nev
Mouse
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Post by nev on Dec 21, 2008 9:07:01 GMT 10
Hi I'm looking to play around with some genetic breeding. My rats are black and white, tan hooded ect but are a fairly small bodied.
I want to try some cross breeding to get to a bigger rat and I'm told that the Whister lab rats are the way to go.
So if someone in say Brisbane have these or some other BIG bodied rats I'd like to buy a couple and play around.
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Post by wulfyskingdom on Dec 22, 2008 20:52:04 GMT 10
When you say you want to "play around" that would make me less inclined to sell you rats.
Perhaps you could provide more info about yourself and what you plan to do with all the litters you end up with?
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Post by sharz.ram on Dec 22, 2008 21:42:35 GMT 10
Yeah, I was thinking that too Wulfy, but didn't want to bring it up.
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nev
Mouse
Posts: 5
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Post by nev on Dec 23, 2008 8:01:12 GMT 10
When you say you want to "play around" that would make me less inclined to sell you rats. Perhaps you could provide more info about yourself and what you plan to do with all the litters you end up with? A few years ago my daughter, involved in a Uni course, got me interested in genetic breeding. We did some crossing with different colours ect and it's something that has remained an interest. Recently in the freezer of a pet shop I saw some enormous white male rats. I was told that these were the Whister type and thought I'd like to get hold of a couple of these and cross them with my coloureds. All the litters, well some I keep for further breeding and others I give away to friends.
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Post by wulfyskingdom on Dec 23, 2008 14:04:32 GMT 10
Thanks Nev. And would you intend to breed them both for genetics and pets or just genetics? Perhaps you could write a bit about yourself and your past and current rats in the intro part of the forum?
Unfortunately I am not a breeder, but don't lose hope on finding some of these rats around. Some people have owned them in Brisbane from what I've heard.
Could the pet shop tell you where the frozen ones came from? Perhaps they can give you a number for the person who breeds them? Its not unheard of people transporting rats interstate either. Are you in Brisbane yourself, or did you just hear that they are somewhere around here?
What size do these rats get to? From what I've read they can get well over the 700gm mark. Your rats you currently have could also produce larger babies by breeding them with healthy parents, not breeding the parents too young, providing a very good diet for a pregnant rat etc. These can all contribute towards larger litters and larger rats.
Perhaps if you could write a bit about what you've researched on Whister rats so people can read a bit about them?
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nev
Mouse
Posts: 5
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Post by nev on Dec 23, 2008 14:21:32 GMT 10
I heard about these Whister rats some years ago. I'm told that they are the ones that research labs use as they have big litters. The litter size doesn't interest me but after seeing the frozen ones at the pet shop their size I found very interesting. The ones I saw would have to have been at least 1kg or a bit more. Some of them looked like you could put a saddle on them, they were huge. The pet shop told me that the supplier was in NSW but wouldn't give a name.
Also I'm told that they are very quiet, not like a couple of my hooded ones that need valium.
I've tried playing around with different food types, table scraps, mixed grain, fresh fruit and vegies, grain sprouts, lucerne ect and although I can increase the litter numbers, which I'm not all that interested in, the body size of the parents stays about the same.
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Post by sharz.ram on Dec 23, 2008 16:16:44 GMT 10
Will you be using the remainders for feeders? I'm not saying I have a problem with breeding for food, I actually think it opens up a whole new world to rat breeding, but that's a different topic all together.
I've heard about them too, and I would be quite interested in getting a few to add to my lines in a few generations. They are also apparently very hardy rats.
But being a lab strain, it may be hard to locate any that are for sale at all. I certainly don't have any down here where I am (Inverell NSW), not that I expect too.
You could try searching a few snake forums for people who have them as feeders?
Do let us know if you happen to find any (:
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Post by wulfyskingdom on Dec 26, 2008 18:04:00 GMT 10
That's true, I've heard of people frequenting snake forums to gain access on their rats lol. I wouldn't be surprised if someone on there knows where to get them from or the breeder that has them. Shame they wouldnt give you a name considering your wanting them for pet reasons. Not like you'll be taking business off them. If they know who it is to pass your details on and ask them to contact you instead of you being given their contact details. Or contact some universities.
1kg is an impressive rat! Definitely keep this updated if you find more info in case anyone else on here is interested.
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nev
Mouse
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Post by nev on Dec 26, 2008 20:31:22 GMT 10
I've contacted a couple of universities but there is NO way anything live goes out of there. Been given the name of a guy in Sydney so I'm going to try him.
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rattery
Mouse
Its not a race......
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Post by rattery on Dec 27, 2008 5:52:34 GMT 10
Hi all. I hope I can jump in and contribute to this thread. I breed the "Whister" rats. I have 6 females and 2 males at the moment. Mine stem from a lab rat line direct from a university. I find these rats are large as mature adults (700 grams to 1kg) and have reasonably large litter sizes compared to other lines. I find an average litter of 15 some as large as 19 or 20+. The larger litters tend to be smaller individuals but eventually catch up in size. They can be very particular to diet and I believe that if something is missing from their diet they will eat their young to supplement. Their genetic make up I am unsure of, however I could find that information for you all. As was mentioned you may be able to track down someone in QLD who breeds the "super rats" from the snake world. Or if you are ever down in Newcastle I could supply you with some. I hope this helps.
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Post by wulfyskingdom on Dec 27, 2008 12:00:15 GMT 10
Do you have photos of your 1kg rats? I'd be good if you could post some pictures so people can see them
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rattery
Mouse
Its not a race......
Posts: 11
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Post by rattery on Dec 27, 2008 13:54:18 GMT 10
My 900 gram male passed away a few weeks ago (he was old). I have some 700 gram females I could get some photos of over the weekend. I have also found that some of the mixed line (berskshire or hooded X lab rat) males are bigger than standard aswell, I will get some snaps of them too. I will get some snaps shortly, I just worked 14days straight over xmas and I need some beers.
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nev
Mouse
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Post by nev on Dec 27, 2008 20:25:29 GMT 10
After seeing these HUGH male whister rats at the pet shop I decided to weigh a couple of mine. My biggest male is 520 grams, he is almost 12 months and the 2 females I weighed were 215 grams each. They are 6 months old. It's mainly the females that I want to try and improve the body size of.
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Post by sharz.ram on Dec 28, 2008 8:06:32 GMT 10
Rattery, would you be willing to sell some of these to 'pet' breeders. Because I'd definately be interested!
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Post by sharz.ram on Jan 2, 2009 15:47:22 GMT 10
Photos?
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