How do you Raise your Litters

We raise them in 12 by 24 mettle bottomed wire cages. We give mom two options for hides and loads of nesting material like tissues and toilet paper and newspaper. Once were sure mama is pregnant she will be put in the cage and monitored closely for signs of labor. As soon as we confirm delivery (usually by the "Bird Sounds" of newborn rats squeaking) we provide mama with a rich mash/grule full of nutrience and vitamins
so that she can recover quickly and feel safe and comfortable caring for the beans. 

Babies are checked once daily so as not to desterb there mother too much. We will supplement any babies who seem to be lagging with a rat safe formula and keep an eye on the individual development closely. We often take video/photogrpahy of babies every day so we can keep track of growth in our line and keep an eye on development milestones.

Babies at two weeks when eyes are open are given "Names" that are connected to an ID number. This goes into our perminant litter records. Now that there eyes are open we start our first temperament checks. We start on solid foods with a baby mash.

Babies at 3 weeks are put up on the website with our temperament summary from out times, and our temperament checks. This is so potential adopters can figure out who they want to try and adopt. We have our keepers chosen. There fully on solids but still nurse.

Babies at 4 weeks are adopted officially by there new families. We now are at the "grow out" stage where they are starting to wean from mom. 

Will you sell me breeding stock?

We only sell breeding stock on the rare occasion we have extra and we have approved of your ratteries standards of care and breeding goals. We are open to getting to know fellow breeders, but we are very careful with our bloodline as its precious to us. We want to make sure that breeders we send out to other ratteries have the best chance possible to spread that same joy that our foundation buck Matthew did. 

Foundation stock also comes with an extra fee, this is to ensure that you really want to work with our bloodline for the fact its our bloodline, and not just because we've got lovely rats. 

We highly suggest that a breeder (or prospective breeder) get a pair of our rats as pets first and keep them at least a year before coming back for breeding stock (as not only would the pets be not suitable for breeding and under a no breeding agreement, but its best to start with stock built for the purpous0. 

Why do you price by trait?

Some breeders don't price by trait (I.E. Ears, coat, dwarf so on and so forth) and in the cat and dog breeding world this behavior is seen as a red flag. In the rat world its a red flag to some and not to others. My point of veiw from having been a pet home for years before breeding I see it only as a red flag if the priceing is exorbinantly diferent. My most expensive rat would be 90$ compared to my cheapest being 40$ but that's due to the addition of all the traits my rattery has to offer. If I was charging double for dumbo vs top eared or claiming I had a new gene unverified by other breeders, and charged triple the amount for that rat... that's a red flag. 

I want to be  very clear about my pricing upfront so that a potential adopter could view it and plan accordingly. Not only do you get a chance to see what rats we can produce with our pairings but you also can see the cost of adopting your dream rat from us. We also dont charge more for a specific bloodline because all our rats are one line. The Bard line founded by Matt.

Why so Expensive?

Not only are these rats hand raised with daily handling, but they are worked with extensively:

1. There parents are healthy and get regular vet  care. If a rat ever gets sick and needs medication, I dont breed them, simple as that. There parents have not gotten sick in there lives. I only breed Healthy animals, and animals with a long history of heath.

2. I dont breed there parents till 4 months old for females and 6 months for males. Those ages means that there temperaments and immune systems are set and we know the quality they are and the quality they will produce. 

3. They are temperament tested three times. And come from temperament tested parents. I also document the temperaments of there siblings and there aunts and uncles to keep track of overall bloodline temperament. 

4. They come with full lifetime support from me. I'm always available via email and sometimes available via phone to help if you ever need. If you ever need emergency advice or happen to run out of food and need a scoop, I'm there.  You can't care for them for any reason? You bring them to me and ill find them a new home. Also previous clients get first pick of pups from new litters when they wish to adopt again and sometimes get to help decide what the next breeding is. 

5. The Cost Ensures Good Care. If you can spend 80$ on a pair of rats I know you are dedicated to them as pets and will take good care of them. They are an investment when you adopt from my lines but your getting so much extra support and help and health and temperament history I know you care. Not only about the wellbeing of the animals, but also about what life you will provide them.