About Squeakers

Statistics1: Rats in rattery: 4 Litters total: 4 Offspring/litter (average): 10 ±2 Surviving weaning: 74%      Rats with breeding status: 0 Litters/year (average): 1.3 Longevity of litters (average): 23 ±5 months

Squeakers is located in Oslo, Norway, and had been planned for about 4 years before the dream finally came true. I've kept rats as pets since 1989, with some breaks. I have been looking for good breeding material for a while, because I feel that the pet rats currently available in Scandinavia are becoming victims of thoughtless mass production due to the interest in new and exotic breeds, like dumbo, rex and all the exciting new colors. I have been following the pet rat breeders for a while, and I'm happy to say that more and more of them are beginning to realise that without harsh control of the breeding lines, with omitting all sick and stressed rats for further breeding, our pet rats will tend to have shorter lives, be prone to more and more diseases, and often become aggressive towards humans or other rats. This can not be tolerated when dealing with animals that in nature are social creatures, and moreover when wanting to keep them as social pets for humans. My main goals for breeding are to increase life span, reduce the risk of diseases, and produce happy, social rats that get along well with other rats of the same sex, and also are seeking human contact. Of course it would be utopia to think that I myself could accomplish all of this, but if I can contribute to just a small part of this, my mission will be done. I hope to establish some collaborations with other breeders, that will follow the same strict rules I have for my breeding rats, and that we together can make tiny steps towards breeding "the perfect rat". Several people from Rottenet and NTF are trying to map different diseases and other problems related to keeping pet rats, to possibly get some substantial statistics to increase our understanding of the genetics behind it. If this sounds interesting, please visit our foras to learn more! I am a member of The Norwegian Rat Association (NTF), and will follow their recommended breeding guidelines. The guidelines are written in Norwegian, and can be found by following this link. The main features of these guidelines are: - Only rats that have been in good health all their lives should be bred - Only rats with good behavior towards other rats and humans should be bred - The parents, grandparents (if known), and siblings of the rat should also meet these criteria - Females should be between 5 and 8 months at first breeding - Males should be older than 1 year at first breeding, preferably older - Be open and honest with your breeding! Due to the strict rules when choosing my breeder rats, I will naturally not have many litter per year. Also I want to keep my total number of rats low, so recruitment to the rattery will be very slow. I will not consider colors or types when choosing rats for breeding, unless it is necessary to avoid detrimental combinations (e.g. pearl-pearl-matings). Even so, I also have my "favourite" breeds, and if given several equal opportunities I may well choose matching rats! I will also try to only put together rats I think will match in personality, although I believe this will be a subjective view rather than a scientific one! I will also obtain a health certificate from my vet on the rat before breeding it. 1 About the statistics: The number of rats at Squeakers will rarely exceed 6. I count all rats I own, also the ones who will not be used for breeding or who are retired. Breeding status is given to rats who are currently in shape to be bred. The evaluation is my own personal judgement. Even if a rat has breeding status, it does not mean that the rat will be used for breeding. Number of litters total are the litters bred by Squeakers' rattery. Number of offspring per litter includes stillborn or dead before weaning. Weaning is at 3 weeks of age. However, pups will not be separated from their mother until they are at least 5 weeks old. Longevity of litters will be updated then the life span of all offspring from the same litter is known. This number will thus be updated only as many times as there are litters, and will give a historic view of the life span of each litter.