I would looooooove to have a harley rat!!!! In Ohio?

[crs16]

?

[Starrynite1025]

Anyone relatively near Ohio that has an available harley rat please contact me!!!! I recently discovered this beautiful breed and really want one!! (or two! lol) My email is csinclair16@yahoo.com Please let me know if you have one!!! Thanks!

good luck! they are hard to find

[mandycoot]

Hopefully you're not looking for one to breed in your new "rattery"? *raised eyebrow*

[PCKGRat]

Hopefully you're not looking for one to breed in your new "rattery"? *raised eyebrow*

I agree here. If you are a new breeder stay away from Harley. The lines are barely established and everyone gets so foolishly stuck on "getting Harley coats", they fail to take precautions. The aforementioned precautions being: outcrossing (Harleys are toooooo inbred), breeding to young (why??) and generally not trying to improve the Harley rats.

Presently, myself and another breeder have Harleys. We have outcrossed one generation thus far and are now working one outcross back in to be outcrossed again to be brought back in again and so on.

We hope that at least 5 to 7 generations down the road we will have substantially improved type. But, it takes time.

This is just a warning if you plan on breeding in this "rattery" you plan on making, though you sound awful young. As pets they are pretty nice.

[crs16]

Actually I am 29 years old. I have had rats for 15 years and am going to school to be a vet tech. My husband and I plan to open a rescue within the next 5-7 years for not only rats but for all kinds of animals. My cousin is also going to take part in this rescue and she's going to specialize in farm animals like horses and goats. I will do cats, rats, dogs, hamsters ect. We are both researching non-profit grants now. Though I am not an established breeder I have done extensive research on the subject and have been mentored by a breeder. Who I am in constant contact with. The problem I have is since I don't have a name, I can't yet register the rats that will be my breeders. So I am not going to breed until I have them registered. Also, all of my breeders have pedigrees. So, that being said, if I aquired a harley coat it would be no different in the fact that if I did decide to breed them I would do my homework first. And possibly speak with a breeder who already bred them. Right now, I only want one because I adore long haired animals, and I've never had a long haired rat.

[LifeInCircuit]

Do you have a clear understanding of genetics? An experienced(with rats) vet whom you have a good relationship with? If we don't know the breeder you're working with, it's kind of a useless point. I am not trying to chase you away or anything, but I hope you understand why we're all very weary of breeders around here. I think if someone is really ready to breed, then they would fully understand where folks are coming from on this and not take offense.

[PCKGRat]

Actually I am 29 years old. I have had rats for 15 years and am going to school to be a vet tech. My husband and I plan to open a rescue within the next 5-7 years for not only rats but for all kinds of animals. My cousin is also going to take part in this rescue and she's going to specialize in farm animals like horses and goats. I will do cats, rats, dogs, hamsters ect. We are both researching non-profit grants now. Though I am not an established breeder I have done extensive research on the subject and have been mentored by a breeder. Who I am in constant contact with. The problem I have is since I don't have a name, I can't yet register the rats that will be my breeders. So I am not going to breed until I have them registered. Also, all of my breeders have pedigrees. So, that being said, if I aquired a harley coat it would be no different in the fact that if I did decide to breed them I would do my homework first. And possibly speak with a breeder who already bred them. Right now, I only want one because I adore long haired animals, and I've never had a long haired rat.

Hey, I wasn't trying to be offensive. Rest assured when I try, I can be pretty offensive. I just wanted to warn you in advance not to fall victim to the breeder mentality that is convinced one needs to be the "FIRST" to breed something. Indeed if you got and decided to breed Harleys, I would hope you would be wise enough to outcross. I only say this from experience with individuals who failed to follow through with a Harley breeders suggestion to outcross, and a relationship with the Washington breeders who know the Harley lines.
Do you know where Harley originated from?
This fact makes it essential to work with the lines towards improving them. The more Harley is inbred, the worse the lines will become. This is a fact.
Good luck to you.

