Dispelling Myths
Dumbo eared rats have a better temperament than Standard ear rats.
Ear set does not impact temperament. Temperament is genetic first and foremost (it is then molded by socialization and environmental influences). Dumbo rats can be fabulous, or they can be awful, aggressive, fearful, etc. In the same way, standard ear rats can be fabulous, or they can be awful, aggressive, fearful, etc. Temperament is dependent on the ability of the breeder to responsibly and ethically breed for better temperaments.
Height is better than floor space.
This is incorrect, considering Rattus Novegicus are fossorial animals who live in burrows on the ground. They will climb as enrichment or when necessary, however, they are not arboreal by nature and their bodies are not designed for constant climbing. This can result in injuries. Offering height is acceptable as long as floor space is not forfeited.
Bin cages are cruel.
Bin cages are amazing if made correctly. Obviously a small bin with some holes punched in and not cleaned regularly is going to be a bad home. The cool thing about bin cages is that the customization is nearly endless. If you had the space, you could make an incredible network of cages connected via PVC that could mimic their burrows in the wild and can be changed up periodically for the ultimate enrichment! The only limit is your imagination (and maybe space).
Rats can mate through bars.
When rats mate, the buck will mount the female by grasping her abdomen, which triggers the Lordosis Reflex in the doe. This is an important posture that allows the buck to enter the does vaginal opening. Without the Lordosis Reflex, the buck is unable to reach the vaginal opening and mating cannot occur. Mating through the bars of a cage is physically impossible.
[variety] tends to be more aggressive/friendlier/etc.
As it is with ear set, physical appearance does not influence temperament. Poor breeding practices and a "quantity over quality" mindset can lead to lines of rats that have unwanted behaviors as well as health issues.
Male rats will always fight if housed together. Its normal.
It is absolutely not normal. Rats are colony animals and should be able to live together. Male rats who fight typically suffer from Hormonal Aggression, which is genetic. It is unfortunately common in the pet groups to normalize hormonal aggression, but from a breeding standpoint, this is something that absolutely should be bred out for their safety, as well as their quality of life. If caught early on, neutering can sometimes decrease instances of hormonal aggression, however, in older males where the behavior was allowed to continue, it can become a learned behavior, unfixable with neutering. The best way to prevent hormonal aggression is to breed it out of a line. Support responsible breeders who are working to better the domestic rat.
Its normal to spend a week or more doing introductions!
Similar to the above, rats are colony animals and shouldnt need long intro periods. If rats need this, they are not quality rats. It should not be considered normal, as that risks people accepting poor behaviors and slows the progress for better quality rats. Never normalize something that is easily bred away from!
Give your rat time to settle in! Biting is normal, theyre are scared!
An adjustment period for rats is normal, but they absolutely should not bite. That level of fear is not acceptable in the circumstances and the offending rat should be returned to the breeder for evaluation. Breeding for social, confident rats should be the primary goal for breeders. Compare this situation to getting a new dog. You wouldnt expect your new dog to bite and break skin when you bring it home. Some nervousness may be expected, but biting shouldnt even be a thought!
Marbles always have malocclusion. DWS always has Megacolon. Harley always have protein sensitivites. Hairless cant lactate...
Although it is not a bad idea to understand potential health issues that could be in a line, especially if purchased from questionable sources, it is important to note that the majority of health issues are not gene linked, but line related. If a new variety mutates in a line with genetic health problems, then these health issues are often exacerbated while trying to breed more rats with the new mutation. These lines are then passed around to other breeders who continue to breed for this new variety without always taking health into consideration. Sometimes this is due to selfishness, and sometimes it is an unavoidable, since a small gene pool does not always allow for a breeder to choose the best, healthiest, most temperamentally sound rats to continue the line. Sometimes a breeder must forfeit health or temperament in order to produce enough of a particular variety to be able to better choose proper breeders. However, with this said, if one has the mindset that a particular health issue is gene linked, they may not bother breeding the issue out of the line. In varieties that have been around for several years and are being worked on by many breeders, they should be able and willing and striving to breed for healthier, better tempered rats and not assume the issue cannot be bred out.
Feeding meat to rats makes them aggressive.
Rats are opportunistic scavengers. They can absolutely eat meat without affecting behavior, in the same way that dogs or even people can eat meat without becoming aggressive. In fact, rats thoroughly enjoy occasional meat as well as bones (raw bones make fantastic chews!).
Dont feed citrus to male rats!! They will get cancer!
