There seems to be a belief amongst some rat people that breeder rats are 100% problem-free whilst petshop or BYB rats are basically walking disasters in terms of health.
In my opinion this is false, gives a false impression, and however well-intentioned, places unfair expectations on both reputable breeders and pet homes.
Some lines see very few incidences of certain health issues – I’ve had rats from lines where you’d be extremely unlucky to see a mammary lump, or a URI. I’ve had rats from other lines where health issues pop up randomly. Some years we’ve had very few vet visits with breeder rats; some years it’s felt like they need to build us an extension at the vets so we don’t need to keep going back and forth.
Point being: if someone tells you their lines are 100% healthy, they either don’t know enough about them, or they want to sound ‘good’. But all rats die of something.
Well, that may be due to a few things: not having had many rats from that line (a.k.a. a small sample size to go off); those rats being quite young still – too young to have developed any late onset or age-related issues; genuine amazing luck (in which case, that’s great!)
I’m not saying husbandry, diet and how well rats are looked after doesn’t matter, because it absolutely does, but it also cannot prevent everything ever.
And sometimes you have to prioritise. Nothing is going to disappear in a puff of smoke after a single mating. As breeders we have to monitor, monitor, monitor. You may notice that the breeders who claim 100% perfectly health lines don’t have much background information on their rats. A line is a big picture to look at. Even a litter is a bigger picture than a “vet check”, which is all some people will need before chucking a buck and a doe together.
I agree. All rats deserve the best homes possible. In my opinion, though, they also deserve to bred with respect and consideration to where the line is heading. You can get healthy petshop rats, or healthy rats from a BYB – but do those sources really have the rats’ best interests at heart?