[crs16]

I don't take offense. I understand there are a lot of people out there who breed irresponsibly and for the wrong reasons. I do have a clear understanding of their genetics. And I plan to breed no more than 2-3 litters per year. But like I've said in my other posts I have a reason for breeding. I absolutely adore my rats. And I would love to help them live longer. It's so sad that rats lives are so short. And though I do the best that I can to ensure they have a wonderful and full life, it never seems long enough. At this time, I do not plan to breed Harley rats. I am aware of the story of OFR and the pet store the original was found in. I actually have emailed OFR to talk to him about Harley rats. I have not yet received a response. But again, if I did decide to breed them, it would  not be before I did my research and understood them. While I do think that sometimes people on this board can be unecessarily harsh, I appreciate the fact that there are people out there who want to look out for rats. Please understand that I am one of them.

[Sorraia]

So, that being said, if I aquired a harley coat it would be no different in the fact that if I did decide to breed them I would do my homework first. And possibly speak with a breeder who already bred them.

You would only "possibly" speak with the breeder about breeding their rats? That in and of itself is irresponsible. If you have ANY thoughts at all about breeding a rat, you need to speak with the breeder BEFORE you so much as see the rats you adopt. This is the only responsible and ethical way to go about it.

Too many times people adopt rats on a pet-only contract, just to turn around and breed them. This is irresponsible. Breeders need to know where their animals are going and what happens to them. They need to be able to trust the people their animals go to. Without this kind of communication, how can any improvement be made on any rats or any bloodlines? If random people are adopting rats and breeding them just to discover these rats have are prone to a disease, how can the original breeder (and any other breeders using that bloodline) do anything to fix it if they don't know? Most times pet-only rats are adopted out as pets only for a reason: Maybe the litter produced something undesired and dangerous (such as megacolon), perhaps the rats just weren't breeding quality (poor build, runt of the litter, etc). Unless the breeder gives every detail of their breeding program to the adopter, the adopter won't know. It is nothing but irresponsible to purposefully breed rats adopted as pets-only.

I also noticed you have posted a number of other requests for rats, and replied to a number of other messages regarding rats up for adoption. How many rats do you plan to have at any one time? Remember, responsible breeding takes a LOT of work. Not every animal produced will be of breeding quality. You need to know your limits. It happens all too often that someone jumps into breeding, just to be very quickly overwhelmed. It's not fair to the animals, they deserve good homes. Also, do you have proper quarantine facilities? You have mentioned several times that you take in rescues. Quarantine is extremely important for both rescues and breeders, as well as your typical pet owner. Lack of proper quarantine can and has devasted breeding programs.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but unfortunately too many people jump into breeding completely unprepared. The people on this forum care about rats and only want what is best for them.

[Em B]

Adoption thread rules-

It is NOT to be used for general discussion, breeding ethics, etc.  If you're interested in rats, post.  If you're the thread author and want to bump your post or update your post, fine.  If you want to lecture about "responsible breeding", say how cute the babies are, etc., DON'T post.  They will be removed.

[crs16]

Thank you Midsummer

[lilspaz68]

These conversations happen, especially when there's controversy.  We all assume they will get locked eventually and mostly we abide by the rules, but "Help with Naming Rattery", all these posts on possible rescue adoptions and "I would Loooooove a Harley" is starting to sound a bit controversial.

[crs16]

Fine, Moderator will you please delete this post

[okiron]

I understand maybe locking it, but why delete it?

[Saydrah]

Guys, there is a handy dandy 'report to moderator' link at the bottom of every post. If you feel that a thread should be locked, clicking it does a heckuva lot more for your case than looking around for the mods to show up. They have lives, too, and do a great job of moderating the forum despite those annoying 'life' and 'family' things they insist on having. I'll be using it now, since this thread is certainly a discussion now, and the OP has deleted her first post.