Wild Rats...

[Marylou]

was I reading correctly in the Rat Bite thread of someone having wild bred rats????

 

[Joanne]

Yes.
They are usually half wild and half domestic, the female having escaped and then returned home to have her babies. This is NOT on purpose, and they generally don't make good pets because their temperment is so different from domestic rats.

 

[MomRat]

But don't breeders occasionally do this on purpose, because the fresh genes help with reducing genetic inbred diseases and such?

 

[Marylou]

But don't breeders occasionally do this on purpose, because the fresh genes help with reducing genetic inbred diseases and such?

A breeder would out-cross to a different blood line, it would be very dangerous (disease, temperament, etc) to go out and trap a wild rat and breed to it.

 

[ryelle]

If you look at the pictures in some of Henrys_mum and Lilspaz68's posts about their half wildlings, i dont understand how breeders could add some wild genes in. These half-wild rats have the same characteristics of fully wild rats. they are very untrusting and nervous and tend to hide a lot.

 

[SQ]

People on this forum who have taken in babies born from a pet rat being dumped outdoors, impregnated by a wild rat and then rescued, have found that:
- the babies do not make "good pets" because of their wild rat traits. They are trapped between two worlds as they are too domestic to be able to live in the wild.
- the babies are not any healthier then pet rats, in many cases they are less healthy as adults.

A few years ago Lilspaz68, Jorats and mamarat took in the half wild babies of a pet rat who had been dumped out doors and was found and rescued when pregnant.
If you do a search for wildlings you may find some posts or threads about the rats from this litter.

No ethical, caring, knowlegable person would ever breed a domestic rat with a wild rat.

 

[xxchelle]

But don't breeders occasionally do this on purpose, because the fresh genes help with reducing genetic inbred diseases and such?

Geez I sure hope not. I can't imagine any ethical breeder doing this ever.

 

[Marylou]

I would equate this sort of thing with wolf/dog hybrids.

 

[Moon]

But don't breeders occasionally do this on purpose, because the fresh genes help with reducing genetic inbred diseases and such?

Every once in a while a breeder attempts this (or talks about attempting it), with disastrous results. Firstly, it's bad for the same reason that it's bad to breed rescue rats or pet store rats... you have no idea of their genetic health history, and wild rats are *NOT* typically healthy. Secondly, you can socialize them until you are blue in the face and more often than not they retain the behavior characteristics of their wild parent.

I hope Shelagh gets a chance to share about Hobo and Rennie and their babies.... Hobo, the wild father, lived long and was never ill. Rennie had a pretty long life and was mostly healthy. Their litter, though, had some of the most unusual health problems, largely tumours that came up in the most amazing areas.

 

[Joanne]

- the babies do make "good pets" because of their wild rat traits. They are trapped between two worlds as they are too domestic to be able to live in the wild.

I think SQ meant to say do NOT make good pets...didn't you?

 

[SQ]

:nod:
typo ... will go fix that.
Thanks Joanne.

 

[MomRat]

Okay, okay... =) I just thought I heard it somewhere, to keep lines from getting too inbred or something. I have not and will not ever breed ANY rats, wild or otherwise, rescues are the only thing we will EVER have in this home, regardless of species. It was a theoretical question...

 

[Marylou]

Okay, okay... =) I just thought I heard it somewhere, to keep lines from getting too inbred or something. I have not and will not ever breed ANY rats, wild or otherwise, rescues are the only thing we will EVER have in this home, regardless of species. It was a theoretical question...

Momrat, I bet you did hear something like that, you know the Dingo was used with the creation of the Australian Cattle dog.
The Gambian rats were wild and people took them out of the wild and bred them.
Many people think wolf-hybrids are a good thing too.

We have enough rats in this world, it would be a silly thing to catch and deliberately breed a wild rat.

 

[fenshae]

I would equate this sort of thing with wolf/dog hybrids.

For what it's worth, I owned a wolf-dog hybrid. he was the smartest, healthiest dog I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and he lived to be 13 with no medical problems at all until he developed an aggressive tumor in his later years. I slept with him in my bed from the age of 9 on and he was an absolute joy to be around and extremely easy to train.

That said, having had such a pet I would never advocate owning one to the average person and would probably never have one again because they are *not* dogs, they're something else entirely and you have to respect that.

/rant.

I agree, purposely breeding half-wild rats just doesn't sound like a good idea. It makes me wonder though about the growing fascination with the Rattus rattus (roof rat) -- they're recently domesticated and for the most part quite wild but I know of at least a few people who enjoy them as pets. same goes for the so-called Gambian giant rat. different strokes I guess.....