Although there was a study that D-Limonene has carcinogenic effects on male rats, this study was done using significant amounts of the substance, far more than any pet owner would ever feed (specifically, 204mg per kg of rat). Feeding an occasional slice of orange is not going to cause cancer in your rat. Replacing your rats water with orange juice on the other hand, wouldnt be particularly beneficial.
Fleece is the best bedding.
Fleece alone does not even have the ability to absorb liquids and instead wicks it below. If there is not absorbent layer beneath the fleece, urine simply pools on the tray below. Even with an absorbent layer beneath, the urine will collect and continue to put off ammonia. Wood based bedding, either pine or aspen, naturally neutralizes ammonia which leads to lower, safer levels. This means that fleece, although pretty and soft, is not the best bedding and should not be used as a primary bedding. If used at all, there should be an absorbent layer beneath so that rats are not stepping in pools of urine, and both layers should be changed, at minimum, every other day to prevent unsafe ammonia levels.
Wire floors cause Bumblefoot.
Bumblefoot is caused by bacteria entering an open wound on the foot. The bars themselves are not the direct cause of bumblefoot, but rather, unsanitary surfaces. Wire bottom floors can be difficult to clean thoroughly and can contribute to bumblefoot. However, improperly cleaning a solid platform can equally contribute to bumblefoot. Lesson is, make sure you are properly cleaning your cages!
Dwarf rats cant be housed with standards.
Rats do not discriminate against size. If a rat is so aggressive that it attacks and kills a dwarf, than it should not have been kept with any rats at all. A rat capable of killing a dwarf rat is capable of killing a standard rat. Period.
They wont mate because theyre siblings/mother son/father daughter.
Rats lack the morals that we have as humans and do not consider incest before breeding. Regardless of the relationship, a male and female rat allowed to interact together, or live together, is very likely to be mated. Do not ever keep opposite gender rats together and do not allow opposite gender rats to "play" for any reason. It takes approximately 0.1 second for a male to mate a female. They are significantly faster than your reflexes. Just dont do it.
You paired brother and sister?!?!? Inbreeding is bad!!
Inbreeding is a useful tool in identifying and breeding out unwanted behaviors/traits/health issues while reinforcing good traits/behaviors/health. Care should be taken and a proper understanding of rat genetics, as well as good records of your line and what each rat carries, but it is one of the key techniques to producing strong, healthy and temperamentally sound rats. Constant outcrossing risks hiding issues and bringing in more issues from other lines. So instead of maybe having just malocclusion, you may end up with mal, megacolon, and small eye all in the same line by outcrossing to several different lines with several different issues. Inbreeding and line breeding are effective means at creating consistent, predictable lines.
You can make any rat a great pet!
Temperament is primarily genetic. Socializing a terrified or aggressive rat may improve their temperament, but they will never be comparable to a rat who's genetic temperament was great at birth. Many people with this idea are those who have never had a high quality rat and dont know the difference in the first place.
Maternal Aggression is not a bad thing! Mama is just protecting her babies!
Maternal aggression is NOT an acceptable behavior for a domestic animal. Rats are intelligent, social creatures who recognize that we are their caregivers who provide them with food and water at minimum, let alone provide social interaction and enrichment. Rats should not fear us or feel the need to protect their babies from us. This type of aggression is hormone based and easily bred away from. It should not be accepted or encouraged. We as breeders should make the minimal effort to breed away from all types of aggression to further improve the domestic rat as a species. That is what domestication is about, removing negative behaviors. We are proud to not have a single instance of maternal aggression since our first year of breeding. If we could breed this out that quickly, there is no reason others cant or shouldnt work on breeding it out of their own lines. Beyond this, there is a strong likelihood that maternal aggression may also lead to crazier heats for females as well as a possible link to hormonal aggression in male offspring.
You shouldnt touch babies for the first week or mama will eat them!
A well bred rat should not be so concerned about her babies as to kill them when their caregiver touches them. Poorly bred rats, those that are fearful or lack confidence may kill babies with basic checks, but as a breeder, I work to improve our domestic rats by breeding away from this type of behavior and breed for social, confident rats as it is important for me to conduct regular health checks on offspring. Breeding away from these issues benefits the rats by reducing stress (the reason they kill their babies), which also will produce much more confident babies when they are brought up by a confident mother!
You should always remove the male as he will kill the babies to impregnate mom again!
A male who kills babies is not a stable rat. Rats are colony animals and healthy, temperamentally sound males will even help with the babies, play with them and teach them the ways of the rat, so to speak. He will likely impregnate the mother again if left with the mother, but he will not kill the current babies to do so.
