Breeding at Shunamite rats
Litters follow through four stages here, which are:
This is an example of the Shunamite application form.
Details of any available Shunamite kittens. Please note that our babies are almost always homed from our waiting list, so if you would like kittens from us it is wise to apply in advance to get onto our list.
General breeding articles with the exception of feeding for reproduction and growth.
Planning matings
Planning litters involves consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of ancestors and related rats, and consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals in the proposed pairing. I often think about many possible pairings during the planning stage, before deciding which I will take to the next stage. It is essential during planning to always keep two aims clear in your mind:
- Your overall aim in breeding
- Your specific aim from this individual litter
My overall aim in breeding currently is to try to create a line that is consistantly healthy and long-lived. By long-lived I mean an average lifespan of 2.5 years rather than the national average of approximately 2. Put another way I am aiming for at least 50% of the rats we breed to reach 2 and a half with many living longer than this. I will explore how this is progressing in the lifespan section, and health.
The aim for any one specific litter is usually incremental improvement. I will discuss specific aims when detailing specific litters. Planned litter discussions can be found here
Conception and pregnancy
Some planned litters never come to fruition because the doe doesn't get pregnant or the litter is miscarried, re-absorbed or still born. After planning a pairing the next step is to mate the two rats together. I tend to do this when the doe is at least 8 months, preferably older (up to about a year). Occasionally I will try a doe at a younger age, but only when she has come in from another rattery and this is their recommendation for their line. I find that using does older rather than younger tends to select against infertility and also gives the girls time to mature fully into adulthood. Because I am aiming for a slow development into adulthood (as this gives the best outcome for longevity) most of my does are not mature until they are at least 7-8 months.
Matings take place here overnight when the doe is on heat and receptive to the buck. This has many benefits, from knowing exactly when babies are due to the doe not having to fend off unwanted advances when she is not in heat. After mating, both rats return to their respective groups and I begin to watch the doe for signs of pregnancy. Weight gain is often the first sign, but as I do not tend to weigh my rats this is determined by hand and eye. Lack of heats is another early sign - but some does who are not pregnant do have delayed heats after mating. I have never found the need to remove does from their group until the evening of day 21 (counting the morning when I separate the buck and doe as day one), and even then tabi-line rats do tend to hate being alone, so I often leave a friend in the nursery tank until the babies begin to arrive.
When does are pregnant I tend to feed their usual diet with daily herbs and/or green vegetables, and a little extra protein. Other than this only the quantity fed increases as the pregnancy progresses.
Birth to homing
Imminent birth is indicated by a little blood loss and restlessness in the doe. Once this occurs most labours will result in babies within a few hours. My girls tend to birth alone in a duna type nursery cage with ecopetbed and a little soft shredded paper. Other than this they have no cage furniture and are able to build whatever nest they wish around their babies. I find that most does tend to birth on the surface of the bedding and then build a best around the babies once they have all arrived. This will vary from a small hollow in the bedding to a large spectacular construction that covers the babies completely.
We always give our does the opportunity to raise their whole litter and most will do this admirably, regardless of size and without losing any babies. Occasionally a doe with a large litter (we seem to specialise in these!) will get a little confused and there will be stray babies around the cage - odd piles of three or four. But if these are simply returned to the main nest (sometimes repeatedly), we have found that without exception they will be raised with the others without further event once the mum has settled to the task. It should be noted that some mothers do actively split large litters into two nests and nurse between them. This is ingenious and will help assure that all the babies are well fed. Most small babies (often called runts) are actually normal rats who have been undernourished in the womb. In our experience rats who genuinely fail to thrive given adequate nutrition are rare, and almost all of our runts have made it to normal adulthood. For this reason we treat runts just like all of our other babies and don't assume that there is something wrong with them. Rat mums generally care well for their babies and we have watched them sucessfully raise litters of one through to 19. With big litters in particular, over-heating in the nest is the main killer of the babies in the first few days of life. After this, deaths are (thankfully) extremely rare.
For the first two weeks the babies tend to remain in the nest and their mum will nurse them for the majority of the time. At around two weeks of age when their eyes open the babies become more adventurous and begin to explore their cage. At this stage they will begin to eat solid food (both hard and soft) but weaning often occurs slowly over 2-3 weeks and we have had many litters where the babies are still feeding occasionally up to 5 - 6 weeks of age.
At approximately 2 and a half weeks I move the family into a large cage (usually the top of a duetto), with masses of toys and enrichment and a silent spinner wheel. The more differences the babies are exposed to at this crucial age the less cautious they tend to be about the unfamilair when they are older. Since neophilic rats (those that approach new and unfamilar situations with confidence) tend to live longer lives and have less tumours (there is some hormonal influence to neophilia) I am always watching for this as the babies grow so that I can try to select strongly neophilic rats for the next generation.
The babies are handled frequently both in and around the cage area and also in other areas of the house so that they can get used to a number of different free range/play situations. This is always restricted at this stage so that they are contained on a bed, sofa, table or chair. This prevents 'find and chase' situations which can spook youngsters. Prospective owners are kept in touch with progress and come to visit if at all possible. Final selections for homing are made by myself with the well-being of the whole litter in mind around the time the babies are 6 to 7 weeks. They start to leave for their homes from 7 weeks.
Follow up
I tend to do this is a somewhat ad hoc manner - as I don't breed many litters each year and most of my babies are homed to people that I already know, or who have already had rats from me in the past. So I do not always do formal follow up, but rely on many methods to receive feedback. Some owners are in touch regularly throughout their rats lives, some I see every few months for holiday cover, others I contact about other things and we catch up with the rats at these times and still others I send formal update requests to. If I haven't heard from someone for many months then I will generally contact them to catch up - but I do find that the vast majority of owners do keep me informed and involved in their rats lives. Many come back for ongoing advice and support. It is rare that I completely lose contact with a rat, but sadly from time to time it does happen. In these cases I do try to keep emailing and phoning and often eventually I manage to make contact.
