I have heard/seen it said many times that I am part of a group of people who hate new breeders. Who do not support new breeders, who do not like the “competition” of new breeders, and who want to do everything in our power to discourage new breeders from existing.
May I say… bull.
I’m gonna preface this blog by saying that I think there are too many people in the world right now who are breeding rats and calling themselves a rattery, but not making any effort to actually do it well. These people are not putting forth the effort to obtain pedigreed, healthy breeding stock; to create and update a good, legible website; to keep open health records and obtain quality veterinary care and information; and who produce way too many low quality litters in substandard conditions. I will continue to do everything in my power to discourage THOSE people. They are not who I am talking about.
I do believe that there is a large contingent of breeders out there who want to do better. They want to start right, and if they’ve made a mistake and started wrong, they want to correct and get a fresh start. I don’t think anyone really starts out thinking they want to produce mill-level animals, let them get sick, not keep them clean, not care for them properly, and eventually burn out – or worse, continue producing with their eyes and ears closed against the truth. No one starts out with a dream of being sub-standard.
I think a lot of new breeders are met by a wall of silence from established breeders, and get discouraged about the possibility of anything better. Or they fall in with the kind of breeders who have no standards, who teach them that it’s fine to breed from unpedigreed rats because “we all start there,” that health information isn’t important, that you can breed 3-5 litters a month just fine, etc. Gradually, they lose sight of the bigger, better picture. They don’t produce rats for any reason aside from producing more mediocre rats.
But new breeders are an absolute boon to the fancy. When I first decided to join a community of rat breeders, there were about 11 of us in the initial formation. Of those 11 breeders, only 3 of those are still breeding. Without an infusion of “fresh blood” in the fancy, clubs and communities will atrophy and gradually die, or shrink into total isolation.
New breeders also bring in new energy and new ideas. When you’ve done the same thing the same way for years and years, it’s easy to fall into a rut. Someone with fresher eyes asking “why do we do it this way?” or even “Would it be better if we did X instead?” can really be like shining a light onto a problem you might not even know was there. Things can get streamlined, ways of saying or doing things can move from standard to extraordinary, and sometimes you look hard at the way you’ve been doing things and realizing it’s really not the best way.
Personally, as a breeder, I am constantly learning. There have been several specific things that Tiffany Robbins from So Licky Rattery, who I’m very proud to have helped mentor, has pointed out to me that were such great ideas that I had to “steal” them from her! Things I might never have thought of on my own, because it was already “good enough” – but Tiffany made it exceptional!
I’ve heard new breeders saying that it’s impossible to do things “right” from the beginning. After all, very few of us actually started out correctly, with properly pedigreed rats from the get-go, open health information and a well-made website. That the rest of us got to start out “easy” and then improve as we were able to. To those people, I would like to point out someone I admire greatly, Beth from Moonlit Waters Rattery.
Check out that website – clean, legible, and not full of crazy clipart. She’s got every one of her resident rats listed, even the ones who are pet-registered, with pictures and pedigrees. The pedigrees contain health and longevity information. She’s got copious health and temperament notes on each individual page. She’s got an up-to-date Rainbow Bridge page. She’s got links to breeders she feels are reputable and that she wants to work with. She’s got clearly defined breeding goals that are limited and workable in scope. She’s a member of a club, an active part of online rat communities, and has been showing her rats since 2008.
And the best part? She hasn’t bred a single litter. That’s right, this is all PREPARATION. She’s lived out the life spans of several rats from breeders, noting health challenges and working through them with veterinary care. She’s made contacts with a lot of breeders she may want to get breeding stock from, and proved herself trustworthy, responsible, and not about to vanish when things get tough. She’s been watching and clerking shows for a few years and knows what to look for in good breeding stock, she’s seen a lot of local stock up close, and she’s got notes on what bloodlines she wants to get rats from.
Anyone can do what Beth is doing! It’s challenging, but not impossible! I would have no hesitation whatsoever in providing Beth with breeding stock to start her lines, and I’m pretty sure none of the other URSA breeders would hesitate. It is very possible to be a new breeder and still be a strong, contributing member of a community and rise to the challenge of breeding good lines, tracking health, good husbandry, and becoming a valued veteran breeder who can take their own turn helping others.
I encourage new breeders to follow Beth’s example. Start a dialogue! Challenge yourself! Raise the bar! You’ll find the results very rewarding!
Bao Varakhii Rattery 
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