Ear set does not impact temperament. Temperament is genetic first and foremost (it is then molded by socialization and environmental influences). Dumbo rats can be fabulous, or they can be awful, aggressive, fearful, etc. In the same way, standard ear rats can be fabulous, or they can be awful, aggressive, fearful, etc. Temperament is dependent on the ability of the breeder to responsibly and ethically breed for better temperaments.
Height is better than floor space.
This is incorrect, considering Rattus Novegicus are fossorial animals who live in burrows on the ground. They will climb as enrichment or when necessary, however, they are not arboreal by nature and their bodies are not designed for constant climbing. This can result in injuries. Offering height is acceptable as long as floor space is not forfeited.
Bin cages are cruel.
Bin cages are amazing if made correctly. Obviously a small bin with some holes punched in and not cleaned regularly is going to be a bad home. The cool thing about bin cages is that the customization is nearly endless. If you had the space, you could make an incredible network of cages connected via PVC that could mimic their burrows in the wild and can be changed up periodically for the ultimate enrichment! The only limit is your imagination (and maybe space).
Rats can mate through bars.
When rats mate, the buck will mount the female by grasping her abdomen, which triggers the Lordosis Reflex in the doe. This is an important posture that allows the buck to enter the does vaginal opening. Without the Lordosis Reflex, the buck is unable to reach the vaginal opening and mating cannot occur. Mating through the bars of a cage is physically impossible.
[variety] tends to be more aggressive/friendlier/etc.
As it is with ear set, physical appearance does not influence temperament. Poor breeding practices and a "quantity over quality" mindset can lead to lines of rats that have unwanted behaviors as well as health issues.
Male rats will always fight if housed together. Its normal.
It is absolutely not normal. Rats are colony animals and should be able to live together. Male rats who fight typically suffer from Hormonal Aggression, which is genetic. It is unfortunately common in the pet groups to normalize hormonal aggression, but from a breeding standpoint, this is something that absolutely should be bred out for their safety, as well as their quality of life. If caught early on, neutering can sometimes decrease instances of hormonal aggression, however, in older males where the behavior was allowed to continue, it can become a learned behavior, unfixable with neutering. The best way to prevent hormonal aggression is to breed it out of a line. Support responsible breeders who are working to better the domestic rat.
Its normal to spend a week or more doing introductions!
Similar to the above, rats are colony animals and shouldnt need long intro periods. If rats need this, they are not quality rats. It should not be considered normal, as that risks people accepting poor behaviors and slows the progress for better quality rats. Never normalize something that is easily bred away from!
Give your rat time to settle in! Biting is normal, theyre are scared!
An adjustment period for rats is normal, but they absolutely should not bite. That level of fear is not acceptable in the circumstances and the offending rat should be returned to the breeder for evaluation. Breeding for social, confident rats should be the primary goal for breeders. Compare this situation to getting a new dog. You wouldnt expect your new dog to bite and break skin when you bring it home. Some nervousness may be expected, but biting shouldnt even be a thought!
Marbles always have malocclusion. DWS always has Megacolon. Harley always have protein sensitivites. Hairless cant lactate...
Although it is not a bad idea to understand potential health issues that could be in a line, especially if purchased from questionable sources, it is important to note that the majority of health issues are not gene linked, but line related. If a new variety mutates in a line with genetic health problems, then these health issues are often exacerbated while trying to breed more rats with the new mutation. These lines are then passed around to other breeders who continue to breed for this new variety without always taking health into consideration. Sometimes this is due to selfishness, and sometimes it is an unavoidable, since a small gene pool does not always allow for a breeder to choose the best, healthiest, most temperamentally sound rats to continue the line. Sometimes a breeder must forfeit health or temperament in order to produce enough of a particular variety to be able to better choose proper breeders. However, with this said, if one has the mindset that a particular health issue is gene linked, they may not bother breeding the issue out of the line. In varieties that have been around for several years and are being worked on by many breeders, they should be able and willing and striving to breed for healthier, better tempered rats and not assume the issue cannot be bred out.
Feeding meat to rats makes them aggressive.
Rats are opportunistic scavengers. They can absolutely eat meat without affecting behavior, in the same way that dogs or even people can eat meat without becoming aggressive. In fact, rats thoroughly enjoy occasional meat as well as bones (raw bones make fantastic chews!).
Dont feed citrus to male rats!! They will get cancer!
