So far, the rattery has been progressing wonderfully since the "restart". I am going to quickly go over some plans I have for the near future (rest of this year) to keep everyone updated.
-- The waiting list will remain open for a little while longer, but I do plan on closing it for a short amount of time as I have over two dozen interested adopters and more just keep coming. While I appreciate all the interest, it does get rather difficult to keep up, even with having litters every two weeks. So, eventually it will get closed while I catch up on everyone who's been waiting for awhile. If you've been thinking about adopting from me, now is your chance before the break! -- My breedings have been coming along very well! My litters every two weeks have been keeping me busy, but I do enjoy the consistency. I have come to the (hard) decision that once the waiting list starts to empty in a few months, I will be culling every future litter down to a reasonable number (aiming for six to eight babies per litter, max). This is less stressful on the doe and the babies thrive more with a smaller number. It also allows me to reach my own goals faster knowing that I have less rats to deal with. Because of this, I will only be needing a couple adopters per litter, max. I still aim to have litters every two weeks; that will not be changing. -- Over the past year, I have tentatively considered the idea of breeding mice on a very low-scale. Although I used to breed mice in the past, its been quite a few years since I stopped. The interest simply wasn't high enough and I didn't have the room to keep every single mouse that was born. Since moving to the Ocala area, I have wondered if starting up a small mousery alongside my rattery would be something any of you would be interested in? (again -- very low-scale). I have not decided whether or not this will actually be happening, and it definitely wouldn't be anytime soon, but I am curious to see if there's a greater interest in this area compared to down south. And that's all the updates for now. Thanks for reading!
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Before anyone freaks out -- no, the rattery is not actually being shut down. By closing the rattery, I mean that I will no longer be purchasing rats from other breeders. Over the past few years, I have worked with over a dozen rattery's across the United States, gathering my breeding rats and creating a diverse, friendly group of breeders. Now that I have every variety I have aspired to work with, the rattery will be closing down so I don't risk infecting any of my current rats with the illnesses that have been going around. Although I had been planning to close the rattery since last year, there were still a couple more varieties I wanted to bring in before closing for good. I was able to purchase those as of this and last week (Thank you Kat and Sarah!), and now I am finally ready to start with these lines and not bring in anything else (unless I absolutely need them and they are from rattery's I trust). I now have around half a dozen lines to work on, and I couldn't be more excited to start. Their temperaments are outstanding, and these are some of the nicest rats I've had the pleasure of working with. Although its a little late for New Year's resolutions, I am hoping to get each of these lines around 2 generations deep by next year. I expect to see a major increase in temperament in some of my "iffy" lines, and I would like to get some recessives worked out of some other lines.
Here's to a promising year! 🥂 Thank you all for your support and for following my rattery. I appreciate every adopter, every like, and every follow more than you know. Hello everyone! My first blog, how exciting! I wanted to share some major updates about the rattery for those of you who are curious.
As you may have noticed, quite a few rats are getting re-homed. My waitlist is also closed for the first time in years (so many interested adopters! Thank you all!) I have made the hard decision to scrap majority of my lines, as I'm not happy with the direction I've been taking them in color/variety wise. Instead, I'll be getting brand new varieties shipped to me as early as this week. Rex, Downunder, Velveteen, Harley, Dalmatian, and DWS are just a few of the new varieties I'll be working with. However, majority of these rats are babies/juveniles. Meaning, I will be having a short break from breeding while I allow these guys to grow a bit more. After the break, I will be having litters every month as usual, but pet placement will be dependent upon their temperament, and I likely will be holding the babies back longer than usual. I currently have two litters on the ground and this will be the last of my original lines once they all get re-homed. Can't wait to see where the rattery goes next. Stay tuned for more updates! |
AuthorMadison, owner of Rainy Zillow Rattery. Archives
May 2022
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