:: Breeding ::

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:: Aims and Objectives ::

Asbru Stud believes in breeding for both pet and show qualities simultaneously to produce rats that always make wonderful pets, and frequently make successful show exhibits. Our primary concern is that any rat bred by us that is homed elsewhere must have an acceptable temperament - if this requirement is not met, then we will keep them, or take them back if they have already been homed. Rats with unacceptable temperament will never be bred from, as they will never make good pets.

Our breeding choices are based around 4 general attributes, listed here in order of their importance in our decision-making process:

Currently we run three lines here, namely the russian line (russian blues, russian blue essex), the pink-eye dilute line (silver fawn, champagne, agouti and black) and the pearl line (cinnamon pearl, pearl, cinnamon and mink). In the future, the pink-eye dilute line and the pearl line will most likely focus on either the agouti-based or self-based versions of each line as we become more satisfied with the temperament, health and type of the lines, but for now we keep our options open by breeding both agouti-based and self-based varieties together.

:: Breeding Policies ::

Asbru Stud does not believe in culling as a necessary practice in successful rat breeding, therefore we do not cull our lines. We believe that careful selection and feeding will ensure more than adequately that each kitten is raised to it's full potential, and we will not end the life of a rat before we judge that it's quality of life is no longer good enough. We do not limit our breeding choices to only include non-culled lines, as we feel that this would be excluding the positive factors that some lines can bring in. Not all culling breeders are evil, some still breed for health and temperament but using culling as a device for this. Although we do not agree that this is the best way to breed rats, we can still appreciate that certain chronic health and temperament problems are less likely to occur in lines that are culled for health and temperament - simply because ill or nasty rats are not kept.

We do believe in the merits of line breeding as a way of infusing good characteristics into a line. Line breeding will limit the gene pool in such a way that any genetic tendencies in a line will occur frequently. As long as there are more good tendencies in a line than bad, line breeding can only be a positive method of breeding. Any problems that may occur, will occur and can be bred away from by not continuing with that branch of a line, or outcrossing to correct the fault. We believe that outcrossing must be done with great care, as it may bring in more problems than benefits, but careful occasional outcrossing is a useful tool in line breeding nonetheless.

:: Breeding for Health and Temperament ::

As previously mentioned, health and temperament take precedence to show qualities at Asbru Stud. Rats with poor temperaments or health problems are never bred from, and the health and temperament history of each rat bred by Asbru Stud is recorded in our database to track health and temperament tendencies in each line in order to make sensible breeding decisions in future.

Health can be broken down into three categories: lifelong health, latter-life health and longevity. At Asbru Stud we value lifelong health (such as breathing difficulties, lack of immunity and mycoplasma related illnesses) utmost - however long a rat lives, we believe they should live with as few health problems as possible. Latter-life problems such as tumours and hind-leg deterioration can be very upsetting for owners and distressing for rats - although they do not directly affect the health of the rats, they become a burden to the rat and may also get infected and may ultimately result in the rat being put to sleep. These problems are taken into great consideration also, but may take longer to breed out of a line completely as they occur so late on in life. We aim for our rats to live at least 2 years, and if they don't make it that far we investigate the death fully and take appropriate action to ensure any problem is bred away from in future.

We use Breeders Assistant to manage our records, as well as produce decorative pedigrees and pet agreements. This software enables health and temperament notes to be made for each rat, records dates of birth, death, cause of death and other such relevant information that allows for further analysis when necessary. Breeders Assistant also links related rats together to make analysis of a particular branch of a line very simple. Our Breeders Assistant database is kept scrupulously and painstakingly up to date!

:: Breeding for Type ::

After health and temperament, type is the next consideration for us. We use the word "type" to describe any physical attributes of a rat other than it's colour or markings, such as the shape of it's skull, it's structure and muscle tone, size of eyes and so on. We try to aim towards the NFRS description of general conformation for this, stating as follows:

"The Rat shall be of good size, does long and racy type, bucks being of a bigger build, arched over the loin, firm fleshed with clean, long head, but not too pointed at the nose. The eyes shall be round, bold, clean and of goods size. The ears shall be of good size, well formed and widely spaced. The tail shall be cylindrical and as long as the body, thick at the base, tapering to a fine point. The ears, feet and tail shall be covered with fine hair. The coat shall be smooth and glossy (except for the Rex type). Bucks are longer than does and have a harsher coat."

Although this would seem at first glance to be a clear description of ideal conformation, each breeder has their own personal preferences when it comes to type - some may prefer very racy rats, some prefer a more cobby appearance. We aim for all of our lines to meet our standards for physical appearance, as this is what we find attractive.

:: Breeding for Colour/Markings ::

Colour and markings are the final consideration in breeding choices at Asbru Stud. Although we aim to produce good examples of the varieties we breed, we value the conformation and health of the rat before the desired colour or marking for it's variety. When starting a new line we aim to improve the type, temperament and health of the line before selecting heavily for colour, in order to ensure that we are linebreeding rats that are robust in every other way first of all. We often select rats for breeding that are not the desirable colour for their variety standard, simply because their personality and/or type are very good.

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