Although there was a study that D-Limonene has carcinogenic effects on male rats, this study was done using significant amounts of the substance, far more than any pet owner would ever feed (specifically, 204mg per kg of rat). Feeding an occasional slice of orange is not going to cause cancer in your rat. Replacing your rats water with orange juice on the other hand, wouldnt be particularly beneficial.
Fleece is the best bedding.
Fleece alone does not even have the ability to absorb liquids and instead wicks it below. If there is not absorbent layer beneath the fleece, urine simply pools on the tray below. Even with an absorbent layer beneath, the urine will collect and continue to put off ammonia. Wood based bedding, either pine or aspen, naturally neutralizes ammonia which leads to lower, safer levels. This means that fleece, although pretty and soft, is not the best bedding and should not be used as a primary bedding. If used at all, there should be an absorbent layer beneath so that rats are not stepping in pools of urine, and both layers should be changed, at minimum, every other day to prevent unsafe ammonia levels.
Wire floors cause Bumblefoot.
Bumblefoot is caused by bacteria entering an open wound on the foot. The bars themselves are not the direct cause of bumblefoot, but rather, unsanitary surfaces. Wire bottom floors can be difficult to clean thoroughly and can contribute to bumblefoot. However, improperly cleaning a solid platform can equally contribute to bumblefoot. Lesson is, make sure you are properly cleaning your cages!
Dwarf rats cant be housed with standards.
Rats do not discriminate against size. If a rat is so aggressive that it attacks and kills a dwarf, than it should not have been kept with any rats at all. A rat capable of killing a dwarf rat is capable of killing a standard rat. Period.
They wont mate because theyre siblings/mother son/father daughter.
Rats lack the morals that we have as humans and do not consider incest before breeding. Regardless of the relationship, a male and female rat allowed to interact together, or live together, is very likely to be mated. Do not ever keep opposite gender rats together and do not allow opposite gender rats to "play" for any reason. It takes approximately 0.1 second for a male to mate a female. They are significantly faster than your reflexes. Just dont do it.
You paired brother and sister?!?!? Inbreeding is bad!!
Inbreeding is a useful tool in identifying and breeding out unwanted behaviors/traits/health issues while reinforcing good traits/behaviors/health. Care should be taken and a proper understanding of rat genetics, as well as good records of your line and what each rat carries, but it is one of the key techniques to producing strong, healthy and temperamentally sound rats. Constant outcrossing risks hiding issues and bringing in more issues from other lines. So instead of maybe having just malocclusion, you may end up with mal, megacolon, and small eye all in the same line by outcrossing to several different lines with several different issues. Inbreeding and line breeding are effective means at creating consistent, predictable lines.
You can make any rat a great pet!
Temperament is primarily genetic. Socializing a terrified or aggressive rat may improve their temperament, but they will never be comparable to a rat who's genetic temperament was great at birth. Many people with this idea are those who have never had a high quality rat and dont know the difference in the first place.
Maternal Aggression is not a bad thing! Mama is just protecting her babies!
Maternal aggression is NOT an acceptable behavior for a domestic animal. Rats are intelligent, social creatures who recognize that we are their caregivers who provide them with food and water at minimum, let alone provide social interaction and enrichment. Rats should not fear us or feel the need to protect their babies from us. This type of aggression is hormone based and easily bred away from. It should not be accepted or encouraged. We as breeders should make the minimal effort to breed away from all types of aggression to further improve the domestic rat as a species. That is what domestication is about, removing negative behaviors. We are proud to not have a single instance of maternal aggression since our first year of breeding. If we could breed this out that quickly, there is no reason others cant or shouldnt work on breeding it out of their own lines. Beyond this, there is a strong likelihood that maternal aggression may also lead to crazier heats for females as well as a possible link to hormonal aggression in male offspring.
You shouldnt touch babies for the first week or mama will eat them!
A well bred rat should not be so concerned about her babies as to kill them when their caregiver touches them. Poorly bred rats, those that are fearful or lack confidence may kill babies with basic checks, but as a breeder, I work to improve our domestic rats by breeding away from this type of behavior and breed for social, confident rats as it is important for me to conduct regular health checks on offspring. Breeding away from these issues benefits the rats by reducing stress (the reason they kill their babies), which also will produce much more confident babies when they are brought up by a confident mother!
You should always remove the male as he will kill the babies to impregnate mom again!
A male who kills babies is not a stable rat. Rats are colony animals and healthy, temperamentally sound males will even help with the babies, play with them and teach them the ways of the rat, so to speak. He will likely impregnate the mother again if left with the mother, but he will not kill the current babies to do so.