First, WELCOME! The Fancy needs you and the pet adopting public needs you! Second, don't be scared away by the established breeders who would like to control every move you make. You don't need them to become successful. Really!
The Fancy's efforts to educate the public about the rat mills that produce the rats sold in pet shops and so then directing people to the benefits of getting their pet rats from good, responsible, breeders, has shown a lot of success. More and more, people are "doing their homework" and contacting breeders when they want healthy, social, pet rats. The problem is that there are not enough good breeders for people to go to and not enough rats being placed in pet homes by the ones that do exist.**** I do NOT advocate that any breeder simply "crank out" rats for the public, becoming "rat mills", so to speak. This does no good for the rat species as a whole OR for the Fancy, OR for pet owners.
As a new breeder or a wannabe breeder you no doubt have studied the websites of established breeders. You see how many babies in their litters are kept or placed with other breeders and how very few are being placed with pet adopters. (While certainly breeders need to keep back babies for future breeding, there is no need to keep as many as they do AND to ALSO place babies from these litters with other breeders. Only the best should be kept to potentially contribute to the gene pool.) I have had some of these other breeders actually tell me that pet adopters are not valued, that they are breeding for themselves only. Pet adopters are just a nuisance that must be dealt with in order to place the babies not kept or placed with other breeders. One current breeder's website even spells out that "We breed to benefit the rats, not the rat owners." Wow. The work that good breeders do to improve the quality of their rats SHOULD be done to ultimately benefit pet owners. Otherwise, what's the point of all the work? If you care about breeding rats of quality (and working to improve them, always) and believe it's important to share these rats with pet adopters, the Fancy needs you!
If your expressed interest in becoming a breeder hasn't exactly been met with open arms by some established breeders, here are some valid reasons why. Many wannabe breeders (or newbies) haven't thought things out carefully and made a plan for being successful. New breeders come and go quickly, all the time so it's hard to know sometimes who will really "stick around for the long haul" and be deserving of the time and energy a mentor must give. Unfortunately there are wannabes and newbies who are not welcomed for some not-so-valid reasons. There are some established breeders who seem to relish the "power" they believe they hold over anyone wishing to enter the breeders' clique. Jump through all their hoops, do things exactly the way they tell you to do them, with no deviation...(because everything is seen in terms of black or white, "good" or "bad" in their eyes), and then MAYBE, just MAYBE, they'll acknowledge your existence and work with you. Trouble is, rat breeding, just like life, is full of shades of gray. There is more than one way to go about things and still be professional and ethical. Within these breeders' cliques it's "their way or the highway" and so some people who would have been good additions to the rat breeding world become discouraged, feeling (mistakenly) that because they have been in effect shut out by these cliques, there is no way they can become successful breeders. I'm here to tell you that it's NOT TRUE!
I have been involved in the Fancy and have been breeding rats for over ten years. I have worked with other breeders, helped form rat clubs, and was the driving force behind making the first rat show in this area a successful reality. I have shown several Champion rats and have served as a show judge. Demonstrating myself to be professional, ethical, and responsive to adopters has always been my aim. Being able to share rats of high quality with pet adopters is my passion, the thing that keeps me going. My success and my reputation have never depended on my being a part of any clique but on my own efforts as a breeder and my responsiveness to would-be adopters. I know very well the "ins and outs" of the rat community and am familiar with the challenges that face new breeders and wannabes. If you reach beyond those breeders who want to control you (or refuse to work with you if you don't do as they direct, or have x, y, or z on your website---things that are mostly directed at other breeders anyway, and not pet adopters) you can get the advice and help that can show you how to become a successful, ethical, responsible, breeder. You do not need the support of the cliques to become a good breeder, only the standards, ethics and desire. It is what YOU DO as a breeder and HOW you do it that determines whether you will be a good, successful, breeder. Worried you can't get breeding rats if you aren't "in the clique"? Don't be! There are plenty of wonderful breeders out there who will help you.
When choosing a mentor, do your research. Not every breeder who "talks the talk" practices what is preached. Make sure your goals and theirs are compatible.
All the education of the public towards getting their pet rats from good breeders should not have been done in vain. There is a very real need for new breeders (GOOD ones, NOT BYBs!) for pet adopters to go to. There is a REASON for improving rats through responsible, thoughtful, ethical breeding and that is to be able to allow pet owners the opportunity to steer clear of the poorly-bred pet shop rats and buy healthier, sweeter, pets. If you agree, the pet owners and the Fancy NEED YOU!
