This article is from the WSSF 2015 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

By Karen Robbins

Mia Russell, Buena Park FFA President, CA, e-mail
Q Hi, my name is Mia Russell, and I am in a program called FFA (Future Farmers of America). I am looking to start a new project at our school about breeding rats and I would like to know if maybe you could give me some helpful hints on how to breed rats and how to care for pregnant rats.

Also, I am looking for some breeding rats I can breed on my own.

Thank you for your time.

A AFRMA has a Breeding Book that goes into everything you need to know about breeding rats (and mice), as well as the many articles in the Breeding & Showing section on our web site, and general info in the Beginners’ Corner section.

There are several breeders listed on our web site you can contact—it just depends on what you are looking for to breed and how far you want to travel to get your initial stock.

Have you thought about what are you going to do with all the babies produced in each litter (read “Think Before You Breed” and “Breeding – Beyond the Basics: Ethics”? Just remember, unlike livestock that you can eat the resulting offspring, rats are either bred for pets, show, or reptile food, so you will need to decide why you are breeding and what will happen to the MANY offspring produced. If you want to buy from a breeder on our web site, they may not sell to you if you are only planning on selling the offspring as reptile food instead of pets.

If you are just looking for the experience of raising a litter, some breeders may be willing to let you borrow a pregnant female so you learn about rats from gestation to weaning.