There is a diffrence between a handled rat.. and a rat thats never had a day of human contact in its life..



I have a few rats i handled from babies... daily.. many hours of holding.. these animals are excellent mothers and their babies are always super calm. The moms even let me in while shes giving birth, she doesnt care.. im part of the "family"



with that being said.. rats that are never touched are skittish and jumpy as all hell. They DO NOT like human contact, and their babies demonstrate the same traits that the wild mothers have. They will bite from time to time, and a adult female rat bite is nothing fun let me tell you!.. them teeth can and will go straight to the bone if shes determined enough to keep you from her pups.



So as a general rule.. handle your females as much as possible before they reach breeding age. get them used to your scent, your voice.



It pays off in the long run!



And yes.. you can leave the males in.. they help raise the babies.



just for good measure.. here is a pic of some of my up and coming breeder females (above)



best of luck



dan

[ Hide Replies ]

• rats - the-mikester, Fri May 30 04:03:10 2003
• good question actually. - sartori, Fri May 30 04:12:34 2003
• thank you very much... - the-mikester, Fri May 30 04:18:20 2003
• I just have to say...... - East_Texas_Ratz, Fri May 30 23:34:37 2003
• thanks! - sartori, Sat May 31 00:25:59 2003
• RE: thanks! - East_Texas_Ratz, Sat May 31 00:30:33 2003
• i want some of those rats! - ross2k, Sun Jun 1 14:12:34 2003