current rat.

the tendency to get tumors is actually passed down from parents to pups as well. my angel and her sisters all died from uteran tumors around the age of 18 months. there is also a condition called megacolon which is inherited from dormant genes in parents. megacolon is when a rat cannot poop, and their colon pretty much explodes from the backup, causing a very painful death. usually this happens in babies, but there is also late onset megacolon.

while you may get lucky and not experience any of these things, the possibility of something happening is quite real and extremely devistating to the human heart.

i do have some fabulous rat related links on one of my websites if you would like to explore them, including several rat forums where you can share in the joys of other rat lovers... [link]

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backwardsman In reply to angelratdesigns [2007-02-14 23:11:23 +0000 UTC]

ooo thanks for all that

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angelratdesigns In reply to Madras [2007-02-08 02:52:54 +0000 UTC]

nope

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