[julieszoo]

Does the aggression not tend to pass down the line then? I must admit I would avoid breeding from an overly aggressive rat (of either sex) as beautiful babies that are not tractable would not be very useful in future plans...

 

[julieszoo]

A really thought provoking reply Sarah, hope you don't mind if I take the time to respond to some of your points.

Its definately a trait of some varieties,siamese being the obvious one

This is interesting, as siamese rats in the past have had a poor reputation for temprament. Wonder if this is also true for other animals with that patterning?

Its also a normal male behaviour so not all bucks that do it can be condemned.

I have buck rats here that won't live with other bucks and would show aggression to them, for the pet owner who wishes to keep buck rats together the problem is easily solved by neutering usually. I would not condemn a buck for that kind of behaviour, but if he was aggressive to does he would be useless as a breeding animal, and I would not personally want to keep an animal that was overlly aggressive to me. I am the alpha

The siamese I had that did it was an extreme case and was dispatched.I wouldn't have passed his progeny on to be pets. Personally I wouldn't pass bucks on as pets at all,does are so much more problem free.In that respect they don't really compare to rats.I think rat exhibitors are more likely to pass their surplus on as pets in any case and less likely to cull them?

Yes, there is a market for both buck and doe rats as pets, so there is a choice to offer surplus to pet homes. I think if buck mice did not stink so badly more people would like to keep them as pets as they seem to have more character then the does But with there being no outlet for them I fully appreciate there is no point in allowing a doe to waste energy raising more then are needed by the breeder.

As far as being a show animal, does not bucks fit the ideal and are far more likely to be shown so its not much of a problem really.

This is a huge difference between the rat and mouse fancies, and one that is very interesting to learn of. With rats, there are seperate standards for the types of bucks and does, so although they are judged in the same class for their colour/markings etc an excellent doe would not look anything like an excellent buck in body shape. In many varieties, the does will be the better show animals mainly due to having shorter coats and better colour generally, but rex and siamese are 2 notable exceptions.

Some of the very nice docile bucks can be a problem to get breeding.Its a case of balance between being butch and not to fierce.

I completely agree with this, one of the challenges, keeping the balance between being tractable and being up for the job

 

[julieszoo]

Thankyou Sarah for taking the time and trouble to respond to my musings with more of your own The differences between various fancies are indeed very interesting, I did not know there was a mouse stud buck class and it does seem a shame that the importance of winning this is seen as a lesser honour these days. After all, a good buck is one half of the stud is he not?

I once had the pleaseure of meeting a stud of beautiful polish rabbits when I went to collect a rex cavy, they were indeed stunning, but the breeder told me they were a labour of love - feisty, delicate, hard to breed amoung other things when I commented that it was suprising that such a pretty and small rabbit had not become more popular as a pet. I think with it becoming ever more the norm to castrate male pet animals, people do tend to be suprised when they keep something that doesn't get castrated and displays normal behaviour at sexual maturity. I have parrots and they can be quite aggressive at times, even though mine are non breeding pets they still have the instincts and urges. You soon learn to read their moods and have a healthy respect for them