Backyard breeding is when you let girls and boys mate, without really taking into consideration the effect
it will have on the babies. You shouldn't breed your own rats unless you know all there is to know about thier genetics and
backrounds. It's best to leave it to the proffessionals.
Rats can inherit aggression. They can also inherit illnesses from thier parents (severe myco complications, tumors, megacolon). I have been a backyard breeder before. The babies inherited a breathing problem from the father. Now we have
to take Cheeky and Tini to the vet.
It is also hard to find homes for rats (believe me). Do you want to be the one responsable for an animal
getting put in a shelter or fed to a snake?
Aswell as finding homes, it's hard to pay for them. You'll need a bigger cage, more food, more bedding (you'll
be cleaning the cage more often), etc. You might also have to pay vet bills if you backyard breed and a sickness gets passed
down (been there).
Don't 'experiment' with breeding. LEAVE IT TO THE PROFFESSIONALS! Trust me, although I'm thankfull for the
babies created (James, Tini, Cheeky, Marty & Mack), I often regret breeding because of the pain we've caused them to live
with. 3/5 of my babies have bad breathing. They look like they are in pain and it's all my fault. To prevent
backyard breeding, never have boys and girls together.
Don't even have a boy cage next to a girl cage (boys can extend their you-know-what).
If you want to have boys and girls together, i suggest that you neuter the boys.
NOTE: the petratscanada forum closed in august. it is no longer active but you can still read it
for its wonderful wealth of knowledge.
Note to disclaimer: This artical was written based on personal feelings and events. You are entitled
to your own opinion of this artical and you may not agree with everything said above.
