Do you get attached to your breeders?

[saximus]

I have a female rat that has done really well for me. She has had a fair few large litters and she's a really good mother and although she's skittish she's never bitten me even when I pull her off babies. Now it has come time to retire her but I just can't bring myself to do it and I don't think I could feed her to a snake. This is probably because I only have a small setup but just wondering if anyone else has this conundrum.

 

[killimike]

I am afraid I would have this problem were I in your shoes!

I have zero problems defrosting already dead rodents, but I think I would become attached to live ones, particularly breeders like you say.

Maybe she could be retired from breeding, but just not to the freezer? W a naturally short life span, your retired girls shouldn't build up too much in numbers.

 

[Smithers]

Hmm I have pondered the same thought and still buy frozen.....I guess you could hand her over to the animal welfare league...my niece looked after a rat with lung issues for the last few months worth a try,..or a free to good home....special clause No reptile licence required.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

I always get attached to them and then I give them away, lol.

 

[Vincey]

Setup a nice enclosure for your long-served breeder females to live out their days as happy lazy fat ratties.

 

[MiddleOfNowhere]

When i was breeding mice i lost all bar one female, and all my males due to the heat in the Goldfields. The female looked like she was on the edge of death, and i was about to kill her when my wife stopped me. We gave her the night to live through, and if she did then she would be named, and allowed to be the star of my new colony. She lived, and she bred a lot, she started a whole new colony, and was bought a new male to have her way with every few months. She always had the best tub, special treats, and her babies were allowed to live until fully grown. She stopped breeding for about 3 months and i figured she was reaching the end of her life.

Killed her, froze her, and then gave her to my favourite snake as a special treat one day.

Sorry but breeding rats or mice are just that. Cull her and give her to your favourite snake.

 

[saximus]

Haha yeah I knew what I was getting into I just haven't had this before.
I do have a nice big cage I bought years ago. Maybe she can live out her days in that

 

[FAY]

We had a 'special' mouse once...a beautiful Black and White one that we named Errol ( for obvious reasons).He had lovely defined markings.He would of been the founding father of most of our mice today. He lived to a ripe old age for a mouse. He looked older than that one in The Green Mile.As he aged, we set him up in a little cage with his girlfriend and they both died of natural causes. We stopped at giving him any sort of burial LOL

 

[ingie]

Hehe I get like that with male rats. There is one in particular I could never ever feed to anything. He will live out his 2-3 years with me no matter what

 

[Boidae]

I would have no problem feeding one of my breeding does to another snake once she retires..
I love all animals, but she is a legitimate psychopath...
Go near her, and she will actually start hissing lol.

 

[KaotikJezta]

I love rats, they are cool, intelligent little creatures, hence the reason I could never ever breed my own. It took me a while to even buy frozen ones.

 

[atothej09]

I would feed to snake. Circle of life.

I have to laugh at this thread…forget all the rat's offspring you have taken off her and fed to your snakes…now you care how she is treated?..lol.


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[-Peter]

Breeding on a small scale you tend to cull the ones that bite or are aggresive. What you end up with are rats that seem to adore you and will follow you round. Yeah, it can be hard to move them on. I ended up with an aviary where they lived out their days.

 

[serpentine]

Hi, I have 2 or 3 pet female rats, their cages are in a back room of my home.They make great pets and I will tell this to anyone who will listen. I do allow them to have 3 litters a year. Their young then go out into the garage to grow on or become temporary breeders before ending up in the freezer. Bruce

 

[atothej09]

I would have no problem feeding one of my breeding does to another snake once she retires..
I love all animals, but she is a legitimate psychopath...
Go near her, and she will actually start hissing lol.

I cant be the only one that does not understand this comment….anyone?

 

[MR_IAN_DAVO]

When i first read the title i thought that you may have been talking about breeder snakes.

I have been attached to some of my breeder snakes & that is mostly at feed time.LOL.
As for the rats, well they do have a small life span & are for a purpose. Personally i hate the bloody things & that is why i defrost them for snake food.

Sorry to be heartless rat hater (wait until one bites you, worse than a snake bite), but they are only here to feed the snakes.

Cheers
ian

 

[ricky_91]

i have nothing to do with my breeding rats i don't look at there faces i just go in there shoo them of there babies don't stare at them nothing like that i treat them all the same pick them up buy there tails and move them never hold them and that works fine for me i know if i started handling them etc it would make things hard

 

[Greenmad]

I normally save my fav rats for my fav snakes lol

 

[-Katana-]

I don't get attached to snake food.

 

[saximus]

I would feed to snake. Circle of life.

I have to laugh at this thread…forget all the rat's offspring you have taken off her and fed to your snakes…now you care how she is treated?..lol.


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It's not about how she is treated exactly. All of my rats are treated well for the duration of their lives. I just like this girl and I've had her for about a year whereas the babies generally only last two or three months at the very most. I know it's silly but it seems I'm not the only one who thinks like this. I just don't want to be the one who ends her life