May 8, 2011 The Secret Shame!
Oh wait… no. It’s not a secret.
I started breeding rats in 1994. In that time, lots and lots has changed about the rat-fancy and the world. We know a lot more now than we did then! The internet is actually open and accessible and full of information now, instead of being enclaved and restricted to majordomo lists and BBS message boards. New medical and nutritional information is available. There’s actually pedigreed rats widely available now. More and more ratteries are keeping open health information on their websites and updating NARR.
That means that as those times were changing, I did a lot of things I wouldn’t do now. I’m not ashamed of them. Some of them were just the way we did things back then. Some of them, I didn’t have the information to know better. Some of them illustrated to me why I never want to do it again. That’s what all those years of experience mean.
When I recovered my rattery after my divorce and re-started it with quality pedigreed rats, the fact that I, for many years, bred with petstore rats was never a secret. It’s not a secret now. Look to any rattery that started in 2000 or earlier, and you will find that 99% of them did. Does that mean it’s still okay to do? I don’t support the practice, no. Just because we used to keep slaves and prevent women from voting and rub cocaine on baby’s gums to soothe their teething pains doesn’t mean we should do that now, either.
The information is on my page if you want to look at it. You can see my past litters. You can see my Bridge pages. You can go back in this blog! You can see the mistakes I’ve made and the places I’ve pushed through and the places I’ve given up. They’re not secrets either.
I’ve mentored TWO ratteries. The FarStar Rattery and So Licky Rattery. Anyone else who says I’m mentoring them isn’t telling the truth. I’ve been more than happy to act as a sounding board for my other breeder friends when they’re contemplating this or that – as they have acted to me – but as for actual mentoring, so far it is just FarStar and So Licky. No one else.
I’ve never culled, I’ve never bred feeders, and I’ve never re-homed retired breeders. I don’t euthanize healthy “hayburners” I’ve decided not to use in my breeding program. I don’t keep my rats outdoors. My rattery isn’t a secret, and my rats are happy and healthy – ask my vet! Her contact information is available on my site!
Do you have a question? Feel free to ask! I’ll be more than glad to answer!
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tiffrobbins
said
Multiple thumbs up!