I am strongly against culling in the form of killing the "unwanted" or "unworthy" babies, and refuse to work with any breeder who supports this awful act. As a breeder I am responsible for bringing these animals into life, and for that reason must take responsibility for the lives I have helped create. Every life is precious. If a rat is not show or breeding quality, it still deserves a happy, healthy life as a pet, and will be placed as such. I also believe that by killing the "undesired" rats, a breeder loses valuable information on the health and temperament of their breeding lines. When a breeder kills off half a litter before the rats are even a year old, how can that breeder honestly say they breed healthy animals?

Every litter I breed I consider "my own". Although some of my animals are placed as pets, I do not breed to meet a demand, nor for wholesale purposes. Since each litter is my own, I am limited to only a couple litters a year to ensure that I have the means to care for all of my rats, and the time and energy available to give them the attention and enrichment they need. As a result I do not have babies available for adoption at all times, and nearly every adopter is required to go on my wait list until babies are available. When a litter is born, I start handling the babies that day. Since I do select for affectionate and people-oriented personalities, my mothers have no problem allowing me to handle their babies even at this young age. At about five weeks of age I wean the males and place them with an older male baby sitter. The females are left with their mother and reintroduced to the rest of the female colony. All of my pet-placed babies are spayed or neutered prior to adoption. The boys are neutered after 8 weeks of age, and girls after 12 weeks of age. I keep the babies for at least one week after surgery to make sure they are recovering and healing well before going to their new homes. This wait time also allows me to fully evaluate the babies and pick out the best choices for future breeding plans. Because my babies are spayed or neutered prior to adoption, adopters are able to adopt males, females, or both. All of my babies are adopted out in pairs. Babies adjust best to their new home when they have a friend with them. Due to the social nature of rats, they bond closely with their family members and being separated into a strange home, even for the short three week quarantine before being reintroduced to a resident rat, can be extremely stressful and traumatizing. If you are not prepared to bring home two more babies, you may be asked to wait until you can.